I bought a second camera and am using both. I had two rattles on the old one. I still have the customary rattle but the camera was useless with the other rattle. Much better now though I'm going to have to edit the audio on the handlebar mount. I'm having fit finding the proper angle for the helmet mount but its just matter of experimenting.
You should see my mini bungy and scrunchy modification for damping handle bar vibration. Looks terrible but works. I hope I'm ready. This week we have the Ironman Championship 70.3 based right up the street in one direction and InterBike in in the other direction and I live at the intersecting trail. Still, I'm thinking of putting both cameras on my motorcycle and following the IronMan route that way. Images are really stable from my motorcycle. I got GREAT video last weekend on the Three Sisters section of the River Mountain trail and met some cool people practicing for the Iron Man. I also got great video from my handlebars as I was doing about 30 and a guy came around me as if I was sitting still. I know still cameras pretty well. I'm really hoping I'll have as much luck with these little video cameras. Fun Fun Fun!!!!

I had to send my original ContourHD back for warranty replacement due to power on/off issues. The new one showed up on Tuesday and is working perfectly so far. My first test video was made from my Worksman Port-O-Trike with the camera mounted on the seatpost facing the rear. Unfortunately the bike sounds were amplified so much that I had to do something I don't normally like to do- add music. You couldn't even hear me speaking in a loud voice, let alone the other riders.

I think I'll stick to the helmet mount from now on.

I use a mini bungee cord whenever I use any camera on a handlebar mount, as it keeps the camera from rotating in the mount if I pass the bungee cord through the camera's wrist strap and tighten it down.

Here's the test video with the seatpost mount. I left the original audio in but turned the volume down enough so that it isn't as annoying. Music volume is all the way up.
EDIT: Deleted music video from YouTube to prevent any copyright strikes. 3 strikes and you're out according to YouTube. I have a clean record and would like to keep it that way.

Yep. Sounds like the chain bouncing on the sprockets. The trike seems to stabilize the camera quite well. Now ya gotta try it without shooting into the sun. LOL
This weekend I think I'm going to use a flat mount on the side of my motorcycle helmet and a ram mount on the rear rack. I get to ride right with the IronMan riders and I want to see faces as I slowly pass. It's all an experiment.
Do you know what kind of clock time youtube let's you have? or what kind of band width? Is there a limit?

I have noticed this too. Have you figured out if the noise is from the camera shaking on the handlebars or if the noise is just stuff on your bike rattling around (cables, etc.)?

It works, but poorly.

Here is an example.

If it helps provide context, the light on the bike here is a 18650 flashlight in medium mode ... probably about 200 lumens.

Not that going above 16 GB isn't particularly useful unless you have an external power supply or spare batteries -- the battery will die before it fills up a 16 GB card in 1080p mode.

(Unless you like you leave your video on the camera and just charge the battery, of course.)

It's actually a Sturmey-Archer 3-speed IGH hub, which clicks continuously in second and third gears. Another reason why I had to mute it somewhat with music. You can also hear the basket and my U-lock rattling around back there, as well as occasional seat creaks.

My YouTube account is enabled for videos longer than 15 minutes, but I've never uploading anything longer than 13 minutes. I have seen other people's ride videos that are over an hour long, so it may be that you have to upload a certain number of videos before you're allowed to post longer ones.

You can upload 1080p high-definition videos, and I think they have lifted the 2 GB size limit.

It is from the moving parts on the camera-the telescoping lens, the zoom lever, and any buttons that might be loose enough to rattle. That's why I love my Kodak Playsport Zx3 for handlebar mounting. The buttons don't rattle, and there's no protruding lens parts to rattle.

I carry 2 extra batteries with my Contour. With other cameras I carry up to 6 extras. I only have a 16 GB card in the Contour, but I carry an extra one of those too.

This is a big reason why I prefer the ContourHD to the new ContourROAM. The ContourHD lets you pop in a fresh battery when you need to. In my experience, one fresh battery will (barely) fill up a 16GB card in 1080p mode (about 2 hours of video).

Yeah, what is it with the trend towards non-user-replaceable batteries? I asked this question on Contour's forums and they said it was to keep it waterproof and simple to operate. I quess I can kind of understand the waterproof part, although you still have to open the back to insert and remove the memory card. But to "keep it simple"? I'm sorry, but anyone who can't figure out how to insert and remove a battery probably shouldn't be messing with technology too much, IMHO.

I also asked Contour why they chose to eliminate the Fast WVGA 848x480 60fps setting from their current camera lineup. They said it wasn't being used and that "the market is HD driven rather than SD driven". So I guess anyone who doesn't have at least a 2.4 GHz dual-core processor in their computer is SOL, since you need at least that much power to edit HD video.

I can edit 640x480 4:3 aspect ratio SD video on a netbook with a 1.6 GHz Atom processor. Forget doing that with HD!

I've been shooting stills for many years. I built my first photography web site in 1996 or 97. The images were no larger than 75kb and the upload speed, for the first couple weeks, was 28kbs when shortly after the upload speed leeped (LOL) to 56kbs. 6 months ago I decided that I was only going to post high resolution imagery. In that I had to make a desision to abandon catering to any dial up folks altogether. That really bothered me but not as much as having to dummy down my photography. Now that I've decided to give video a go, I have a retired Dual Core 2.4 with a half gig video card and 4 gigs on the board sitting dark right beside me.
This computer is a 6 core processor with 12 GB memory on the board and a 1GB video card. I pay for 20mbs data transfer. Video better work out for me. It better. :notamused:

What software do you folks use to edit your Contour HD videos? I'm looking for something simple to just clip pieces out of a long video and string them together. Any free PC software that can do this? Thanks.

I use Cyberlink Power Director 9. Its interface is not the most intuitive but it is 64 bit editing so it can utilize most of my processor and most of my memory so editing is MUCH faster with huge files.

I use Windows Movie Maker 2011 on a 64-bit Intel Core2Quad Windows 7 machine. It is much faster than the old Windows Movie Maker on my Core2Duo 64-bit Windows Vista machine. It also edits the .mov files that the Contour produces, as well as the .mp4 files that GoPros use.

It is also free.

it's cheaper to manufacture, less moving parts and such. and when the battery dies, there's a stronger market for new cameras.

as a commuter who uses video for police evidence, i like 60fps for snapping sharp images of number plates, but i use 1280x720, 60fps... another mode that's missing from the new contour. why do they call it "Action HD - 1280 x 720 @ 30/25fps"??? 30fps will miss a lot action.

i'm doing video on linux. pitivi for very simple cutting and splicing. mencoder and ffmpeg for speed, brightness, etc effects. there are other video editors for linux that probably do all of that, and more, in a single application, but this works for me.

"Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU M 540 @ 2.53GHz" with 4gb RAM makes it reasonably smooth to work with HD.

I download Window Live Movie Maker into my Notebook Vista and another Vista Desktop. Both are the older 32 bit Vista. The Editor did not reconised the .Mov format. I got a feeling I am missing the Codec for it to be compatible.

Then I went ahead and bought the Sony Vegas Platnium HD version 10 at Amazon on sale for something like $50. It works flawlessy. I like the features that comes with it and use it all the time. The sad part is that I could have gotten that software even cheaper at Fry's Electronic with the rebate.

Question for Contour HD owners:

I am undecided on purchasing a second Contour HD at Amazon for $138 as compare with the new Contour Roam. I really don't mind the internal battery, but more concern with water problems. I have yet to test my old Contour HD in the pouring rain but it did ok in light rain or shower. The new Contour Roam claims to be much more waterproof.

So have anyone used you Contour HD in bad rainy weather? Did any water got into the control buttons, card or battery?

As someone who tries to live somewhat frugally and doesn't believe in waste, this greed-driven attitude by companies pisses me off! There is no reason I should have to replace a perfectly good camera just because the battery dies. That is wasteful! Besides, like I said in my earlier post, some of us record longer than that little internal battery will last. I always carry spare batteries. Do these companies want us to carry spare cameras instead? :rolleyes:

I noticed that too. "Action HD" used to refer to the 1280x720 60fps setting. I love the 60fps setting for its smoother video and lack of excessive rolling shutter waviness. I use it in my Playsport now too. On my Contour I have that setting configured for position 2 of the switch on the back, with Fast WVGA 848x480 60fps on position 1.

I did an hour ride on Mt Charleston (8500 feet) in a pretty good rain a week ago. I was actually willing to risk it because I was trying to decide if I wanted to buy a couple more. The camera was mounted un-obstructed on the top of my front fender on my motorcycle. In did a couple 80 mph burst and the camera did just fine. It didn't scuba dive but we don't have to be worried about a little drizzle. I did buy another one BTW.

My sentiments exactly. I KNOW what I want in any product before I buy it and the Roam ain't it. In fact, I figure the $138 at Amazon is probably clearance pricing for the HD and I jumped on another before they are gone. I want to do some serious experimenting.
BTW, I got some fun footage at the IronMan yesterday and almost ready to post it.

I found this possibly dodgy dash cam. You will obviously need to buy a USB battery pack and figure out how to mount it on your bicycle. But it does have IR lighting built in. $60 and you will have to wait for it to arrive from China.

Promotion time!!! 2011 Free Shipping New 120 Degree HD 720p Night Vision 8 IR LED Vehicle Car Camera DVR Dashboard Recorder

http://www.aliexpress.com/store/7001...D-Vehicle.html

if weight isn't a concern, you can get a contour-HD and a waterproof case for less money than a roam. i've had that on my helmet a few times and it's not burdensome.

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php/754216-Those-who-roll-with-Camera%28s%29-post-your-Setups-Mounts!?p=13066685&viewfull=1#post13066685

i've used the HD/1080/1300 (different names for the same camera) in light/moderate rain, but in heavy rain i've used the waterproof case.

i'll probably buy another one while they're being blown-out.

i'll pass on the roam, even if it's half price. i just don't need to buy any new cameras that don't support 60fps.

To be fair, that's just an educated guess that smasha gave. It's probably accurate, but it's not like the company actually said it.

There is another advantage to not having the battery be removable -- they can make the camera smaller. I'm not saying that this is a worthwhile trade-off or it makes it all OK, but the reasons aren't all bad.

Me too. I research the product I want before I buy it, so I know exactly what I'm getting. The Roam and the Kodak Playsport Zx5 are dumbed-down versions of good products, so I'm not interested.

I figured the $145 I paid for my ContourHD from Amazon was a clearance, especially when I saw a similar price on REI's website shortly after I ordered my Contour.

Looking forward to seeing your footage. Here's my first climb with the new Contour on my helmet. I still move my head around too much. I never notice it while I'm riding, so it's gonna be hard to break the habit.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I_Q8R-t_6D0

The Roam does look a little smaller than the HD, but I'd rather have a slightly bigger camera that I can replace the battery in as needed.

If Contour continues to carry some models with removable batteries it's all good. As long as it's not only the $500 top-of-the-line Contour Plus, that is. I have no need to pay $500 for a camera. $200 is fine.

Anybody know a popular web site for amateur videotographers? There are about 10 sites with zillions of hits but I want the simple guy's web site. Most are way over my interest level but I do want to learn more.

Thanks.

That's what I was hoping to hear. I just made an order at Amazon for a second backup Contour HD before they are gone. :)

For the bicycle, one on the handlebars and one on the helmet. I'm thinking there could be some good cutaways to ad interest to videos that way. We'll see.

for downhill MTB, handlebar and helmet cameras are all you need. if you intend to use your video as evidence (road rage, unsafe passing, tailgating, etc), add a rear camera.

for road racing... it could go either way. if you're always in the back, a rear camera isn't much use ;)

No problems with any of my Contours being unprotected in rainy weather, and I've been in some downpours where the pavement is practically white several inches off the ground from the rain bounce.

That would be me. The bright side to that is I get to check out the latest rear blinkies ;)