Back in the 70s, I started carrying a movie camera with me whenever I could, usually in my backpack. As a result, I have some great footage of the many places I’ve lived and visited, the many theme parks, the many holiday festivals, and the many contentious family gatherings. It augments my shaky memory, and in some cases serves as evidence.

Okay, I was always hoping to capture some genuine footage of a UFO or a car crash or Bigfoot, but I’ve settled so far for a restaurant on fire and a guy threatening to jump off a bridge (brandishing a knife, as if he was somehow going to kill himself twice).

My massive personal film / video collection is in formats that give a strong hint of my advancing age: 16mm film, 8mm film, super 8 film, VHS video, VHS-C video, SVHS video, Hi8 video, DV video, and lately AVI video. Talk about planned obsolescence!

And thank goodness for miniaturization! Hauling that VHS camera around was a real chore! Now my DV camera takes the best video ever and fits in the palm of my hand. But the real miracles are these recent pocket video cameras.

I have several of the little guys, and while some multi-task as combo video/audio/snapshot recorder-playback devices, my favorite so far is the simple Flip Video camera. It just takes video, but at a much higher quality than the multi-tasking cameras.

My tiny (1.2 x 2.2 x 4.2 inches) Flip camera takes 30 minutes of sharp VGA quality video. It requires two AA batteries and nothing else. No memory card, no cables, no installation CD. One-button control lets you record, play back (color with sound!), delete, or download to your computer. WinXP+ or Mac OSX.

The first time you plug in the built-in USB arm, its interface program syncs with your computer and a destination folder is set up. You can upload directly to YouTube, etc. from the Flip camera, as well as play it directly through your TV or computer.

I have the 30-minute version, which is plenty of video to shoot between downloads. But feel free to go for the bigger memory model that shoots 2 hours of VGA quality video. Higher models even shoot DV quality! Nice accessories to get would be an extension USB cable, a little tripod, and a decent protective case.

Broadus

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