Contour GPS Review

If any of you have been following my post's you know that I bought a Contour GPS pov camera.  I just wanted to provide a review of the camera for anybody who is interested to read.  Please comment with any questions about the camera and I will answer the best I can.  Also Please consider subscribing to my blog.  Thanks.



Pros- Small, Easy to start and stop recording, GPS enabled, Bluetooth Enabled- Change setting on the fly with a smart phone, Price, picture quality.

I think the the contour line of cameras are incredible.  I have played with the GoPro as well and I think these two cameras are great.  The color seems to be a bit better on the GoPro out of the box, but the Contour can be adjusted to compensate, so it really isn't a con for me.

This camera is small and portable.  It fits easily into my front pocket. This is nice because it won't add a bunch of weight to your helmet.  It may sound strange if you don't ride a lot but extra weight up there just makes your neck get tired faster.

I love the slider to start and stop recording.  It is big and easy to use.  When you slide it your hear a very audible beep.  This lets you know you are recording.  Compared to the GoPro the Contour is much easier to start and stop filming.

GPS performs surprisingly well.  It takes it a bit of time to lock onto the 4 satellites required but when it does it seems to stay locked.  It is very accurate with position and speed and altitude.  I believe it samples two times a second, so you get good information on your video.

Bluetooth is a cool little feature.  It doesn't allow you to watch while you are filming, but it makes setting up the shot much easier.  Frame rate is pretty slow so it is jumpy, but who cares if you are only using it to see what the camera is pointing at.  This helps get the camera mounted to your helmet on the exact angle you are looking for.  You can also change your cameras settings with your smartphone (Android/I-phone).  This is nice because say you are out riding on a very cloudy day and your GPS isn't acquiring satellites.  Well just go in and turn it off.  It will give you longer battery life by doing so.  If you do not have  a Bluetooth enabled smartphone the camera comes equipped with two lasers that you can shine and point to your shot.  Pretty smart I think.
 
The camera wasn't too expensive.  I got it for $192 new off eBay.  You can find used ones for less. Older Gen Contour GPS models don't come Bluetooth enabled out of the box so you will need to purchase a connect card separately.  They run anywhere between $20 and $30.  Mine is the newer Gen and so it came pre-installed.  It is hard to tell the difference because the model number is the same.  As a matter of fact I didn't know it would come Bluetooth enabled, so I was prepared to buy the connect card too.

Picture quality is great in good lighting.  It handles glare fairly well too.  I drove with the camera pointed directly toward the sun through my car window.  It definitely showed some glare, but it was acceptable.   The lens is pretty small so you can imagine that in low lite it doesn't do as well.  This seems to be the case with almost all POV cameras.

  
Cons-  Proprietary software needed to see GPS stats imbedded onto the film, no way to quickly take a picture, price of accessories, sound pickup quality, battery life.

I must admit that the majority of my Cons list really isn't a huge issue for me. More just a slight annoyance that can be remedied.

The biggest con for me is needing to use Contours StoryTeller software to see GPS data imbedded in the video. This wouldn't be a con if when I used the software it recorded the gauge onto the video so that when it exports to YouTube you still see the gauge.  Unfortunately YouTube doesn't read the GPS data so it gets stripped out.  So my biggest selling point on buying this camera became my biggest frustration.  There are ways around it, but they are either very taxing to do...(export gps data, import to Google earth, export Google earth to video format, import to Sony Vegas, import video, Edit the crap out of it to get it all to line up.)  OR the much easier alternative is use a software called Dashware.net.  I evaluated the software yesterday along side with one other, and let me tell you.  Contour should consider revising their Storyteller software, or they are going to lose out.  The only problem with dash ware is that it costs $50 (Not terribly expensive but annoying that I have to spend it to get all the features of my camera.)  Now some of you with the camera are saying, but you can upload your Storyteller to their website and see the GPS info.  This is true but then it is available for the world to see.  Sometimes I make my videos private if it is for family or something else.  I don't have this option with storyteller that I could see.

There is no button on the camera that takes a picture, and switching modes to camera mode isn't quick either.  You can do it with your Smartphone, but if you don't have a smartphone then you have to use story teller software, which means you have to plug it into your computer.  There is a slider button under the rear door that has a position 1 and 2, and you can program these positions to do what ever you want, so you could technically make position 2 be camera mode.  By default position 1 is filming 1080p 30fps and position two is filming 720p 60fps.

Price of accessories.  They aren't terribly expensive individually but when you add them up together you easily reach over another $100.  For me I am looking at a waterproof case, goggle clamp, helmet latch, extra battery or two, and a larger capacity SD card.

Sound pickup really isn't a huge deal for me.  I just noticed when the camera is in certain positions it can sound muffled. Otherwise it is fine.

Battery life isn't very good.  What can you expect from a small devise doing so much.  It has to power at any given time the GPS, Bluetooth, and camera.  This is demanding on the little guy.  That is why I am going to buy one or two extras so I don't have to stop recording when the battery runs out.  (I noticed this issue with my brother GoPro as well.  Half way through the day he wouldn't be able to record anymore.  Bummer if you find something really cool to record and you bat is dead.)