Contour Vs. GoPro

[jtryz]

I am torn.
Its like, I wish thier was one a camera that did everything I want..

So if anyone here is wondering about them, this is what i came up with

GOPRO
I still have the original go pro, THE OLD ASS ONE. She still works BUT
Problem are:
Lens is not a wide lens and it shoots in 720 only. Only takes a 2GB card (thats around 50minutes) and depends on temp, battery life is about an hour. It works but no comparison to new ones...
You have to have the gopro facing like a normal camera or upside down mode. so positioning sometime sucks and turning it off and on is a waste of time having to find the right time to turn on so you dont waste battery and SD memory
Records in AVI, so easy to load and play with...

Newer model GOPRO has wide angles, longer battery life, bigger capacity for SD cards and 9690-1080HD and they cost a small fortune


CONTOUR
My new contour Roam was great until I realized how much a wide angle lens makes a differnce.
It shoot in many differnt modes that I can change as well as volume on the desktop, easy to use.
I can slide it on and off in the moment which makes it AWESOME. The rotating lens allows you to have it in any position , just rotate the lens

BUT, without a wide angle makes it hard to do close ups because it has the same shot as my original Gopro,
Records in MOV. pain in the ass

Here is what I mean

This is the dumb extention arm i was trying to make for the contour. Thinking it was going to be awesome. It extends back about 7inches to help give th wider view. UmMMMM, the picture looked fair, but the arm is stupid and the vibration, not good

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DYY7MdcG-I


I borrowed my friends wideangle gopro and tesed it on the way home. All i did was mount it to a stickey pad that they come with behind my seat to the fiberglass, so no goofy looking contraption for people to stare at, and the wide angle is SOOO much better looking and no vibrations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXj2JClCvhU




So if I had the contour that close you would just see my back.

Conclusion
With the newest gopro, you have serious battery life, wide angle HD BUT the best part is what makes the differnce, The remote function
http://gopro.com/hd-hero-accessories...-remote-combo/
Makes it perfect to put anywhere and use without stopping. I will get one for sure

Contour, best use is to make it the full time helmet cam easy to fuction and I can still put it anywhere.

I NEED BOTH!!!!!!

[Lxpony]

I remember that ride we did last year and you.ran two gopros on each end of bike right?

[G21forme]

Idk about the contour but have you seen the new gopro commercial shot entirely with the hero 2? I have yet to use mine but it seems pretty damn impressive.

[jtryz]

I remember that ride we did last year and you.ran two gopros on each end of bike right?

Yup. u ready for another ride?

[Expat]

I just picked up the Hero 2 after quite a bit of reading.
The contour is more compact but the GoPro appeared to have the better features, I haven't used it yet so only time will tell!!

[jtryz]

The contour for helmet looks better but gopro is pretty sweet. i watch fear factor. They use both

depends on what u want

[tsorfas]

I got both the regular contour (not the gps) and the gopro hero. I like the gopro quality better but it's a pain in the ass to turn on off and shooting modes. Contour is def more simple and still amazing quality.

[jtryz]

Its like i want both for diff reasons

[Svenny]

I have a Drift HD170... http://driftinnovation.com/hd170-stealth-camera/ ... they are available for about $160 now. It is a little bigger, but I like the on-board lcd screen and little remote it comes with. The sound really sucks though, unless you use the optional remote mic (so I've read). I McGuyver'd the handlebar mount onto an old Navigon gps suction mount I had and mount it to my tank looking through the screen. It comes with the handlebar mount, helmet mount, goggle strap mount, and a wrist strap for the remote. The clip on the camara lets you snap in and out of the different mounts as needed. The lens rotates like the contour, and the menu setup on the screen makes it easy to change settings on the road. It is wide angle 1080HD and uses a SDHC card up to 32 gig. But again...the on-board sound SUCKS...
Here is some vid I shot last November out in California...I dubbed music in because the sound was useless. It was mounted to the suction mount on my tank. Watch it in full screen - Youtube is only 480P, the regular file is 1080 and looks great on an HD tv. (edit...now there is a 780p setting available)

[bryco13]

Didn't try the Contour, but it was on my recent list of a new camera to buy. The Hero HD2 won out due to the readily available mounts and ease of use (i'm not very tech savvy). I've only had a few chances to use it so far but i'm very pleased with the quality. Just my .02. Good luck!
-bryan

[Bellysoup]

GoPro is the way to go, tons of mounting parts and good company support. plus if you leave the waterproof case on it the sound is very good on the bikes. All other cameras suck for sound, all you hear is terrible wind noise. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8kq4K...80WmulHoByMJ0=

[nhbubba]

The countour roam has a 1/4-20 threaded tripod mount in the bottom of it. Finding nearly infinite mounting options should be as easy as firing up www.rammount.com.

I have not owned a GoPro. I really wanted one. Seemed like the rig to get... until Amazon did their $90 deal on the Roam last xmas.

At full MSRP, this is a much more difficult decision. At $90 the Roam is a no-brainer of a deal.

Some upsides of the Roam are that it is (supposedly) waterproof out of the box as is. And the aluminum outer shell speaks to durability. I also prefer the contour form factor over the boxy GP.

I hadn't even noticed that the GP's lens was wider. I feel the Roam's lens is pretty natural feeling. Especially when mounted to a helmet. Randy's helmet mounted vids are great. I intend to mount mine up on my new Scorpion at some point myself.

The biggest cons against the Roam, as I see it are:
- Can't change camera settings on the fly
- Mov/H.264 output is a PITA to edit with... I finally found some software that will work with it (iMovie '11 does, '09 did not)
- Very easy to get lens rotated wrong
- GP HD2's image quality is better, from the samples I've seen
- More people use/post tips for/offer accessories for/etc the GP's (as noted, the 1/4-20 thread somewhat negates the mounting option aspects of this)

Mounted off the mirror bracket on my V-Strom:

[jtryz]

Looks like im not the only one thats nott 100% satisfied with roam. they both serve their purpose

[nhbubba]

For the price, I am 110% satisfied. As I said, at full MSRP, it would probably be different.

BTW: I should add that iMovie '11 does not edit the Contour video natively. It seems to insist on transcoding it before you can edit.

[03Worc9R]

Is it too early for deals on the Hero2?
Anyone find anything better than $300.New ?

[RandyO]

For the price, I am 110% satisfied. As I said, at full MSRP, it would probably be different.

BTW: I should add that iMovie '11 does not edit the Contour video natively. It seems to insist on transcoding it before you can edit.

I didn't pay full MSRP, but I didn't get mine on the Amazon deal either, about $150 iirc. I'm satisfied, haven't got into any editing yet, want to, can't find time to learn. its at least waterproof in rain & snow, I'm got mine pretty wet, I like the profile mount on my helmet top. I'm thinking of getting a small laptop or handheld to be able to change settings on the road

[jtryz]

This is the contour and GP view from same spot behind the seat

Contour roam


GoPro Wide lens

[jtryz]

does anyone know how not to have the HD black line on top/bottom on the contour. Go pro also makes it the whole screen.....

[Expat]

Jeff, I paid $270 for mine from Cycle Gear but bought it in person in Texas!!

[Jim]

I like the Contour better because of it's size & easy slide to stop recording.

[jtryz]

Jeff, I paid $270 for mine from Cycle Gear but bought it in person in Texas!!

which one

[RandyO]

Go Pro Hero 2 has a 170° lens and Contour Roam had 170° lens, what is this "wide angle that Go Pro has that Contour doesn't ?

[keeena]

I went with the Contour b/c of the form factor, mounting options and ease of use. I hate the GoPro's mounting plate setup, limits you to a single axis. This is the only reason I went with the Contour. Major negative w/ the Contour is the audio, but I don't mind adding a line-in mic.

[RandyO]

I went with the Contour b/c of the form factor, mounting options and ease of use. I hate the GoPro's mounting plate setup, limits you to a single axis. This is the only reason I went with the Contour. Major negative w/ the Contour is the audio, but I don't mind adding a line-in mic.

my biggest dislike of the Contour is the documentation that comes or rather doesn't come with it

how do you add a line in mic?

[jtryz]

Go Pro Hero 2 has a 170° lens and Contour Roam had 170° lens, what is this "wide angle that Go Pro has that Contour doesn't ?

Look at 17. the pick is different. at a close range you get more pic with a wide angle