With all of the videos many are posting, I succumbed and picked an ACT20 720p 120* FOV model off ebay. It came from China directly so I had to wait a couple of weeks to get it. It saves an older AVI format, so I was unsure whether to get a 16 or 32GB card for it. 16 GB for it would hold 2.45 hours of video based on calculations. Since the operating battery life is 2.5 hours and it takes 3 hours to charge, I figure as it's charging I can free up the memory card for the next video session. Anyway, I like it, seems to be fine being 720p and not 1080p. With the memory card, it came in right at $ 100 delivered. It seems to be more PC friendly than Apple. I have an older G4 Powerbook from 2003 that I haven't been able to get the computer to recognize the camera as a storage device to transfer the video I've piddled around with on it so far. From what the You Tube video review indicated, I'd need to put the memory card in a memory card reader for the Apple to recognize and move files around, so I guess I'll try that. Yep, that's what it needs to happen for the AVI to be moved. But I have a couple of PC's that have no problems recognizing it, Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) or Windows XP. The memory card stays in the camera and the camera itself is recognized as removable storage and files can be cut and pasted like it was a usb memory stick.

Guess I'm not really recommending one, but expressing satisfaction with a cheaper alternative. From You Tube videos it seems to be comparable for what gets converted and uploaded.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tMkfRFkLo28

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

GoPro vs Contour 1080p

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpvQwSAv2Po

Here's a screenshot (it's a rainy gray day here) from one of the video's I took this AM with it. For what I'll use it for 720p (1280 x 720 image was reduced to 1104 x 621 when uploaded) is fine. Also the date & timestamp are wrong, gonna have to reset that to the right date & time.

That's not bad. The only thing I didn't like was the big exposure shifts but other than that it's usable.

The other thing about AVI, Apple PPC computers don't like to play back AVI files as well. VLC Player, M-Player or something else for a Mac PPC. From what I understand of my friends Intel Macs, it plays back fine.

Found the FW_RTC file. Had to enable viewing of hidden files. I wonder if Storyteller or the camera writes the data to the card?

on my computers (no mac or windoze) i plug the camera (with card) into the computer via USB and edit the file on the card. when i unplug the camera it beeps (i think just one beep) to let me know that it's read the new config from the card, and presumably stores it into the camera's NV-RAM. if i don't edit the file, it doesn't beep when i disconnect the camera from the computer.

i could also remove the card from the camera, edit the file, and then i think the camera will read the new config when it powers up with the card, but it's easier to leave the card in the camera... those micro-SD cards are too damned small, and i have to plug in the camera, anyway, to charge it.

not sure if that helps...

prior to your post, i was thinking that a blank card in the camera will have a default config written to it, but now i think it will get a copy of whatever config was in there previously. note to self: when the new Contour gets here, make sure i back-up the default config file. i may still have the original config on the 2GB card that came with the camera...? i still haven't found much use for that card.

I read somewhere on Contour's support forums that one should use the 2 GB card to update the firmware on the camera. Other than that, it's useless to me. I use 16 GB cards.

You're referring to the ACT20's video ? Where the video seems to wash out ? I think that was more of an issue of the lighting for that particular day, sunrise/sunset timing, location & time of year. That was England and I live in FL, USA, the only times of the year the lighting is like that is the winters and that's in North Florida for the most part. Here's a couple of February pics of a North FL winter just for reference, the colors are washed out greens & browns:

https://visitsouth.com/articles/artic...cksonville-fl/
https://www.mediaservices1.com/mods/p...ina-Beach1.jpg

Anyway, this video is from it's predecessor, the ACT10, which is 640 x 480 resolution. Exposure throughout the video is pretty constant, more like the GoPro & Contour video. Which even when I watch the split screen video, those two cameras produce different video results for same scene video just the same. The Contour appears to be more washed out for color, not as vivid sometimes. Maybe one of them has a polarized lens cover ? The ACT20 is plastic or as the ebay vendor stated acryllic and not glass.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3U9ltTf76fM

One thing to consider: Professionals use the GoPro. Watch a few shows on Discovery or BBC - Mythbusters is a good example. They must buy GoPro cameras by the case. It may be that they like them because of the range of mounting options, but first and foremost they have to have excellent video quality before anything else.

I check any shows sponsors to find out if there is an advertising affiliation that is being served. Take Oprah, she used to give away things every year for Christmas, turns out it was a hour of her handing out Christmas gifts from her advertisers/sponsors. I know she didn't have to do it, but imagine the goodwill created from it. Those sponsors made their money back ten fold from those gestures just during the holiday season and they were the big names like Sony and so on.

GoPro & Contour are the big names in sports/action cams like these I guess, so naturally they're going to be the equipment that is featured. The items off ebay, like the ACT20, that's an economical & inexpensive Chinese alternative. It barely has the firmware for the camera as support. GoPro & Contour, they are more towards the Canon & Nikon company's of these type of products, they have a product line of several similar cameras that are more full featured products (things like gps & bluetooth built in), a website and most often provide download for firmware and even have video editing software for product support. Anyway, with the ACT20, they rely on video software editing programs from 3rd party software companies. Which is fine, there are plenty that edit AVI files. Plenty of free conversion programs from 1 format to the next. We all have to go the extra to do elegant things for any product we buy.

More side by side:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W5v36v2zpqQ
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DGXPKHbOm7o

Wow, in the latter video, the Oregon ATC9K looks like better quality ?

I have a gopro and like it a lot as I tend to be rough on things. I shoot everything in R5 (127 pov) which eliminates the fish eye problem. When shooting nightime video the camera is limited. I am going to get a headlamp for my next night shoot and see how that works. I also have the lcd screen, while it is a battery hog it is nice,I have the lcd set up to turn off in 60 seconds for battery conservation. I also purchased a second battery for $20. Here are a couple of examples on night video, I believe the Feb CCM vid was shot in 170 pov. The Sept vid has some daylight in the beginning.

I've never seen any brands visible on Mythbusters. They even blur or tape over logos on shirts that people are wearing. The only way I know that they're GoPro cameras is that I recognize them. They've never shown even a closeup shot of one.

My experience has been that GoPro is the only camera that I've seen that does not exhibit motion compression artifacts on HD video. All the others do.

It greatly reduces the problem, yes, but it's certainly still there.

It's pretty obvious even in your videos any time something that you know is straight (a chainstay, a road marking, etc.) that's parallel to the edge of the frame gets close to it. It's *incredibly* obvious in the photo mode, such as in this picture (yes, the horizon is supposed to be flat!) -- probably because this mode is as wide as any mode the GoPro does.

This thread tells how to replace the lens with one that doesn't have this problem. I like their demo video, but I wish they had some photos taken with the GoPro for me to compare against so I could see it under the worst possible conditions.

Either way, I'm tempted to buy this lens and modify my GoPro, and buy another GoPro for situations where having the stock (waterproof) case would be better.

at this point, i don't think there's going to be any more FW updates for the 1300

i guess i can drop the 2GB cards in a USB carrier/adapter from DX, and for $1 i've got a 2GB flash drive.

i've heard they're also used in feature "film" production. for professional use, the biggest weakness of the Contour-1300 (i haven't used the other models) is the chunky vertical lines when the sensor overloads in bright light. not a problem for my needs.

There was a point on the path and a crossroad came up and the video exposure jumped way up. Every camera does auto-exposure differently.

I still prefer the Contours incredible quality at 60fps. Something about being able to read the logos on wheels at 30mph just seems cool.

A lot of the quality has to do with post-production. Any good camera will look bad if someone uses lame settings in their software. It took me 1/2 a dozen videos to finally get a good configuration so my videos are a lot more crisp now. I expect to continually improve working with exposure and color control. Cheers.

Agreed firmware upgrades can make a world of difference too. The ACT20 is a max 30 fps and after watching a few You Tube videos of the difference, normal playback vs slow motion it's even more noticeable. Guess I got what I paid for ? Serviceable comes to mind, nothing exceptional.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-nU2_ERC_oE

The ACT 20 I have and for anyone interested in a night vision test, limited is almost too kind an assessment unless I'm around florescent lighting, it's just way too dark. Definitely a day light action cam. I also figure digital cameras suffer from fish eye like the old SLR 35 mm film camera lenses. The more FoV you have, the more fish eye effect. As I revisit my old 35 mm still camera, that had a 24 mm fish eye & 28 mm wide angle lens that would capture a wider FoV. The 50 mm lens was the normal view but also had quite a bit less FoV. Then there was the 80-200 mm lenses that would obviously produce still more restricted FoV that comparatively is tunnel vision for closer subjects. I'm wondering if the ACT 20 isn't a more capable piece of hardware, just limited more because of the poorer development resources & implementation of it's firmware ? For better or worse, I'll hold onto it. I hope to use it extensively this weekend to become even more familiar with it.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_o...haracteristics
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angle_o...angles_of_view

That chart pretty much demonstrates that these digital lenses really are extreme FoV in comparison to the old SLR 35 mm lenses.

I've been shooting SLR for 35 years and dSLR since their development. I'm quickly learning the differences in application principles between these cheap little video cameras and my SLR stills and my video quality is improving quickly. I'm starting to have pretty good luck with my two new ContourHD cameras. Tomorrow I will make a 20 mph pass for 10 miles along the River Mountain Trail at Lake Mead. My experiments involve reduction of resonant vibrations from handlebar mounts. I'm doing many things to steady the image and reduce the rattles in the audio. I'll post up tomorrow afternoon.

I have a still camera that also does video and sometimes I throw a wide angle lens on it and shoot video from the car. (That camera is too big to use on a bike) But I like the result and its made me wonder, why not build one that uses three or four cameras and uses 3d stitching software to create a spherical movie? Sort of like Google Street View in motion. Well, it turns out that great minds think alike and there are actually dozens of people on the net who have made stabs at doing just that. Some of them have been fairly successful. Combined with an accurate GPS logger and an electronic compass its not hard to imagine a lot of commercial applications. You could drive a preprogrammed path through an area and later, analyze the images to allow you to create a 3D map of the geometry accurate enough to make a 2D map of it.

Anyway, helmet cams are cool but dont limit yourselves to just the forward direction!

Igo, you could use a powered flywheel (a gyroscope) and/or a gimbal mount and counterweight.. (i.e. a steadicam..)

If you have enough resolution Id think a super wide angle might eventually be best because you can warp it digitally into anything you want. But you'd need a very high native resolution. To do 24 fps or better, you'd need a very fast hard disk and a very fast (gigabit ethernet) link between the camera and recorder. Youd want a very high naive resoltion. NTSC or PAL would be way too grainy

Sony has a camera that does panoramic views. It takes a still that allows you to press the shutter and sweep thru a still. Would be neat if they could find a way to do that with a video camera, perhaps with three headed normal view lensed camera that synchronizes the video ?

Both the GoPro and Contour are extreme wide angle already.

There are a few ways to do it. There is a special lens out there that contains a spherical mirror that is mounted right in the middle of the frame, when attached to a camera and the camera is pointed up, the camera captures a 360 degree image that must then be unwarped with special software.

There is a cheap HD camcorder that has a tiny version of one of those lenses.. I forget the brand.. I have heard that it works better than you would expect from something that tiny.

The other way is to use several cameras and wide angle lenses and synchronize all the cameras so that the frames are captured at the exact same moment. This is very hard to do with USB2 and impossible with USB 1 but quite possible with Firewire and USB 3.

That way, you can get very high resolution images.

I dont know anyone who has tried to use composite video in this kind of multi camera situation. It seems better suited to digital capture.

Google for full motion panorama..

I just to use the GoPro HD kit but found it cumbersome to use and mount. Since then Im running with the adrenaline systems HD 295 helmet cam kit. It has great video quality and features a super sharp TFT screen: this allows me to mount perfectly with real-time view, no to mention video preview without having to connect to a computer.

So far it has been very reliable and super light weight; I can mount and unmount on the fly without too much delay.
Check it out at:

https://adrenalinecamera.com/product_...roducts_id=342

Check out mounts for direct bike mounting which are well worth the extra bucks:

https://adrenalinecamera.com/product_...roducts_id=255

There is no chest harness in the accessories. ContourHD doesn't have one either. GoPro has a chest harness. The only problem with GoPro's chest harness is, IMO they gouge the customer for $40, just for the harness.