Working with Flip UltraHD - Christmas Day 2010 - Holkham Beach, Norfolk, UK

Memories of a cold but sunny walk on the beautiful Holkham Beach in Norfolk on Christmas morning last year. None of us had ever seen snow on sand-dunes before.

This was the first time I've edited "in anger" with footage shot on my Flip UltraHD. The film is also a bit of an effects "trip" - I wanted to give it the old Standard-8 cine film feel - and I'm pretty happy with the results - very reminiscent of the films my Dad used to shoot of us as kids back in the sixties. I also integrated some stills my son took on the same day (that's him dune-jumping) - I included the shots to showcase his work, but also to pad out the lack of usable footage I had. The downside of the Flip - and other cameras like it I should guess - is that it has to be held incredibly steady to get usable results. Obviously a tripod is the answer, but the whole point of the Flip - particularly when used in situations like those in the film - is that you can carry it in your pocket and not have to worry about lugging a kit bag around with you. I've tried using it on a lightweight steadycam-like rig (GlideCam 2000 Pro), but the camera is too light to counterbalance. I guess I could add weights at the top, but then we're back to the whole kit bag scenario.

In the end though, the Flip UltraHD does what you ask it to do, and if you shoot carefully, bear in mind its shortfalls and treat it well it returns good and usable results - certainly for the price (about £140/$180).

Editing with Flip footage is another story - and a long one - and one that I shall cover in a subsequent post.