My New Flip

I was hoping to have some great new video to include in this post about how easy the Flip was to use.... but I haven't quite arrived at that yet. My experience thus far has been a bit challenging: the Flip Mino doesn't come with batteries like its larger brother. That's one thing that I wasn't aware of when I brought the Mino with me to record my recent trip to Mexico's Riviera Maya. It's a bit tricky shooting at night (as you'll see). It picks up ALL ambient sounds (as you'll hear). And, if anyone jostles you even a little, you'll get that lovely Blair Witch effect (you'll see that, too).

I also haven't mastered the editing software yet which was depicted as being simple enough for professional-looking uploads to YouTube. So far, my shaky cam recordings of New York City and Mexico would certainly frighten anyone thinking that this is quality video. I tried three times to upload my video of NYC's Tree Lighting Ceremony to this blog using blogger's very simple upload feature. The video seems to show up some of the time -- sometimes it appears black; other times it actually works. I hope it will work for you.

In the meantime, read Matt Gross's insightful "Frugal Traveler" article about various videos from yesterday's New York Times.