I'm thinking of getting a small video camera like a flip camera. Something that is a good all rounder but that works well. Can you recommend a particular brand or model that is good but not too expensive?

[Edited on 14-7-2011 by smart51]

I have 8x 8GigHD Flips here at work. Very very simple to use (a little too simple really) and really good quality (well HD!) too. Sound is suprisingly good although the stereo image of the sound isn't great.

They were about £80 with various discounts applied each and so far they've lasted very well.

Battery life is good but they're only about 4 months old at the moment but a big bonus is they will take normal batteries too. Ideal when you're out and you've forgotten to charge.

The memory is fixed though - no card or expansion. Having said that I think we get nearly 2 hours of HD quality footage and downloading the footage via the built in USB2 port takes no time at all.

http://www.theflip.com/en-us/Products/ultra.aspx

I'd say the one disadvantage is the simplicity. It won't do photos (although scene grabbing from the software is easy (pause the scene/action and take snapshot) is a bit of a shame and an extra step, and they're a bit "no-frills"

But...cheap, reliable, good quality....

I recently bought a Panasonic TA1 which was their equivalent of the Flip from my local Tesco Extra. Went in today and they still had one for £47. Does full 1080P. No optical zoom but does take 8MP photos. Dead simple to use, I used it at Goodwood and was impressed for the money.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Panasonic-TA1-Full-Pocket-Camcorder/dp/B003XDT99O

Rich

if you can cope with wading through all the commercial twaddle and rubbish, there is a review on the Gadget Show web site for recent Flip Videos,...

hth

If its for in car footage forget the flip, I bought the HD one last year and footage was all shakey and stretchy, I sent it back and carried on with £10 MD cameras

Hasn't the whole Flip concern recently been closed down by Cisco? I think it only effects people who stored their flip videos online.

It doesn't have to be a flip brand, as per the original post, just something small and convenient like that.