Need to Shoot Video on the Run? Carry a Flip.
About a month ago, I finally had the opportunity to pick up a Flip camera for a client. Yes, jussssst a bit behind. After numerous posts from Lee Aase on the tool, it was time to give it a whirl. I dig it.
Advantages?
It’s small, compact, shoots decent quality, includes a zoom feature and is incredibly user- friendly. It can also be purchased for around $150 – a pretty great deal. To top it off, the Flip is an all-in-one tool that you can pull out of the box, shoot video and have a spot uploaded to YouTube in five minutes without having to crack open the instructions.
Disadvantages?
With the good of course comes some bad. The zoom is pretty limited and the Flip struggles to record decent sound unless you or your subject are close to the mic. The Flip is also not made for the shaky hand, but luckily there are small, cheap flexible tripods that work great to keep things steady.
Utility
Granted, the Flip is just a tool and we all know tools and technologies change overnight, but how might a PR person put the Flip to use? The ideas are really endless.
Regardless of your client base or industry focus, it’s an affordable tool that any PR pro can utilize to capture footage at events or grab quick interviews (it also has a nice little freeze frame feature to capture photos from your footage). A bit pricier of an approach, but I could also foresee a large company distributing Flips to members of a target audience as part of a video submission contest (perfect for an outdoors or adventure type contest).
Given the rise in attention and popular demand around video, carrying a Flip could also double as an excellent crisis communications tool to deliver a key message from the right personnel in a crunch where alternative channels are limited.
Have you had a chance to try the Flip? How else might you put this tool to use?
-Scott
Digital Leap 
Glad you took the plunge, Scott! I don’t use the zoom at all, because it’s digital zoom, not optical…so it degrades the picture. But if you get the camera close enough to your interviewee to get a decent tight shot, you’ll be close enough to get reasonable audio. It’s a great (and cheap) tool for PR video.
I also like your crisis communications application. With the quick USB upload, you could get a video message from the CEO, for instance, posted within minutes.
I’ve been thinking about taking the plunge into video, but I’m a writer. Video is really hot these days though, and not only is it a great way to promote, it’s also a great way to do tutorials and things people need to see to learn how to do.
Thanks for the tip. Anything that makes my work easier is definitely worth a shot.
Jinger Jarrett
Thanks Lee.
Absolutely Jinger, I think there is definitely some opportunity to find ways to bridge your creativity into video blogs or vlogs. I believe the last stat I saw noted that about 63% of Web users are actually engaging in some form of online video. Wow.
It’s true, though, think about all the available video content you come across on the Web. We all are enticed by short, engaging video that holds our attention and gets a key thought or idea across.