Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
I?ve had hunters ask me which video cameras we use for our videos on the site. Well, that is a question with a two-sided answer. For any video that we shoot HD in 1090DPI that will be edited and professionally produced, our camera guy from YellowCapeCommunications.com brings his gear down and sets up shop. I can?t even begin to describe his cameras as they are every expensive and have more model numbers than I can remember. If you are interested in that level of camera, then you may want to contact [email protected] . I will tell you that everywhere those cameras go, so goes some source of lighting. So if you?re interested in getting into high quality video production, you must also get interested in learning about lighting!
Anyway, for our ?in the field? videos, several of the WeHuntSC.com team members carry ?Flips?. We carry them in our hunting bags and/or pockets because you never know what you might find in the great outdoors. Most often, we use these to shoot short videos that we embed in blogs or for videos that we post on the site. I go back and forth between shooting videos on my IPhone and my Flip. With my IPhone I can shoot a video and upload it straight to YouTube from a tree stand or really anywhere, but the quality of the IPhone video is not nearly as close as the quality of the Flip.
The Flip The specific model we use is the Flip Ultra HD which sells for around $189. The Flip Video Ultra HD is a small, lightweight video recorder that can fit in your pocket. It is very easy to use and only has a few buttons on the camera. You don?t have to be a ?tech-head? to understand how to use this thing. It has 8GB (120 minutes) worth of memory and you can play back the videos you shot on the internal screen on the back of the Flip for quick viewing. The Flip comes with rechargeable batteries, starts up quickly, and can record within moments. One of the features I like most is the ?Turn Sound Off? feature. I turn the sound off so that every time I click a button it?s not beeping out in the woods/swamp/tree stand. The flip has a USB port (the plug that plugs into your computer from the camera) on the side of the flip. You simply click the button and it opens up and it directly interfaces with your computer. The software you need to get your video off the flip is right there on the flip itself. If you own multiple computers, you can install it on however many you like. The program you install lets you edit and share the videos. For our purposes we use it to sometimes give our movies intros and credits at the ends of them. The software also allows you to merge multiple clips together and edit the length of the movies as well. (See an example of a video created with the flip using intros, merging clips, and credits here) Again, its user interface is very intuitive and simplistic in comparison to standard video suite software, so it?s nothing to be scared of. Once we shoot the videos, load them into FlipShare software for editing, we export and then upload to YouTube. Uploading the HD videos to YouTube does take a little bit longer, but the clarity in the videos makes it worth it in my opinion.
Benefits
Drawbacks
So, if you?re looking for a relatively cheap video camera that shoots HD and can fit in your pocket?look no further. As you see on the site, we love to integrate YouTube videos and you can contribute yours on the ?Game? pages. Whether you get a flip or not, we encourage you to start posting some videos! Regards, Clint