Reporters Flip for Pocket-Size Camcorder

It was reporter Jeff Maher's turn at the afternoon story meeting at Hubbard's KOB Albuquerque, N.M. News Director Rhonda Aubrey asked what he had for the 5 p.m. news. His answer surprised her. "My story's already shot," he replied, tapping his shirt pocket for emphasis.

Earlier that day, Maher got a tip that city fire marshals were ready to burst into local schools that were behind on safety inspections. With just half an hour's notice and no video crew, Maher dashed to Garfield Middle School where he captured the whole story with a camcorder no bigger than a pocket comb.

"I doubt if 90 percent of our viewers could see any difference," says Maher. "And it freed up a photographer to shoot another story, so it was much more efficient." (Watch Maher's story by clicking here.)

Photographers, reporters and producers at TV stations have been equipping themselves with low-cost consumer camcorders so they are prepared to go after stories wherever and whenever they break.

But Maher is among the first to shoot a story with Pure Digital Technology's new Flip Mino (pronounced "minnow")—a self-contained, solid-state camcorder that measures less than 2 x 4 inches, is virtually flat, and weighs just over three ounces.

The rechargeable Flip Mino captures 60 minutes of video and and comes with a built-in USB connector as well as its own editing and uploading software.

Flip Mino is the much heralded successor to the slightly larger Flip Ultra that captured a stunning 20 percent of the camcorder market.

Launched barely two weeks ago as a "fun tool for communicating and creatively expressing yourself," Flip Mino has a secret serious side. The rechargeable camera records up to 60 minutes of 640 x 480 video and contains a built-in, omni-directional mike and USB 2.0 connector. It also features an output jack that accepts an RCA dubbing cable (included.)

In his review of the Flip Ultra, New York Times gadget maven David Pogue praised the camera's overall quality, especially its low-light capabilities.

Pogue's colleague Brad Stone reports that in its first year, the Flip had captured a stunning 20 percent of the camcorder market. How is that possible? Pogue's theory is that Flip cameras are so simple to use they're mistake-proof. Therefore "mastery is immediate, and so is your sense of pride and happiness."

The Mino comes loaded with simple software to select, edit and store video on any PC or Macintosh, along with special applications to e-mail video clips or automatically upload them to YouTube or MySpace.

The diminutive camera sports an even tinier price: $179.99. That's about 1/250th the price of a typical broadcast camera.

Maher first used his Flip camera aboard a jam-packed city bus for a story about how high gas prices had overburdened public transportation. "At 6 a.m., no photographer was available," Maher says. "But I probably got even better sound bites because the Flip is a lot less intimidating than a $50,000 camera with a microphone and a light, especially in close quarters." (See the commuter story here.)

"There's no excuse for reporters to miss a shot anymore," says Doug Evans who's known for his Georgia's Most Wanted features on Fox's WAGA in Atlanta.

About a year ago, Evans first used his Flip Ultra when he learned reporters were barred from riding along during a SWAT Team training mission. "To shoot them driving, we actually duct-taped the Flip to the dashboard," says Evans. (See Evans' SWAT story here.)

More recently, Evans wedged his tiny Mino into his own dashboard to shoot through the windshield during a violent thunderstorm. "It led the newscast that night."

Just last week Evans' Mino served as a second camera during a dangerous detonation of a chemical "bottle bomb" like the ones planted by local teens. Evans' photographer shot the main explosion on a Beta SX camera while Evans used the Mino to record the firefighter preparing the bomb — and to catch his reaction to the explosion.

"When the bomb went off you could really see the shake. The Mino worked beautifully. We were all surprised it worked so well." (See the bottle bomb story by clicking here.)

Evans' success inspired his WAGA colleague, investigative reporter Dana Fowle, to purchase her own Mino. "I love the idea of having a small camera on me at all times," says Fowle, who first used her Mino to confront employees of a shady local business.

"My co-worker was covering the main entrance while I walked around back. I got there just as the employees were heading out the back door to avoid us. I pulled out my Flip and just like that got a shot," Fowle says.

Fowle also uses the Mino to survey locations for future projects. "If we're planning an undercover or surveillance story, I can bring back video to show the lay of the land. It really helps us to plan."

Fowle's next experiment will be to use her Mino to start a video blog this summer.

All three reporters initially faced skepticism about the picture quality of the tiny camcorders.

"My photographer originally ridiculed the idea," says Fowle. "But now he has one and he uses it as a second camera."

KOB's Maher says that, while dubious at first, his news director even bought Minos for the station's sales team, figuring it was well worth the low price to have extra pairs of eyes on New Mexico streets.

Flip Video's free editing software is useful for selecting clips, but falls far short of professional post-production standards. Both stations prefer to transfer and edit the Mino's video on high-end equipment, where picture and audio quality can also be enhanced.

Both KOB and WAGA are non-union shops. Although large-market reporters are often barred from shooting, strict jurisdictional rules are relaxing under recent labor contracts, especially for second cameras or video shot exclusively for online use.

"If I had my way," says Jeff Maher, "I would shoot all of my stories with the Flip camera. I really think it could revolutionize the television news industry. We sacrifice a degree of quality in exchange for less strain on the budget and much better efficiency."

Contributing Editor Arthur Greenwald covers new media for TVNewsday and writes the weekly Market Share column every Monday.