USVI-On-Line

I'm considering buying a flip camera for our trip to STJ in June and I just found out you can buy an underwater housing for 2 of their models. Does anyone own one of the cameras/underwater housings? Are they as easy to use as they claim?

I don't have the underwater housing but we have a flip and they are SUPER simple to use and a LOT of fun.

The Flip is pretty cool - but - I have become quickly disillusioned with it - mainly due to the lack of image stabilization. You really can't move with the thing, or the video is nearly useless. Another drawback is pretty poor quality it low light situations. Outdoors it is fine. Minus these couple of things, it is a lot of fun, cheap, and seems fairly durable. Get a USB extension cable - fitting the arm exactly into the USB port can be a bit of pain, and also take up too much room to let you use other USB ports if they are nearby (like the external drive you will probably need to store all the video you shoot).

All of these videos were done with my Flip I got last summer in NJ:

http://vimeo.com/9499296
http://vimeo.com/8614220
http://vimeo.com/6664496
http://vimeo.com/5699759
http://vimeo.com/5402892

Made on my Mac with iMovie -

We just bought the Flip MinoHD before our trip and used it alot (not underwater). We even did a few Suzuki Cam's while driving. I loved it and am going through all the video now. It's small and the sound quality is pretty good. I agree about the stability issue, the zoom quality is poor, and it doesn't work well in low light. As long as you know what it can be used for, you will enjoy it. I expect to get alot of use out of it.

This whole video was shot on a flip HD...


<object width="400" height="224"><param name="allowfullscreen" value="true"><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"><param name="movie" value="http://www.facebook.com/v/598964254150"><embed src="http://www.facebook.com/v/598964254150" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="400" height="224"></embed></object>


for ease of use and convenience for me they cant be beat.... that being said... if your not going till june then you can get the new kodak playsport thats coming out in april... full 1080P hd, WATERPROOF TO 10 FEET AND IMAGE STABILIZATION which was my biggest problem with the flip... I already pre ordered mine on amazon!

I don't have any experience with the Flip, but if you happen to have a Mac, Apple added an awesome to feature to iMovie and Final Cut Express and Final Cut Pro (their video editing software) that stabilizes out the shaky video. It works amazingly well!

http://www.kodak.com/eknec/PageQuerier. ... 8a80c5a418

being shipped March 17...

Goes underwater too and has EIS

We have friends who have the Flip and really like it. The drawbacks for me were the connection to the PC and having to offload the video all of the time because it is stored on an internal hard drive. I just got the Kodak Zx1 for our April trip because it uses SD cards. It shoots in HD, regular size video, or still photos. It is weather resistant but I don't think it can be used under water. It takes regular AA batteries and came with a set of rechargeable Kodaks with a wall charger. Its connection to the PC is via a cable so you are not covering up your other USB ports. It also came with an HDMI cable for connection to an HD TV and regular cables were also included. It is really easy to use and comes with some robust but easy video editing software.

Hoping to get some clear, short HD videos on vacation without having to lug a bigger camera.

Thanks everyone, for your input, I did recently get a MacBook Pro, so I will look at the iMovie software.

Used my daughter's first generation flip recently. I will link some clips when I get around to uploading them. I really wanted to buy the underwater housing, but I went to amazon and read some reviews that scared me as far as being 100% watertight. That new one from kodak may be my father's day present though.

Margy Z wrote:We have friends who have the Flip and really like it. The drawbacks for me were the connection to the PC and having to offload the video all of the time because it is stored on an internal hard drive. I just got the Kodak Zx1 for our April trip because it uses SD cards. It shoots in HD, regular size video, or still photos. It is weather resistant but I don't think it can be used under water. It takes regular AA batteries and came with a set of rechargeable Kodaks with a wall charger. Its connection to the PC is via a cable so you are not covering up your other USB ports. It also came with an HDMI cable for connection to an HD TV and regular cables were also included. It is really easy to use and comes with some robust but easy video editing software.

Hoping to get some clear, short HD videos on vacation without having to lug a bigger camera.

Margy....this is the one we have; makes great video; looks good on our TV. Can't wait to take it to STJ in April.

Good to hear, Pianogirl - but now I am tempted to that new Kodak mentioned above thas has full HD and can be used while snorkeling. Hmmmmmm, Amazon says it will ship April 5 - wonder if I would get it in time - I am so tempted...

Margy Z wrote:Good to hear, Pianogirl - but now I am tempted to that new Kodak mentioned above thas has full HD and can be used while snorkeling. Hmmmmmm, Amazon says it will ship April 5 - wonder if I would get it in time - I am so tempted...

They are doing pre orders to ship March 17th...I hope...we leave March 29th

Ok, so I'm weak, I ordered the Kodak Playsport. I am going to try to do a blogged trip report this time so it will be good (I'm justifying). Amazon is giving a shipping estimate of April 5 so fingers crossed it will be here by the 12th. Anyone interested in the Z1x (at a good price) PM me -:lol: