contour ROAM / HD helmet cam

[ftr rida28]

does anybody have any experiences with these? ive been looking at the contour roam and im likin what i see. i had a go pro about a year ago but it was constantly getting knocked on top of my helmet (woods riding) and i eventually lost the thing..the whole thing slid out of the mount somehow

im trying to compare them to the go pro's. i wouldnt be getting the new hero 2, not interested in dropping $299. the hd hero 960 will cost me about $150 and i can get the contour roam for around $120 on ebay.. idk about the helmet cam version. another thing i like about the roam is it has the still photo mode and its waterproof up to 1 meter.

contour hd 1080 helmet cam : http://www.amazon.com/Contour-1300-ContourHD-Helmet-Camera/dp/B002QGSYZ4

contour roam : http://www.amazon.com/Contour-1600-ContourROAM-Hands-free-Camcorder/dp/B005GLFSYQ

opinions?

[CR14]

Just got one and tested it today for a few minutes. I'm definitely happy with it. I used the swivel mount on the side of my helmet. The camera doesn't rattle around and it's very easy to get the perfect angle. The lens rotates, so you can mount the camera in just about any position. I also like that it has a much smaller profile than the gopros. There is a little more wind noise than many of the gopros I've heard, but it's not bad at all. It seems better than the other contour cameras I've listened to.

[stlavsa]

From my experience and research the ONLY thing better about it is the price and the smaller profile. Video isnt as great, the transition from light to dark isnt as good, and the audio isnt as good...

[blone]

From my experience and research the ONLY thing better about it is the price and the smaller profile.

Its also waterproof for a meter without a special case, the lens rotates 170 degrees rather than having to rotate the entire camera, the laser to help you align your shots, the one touch record switch, and the beefy aluminum body. Price and size aren't the only things it has going for it!

[MAZMAN]

agree, i have the contour gps and its a great little thing, video is great and profile is small, but one thing that its bad at is audio, way too much wind noise.

Then if you put the waterproof casing on it, its much better but then you lose the small profile...

I like it, but the audio is killing it, and with the audio being as important as the video it makes me wish i bought the go pro.

[ftr rida28]

thanks for the replies

[rolandk]

Here is a quick vid from todays indoor arenacross practice with my new roam:

http://youtu.be/Yq_PItQGQGU

I think the audio and video turned out pretty good. It was dark in the arena with bright lights on the ceiling and daylight coming through the doors and it still turned out good. You can hear the other bikes a lot better than mine, not sure why.

[ftr rida28]

the vid looks really good

[MAZMAN]

yea that audio is not too bad, way better then what im getting.

What audio gain are you using?

Ive tried heaps low gain but then you need to crank up your audio up way high to even just hear it, With gain high the wind noise is just too much, so cant win.

[CR14]

Here's a street bike video with no wind speed. I don't know what the guy did, if anything, to the mic, but it sounds good.

[eflyguy]

I like the contour for off-road helmet use as (a) I can use the goggle mount (so it's easy to move around) and ( it's lower profile, as you noted. Video is not as good as a gopro but I'm not making production quality movies, for me it's good enough. I also have two GoPro HD Heros but they are used for on-bike (mounted on the bike) filming, on the street (I have a couple of FZ1's)..

These were all filmed with the Contour HD, 720p 60fps. Light was pretty poor that day:

In this next one, all of the on-bike stuff is Contour, the rest was filmed with a Canon Elph:

.. and from a NASCAR Sprint-cup driving experience:

Here's a GoPro video for comparison:

..a

[rolandk]

yea that audio is not too bad, way better then what im getting.

What audio gain are you using?

Ive tried heaps low gain but then you need to crank up your audio up way high to even just hear it, With gain high the wind noise is just too much, so cant win.

Volume is set to ~75% of max. There is a recent firmware update that has something to do with the audio: http://help.contour.com/customer/portal/articles/235034-contourroam-v1-6-

[Rangerfng]

I have this camera and love it!!!!!!!!!!. Who out there is editing their videos. What programs are you using to do it. Windows Movie maker is not cutting it for me because I have to change the format of the file and it looses its chrispness. I need a little help. It does not seem that the story board on the Contour site allows for editing.