Gopro or contour??

nicknackgtb

Watching a lot of videos lately and wondering about this, seen some using both bits of equip. I use a gopro hero at present but want to upgrade to get the best possible quality. I put these on cars for racing so want to get the best quality I can.

What's your preference and why?

Grass Hopper

Probably would go for GoPro myself.
Tried a Contour last year but found it hopeless in low light,even worse that the GoPro.
Now that the GoPro has the lcd screen available its handy for setting the shot up or playback after but be warned the screen is severe on batteries cutting the battery time by more than half.
I looked at the Vio POV before I bought the Motorsport Hero and TBH I'm sorry I didnt buy it.
I ruled it out on the fact that its only available in the US and at $700 I thought it pricey but having spent almost €600 kitting out my gopro with the lcd screen,battery pack and mounts theres nothing in the difference.

Heres a link to a comparison which speaks for itself

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v8OfMfqd6eA

Rew

GoPro Hero 2, there releasing a (free) pro firmware for them that will do a 35mbit bit rate to give you very high quality files. The new wifi bacpac is brilliant as well, you can operate the camera completely remotely.

Rew

BTW that video is the original Gopro Hero not the Hero 2, there is a big difference between the two. Hero 2 is is a lot better in lower light (and generally).

nicknackgtb

Rew wrote: »

BTW that video is the original Gopro Hero not the Hero 2, there is a big difference between the two. Hero 2 is is a lot better in lower light (and generally).

Thats what I was thinking.

Presume there must be a massive jump from the HD hero to the Hero 2, anyone found this?

Rew

nicknackgtb wrote: »

Thats what I was thinking.

Presume there must be a massive jump from the HD hero to the Hero 2, anyone found this?

If you have a an eye for video yes it is a big jump. To the casual viewer its still noticeable but they would probably be happy with either. In lower light the Hero 2 leaves the original for dust. Hero 2 its far better and adjusting from indoors to out and has a better dynamic range.

The menus are a million times better and the extra features such as varying field of view in 1080p are brilliant. The 10 shots in one second burst is brilliant as well, but tricky to use in practice. The new remote changes that though and allows you to use the camera remotely as if you were pressing the buttons on the camera its self.

Here is one of many comparison videos:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8O3jc9O8so

This is a good comparison of low light performance changes:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTW1hOt4Y7A

Forget using it in the dark or very low light, no reasonably priced camera will do that and defiently not one the size of a GoPro.

I went from a hero to a hero 2 last year no regrets. I have the LCD screen and now the wifi pac. I've used it skiing, scuba diving, mountain biking, zip-ling, rock climinbg, for time-lapse photography, in swimming pools, suction cupped to the car, to airplane windows... the list is endless.

ScumLord

Looking at the contour mounts they look a lot better than go pros. Go pros mounts are cheaply made but overpriced.

One thing to be aware of with the HD2 being better in low light. It's just better it's still not particularly good in low light.

There is much more colour detail in the HD2 over the HD, there's much more scope for CC in post because of that.

Rew

ScumLord wrote: »

Looking at the contour mounts they look a lot better than go pros. Go pros mounts are cheaply made but overpriced.

One thing to be aware of with the HD2 being better in low light. It's just better it's still not particularly good in low light.

There is much more colour detail in the HD2 over the HD, there's much more scope for CC in post because of that.

The only Gopro mount i've had real issue with is the bike mount which I snapped. It isn't great for the task and the 3rd party aluminium one is better for similar money. It was mainly to do with me adjusting it without loosening the screws first. They are plastic though and you can crack and break them if you not careful. Contours don't look to be substantially better or worse. Some more flexibility in terms of rotating mounts, very similar in price.

Side mounting the GoPro is crap compared to the contour but people do it without issue. Other then that I would have said that the gopro has more versatility in mounting as its easily mounted tight to vertical surfaces there as the contour needs to be extended away from the mount to get the space at the back.

Contours have rotating lenses so you can adjust the level on them but I've never come across a situation where id want to do that.

There both very nice camera but I def think the GoPro edges out Contour from a few perspectives.

Gizmodo did a review of the major players recently:

http://gizmodo.com/5919942/the-best-action-camera

If you going to be doing colour correction then the protune update for the Hero 2 will make it more attractive again.

ScumLord

I find the go pro stuff very flimsy, although I haven't really tried any other manufacturers mounts, I have seen some that look much better than the standard go pro stuff. The plastic extender bits break to easily, the nut falls out of them easily enough too. I got the motorsport go pro and the car mount is excellent and nothing like the rest of the mounts. The screw system is also awkward and is in the way of itself half the time.

They're minor enough gripes and nothing really to do with the quality of the camera itself. It just really annoys me.

Rew

Its a good idea (if not essential) to super glue the nuts in. I did the heads of the bolts as well, if the bolt is lose it is a bitch to get it to engage. K-Edge mounts are a million times better then the stock gopro bike/bar mount. Id like to see the prices for the mounts and replacement bits get more inline with the US where there more reasonable.

The def need to start innovating the mounts a bit more but now that there pushing hard on the pro side of things id say you will see changes.