photo credit: Carissa GoodNCrazy

I don’t know how I’ve managed to survive my whole life without Pure Digital Technologies’ Flip Video Camera. Small, compact, and so simple to use – I chuckle when I think back to the days of having to set up a tri-pod, flip out the little swivel window on my big-as-a-breadbox camera and navigate my way through a maze of buttons to start, pause and zoom. And oh how I remember the archaic way of having to attach component cables to the television and transfer the video onto VHS tape residing in my VCR before I walked five miles to school in the snow. Uphill. Both ways.

But those days are gone. Fortunately, the Flip Video Camera makes video recording seamless and easy and puts out some pretty good quality video too. I’m not saying it rivals expensive digital cameras but it holds its own particularly in low-light situations. The sound comes through nicely too.

About the size of a small point and click, the Flip has everything it needs to operate right inside itself. The USB pops out to hook into your computer – no cables needed at all. All of the necessary software is in the camera itself. It launches as soon as you plug the USB connector in to your computer. It takes a couple of minutes for the Flip Muvee software to load but other than that, as soon as you connect it, you can watch your videos and publish them on YouTube or other sites. There is also a link for sharing the videos via email. What’s nice about this is you don’t have to upload a huge file and try to send it – the recipients are sent a link to your video.

There is a jack for a TV connector if you think it’s not necessary to upload your film to a video sharing site or your PC at all. The connectors are included as well. You can watch what you shot in an instant right on your TV.

Charging the camera is a thing of the past. A couple of standard AA batteries makes charging an internal battery unnecessary. One word of caution, though – have plenty of batteries on hand. You’ll go through them quickly. The Flip also hooks up to any standard tripod mount too. Some of the nice albeit standard features are a no-glare screen, a big red record button that you can’t miss even if you’re recording in the dark, and a speaker for those folks in a super hurry to watch their film right on the camera’s screen. And if you don’t like what you shot – two clicks will send it to the trash.

Since the Flip Video comes with everything you need to shoot and transfer your videos, you won’t need to buy accessories but you can if you want to. There are underwater cases which are nice if you dive or do other water-related things. You can find a tri-pod, a carrying case and some other cool accessories on the Flip website.

What I love best about the Flip is its portability. You can always have it with you because it’s small enough to fit in a pocketbook or jacket pocket. It’s the perfect camera for those candid moments when you don’t have the time or desire to run inside, find your video camera and go through a lot of setup.

The Flip camera keeps the kids busy too. They will shoot videos of themselves and their friends for well, not hours on end, but quite a long time. It’s small enough that they can easily manipulate it and simple for them to upload the video and watch themselves on our PC. And the price is nice too – starting at about $150 – I don’t have to worry about them possibly abusing it as much as I would an expensive camera.

One of the cons with the Flip video is the amount of space – you can only shoot about 2 gigs which ends up being about an hour’s worth of video. You can’t purchase an expansion card for the Flip which would allow you to shoot extensive videos. But for the money, it really does what it was designed to do – effortlessly record short videos that can be easily uploaded to your TV or your computer and can be quickly shared with your family and friends.

UPDATE: The Flip is Now Available in HD! Check out the prices for the Flip UltraHD Camcorder on Amazon here.

One of the questions people ask me all the time is what digital camera they should get. Since new models come out all the time, it usually takes some time to research the best cameras at any point in time. So I decided to put together a list of the best and most popular digital cameras (point & shoot) for the second half of 2007 by comparing available information and data from Amazon, Flickr, eBay, Circuit City, dpreview, CNet, and more:

Canon Powershot SD850 IS Digital Camera

Price: $356.48 (Click to check current price)

This camera is a new model from the popular Canon Powershot / Digital Elph line. It’s an Amazon Bestseller (4.5/5 star rating), is one of the highest rated point-and-shoot cameras on Zdnet, dpreview, and Cnet. I’ve loved the Elph series since a friend of mine bought one in 2002 – the picture quality has always been really superior.

• 8 Megapixels
• Image stabilization
• 4x Optical Zoom
• Face detection & red eye correction
• High quality lens & 2.5″ LCD screen
• More features and reviews

See sample pictures taken with the Canon Powershot SD850 IS.

Black Sony Cybershot DSC-T100 Digital Camera

Price: $353.88 (Click to check current price)

A few years ago I bought the Sony Cybershot DSC-T1, an older model of this camera, after spending days researching the best options. It was my favorite camera for a very long time. The Cybershot T100 is the new model of the same line but is much improved. It’s slim and compact – perfect for your pocket (without making a buldge). It comes in silver, black, and red (the black version is very sleek and sexy). It’s one of the highest rated cameras at Circuit City, ZDnet, Cnet, and a bestseller on Amazon.

• 8 Megapixel
• Carl Zeiss (quality) lens with 5x Optical zoom
• Image stabilization
• 3″ LCD screen
• Quality MPG Video mode with in-movie zoom
• More features and reviews

See sample pictures taken with the Sony Cybershot DSC-T100.

So there you have it. My picks for the best two point and shoot cameras in the market today – just because I know they’re both very well rated, I’ve had personal experience with each line, and have seen the quality of the pictures taken with them. If anyone asks me what camera to get, I’ll just point them to this page (for the next few months at least). Oh, and if either of these are out of your price range and you don’t need it to be very compact or full-featured, you might want to check out the Canon Powershot A550, which is a good value at $128.94.

See the entire Amazon bestseller list or look at Trey’s SLR camera recommendations if you’re looking for something more sophisticated.