A good helmet camera?

[benb]

The drawback with loop mode is that, if you get knocked off, you might be too incapacitated to push the save button and so your video evidence gets overwritten.

I hadn't even thought of that!
Convinced me in one post - loop mode is off the list.

Now, if you could flag a point in the video with the press of a button, and have the software on the PC jump to that point ...

 

[gaz]

I hadn't even thought of that!
Convinced me in one post - loop mode is off the list.

Now, if you could flag a point in the video with the press of a button, and have the software on the PC jump to that point ...

I just stop recording and then start again at a potential point of interest, then when i get plug the camera into the computer I can just easily look at the clips and edit stuff quickly.

 

[Rezillo]

A small clip of 1080p footage this morning from the Contour GPS, shot through a grubby windscreen. It is 28mb nevertheless!

If you have the Quicktime plugin, your browser may attempt to play it but it looks far better downloaded and played separately.

Sample 1080p

Different sample from same trip but this time in 720p:

Unhappy cyclist

John

 

[captain nemo1701]

Contour HD, very good, bit weighty on side of helmet but worth it. Laser alignment makes you look like the Borg
Two issues though:

1) Helmet mount pin too short, has tendency to come loose. Best to mount camera on top of head horizontally and turn lens 90 degrees. Wrap some sticky tape around end of pin to keep it stuck in its hole.

2) Full 1080p HD is stunning, just make sure that you have enough RAM in your PC to edit videos!. Good in lower 720p.

The 'Storyteller' software is a bit naff, use only for changing camera settings. Get the fast charger too - USB takes up to 4 hours!. Your PC/Laptop will read camera via USB like a hard drive, so downloading videos is easy. Beware file sizes - a 30 min video will take up to 20 mins to download, depending on the speed of your PC.

Videos are in Quicktime .mov format, so you will need software capable of editing these files. Also, can take up to 16gB card but your PC card reader may not read this size. However, USB is easy.

Other than that, very good camera. Hopefully will get smaller as technology improves;

http://www.youtube.c...ainNemo1701#p/u

 

[benb]

Contour HD, very good, bit weighty on side of helmet but worth it. Laser alignment makes you look like the Borg
Two issues though:

1) Helmet mount pin too short, has tendency to come loose. Best to mount camera on top of head horizontally and turn lens 90 degrees. Wrap some sticky tape around end of pin to keep it stuck in its hole.

2) Full 1080p HD is stunning, just make sure that you have enough RAM in your PC to edit videos!. Good in lower 720p.

The 'Storyteller' software is a bit naff, use only for changing camera settings. Get the fast charger too - USB takes up to 4 hours!. Your PC/Laptop will read camera via USB like a hard drive, so downloading videos is easy. Beware file sizes - a 30 min video will take up to 20 mins to download, depending on the speed of your PC.

Videos are in Quicktime .mov format, so you will need software capable of editing these files. Also, can take up to 16gB card but your PC card reader may not read this size. However, USB is easy.

Other than that, very good camera. Hopefully will get smaller as technology improves;

http://www.youtube.c...ainNemo1701#p/u

My only criticism of the Contour is its frankly terrible low light performance. It's basically just a black screen! I don't bother wearing it in the dark, there's no point.

 

[BSRU]

My only criticism of the Contour is its frankly terrible low light performance. It's basically just a black screen! I don't bother wearing it in the dark, there's no point.

Unfortunately Magnatom's test of four helmet camera's showed the Contour was the best. I used my Contour throughout the dark nights, making sure all the settings were set for night time use.

A CCD camera is best at night but HD quality CCD camera's are over £2000 and heavy in comparison plus CCD camera's tend suffer from a serious headlight flare problem.

 

[benb]

Unfortunately Magnatom's test of four helmet camera's showed the Contour was the best. I used my Contour throughout the dark nights, making sure all the settings were set for night time use.

A CCD camera is best at night but HD quality CCD camera's are over £2000 and heavy in comparison plus CCD camera's tend suffer from a serious headlight flare problem.

My trouble was that my morning journey was in the light, and my evening one in the dark.
So if I upped my exposure compensation to max the morning one would be white with overexposure (and the night ones were still no good).

That's part of the reason why I was thinking of giving the Mini DVR III a go. Although the video quality is poorer than the Contour, the low light ought to be much better. Also the camera part is smaller and lighter, although you have the problem of an external recorder.

 

[BSRU]

My trouble was that my morning journey was in the light, and my evening one in the dark.
So if I upped my exposure compensation to max the morning one would be white with overexposure (and the night ones were still no good).

That's part of the reason why I was thinking of giving the Mini DVR III a go. Although the video quality is poorer than the Contour, the low light ought to be much better. Also the camera part is smaller and lighter, although you have the problem of an external recorder.

I can change my settings at work, you also need to change the metering setting. Halogen lights can help CMOS camera's but they are very heavy compared to LED lights. I have a Mini DVR II and it is good especially in low light conditions but the image quality doesn't look good compared to a Contour.

 

[benb]

I can change my settings at work, you also need to change the metering setting. Halogen lights can help CMOS camera's but they are very heavy compared to LED lights. I have a Mini DVR II and it is good especially in low light conditions but the image quality doesn't look good compared to a Contour.

Maybe get a Mini DVR for winter, and keep the contour for summer.
Is that extravagant?

 

[Rezillo]

I can change my settings at work, you also need to change the metering setting. Halogen lights can help CMOS camera's but they are very heavy compared to LED lights. I have a Mini DVR II and it is good especially in low light conditions but the image quality doesn't look good compared to a Contour.

There is one relevant advantage of the GPS versus the 1080p version and that is that the slider switch settings are completely independent of each other in the GPS camera, so you can configure one to be a night setting and one for day.

The 1080p also has a slider switch for two groups of settings. You can change the resolution of each setting but you are stuck with the same brightness and contrast settings for both of them.

John

 

[benb]

There is one relevant advantage of the GPS versus the 1080p version and that is that the slider switch settings are completely independent of each other in the GPS camera, so you can configure one to be a night setting and one for day.

The 1080p also has a slider switch for two groups of settings. You can change the resolution of each setting but you are stuck with the same brightness and contrast settings for both of them.

John

Now this I like.
Maybe get a Contour+ as a present to myself for being so great.

 

[BSRU]

There is one relevant advantage of the GPS versus the 1080p version and that is that the slider switch settings are completely independent of each other in the GPS camera, so you can configure one to be a night setting and one for day.

The 1080p also has a slider switch for two groups of settings. You can change the resolution of each setting but you are stuck with the same brightness and contrast settings for both of them.

John

I knew about that feature but since when I arrive at work I connect my contour to my pc to recharge it, changing the settings is not a problem.

 

[gaz]

Now this I like.
Maybe get a Contour+ as a present to myself for being so great.

Wait a while for things to settle down before you buy one. As with the 1080p and the GPS versions, there has always been teething problems with the contours as they are first released. But history shows they are eventually fixed.

 

[benb]

I knew about that feature but since when I arrive at work I connect my contour to my pc to recharge it, changing the settings is not a problem.

Changing the settings at work, then again when you get home ready for the next day is a massive hassle.

 

[benb]

Wait a while for things to settle down before you buy one. As with the 1080p and the GPS versions, there has always been teething problems with the contours as they are first released. But history shows they are eventually fixed.

Yes, quite. It's barely out.