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Hands-On With New Flickr Video

by Tim Stevens on April 9, 2008 at 09:24 PM


For those with a photographic bent, Flickr is the place to be. It has evolved into a giant community for would-be and definitely-are quality photographers to share their pictures with peers for critique, while also serving as a place for more casual shooters to simply upload their favorites to share with friends. It has always been just photos, though. That's finally changing with the release of Flickr Video, which enables users to upload video clips along with their stills. We played around with the new feature earlier today and here's what we found.....

For starters, videos live and are categorized and tagged right next to photos, so they're almost indistinguishable from photos (thanks to the clean and simple player interface Flickr has released). There's also a strict 90-second limit on videos, which may seem somewhat constricting, but from what we've seen thus far, tends to result in most being short and artsy vids that are quick to digest but tend to stay with you. That's a stark contrast from the long-winded vlogs that dominate YouTube.

We definitely like the simple interface and of course love the high video quality. We also like the varying aspect ratios offered, whether tall and narrow or more traditionally square. The ability to upload vids directly from a camera is also nice. However, there is a catch: Only "Pro" users have the ability to upload. At $25 per year, turning Pro doesn't exactly break the bank, and you also get unlimited photo uploads out of the deal. Still, with so many free competitors out there, it's unlikely that many casual users will choose to pay up, even if the quality elsewhere doesn't compare.

So, a direct YouTube threat this ain't, but if non-paying users are allowed to join in the fun and upload their videos, Flickr Video could become the go-to place for serious amateur videographers.

From TechCrunch

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Tags: featured stories, featuredstories, Flickr, video, YouTube

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