While my blog hasn’t been getting any action, I’ve gotten myself an action cam to record my MTB rides.
Two years ago my brother bought a Drift x170 and we have since recorded all of our bikes rides. The Drift x170 is a non HD camera, but even so we recorded several hours of video which we still enjoy to watch back today.
Fast forward to our days. To record video in non HD format is the equivalent of taping music in a magnetic tape in the age of CD’s. It was therefore about time to upgrade our videos to HD. And since my brother has recently moved to France, it was up to me to shell out on a new Action Cam to bring along in our MTB rides.
Today’s choice are mostly between two brands: Contour and GoPro. Each brand has several offers, but ruling out the most expensive ones, it was either the Contour ROAM or the GoPro HD Hero. Both offers are quite similar technically wise, both record HD with a very decent framerate, and batteries last about the same time. What I found different was the form factor, the Contour can easily be fitted to an helmet without disturbing too much the center of mass (which as my brother learned from the Drift x170, is something that should not be forgotten). Price wise, they are sold in the same price range, but since I found an Amazon sale of the ContourROAM it instantly became the best :)
The image quality is great. The week I got the camera I immediately took it for a ride on a short route in Bio Ria. You can see the quality of the pictures on the vimeo movie in this post. Furthermore the camera is quite sturdy and has already gotten some rain on. Overall it has been a great purchase so far, and I’m looking forward to record some cool HD videos in the months to come.
Meanwhile, you can check old videos and some new ones online on Vimeo, or if your lucky enough to have FTTH MEO service on channel 140777.