Big Island

iPhone or Flip Video? – Round Two Puako Beach, Hawaii

It was an absolutely gorgeous day today in Puako Beach…

You can enjoy this short walk to the water too because my house is for sale in Puako Beach

…so, I made the “long trek” across the street to commune with the Honu, as is my typical Sunday practice.

This video is from my “original” flip video—I didn’t realize it had zoom until today!

Alas, there were no honu on the beach today, but a fisherman did wander along and so, I thought, “Ah ha! He’s the perfect subject to re-shoot my video comparison.”

Same shot from my NEW Flip Video HD, which has an amazing zoom…

The new Flip Video HD is bigger than the original one—it’s about double the width and runs on batteries. Interesting choice for Cisco, since one of the benefits to me of the original Flip is that it’s small enough to drop into my front pants pockets when I’m showing or previewing property, and whip out to take a quick video. Hmmm. This new one isn’t so “pocket friendly.”

Same shot from my new iPhone 4…

To me, the results are clear—nothing beats the Flip HD for quality, crispness, sharpness, and brightness, not to mention color saturation. However, none of the devices were able to accurately capture the different blue hues of the water (and of course, not using the tripod makes the video shakiness a bit distracting).

For our property listings, I would use the Flip HD without question, especially on the tripod, the zoom is incredible, and battery operated means if you carry extra double-A’s in your car, like I do, you’ll never run out of juice, even in the most remote areas of the Big Island.

However, when I’m out and about, I bet I’ll turn the most to the iPhone for video. The darn thing is in my hand nearly constantly anyway, it never runs out of juice because I’m fanatic about having it plugged in all the time, and I carry a small battery charger backup. Also, the iPhone has a flash, and the ability to turn the video around easily and video myself.

What do you think? (Besides that you wish you were here in Hawaii sitting on the beach in Puako with me!)

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Brooke Derby R(S)

March 22, 2011

Great research mission Katie! I have the new iphone 4 and was just looking at the new flip video cameras on Sunday and debating if I need it or if my iphone will suffice. You have answered my questions! Thanks for the research-it was just what I was looking for!

Brooke Derby R(S)

March 22, 2011

Great research mission Katie! I have the new iphone 4 and was just looking at the new flip video cameras on Sunday and debating if I need it or if my iphone will suffice. You have answered my questions! Thanks for the research-it was just what I was looking for!

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 22, 2011

@Brooke… right on! If you want to borrow either of my flip video cameras, just let me know, you could take ’em for a “test drive.” Hee.

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 22, 2011

@Brooke… right on! If you want to borrow either of my flip video cameras, just let me know, you could take ’em for a “test drive.” Hee.

Martha Tumbleson, R(S)

March 22, 2011

Luv your insight and humor, Katie. Flip Video it is. And yes, we all wish we were sitting on the beach in Puako with you!

Martha Tumbleson, R(S)

March 22, 2011

Luv your insight and humor, Katie. Flip Video it is. And yes, we all wish we were sitting on the beach in Puako with you!

Sharon Brown R(S)

March 22, 2011

Love the way you write, Katie, I was there with you all the way! Don’t know which one is better but I visualize the entire scene!

Sharon Brown R(S)

March 22, 2011

Love the way you write, Katie, I was there with you all the way! Don’t know which one is better but I visualize the entire scene!

Sharon Brown R(S)

March 22, 2011

Love the way you write, Katie, I was there with you all the way! Don’t know which one is better but I visualized the entire scene!

Sharon Brown R(S)

March 22, 2011

Love the way you write, Katie, I was there with you all the way! Don’t know which one is better but I visualized the entire scene!

Sharon Brown R(S)

March 22, 2011

And this is probably why I don’t know which is better…I submitted my comment, saw a typo, corrected it while my first comment was posting, then hit the submit comment again. Hence the two versions….oh it is all good…new technology (to me that is).

Sharon Brown R(S)

March 22, 2011

And this is probably why I don’t know which is better…I submitted my comment, saw a typo, corrected it while my first comment was posting, then hit the submit comment again. Hence the two versions….oh it is all good…new technology (to me that is).

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 23, 2011

@Sharon – LOL. Happens to everyone, no worries! You sure are catching on quick to all the “new technology,” though! I’m impressed!

@Martha – we’ll have to plan a day for you to come hang in Puako with us Kohala Coast types!!

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 23, 2011

@Sharon – LOL. Happens to everyone, no worries! You sure are catching on quick to all the “new technology,” though! I’m impressed!

@Martha – we’ll have to plan a day for you to come hang in Puako with us Kohala Coast types!!

Pat Strausse, R

March 23, 2011

Katie – In my other life, I was a commercial tv producer for many years in Alaska. And, I gotta tell ya, the video your hd flip is shooting is better than the broadcast cameras we used many years ago. Only those were very big and bulky – hard to carry on your shoulder and a battery lasted about 30 minutes. And now your phone shoots better video and is also an mini computer… AMAZING. Don’t ja jus love it!

Pat Strausse, R

March 23, 2011

Katie – In my other life, I was a commercial tv producer for many years in Alaska. And, I gotta tell ya, the video your hd flip is shooting is better than the broadcast cameras we used many years ago. Only those were very big and bulky – hard to carry on your shoulder and a battery lasted about 30 minutes. And now your phone shoots better video and is also an mini computer… AMAZING. Don’t ja jus love it!

Claire K. Bajo RS

March 23, 2011

Cool comparisons Katie, thanks for this! I like the ability to zoom on the Flip HD, and the iphone4 video didn’t seem to have as much shakiness to it, even though you didn’t use a tripod. Did you get the Flip HD in town? And how are you liking your iphone? I heard it’s way easier to use than the Droids..

Claire K. Bajo RS

March 23, 2011

Cool comparisons Katie, thanks for this! I like the ability to zoom on the Flip HD, and the iphone4 video didn’t seem to have as much shakiness to it, even though you didn’t use a tripod. Did you get the Flip HD in town? And how are you liking your iphone? I heard it’s way easier to use than the Droids..

Pam Deery R(B) Big Island

March 24, 2011

Ok great on the phones, but the house! This is what it is all about. Your house in wonderful and the fact that you can walk across the street to catch sunsets, fishermen and Honu anytime is way more exciting to me than any electronics. Mahalo!

Pam Deery R(B) Big Island

March 24, 2011

Ok great on the phones, but the house! This is what it is all about. Your house in wonderful and the fact that you can walk across the street to catch sunsets, fishermen and Honu anytime is way more exciting to me than any electronics. Mahalo!

Tracy Stice, R, Broker In Charge, ABR, CRB, CRS, GRI, GREEN

March 24, 2011

Katie, my dear, why not just use a hand held HD camera? They are not really much larger than the new flip, cost only a little more and they are a real camera with a lot of adaptability?

Tracy Stice, R, Broker In Charge, ABR, CRB, CRS, GRI, GREEN

March 24, 2011

Katie, my dear, why not just use a hand held HD camera? They are not really much larger than the new flip, cost only a little more and they are a real camera with a lot of adaptability?

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 25, 2011

@Claire – I LOVE my new iPhone 4 – I was one of the first to buy the original iPhone and have been a fan ever since. I personally find the video and the facetime feature incredible!

@Tracy – well, that’s a good question. I don’t have an answer except that they apparently aren’t located near the flips at Costco, because otherwise I would have contemplated buying one!! Hee. Actually, I’ve gotten away from using a “real” camera simply because I either hire someone to take professional photos of my listings, or I’m using my iphone to take “social” photos and am uploading those to Facebook on the go. Because of the way I use my digital images – mostly on the web, I don’t find a need for HD photos, so it really never occurred to me…

@Pam – THANK YOU!!! I agree, it really is ALL about my gorgeous amazing incredible cottage for sale across the street from the beach! You just gave me a great idea, I should use my OWN house for the home video comparison – duh!

Katie Minkus, R(BIC)

March 25, 2011

@Claire – I LOVE my new iPhone 4 – I was one of the first to buy the original iPhone and have been a fan ever since. I personally find the video and the facetime feature incredible!

@Tracy – well, that’s a good question. I don’t have an answer except that they apparently aren’t located near the flips at Costco, because otherwise I would have contemplated buying one!! Hee. Actually, I’ve gotten away from using a “real” camera simply because I either hire someone to take professional photos of my listings, or I’m using my iphone to take “social” photos and am uploading those to Facebook on the go. Because of the way I use my digital images – mostly on the web, I don’t find a need for HD photos, so it really never occurred to me…

@Pam – THANK YOU!!! I agree, it really is ALL about my gorgeous amazing incredible cottage for sale across the street from the beach! You just gave me a great idea, I should use my OWN house for the home video comparison – duh!

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