A number of readers of this site and users of the Flip Video Camera have reported small problems with the operation of their Flip. I have experienced some myself, but compared the ease of use of the Flip Camera, I can live with a few problems.
Some of the fixes are easy and others are not.
Less memory after clearing the camera
This is a common problem. Say you have used the full 60:00 on the camera. You copy your videos to your computer and check the memory. It says 59:53 or something similar. Where did those 7,8 or 10 seconds go?
A fix exists - (http://www.fixya.com/support/t434532-lost_time_inaccessible_files_flip) - the problem may be with the Windows Recycle Bin. When the camera is attached and emptied, users say the Recycle Bin may be sticking a small file on the camera's memory. Connect the Flip to the USB port on the computer, empty your computers Recycle Bin and check the Flip memory again.
Battery short life or freeze ups
This has been connected with battery quality or battery life. Make sure you use high quality new batteries with your Flip Video camera (not a battery you fished out of your kid's toys or from the back of the junk drawer!).
Upgrade the firmware
There have been small problems identified by Pure and the Flip Camera community. Upgrading the firmware is easy and should be done every time a new version comes out.
High Speed USB Required
The Flip Video Camera requires a high speed USB port on your computer. Some USB ports are slower than others so try another port on your computer if video copying is not working or crashing.
Brought to you by The Flip Video Camera Store
where can you go to update your firmware ? how often have you noticed upgrade versions coming out ?
ReplyDeletethanks
matt
www.matthewblasseyphotography.blogspot.com
i reformatted my camera and whenever it records it goes from 60:00 to 59:10 normally. However, when i turn it off and turn it back on, its back to 60:00!!! I backed up the old files before i reformatted it and when i restored it, at first i thought it was going to work. I emptied my recycle bin and it was back at 60:00. BUT! i recorded and restarted the camera and it was back to 60:00. any ideas?
ReplyDeletethanks,
Luke
explodingcan@hotmail.com
I've been using the black flip mino and i love it.It newly position usb adapter pops up from the camera like a swiss army Knife. The other thing is that i am able to upload to video so easy.
ReplyDeleteI think it's Digital's Best Pocket Camcorder Yet.
But I guess other will say not
http://minohdvideocamcorder.com/index.php
When trying to send video to youtube I get the message
ReplyDelete"Due to an unexpected connection error the program is unable to upload your videos to youtube"
I can only imagine it is a firewall problem.
1. Where is the 'best place' to ask such questions?
2. Anyone else seen this and know how to solve it? I am connected to the web and I do have the correct userid password.
Thanks
To Peternolan9
ReplyDeleteI do not use the program with flip to upload to you tube. After saving your videos to computer, go to your YT page & click upload video, then slick the video you want uploaded. Works all the time that way for me.
Just my luck, a month after the warranty expires. My flip camera will not turn on now with the power button. Anyone else have this problem? Any ideas on a fix? This really stinks, I have taken extreme care to be sure the camera does not get damaged and this happens. :-(
ReplyDeleteI purchased the Flip Video and was instantly amazed by the simplicity and intuitive engineering of the device. I was an extremely happy customer until I needed support. Every once in a while I would turn on the camera and instead of getting a video image, I got a black screen. Restarting the unit usually took care of the issue.
ReplyDeleteNow after a year, I only get this black screen and nothing else, the camera will no longer function. I contacted Pure Digital Technologies for assistance and we began the troubleshooting process. I was told to take out the batteries for 2 days and put in fresh ones and try again. This did not work. Pure Digitals response? They informed me I was past my 90 day warranty and sorry for the inconvenience. Case closed and marked solved. They have chosen not to respond to any further requests for help.
A quick search on the net showed me that I am not alone with this problem... This appears to be occurring rather often with their product and they are unwilling to stand behind their quality if your purchase happened more than 90 days ago. This is by far the weakest link in Pure Digital technologies flip video chain. My advice... Spend the extra $ and get another manufacturer's product that is built to last. As cool as this video camera was, consumer electronics should not be a crap shoot.
The videos from my Flip 2nd Generation Ultra HD camcorder are all blue when I play them back on my computer. Has anyone else had trouble with this? It seems to make no difference what the lighting is in the recording including indoor vs. outdoor.
ReplyDeleteDOES ANYONE KNOW WHAT PROGRAM TO USE TO DOWNLOAD THE ONE HOUR FLIP MINO AND BURN TO DVD? ROXIO AND NERO DON'T WORK...THE MANUFACTURERE IS OF NO HELP.
ReplyDeleteI Formatted the flip disk drive and then I got back 2hrs !!!!
ReplyDeleteTo P - I have an Ultra HD - not sure if it performs exactly the same - but I use Windows Movie Maker and Windows DVD Maker with good results. I also have Windows 7 professional and am not sure how that software is on previous versions, but suspect it is pretty similar. I download the clips or movies from Flip with create DVD and save to a file, then upload to Movie Maker. It also allows additional titling and editing (such as flipping shots that someone took sideways:(). I have also used Aimersoft and was very impressed but that runs about $35 compared to Windows for FREE.
ReplyDeleteMemory issue is an easy fix: connect it to your pc, my computer > flip > in the explorer window go to tools > folder options > view tab > select "show hidden folders" > then you will able to see a folder that says "trashes" > delete all the old files and you are good to go.
ReplyDeleteFlip Video after downloading only returns 15 minutes 30 seconds. Downloading onto an Apple. It shows no videos when you try to watch them on the camera. Does anyone know how to get it back to the 2 hours?
ReplyDeleteCan't thank you enough JD. I was going mad trying to figure out why my flip said 'camera full' when in fact i had deleted everything while plugged in to my laptop. However, I didn't literally delete the trash. I just went in, deleted the trash, unplugged my flip and IT WORKED!
ReplyDeleteWell My Camera is being retarded and so heres the problem...
ReplyDeleteWhen I turn it on and I recored with the red button and then it zooms by itself and then I try to stop recording and then I cant stop the recording and It won't respond when I try to stop the button so I don't know what the heck is wrong
wow, imagine that, 1 year after purchase and it no longer turns on. used duracell and the rechargeable( LOL ) battery. the rechargeable battery would not charge and the FLIPping thing would no longer work. lost an hour of preciuos video. POS!!!!!!
ReplyDeletehello everyone. help us. we just bought a FLIP and when we try to view the videos on our computer it seems like the video is choppy like the slow motion. can anybody help me?
ReplyDeleteTo Anonymous, I have exactly the same problem on the ultra HD Flip bought it 2 days ago and playing the vid on computer is really choppy! someone must have the answer to this? tried it on a couple of computers and same problem????
ReplyDeleteFound one option to the problem, as suggested, copy the files onto a memory stick and then view either through windows media centre or PS3/Xbox etc.Gets rid of the choppy/jumpy picture.
ReplyDeleteWhat if the recycle bin is already cleaned
ReplyDeletesome times I have to remove a battery and reinstall to get it to turn on, less than a month old any ideas?
ReplyDeleteFlip Ultra HD III I think.
is the any other way to say the video besides on the computer like when im on the vacation n i dont have my laptop handy n my memory is full. is there nething else out there that i can save the videos to?? help!!
ReplyDeleteI got the flip as a present and thought, this is great compared to my older video cam. Trying to use it to record the family opening Christmas presents, however, was a real disappointment. After about 15 minutes the batteries died and it shut off. I didn't know this until we were done opening and I found out I missed almost all of it, all of which is now lost. Be careful, keep you clips short and be prepared to send a lot on batteries.
ReplyDeleteMine won't even turn on... from the first day. Does it open?
ReplyDeleteMine won't even turn on... from the first day. Does it open?
ReplyDeleteThe bottom compartment is where the batteries go. Open and check the batteries.
I recorded several vids on my Flip Camera Mino HD (8GB) over the holidays. When I plug it in my MAC to play it back and upload the videos it becomes frozen and there is a delay in the video being played versus their mouths actually moving. Please help!!!
ReplyDeleteWe bought a Flip Ultra HD for Christmas and it would never turn on. The light turned on a couple times but it would never actually charge or power on. We just exchanged it. I hope this batch of cameras aren't as buggy as they seem! I'm charging the second one with fingers crossed. We have an older FLip Mino and absolutely loved it...hope they still live up to their name.
ReplyDeleteYes I did and it worked. I had no time left on the camera but no video stored at all. So I went and emptied the recycle bin and the time opened up and increased the video time. Dont know how but it did. Thanks
ReplyDeletedell 1525 pentium r processor 2 gig 1.73 ghz wont download software get error or files compromised thats bull flip said i need pent 4 with 3.00 thats nuts best buy never said that it may be vista i installed update from flip dodnt help
ReplyDeleteFlip Share sent me an update of my software and as soon as I did that I started getting error messages. I went to Flip.com to talk to a "Live Chat" person and they said I needed 3G for that program and my computer is 2.79G. So I removed that software and went to download the 4.5 software that says it works with 2.0G and everytime I click on it my whole computer freezes up. The support person said someone would call me but they haven't. I cannot use my camera now. the same thing happened to my daughter after she updated. I just want bcak the software I had before that worked well for a year. Can anyone help??? JK
ReplyDeleteI just tried to record and it recorded for one minute and now it says " It's too hot" and turns off. What am I doing wrong?
ReplyDeleteThe product works great ... when it works. But, it is replete with stability and performance and reliability problems such as failure to respond to start button; battery lifespan is dreadfully brief; battery charge times are dreadfully brief. I think the product is woefully under powered. A weak battery can be the root cause of an almost infinite combination of electrical problems. Good clean strong abundant power solves lots of electrical mysterys.
ReplyDeleteJK - The same thing happened to my daughter's Flip. She hasn't been able to download her videos since she installed the update. The live chat she "spoke" with blamed it on Windows Media and wouldn't help her. I've been researching this lately and have found that the lack of customer service is a big problem with this company. Hopefully someone will respond to your (and now my) problem soon. VL
ReplyDeleteI am not very computer savvy........so, this FLIP seemed like it was right up my alley.
ReplyDeleteHowever, most of the people I share videos with cannot open them.
Any thoughts??? Please, keep it very basic.
THANK YOU!!
i have the new 8gig flip and the screen has been broken, contacted the live help at flip.com and said i was happy to pay for new screen, was told they dont do repairs. now have a $280 paper weight. very poor service
ReplyDeletecan some one help i have deleted some of my videos
ReplyDeletebut some i would like them back where can i retrieve
them, some i put into a video file but they come up as camcorder previe ws it,s a picture and not a
movie can any tell me please help me bb
Fed up!
ReplyDeleteThe Flip is really flippy! Temperamental. Sometimes it goes on, most of the time it's off. Very frustrating and not dependable. Too bad the company doesn't back up their product. They just lost one customer here from ever spreading a good word about their "unreliable" product. It's a bunch of crap...and I hate it! I want my money back! You can tell I'm so frustrated!
I really need help. I can actually turn on my flip camera, but I can't record, zoom in, review my vids, and more. I can't do anything! Can someone help??? By the way, I have an ultra HD flip
ReplyDeleteAnyone having syncing problems? The video is way behind the audio.
ReplyDeletemy ultra would not reset back to full 60 minutes. Live chat had me go through a whole bunch of steps and finally Camera went back to 60 minutes. Then had me down load their upated software version and then the tech abruptly hung up on me. to test, I shot one vidoes for 7 seconds, uploaded to my pc. Then unplugged my cam from the pc, deleted it off the cam and remaing time now says 57.39 minutes and CAMERA IS EMPTY. (Also, my Recycle Bin on my PC is empty - so can't delete anything there!) HElp, help, help. I need to record a full 60 minutes lecture.
ReplyDeleteI have a flip ultra 2nd generation that went bad the 5th or 6th month. It eats up batteries way to fast. I bought a rechargeable battery and charger and it doesnt charge all the way. Tech support tells me it a defect. This thing doesnt hold up at all. They want 78.00 for a replacement but I dont trust the products durability.
ReplyDeletealot of battery problems with this camera.
ReplyDeleteCan anyone help, Ime getting play back judder on my computer ,but not on the flip itself... a message comes up that another programe is playing..I ve had this checked out, no result ,,,, Any ideas please .....
ReplyDeleteAbout 3 days after purchase, the battery suddenly doesn't fit tight. My son guessed that a spring came out that holds the battery in place, but never noticed a spring. And if this is what happened, I must express my disappointment that this high tech camera would be so poorly made!!! Any suggestions?
ReplyDeleteSET LANGUAGE:
ReplyDeleteI took my battery out for the first time and put AA batteries in. When I turn my Flip Video ultra HD on the screen asks to Set Language. The buttons seem to be frozen. I get no response as I push each button. This screen will not close and allow me to take video. Any ideas?
THANKS!!!
When I turn my Flip Ultra HD on the message hold for set-up shows up and locks up. I cannot get the message deleted, the camera just locks up. The only way to turn the camera off is to remove the battery.
ReplyDeleteI replaced the battery pack, same problem.
Any suggestions?
I had problems with flipshare. I was loading videos from iphoto using the facebook load the video.. and now my mac states that the files are unreadable. I just want to post to facebook. It changed overnight.
ReplyDeleteThanks for posting this. My friend and I were down to 2 minutes on each of our flips and we just healed our cameras thanks to your recycle bin suggestion! Life saver!
ReplyDeleteI had one of these cameras. Try talking to customer support about a problem which I've had from day 1, they wanted me to pay 90 for something which should still be in warranty. The power usage is huge, it eats up batteries like there's no tomorrow. It was suggested to update the firmware which I did and this brought with it more problems. I got a lawyer to write a letter, they offered to exchange it but I said no as it was defective from day one. I kept a record of each contact with their chat and phone calls. My lawyer served papers on them to appear before a court. Several days before they refunded my money.
ReplyDeleteBottom line...DON'T EVEN THINK ABOUT BUYING HERE!!! You've been warned
when i plug into the computer the picture is too big for the screen the toolbar disappears off the bottom of the screen and i am unable to record anything.Can anybody help me as i am not very computer savvy
ReplyDeleteNormally my Flipshare software would open up when I plugged in my Flip UltraHD(2hrs) but I recently plugged it in and instead of the software opening up it said that Flipshare has encountered an error. So I restarted the computer, uninstalled and reinstalled the software and even troubleshooted the problem. What Windows troubleshooter told was that Flipshare was a incompatible application? I'm really not sure what it going on.
ReplyDeletewe have high speed internet, but it takes forever to send video to youtube. How can we speed it up???
ReplyDeleteI just got the ultra hd 2 hr today. i set it up and did everything it said to do then i turned it on and it showed my living room thru the screen and said "ready" in green so i pushed the red record button and the screen went black and the numbers said 0:00 in red. it's almost like it has a lense cap and i forgot to take it off. lol. then it stayed that way, wouldn't change or anything. i had to take the battery out to get it to go back to the main screen. like an idiot i tried it about 5 more times still the same thing. i contacted support adn they just havent answered me. i'm so sad. i was so excited to use this!
ReplyDeleteI brought a new flip ultra HD recently. I took it out the box, turned it on and pressed the record button. The screen turned black with red 00:00 on the top left corner. I removed the battery pack and put it back in to see if that helps and it id not. I even tried reformatting it and installing the firmware again. It did not help either. Can someone please help me figure out what the problem and how to fix it. I have connected the customer support (Web Chat) and they said they will get back to me soon.
ReplyDeleteThanks
VP
THIS CAMERA IS JUNK !!! unfortunately. Mine worked great for about 3 weeks, then started spontaneously turning off. Every time I turned it on, it would shut off immediately. I tried every kind of batttery in a 10-mile radius with no luck
ReplyDeleteI returned the camera (because I couldn't find the original receipt) for repair. Came back, worked one day........same thing, shut off as soon as I turned it on. I returned the camera for repair, but this time it took them 2 months to ship it back to me.
When I got it back, 3rd time now, same thing....worked for about 20 minutes, then shut off as soon as I turn it on.
I know they just keep shipping the same piece of crap back to me as "refurbished", hoping I will throw it away and leave them alone.
But I am going to bug them, and bug them, and bug them until they send me a new camera or take them to court. Don't waste your energy or hard-earned money on what could have been a very cool little camera.
I think I found a fix for a lot of the issues with the Flip Ultra HD. I went through complete hell with tech support and they couldn't get it to work. Finally they just threw their hands up and said, "Sorry, it's defective. No soup for you." - then they offered to SELL me a replacement. Ugh.
ReplyDeleteAfter trying everything they suggested, I finally took over and tried using some common sense. It appears to be working fine now. If it starts acting up after posting this, I'm never going to give advice on the internet again. :)
When you talk to their tech support, they will have you install/uninstall/re-install their garbage flip software. Then they have you delete all of the files on the camera, plug it in, reinstall the software and then pray it works. It never does. What I did was went in and deleted all of the files on the camera and uninstalled their software. After doing that, the camera works fine. It powers up, records, and works the way it's supposed to. The only caveat is that you can't use their software to store, share, etc. But now you can simply plug it into the USB and treat it as a external drive. You can pull your videos off and store them how you please.
If running their software (FlipShare) is important to you, then I'm not sure what to say other than maybe installing it on a different computer and transfer the files. It seems to me one breaks the other and I would rather have a working camera than the ability to create web albums or upload to Facebook. I can do that myself with no issues.
I hope this helps.