ContourHD 1080p Helmet Camera
by ContourList Price:$249.99
Price:$119.00 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping. Details
Technical Details
- Full HD Recording (1080p) - 1920x1080 pixels - 30fps
- 5 Megapixel Sensor
- Internal Microphone
- Removable Lithium-Ion Battery; records up to 4 hours
- Aluminum and Fiberglass Water Resistant Body
Product Details
- Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.8 x 1.8 inches ; 4.3 ounces
- Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
- Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S.
- ASIN: B002QGSYZ4
By creating the first hands-free HD video camera, ContourHD revolutionized the way people shoot and share video. Wide-angle lens, one button operation, and dual laser alignment set the standard in hands-free video. Using our easy-to-use software, we provide a seamless experience to post, play, and discover new adventures through Contour’s online social community.
ContourHD Product Features:
HD
The ContourHD captures beautiful 1080p video. It utilizes a 135° wide-angle lens that delivers a true high quality image that captures all the action with minimal distortion and no fish eye. It records Full HD in all its glory.
We provide several different camera settings so that you can get the shot that best fits your activity. Choose between 3 resolutions and 2 frame rates so that you get the best shot.
HANDS FREE
The ContourHD revolutionized the way people shoot and share video by creating the first wearable HD video camera. The Secret? A low profile design mated to the patented TRail™ system that makes it easy to slide and lock to your body, equipment, or vehicle. The camera, at only 5.2 ounces is the smallest and lightest combination of hands-free video and GPS. It's also easy to operate and use. As simple as sliding a single oversized switch forward to start recording, even with a pair of gloves on. In addition we make it simple to line up your shot with a rotating lens and two lasers that assure you get that perfect shot.
ALL CONDITIONS
The aluminum body is tough and water resistant to take all of your outdoor abuse. Use your camera in the snow, sleet, mud, and rain and be assured that you will still capture that epic adventure without fail. If you are thinking of submerging your camera in your next activity use the waterproof case. It can handle depths of up to 10 meters so that you can feel confident your camera is safe and dry.
Audio
The built-in omni-directional microphone captures the rich sounds of the ride. Using AAC Audio Compression, the bottom-facing microphone assures you that you see and hear your adventure.
151 of 155 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Dirty Jobs uses this where big cams dont go /great 2nd angle cam, December 11, 2009
By
HMMWV "God, Country, Corps" (santa clara, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (TOP 50 REVIEWER)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: ContourHD 1080p Helmet Camera (Electronics)
Update 9-16-2010 This is no longer their top of the line cam - the new one is based on this camera but includes a GPS and tags your images with location. You'll need their viewer to see the map movement as the video plays.
Update: 7-2010
Tonights episode of Dirty Jobs showed this camera strapped to a head strap for the host, Mike Rowe, who was 408 feet above the cement floor decending & window cleaning in Hawaii. Troy chickened out on the first 100 feet so alot of the contour HD footage made it into the show. By the 300 foot balcony they got troy on the ropes but his hair got snagged in the safely line and had to get his second "shearing" on Dirty Jobs - it was also filmed on contour HD cams 300' above hawaii. The quality was as good as the cable company could deliver in their 6:1 re-compression of HD. A full HD viewfinderless camera has value when you must get the shot.
using a sandisk 16GB microSD card and the maximum detail [1080P] + best quality I could get 3 hr, 6 minutes of video recorded with battery leftover. If you use the lower resolution setting the battery may be the limiting factor - I have not tried that yet.
I bought this to produce a bluray disc of a police helicopter team, using a gyro stabilized canon professional camera in back and wanting a 2nd angle up front. This comes with an adhesive patch that sticks to the side of the pilot's helmet to give a 135 degree wide field of view. The integrated rails on both sides permit the ultimate flexibility in mounting the camera, and second options for this cam are car mounts, etc.
The quality is GREAT. The lens is the downfall - there is some pincushion effect due to the inexpensive lens and wide angle. I'll deal with it for the price and the shots you can get with it, plus I can trim out the distortion in post editing.
One note - the output is .mov which is fine for macs, but for pc's you will need to transcode if you run premiere pro cs4 from adobe as it does not import .mov natively. Perhaps that is a good time to clip the edges where the bent picture is most noticable.
Another factor to like is the simplicity. With gloved hands you slide the top forward to record and back to stop, with a beep to start and and double beep to stop - it's very hard to mess up except for your horizon, which is why there are detents and lasers.
Detents and lasers?
Yes, - there are detents in the event you mount it on the right and left hand side of a helmet or rotate it in a mount. The 2 lasers can be turned on to tell you what is level with resepect to the imager. This is helpful when you rotate it but you must manually keep track of the bottom of the screen (below the laser points ) as you rotate it, otherwise your output will be upside down.
For the price, you simply can not beat it. Buy a 16 GB sandisk micro-sd card to go with it Sandisk 16GB Microsd Card Note that they have a low packaging option which the card is inside a plastic carrier and inside an ESD bag but no box or other trash with it that goes in the landfill - smart packaging.
One of the other great applications for this is taking HD video where you otherwise would NOT take your $3K camera - the beach - the water park - etc. You won't get the absolute best quality but you will get 1080 p hd that is playable on macs or pcs in native players!
Another great use is for children. It's easy to use, inexpensive, and highdef. For the kids who are beyond the toy grade cameras but not ready for a professional unit, this fills the gap. Adults will love its simplicity. On or Off - no fancy buttons to press, and everything complex is set while attached to the computer.
Finally there is my use - have a 2nd angle view for use with NLE systems. You can now do a/b video fades by time syncing the output from this camera with your primary cam. Be sure to expose something that will sync the two that gets recorded on both at the start of shootng.
I'm only deducting a star becuase of the pincushion effect of the lens. I realize for this price you are not getting an HD lens, and I realize that HD will show any defects, but a few more dollars in the lens would have made this 5 stars - it is oh so close. Be sure to pick up extra memory and batteries if you plan to use it at maximum definition because it makes some big files fast.
Great Camera for night skating, December 5, 2009
By
George Dawson (St. Paul, MN USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: ContourHD 1080p Helmet Camera (Electronics)
Length:: 1:44 Mins
This is a video of a couple of laps around the John Rose Oval shot at 10 PM under artificial lighting. I thought that the images were good with expected wide angle distortion.
I purchased this camera to record my speed skating at the John Rose Oval in Roseville, Minnesota. Most of my skating sessions are from 9:20 to 10:25 PM. The lighting is similar to a baseball or football field. I had some concerns about reviews that said that this camera was not that good in low light conditions but the images looked good to me.
In terms of ease of use, I don't think you can really beat this camera. The instruction manual is microscopic and you are up to speed on the available controls within a very short period of time. One of the frequent criticisms of the camera is wind noise coming through in the video. It turns out that you can preset the sound level with the software that comes with the camera as a download off the MicroSD card.
I had the most trouble figuring out the mounting system because it was not obvious that it was stuck together with velcro and I did not know how much pressure to exert to pull it apart. I also did not have any goggles that seemed to work, but used an old belt that I cut down and strapped outside of my cap.
After shooting the first video, the playback on the editing software did not go as smoothly as using other software that I had on my computer. The downloads to Facebook and YouTube went very well.
All things considered this is a high value camera that produces quality video. In my case I am using it at night in cold weather and it performs flawlessly.
