should be an interesting spring!

[Cruiser]

Wife ordered me a ContourHD cam for christmas.. I was going back and forth between the gopro and the contour for a while.. both have their benifits and issues..We went with the contour as I liked the video quality the best.. mounting is not as easy as the go pro.. but I think I have that worked out..
The best part is,, I should have it in the next day or two and if the snow holds out(or at least its light snow) I'll get out for a good video of the Broad mtn and Mt Pisgah..

 

[GMP]

Steve,

Contours are cool, nice construction, just less flexible in use. As far as quality a lot depends on your playback hardware/software. GoPros encode H.264 compression at a constant 15Mb/s for 1080x720 30fps. Send me a small clip from the Contour to analyze and compare. If you plan on doing any editing/re-encoding you will need a reasonably new PC or Mac for good performance. For simple clipping and playback MPEG Streamclip and the CoreAVC codec from CoreCodec used with Media Player work good. Macs just play through Quicktime. I'll give you a call.

 

[Cruiser]

I got a mac thats about two yrs old now.. so I should be good that way.. The reviews on them on many sites listed the contour as a "more pleasing video" as the go pro has a slight deformation issue. The wide angle even more so. Some do not notice this.. for some reason when I watch video from the wide angle gopro I have issues watching.. it mutes the hills a bit and its hard to see the terrain.. digitally the HD contour is about the same.. just a bit different lens type.. its not as easy to mount up in as many places as the go pro but thats ok..

 

[Cruiser]

Oh,, and digital specs were virtually identical between the two.. The big difference is the contour can be adjusted more.. although you need to do it hooked to a computer or buy a bluetooth hookup and the app for an iphone/droid, which you can look thru the camera thru the phone.. cool feature.. to be able to set up the camera and see what its looking at.. aim it at a trail them ride thru.. oh.. and to see some nice contour videos search for a user "myradiofailure" on youtube.. Thats Adam.. he videos a good amount of our rides.. he also plays a lot at NJMP on a R6..

 

[noobi]

The fish eye on the gopro is responsible for all the deformation. Makes the handlebars look like they are on backwards and what not.

We had an earlier ContourHD, the 720p only, and it was pretty finickey, it turned off if it ever got even a slight knock, the door was attached by rubber strips, and someone managed to breaks those off without too much effort. It also output files in a .mov format, which is an apple native. The video quality was really good, and the rotating lens never gave any issues, but it doesn't get used any more. We replaced it with a GoPro 960, so far the video quality is better, but it still has the fish eye lens. The battery door broke the first time we tried to change the battery.

Good luck with your camera, hopefully the editing isnt too difficult.

 

[Cruiser]

I have a buddy who has had one for a couple years now. He has several different movie editing programs on his Mac and I'm going to see if he will give me a breakdown of how, why and what. His videos turn out real good. Just something about Tge fisheye lense I can't handle. Watching the videos any length of time always make me a bit motion sick. Don't get that from the older gopro, regular helmet cams or the contour. Now contour makes a high end one,, does wide, or not.. Gps and many more features.. But at $500 it's too salty for me. I'm most likely going to get the waterproof case and a few different type mounts. They even have one for picatinny rail.. Mount it up to get a POV in paintball. I'm really liking the BT add on, so you can see what the camera sees while out on the trail.
Seems like it was just a few years ago we were using a high dollar lipstick cam and packing a camcorder in the backpack.

 

[stainlesscycle]

i had a contour hd, liked it a lot - the edges of the video when going fast don't look blurry like the gopro - it definitely looks better. be careful with the ittle rubber cover on the back - it is more fragile then you think. i sold mine, couldn't deal with the possibility of losing it (after i lost a gps in the woods...) and there are spare batteries for inexpensive that are oem to a digital camera.. - can't remember which model camera.....

 

[Cruiser]

I'm really thinking of the waterproof case,, that would help with the back cover issue.. from the look of the battery pics it looks like the olympus tough 8000 battery.. I think I have an extra one of those.. I'm hoping its the same.. looking for a good source for the 16g card too.. the one from contour is way too much.. Have seen them online for less than $10 somewhere..

 

[stainlesscycle]

yeah, as long as the card is fast enough it will work - the net has info on which card and battery...

 

[GMP]

Yeah the GoPro has a more universal wide angle lens thats perhaps a little too wide in 16:9, likely because of the underwater use option, as underwater a wide angle lens is not nearly as wide. I shot some in 960 (4:3) and its not as bad. You have to have a fair amount of wide angle or the video will be too active and jumpy, but the trick is just the right amount. For example, I was in Lake Placid, NY this week and did a bobsled run. A friend of mine rigged up his iPhone to do a video over the drivers helmet. It was so jumpy you could hardly watch it. The wide angle effect of flattening the terrain is just a downside of smoothing of motion. I hear that there is an aftermarket company making lenses for the GoPro, may look into that. I chose it for the robust utility and the fact that if I scratch or break the housing I can run down to BestBuy and get another one for $40, plus any other part or combo of mounting hardware. I can even dive with it to 185'. I spent years diving wrecks with an 8mm Sony camcorder in an aluminum housing with 2 65W Aquasun lights that was 2' across total. Cost me $3500 to set up, still have it, who would want it now?

Steve,

All you need is a card rated slightly more than the bit rate of the camera. I have a 16G PNY 20MB/s and it has been fine. Its likely the GoPro and the Contour have the same H.264 chip. Two year old Mac is fine. They really work hard and throw some heat when encoding, I got one of those bases with the fans for added cooling.

Oh, and as far as Youtube, don't use it to judge video quality. Everything is re-encoded and quality is not even close to what you store and/or host yourself.

 

[Cruiser]

Between mine yours and my Olympus tough I should be able to get some good footage this spring. I read that the first race in march has a no gps or camera/helmet cam rule. Still going to try to make that run.. Even if I have to leave the toy at home. If I get out next Sunday I'll send you any thing I record.

 

[stainlesscycle]

has a no gps or camera/helmet cam rule..

what series has that rule?

 

[GMP]

Do you mean Sandy Lane? GPS ban in ECEA is common but no helmet cam is news to me. I should be there, will be doing the HS on the 3&4th with the kids too.

I found some aftermarket lenses for the GoPro to correct the excessive fisheye.

 

[Cruiser]

yup,, sandy lane,, 75th anniversary enduro.. on the flyer this year in bold.. no gps or helmet cams.. I could see this going all ECEA,, or at least all NJ as that state its so hard to get land.. if they are close to questionable areas they dont want it broadcast all over youtube..

 

[GMP]

Steve,

I got the flyer but did not even look at it that close. I think its more about the concern of people documenting trail sections for returning after the event. That was always a standard warning and the reason behind a GPS ban, and since helmet cams have become so common now it makes sense that they would be worried about it.

I have to be very careful about what goes on YouTube, some careful editing and reordering. Its amazing that you can read signs on trees in HD. I saw one guy documented a long ride in my area including road sections on an unlicensed MX bike for the world to see. It pissed me off, but is also very stupid on his part as its very clear evidence of tresspassing.