A good helmet camera?

[MrHappyCyclist]

I have been a bit puzzled by the HD resolutions quoted. I am using a 1920x1200 screen, but when I switch the 1080p videos to full screen (at 1080p setting) the image only fills about 66% of the screen width and 58% of the height, which suggests I'm still only seeing 720p. Does YouTube cut down the resolution, or does anyone know of another reason for this?

 

[magnatom]

The POV.HD is not CCD it is 1/2.7” HD CMOS sensor, according their website.

That's corrected. Not sure where I found the reference for it being CCD, it was obviously wrong!

 

[magnatom]

I have been a bit puzzled by the HD resolutions quoted. I am using a 1920x1200 screen, but when I switch the 1080p videos to full screen (at 1080p setting) the image only fills about 66% of the screen width and 58% of the height, which suggests I'm still only seeing 720p. Does YouTube cut down the resolution, or does anyone know of another reason for this?

I'm not sure why that is happening to you. It fills the whole width of my screen (1680x1050).

 

[HLaB]

got a quick question... Does anyone use their camera's simply to capture the scenic route on a weekend ride? or do you guys use them incase of accidents so you can prove who was responsible for the accident?

I tend to fit mine occasionally to capture some weekend rides but I doubt my low quality camera could even prove who was responsible for an accident and I rather not be involved in one anyway ;-)

 

[HLaB]

It might be worth checking out part 1 of my Four Helmet camera review, even if only to see a picture of me wearing 4 helmet cameras!

Its a good job you didn't test out the ATC HD GPS (or whatever its called, I prefer the term yellow brick and its probably more accurate ;-) ) your neck would have probably collapsed !

 

[BSRU]

got a quick question... Does anyone use their camera's simply to capture the scenic route on a weekend ride? or do you guys use them incase of accidents so you can prove who was responsible for the accident?

I'd say both, the problem with the scenic rides is the file size and the time it takes to render then upload to YouTube, one video I uploaded took two hours, even on a 16Meg link.

 

[HLaB]

I'd say both, the problem with the scenic rides is the file size and the time it takes to render then upload to YouTube, one video I uploaded took two hours, even on a 16Meg link.

For nostalgia I uploaded this vid (be warned its not the most exciting 22 mins); I chopped out a fair bit and it still took ages to upload even at the ATC5K crap quality settings.

 

[HLaB]

For anyone interested part 2 of the review is up. It contains night time video. Interesting results and probably not what you would expect....

Nice comparison, without having looked at the detailed text from the footage the Contour looks head an shoulders above the rest.

Edit do you still have the cameras ? it'd be good to see them side by side and have a few comments on their build etc, its a bit hard to tell when they are strapped to your head :-)

 

[zizou]

I have a gopro hd - i didnt get it just for cycling but for watersports too so obviously being waterproof (rather than just resistant) was important after video quality. Since i've got it i have found the variety of mounts to be useful - i have mounts that are suitable for helmets, for handlebars/seatposts etc, a chest strap, a suction cup for surf boards and a wrist strap for scuba... this variety is where the gopro is strongest against the competition for me, however if it is only for use mounted on a helmet then i reckon the contour hd will be a bit better, certainly more streamlined. Video quality on them both are really good.

Video quality for uploaded videos is hard to compare though - in terms of userbase and popularity then youtube is far and away the best, however the videos are pretty compressed there and something that looks excellent prior to upload can lose alot of quality once on the site even when viewing in HD - with a site like vimeo the streamed videos are virtually the same quality as what it looks prior to upload.

I also have a muvi and while i found it pretty temperamental to use, the video quality was decent enough for the price and would be good enough for capturing incidents etc.

 

[magnatom]

Nice comparison, without having looked at the detailed text from the footage the Contour looks head an shoulders above the rest.

Edit do you still have the cameras ? it'd be good to see them side by side and have a few comments on their build etc, its a bit hard to tell when they are strapped to your head :-)

I don't still have them, except the Contour GPS which I bought. However, I will be adding a write up later this week (or possibly next week)


Dogcam have given me a Bullet HD Wide to test. This might be the answer to benb's search for a simple point and shoot camera. It's better than the standard Bullet HD and they have improved the button.

 

[gaz]

I have been a bit puzzled by the HD resolutions quoted. I am using a 1920x1200 screen, but when I switch the 1080p videos to full screen (at 1080p setting) the image only fills about 66% of the screen width and 58% of the height, which suggests I'm still only seeing 720p. Does YouTube cut down the resolution, or does anyone know of another reason for this?

Youtube does some strange stuff to it's uploaded videos. The 1080p and 720p don't actually refer to size but more to quality.

I have a gopro hd - i didnt get it just for cycling but for watersports too so obviously being waterproof (rather than just resistant) was important after video quality. Since i've got it i have found the variety of mounts to be useful - i have mounts that are suitable for helmets, for handlebars/seatposts etc, a chest strap, a suction cup for surf boards and a wrist strap for scuba... this variety is where the gopro is strongest against the competition for me, however if it is only for use mounted on a helmet then i reckon the contour hd will be a bit better, certainly more streamlined. Video quality on them both are really good.

Video quality for uploaded videos is hard to compare though - in terms of userbase and popularity then youtube is far and away the best, however the videos are pretty compressed there and something that looks excellent prior to upload can lose alot of quality once on the site even when viewing in HD - with a site like vimeo the streamed videos are virtually the same quality as what it looks prior to upload.

I also have a muvi and while i found it pretty temperamental to use, the video quality was decent enough for the price and would be good enough for capturing incidents etc.

The Contour cameras can do pretty much anything a GoPro does, you need a waterproof case for use in water but the same is said about the GoPro. The only thing the Contour's can't do at present is chest mounts, 3d (theoretically possible) and replayed viewings without a tv or similar.

 

[zizou]

Youtube does some strange stuff to it's uploaded videos. The 1080p and 720p don't actually refer to size but more to quality.



The Contour cameras can do pretty much anything a GoPro does, you need a waterproof case for use in water but the same is said about the GoPro. The only thing the Contour's can't do at present is chest mounts, 3d (theoretically possible) and replayed viewings without a tv or similar.

didnt mean it to sound like the contour couldnt do that, i meant if someone was choosing a helmet camera only to wear on a helmet (particularly a vented road / mtb helmet) then the contour is probably a better option than the gopro.

 

[BentMikey]

Youtube does some strange stuff to it's uploaded videos. The 1080p and 720p don't actually refer to size but more to quality.



The Contour cameras can do pretty much anything a GoPro does, you need a waterproof case for use in water but the same is said about the GoPro. The only thing the Contour's can't do at present is chest mounts, 3d (theoretically possible) and replayed viewings without a tv or similar.

Also the battery bacpac yes? Whilst I'm less keen on the Gopro size and shape, its range of mounts and options is really rather excellent.

 

[Origamist]

Nice work, Mags.

I'd rate the GoPro's night time ability as average to poor - possibly worse than all of those you've tested.

 

[BentMikey]

Yeah, it's not very good is it? But then none of the others are either, even the contour. Mags has the best night time footage from a contour I've yet seen on youtube, most of the other contour users aren't showing nearly that quality. Is it a new camera/new firmware, or something else?