Friday, January 16, 2009

Dilemma



I have a very interesting dilemma right now. May dilemmas like these come everyday to me and my loved ones.

I recently participated in some contest and the prize was a Flip Video. And I won. I was excited! Now I could tape clips of birdie (my bird) singing, dancing, taking a bath and just being plain mean to me.

But then there was a curve ball. They called me and asked me if it would be OK if instead of the Flip they gave me a 150 dollars American Express Gift card. Flip costs about 129 dollars at Amazon and I could get a little extra stuff. Me being nice and accommodating, immediately said, "Sure. No problems. Sounds great."

So I went to the Amazon site and somehow started looking for camera lenses. And checked out the price of a lens I really want... Lensbabies. Sure enough I found one that was withing the 150 dollar range.

And now I don't know what to do. Buy Lensbabies or Flip? Flip I'll use once in a while. Lensbabies I'll use a lot. All my life. It will help me grow as a photographer.

Also, lensbabies was going to be part of my budget down the road. But I'd never buy Flip. I mean 3-4 videos and then what? But it is a nice to have thingie. I am not planning on posting a ton of videos on my blog. Lensbabies photos absolutely yes.

So what to do my friends? Do tell! Be practical? Be frivolous?

Flip or lensbabies?

10 comments:

Laura Marchant said...

I have a flip and I personally love it. I must have the bigger flip because it holds upto 60 minutes of video. I am horrible about videotaping the kids so I keep it in my purse to capture some of those great moments.
But now I went and checked out that lens and that sounds awesome.
Ok, so it's a toss up :-)

Ballerina Girl said...

getting something that you really want, like the lensbaby, is not frivolous. I would go for what you were going to enjoy and use more!
hope that my 2 cents helps :)
BG

Jenni said...

In my experience, I would get the lens. I would see the flip as something that I would get short enjoyment from, and while that enjoyment would be great, it might be short lived. The lens, however, would bring so much more long term enjoyment.

In the short term, you might kick yourself for not getting the flip; but in the long term you would be kicking yourself if you did get the flip.

Just my opinion.

Anonymous said...

First off: Congrats :D!
Second: Do they have more of those contests?
;)

Third: Videos are neat to have. I have the option on my "old"Point & Shoot cam. Good enough for me.

Fourth: Lensbabies are cool. I'm not sure how much I would love them, but they are cool.

So, I obviously can't help you in your dilemma. That is one you have to solve for yourself ;)

mythopolis said...

In my opinion get the one that most enables your photo work...the lensbabies, I don't know what that is, but you seem to think it has more general usefulness to you. As for "birdie" whom I would love to see singing in the tub, you can always borrow a digicam that has video features, if you don't currently have one. So I say lensbabies, as long as they are toilet trained and don't cry a lot.

Lisa, Mom, Ysa, daughter, said...

I'd go with the lens because I'm more practical and you would probably get more use out of it. I have a flip type thing that you can borrow if you want to play with it. That might get it out of your system :)

Carol said...

@Mythos said, "So I say lensbabies, as long as they are toilet trained and don't cry a lot."

Personally, I can say that my lensbaby has made me cry a lot, but, you know, that's me. Maybe Scriber's will have better luck with it. As far as the toilet trained...well...that's a different story...

LOL

Scriber's Web said...

Thank you all for helping me make the decision!

MM: Yes but you have two cute kiddos. Mine are all grown up and they cover up their faces every time I pull out a camera:( All I have is my birdie and you can only watch so many videos.

BG: Thanks BG. I think lensbabies it is! I know I'll use it a lot more than Flip.

Jenni: Thanks for your advice. What you said makes a ton of sense. I don't even know why I want a flip. You are awesome!

Nicole: The contest was about posting stuff in one of the work google groups. The person who would post the most would win. I guess my blogging experience really helped out. I got all kinds of responses. I asked questions that I knew would get a response. I was just trying to break the ice:)

Mytho: Thanks for your advice! I think I will have a ton of fun with lensbabies! And no worries. I am done with toilet training and crying. Been there done that. These babies are well trained:)And they never grow up and leave you:)

Chai_girl: Thanks for visitng my blog. You rock! I would love to borrow your flip for a weekend. Thanks girl!

Carol: Your lensbabies photos are simply fab. If they need potty training or make me cry, I'll hand them off to you:)

Anonymous said...

If it was me...I'd buy the lens--using your logic--but instead of getting tons of use out of it, it would break and I would be out...

So, my advice is to buy the flip! And give yourself some piece of mind. :-)

Anonymous said...

Glad you came to an agreement with yourself ;)

Looking forward to see the pics :)

Maybe you can convince me to get a Lensbaby this summer, 'cause I don't think my savings will be up high enough for a macro lens, mmwwwahhhh ;)