ProdMod ™

I have a new camera light that is specifically built for the Flip Camcorder. This Flip Video Light outputs about 100 lumen and plugs into the USB plug of the Flip Mino camcorder. It can also work with other Flip Cameras. This allows you to take video at night or in complete darkness. This model runs on only 2 AAA batteries and will shine its light for about 1 hour, conveniently matching the Flip recording limit.  Even better, flip the switch down and you can charge your Flip Camcorder through the USB plug. Fresh AAA batteries will have enough juice to charge your flip for about 4 hours. You’ll only need 3 hours to charge your Flip!

CORRECTION!:

The flip light and charger, as it was designed on November 12, 2008, does not charge the Flip at the same rate as your PC would. For safety reasons the Flip assumes it is a low current device and limits the current draw to only 100mA. This current is so low that even after 4 hours of charging you wont see much change in your battery level.

To charge the Flip in about 3 hours you will need to “tell” the Flip it is connected to a high current source. To do this you simply short the D+ pin to teh D- pin of your USB jack. Now the Flip should draw 450mA to 520mA from the ProdMod Light and Charger. But drawing around 500mA through the 5V boost circuit means you are drawing over 2.5A from the 2 AAA batteries. With 1150mAh batteries your total charge time is only about 20 minutes at best. And 20 minutes of charging at about 500mA probably only adds about 8 minutes of recording time. I guess 8 minutes is better than nothing and besides, this would serve as a light 90% of the time. If the status of this project changes I will update, but for now I would consider this mostly a light rather than a charger.

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