Flip Video Cameras

Being simple to use in nature one fo the real benefits of Flip video cameras is that there are so few controls to learn, but I thought in this article we could take a closer look at the various buttons and what they do so you'll have a better idea how to use your Flip video camera.

The Flip video camera has two buttons on it's sides - one on the left-hand side opens up a compartment at the top out of which the USB plug comes. So in essence, when you're ready to plug your Flip video camera into your computer and download your videos, you just press this button, then plug the camera into your computer using the little USB plug that is now protruding out of the top of your camera.

On the right-hand side of the Flip video camera is the on/off button, which is nicely placed (for right handed people) to naturally and quickly turn on the camera and have it ready to take film.

Then on the back of your Flip video camera you have seven separate buttons. One of these, the large, central, red record button is a "proper" button you press.

The other six buttons are arranged in pairs around the cntral record button and are touch-sensitive. Because of this they are very difficult to see when the camera is switched off, but as soon as you turn it on, it jumps into life and the six remaining buttons light up.

Firstly among those buttons are "left" and "right" buttons presnt on either side of the record button and these will help you move through the videos you've already made on your camera so you can play back any that you'd like to see. A further button therefore allows you to "play" or pause the video that is on screen whilst another button allows you to delete the video currently on screen.

The final two buttons are a "+" and a "-" button which do different things depending on whether you're recording video or watching a video you've already made. When recording, these buttons will allow you to zoom in or out, whilst when watching a video these buttons control the volums of the sound coming from your Flip video camera.

And that's all there is to it really. Just a few buttons to learn. No fancy menus or silly "double-clicks" or button combinations. Just a few to get the hang of, and the best way to do that is to simply get your Flip camera out and have a play. Just try taking some videos while pressing different buttons and you'll soon learn all the different controls.