Routine Videotaping concerts

<p>At my kid's school (the crowden music school) all of the concerts are videotaped. However, usually we also videotape it ourselves as well as at recitals etc. Also, in my other kid's high school concerts are not taped. Our camcorder broke. Does anyone have experience with the Flip video?
MinoHD™, 120 Minutes
UltraHD™, 120 minutes</p>

<p>thanks for your help</p>

<p>I have no experience with the Flip models, but I did recently purchase a mini video camera and decided to go with the Kodak Zi8. The main reason is that it seems to be about the only mini video camera with an external mic input, and I think almost any external mic will give better sound that the built-in mic. The Kodak also takes SD cards, so you can up the capacity, or swap out cards.</p>

<p>FYI, my Canon FS100 also has a mic port and records to SD-HC cards. I’ve gotten a lot of high-quality video on an 8GB card and not filled it up yet.</p>

<p>Their VIXIA line of camcorders is similar in size and features (including the mic port) and records in HD.</p>

<p>I love having small, simple compact video cameras for concerts. I have a FLIP HD camera (I forget if it’s mino or ultra) and the video is great. The sound, of course, is terrible, as it is on even a compact Sony or comparable brand with a built-in mic. But I also now have the Zoom Q3, with not-so-great video (although I hear a HD one is coming soon) and UNBELIEVABLE sound. For obvious reasons, the Q3 is now my recorder of choice for kids’ concerts. Sound is more important. You can also shut of the camera and make sound files with it - straight into itunes. I suspect I’ll give it to my son once the HD video version is out.</p>

<p>Our Flip camera is a lot of fun and we pull it out for all sorts of family gatherings.</p>

<p>BUT…the sound quality is not very good and the stability depends on how good you are at holding your arm still.</p>

<p>If you’re just using it for fast and easy home video, it’s not bad for the price, and it’s certainly easy to use.</p>