VholdR ContourHD Helmet-Cam Video Review

[madjak30]

Neil...one thing your forgot to mention is the aluminum case/chassis...whatever you want to call it...it is tough as nails...I was wearing mine during a crash this past season and it still works the same as it did before, albeit with a few "custom" touches (scratched the hell out of it...oops)...but as you mentioned the sound quality is crap unless you don't move or find wind...other than that, I love mine...

Later.

[2009shosh]

GoPro sucks. Contour all the way. If you wanna mount a camera on your helmet without looking like you have a bionic appendage sticking out of your head, then get the Contour. Anything the GoPro does, Contour does BETTER!!! Check out my channel for vids.

[valentinocolic]

GoPro's better :P

[TheGreekJim]

Hi! I only have one question. Is it waterproof?

Thanks

[onewheeldrive]

@TheGreekJim Nope, not entirely. Though it will put up with light rain just fine.

[p8intballkid]

@TheGreekJim they sell a waterproof case.

[spdklls7]

@TheGreekJim The ContourRoam is completely waterproof and can even record underwater...got mine for $115 off Amazon a month ago.

[RAStemen01]

@TheGreekJim they do sell a watertight enclosure for around $35 US or so. I've used it in the ocean before and it worked perfectly.

[AviTheBlader]

i just go a gopro hd and everything about it is far better than this. get a gopro if you want a camera for soing things like this

[PREDATORVB]

Can i charge contour camera while recording?

[XxsrfootballxX]

how much recording timje do you have?



[onewheeldrive]

@XxsrfootballxX Depends on the card you put in it.

[motorhead112]

i got a question, would it be good enough for paint balling?

[Maddog28101992]

ive been using this camera on my helmet riding a 700 raptor but dust has gotten behind the screen and the screen cannot be removed and now there is a constant blury cloud. not happy to be honest.

[simon44]

Is the newest version of this (the Contour Plus +) worth twice the price that you can now buy this for?

[coltonomor]

You may not have noticed but on the camera there is a sticker that covers up the microphone.

[VSUZUKIV]

gopro is better XD

[0nomis]

Mind-Numbing footage :-)

Fricken Laser Beams on their heads!!

Hahahahah

[Bassmanonmasa]

I am thinking of making videos of my trips but also throw in some commentary about my journey so it won't be boring to watch when with mates, would it be able to record my voice while riding with visor down or no???

[onewheeldrive]

@Bassmanonmasa No, the audio pick up isn't sensitive or good enough for that.

[steelhead3686]

Live viewfinder available on smart phones. Check out the web. Also the ContourGPS looks pretty intriguing.

[snorider]

I would like to use this for hiking, is there a way to mount this with a regular hat or do I need to have some kind of headband on to attach it to?

Thanks

[dirtbikemike204]

i went out on a day that was around 40 degrees with mud and it got colder and snowed and this still worked... i am positive the gopro would too, but i dont have a case on my contour

[ZebrasVagina]

GoPro is better by far

[PuppyEatter01]

have you not encountered the hd hero than?

[ProjectCosmos]

"Yo Contour imma' let you finish, but GoPro had one of the best helmet cams of all-time" - Kanye West.

[randomDizy]

0:32 FReckn lazer beams on there heads lol

[opti95]

should i buy this for regular recording?

how do i transfer the video to my computer?

and finally can i have sex with you?

[panzr]

Are the lasers able to be turned off? I'd think they'd be annoying if they were too visible in one's video footage

[onewheeldrive]

@panzr The turn off after 20 seconds or so.

[DesmosediciAlice]

@onewheeldrive actually i want them to stay on, any idea how? it would be pretty cool to look like predator

[plaguedguy85]

Where is this drive at? It looks sick! What state?

[GameLikeGunz]

how much?

[onewheeldrive]

@GameLikeGunz Probably best to do a web search for the best price. It varies from the MSRP.

[GameLikeGunz]

@onewheeldrive k thanks and amazing quality

[jcscooterpeople]

@GameLikeGunz usually $299.99

[opretopsy]

check out svengalie's vid of this helmet cam,

he tells everything about mounting and stuff

[RamonaFromPomona]

The image stabilization is good.

[BigTimeBikingTV]

this thing actually sucks compared to the gopro hd's, just sayin

[snowyphil65]

@BigTimeBikingTV still a good bargain camera compared to say the vio pov 1.5

[tjohn1986]

Come on man. You didn't mention the attachment. I know the camera is good, but its attached to helmet with an adhesive. I will be hitting speeds close to 200 mph and i need to know if it will stay on

[TheEvilAmerican]

Would this mount to an ACH helmet?

[silistylefly]

Gopro HD Hero im just saiyn

[airsoftboss11]

friken laser beams

[Unity0Is0Power]

I tried using my iPhone 4 cam to record wile ridding and it looks great... Extremely clear. Need to design some type of mount however as placing it right in front of my visor blocks my vision. Audio quality was also good... not amazing. The second mic seems to do its job.

[ProportaReviewsUK]

haha freaking lazer beams on there heads! reminds me of Dr. Evil

[sirjogs]

should i get this or tachyon xc micro 2010

[tjohn1986]

Was that a review? What about mounting options, battery life, price etc??!

[harveysims]

Have had My contour for almost a year now . snowmobiling , jeeping , oval track racing . Works awesome in good light . Check out my footage ----harvey sims

[sweetypie000]

£300, its not waterproof without buying a £35 case and its not 1080 lol

the quality is not as good but i'll stick with my veho muvi pro

[walthanas]

@sweetypie000 There is both a 720P as well as a 1080P Contour-HD model.

[pred123424]

GOpro is better

[spartantournament]

this camera is good for paintball you know if any hit for paintball dont broke a part this camera

[MultiCamo]

What's the highest frame rate the camera will record at?

[EwanTheGinger]

@MultiCamo 60 fps is the highest frame rate

[blasterowner]

fricking laserbeans

[ShadowStudious]

Does that mean its water proof? Cause i am using it for Riding snowmachinces at summit, alaska.. and snowboarding..?

[onewheeldrive]

@ShadowStudious Water resistant.  There is a water proof case though.

[nycrea]

@onewheeldrive

And that means that you can use it in the water or?

[onewheeldrive]

@nycrea Without the case ours has dealt with a bit of rain. I can't speak to the effectiveness of the waterproof case.

[s38a5t13n]

has anyone seen footage from this on a really rough Downhill mtb track?

How long does the battery last?

[onewheeldrive]

@s38a5t13n Tends to work out well on MTB track provided you helmet mount the camera. Your neck and spine are amazing shock absorbers.

[walthanas]

@s38a5t13n I tend to get at least 3,5 hours on one battery if I switch the camera on and off a few times, and about 3 to 3,5 hours if I leave it running continuously until the battery is dead. I have both the 720P and 1080P Contour-HD models, and find no difference between the two with regard to battery life.

[thebestsin]

This camera worth the money. well build with real HD resolution, I have contourHD 720p and it's pretty kick ass, I already made video in my channel testing the camera.

[Rambl147]

Anyone got any ideas what software I can use to edit my contour hd clips together and add music? Windows MM wont accept my the clips. Any help would be appreciated.

[onewheeldrive]

@Rambl147 I'd grab MPEG Streamclip (it's free) and transcode to an editable format at a easy (and free) solution.

[bansheebrad1982]

iv got one love it contour 720 p

[tomcatpilot13]

is this compatible with windows movie maker?

[Obsidian212]

I've been researching suitable cams for roller coasters. anyone know of any wrist cams that i can check out? is this Helmet cam applicable w/o a helmet?

[TheTurbinator]

PROTIP: The first thing I did was to get some gum over those fucking lasers, the last thing I want is to get shot because someone scoped on to them.

[onewheeldrive]

@TheTurbinator If you're traveling some place where you're going to get shot over a laser pointer, there might be some other considerations to make ;)

[simon44]

Another excellent video man. Loving the Canadian accent

[glenfuj]

Sorry to disappoint everyone but I'm beginning to realised that this camera is not good in a hot climate especially here in the Middle East. I've been using this since last December and everything was fine, got a lot of videos on it but since the hot weather started, I was too disappointed that the camera wont record anymore but all it got is a blank and black video.

[onewheeldrive]

@glenfuj Good feedback. Have you contacted VHoldr to see if they've a solution?

[PointOfViewCameras]

@glenfuj We send 1000's of ContourHD's all over the place and this is the first time I hear of this problem. VholdR is very good with warranty so contact them for sure if you have not already.

[Taylor987Fmx]

it realy is a good camera, i bought one 3 weeks ago and have not stopped using it,i evan strapped it into my dads drag car and it held up extremely well with the vibration

[NOTadribabe]

"8 hours of mind numbing ride footage... your friends are going to be, so, happy."

LOL. Thanks for the entertaining, honest review.

[jonnyhifi]

ty for the review: I am contemplating buying one of these; or a bullet cam, and DVR (with a screen); which seems to work out about the same price. Anybody compare the two ways of proceeding, for image quality ? I'm thinking of a HQR2 from dogcam or similar: for skiing POV vids, and also for inside a rally car... Looks as though the bullet cams are much better at low light.... ?

[peterfarrow]

@jonnyhifi

Bullet cams are better in low light, but bullet cams are standard definition so thats not a fair comparison, skiing you'll have no problems with the Contour HD, I had some bullet cam skiing footage from up to 6 years ago on my channel, go take a look...

:-)

[peterfarrow]

@jonnyhifi also if you go to rfconcepts (dot) co (dot) uk there are an array of cameras there at much lower prices. I used a sony HAD ccd 520line bullet cam for my videos, recording onto a DV recorder with a LANC remote, I have just upgraded to a contourHD 1080p

watch?v=_xAPrsjBx9I

[jonnyhifi]

am thinking about a helmet cam: this looks a good spec: the other way to go would be with a bullet cam, and remote (downa wire) DVR with a littel screen. Such as the HQ2 cameras. about the same cost. And I think better at low light ? any body comapred them ? I want to use it for skiing, and inside a rally car...

[ForgedInStone]

Looks pretty good! :)

Thanks for this review.

[wieditleestisleip]

Haha.. 0:31

[almostskat8erboi]

does the micro 2gb card fit in a regular sd integrated port? good review

[onewheeldrive]

You'd need an adaptor.

[almostskat8erboi]

does it come with it or can you buy it seperately

[DJRCMACH]

@almostskat8erboi just get an adapter card from an electronic hobby shop and stick in in ;)

[seiketsu85]

WHAT DO you guys think about POV1.5?

[onewheeldrive]

Unfortunately we've not had a chance to test the POV1.5, so can't provide any feedback on it at this point.

[minablock]

so how do u get the recorded footage onto a computer? please tell me i really want to get a cam for paintball :)

[onewheeldrive]

You transfer the files via a USB cable (included).

[minablock]

thanks i might just buy one do they ship to australia? can you give me a link to the web site?

[onewheeldrive]

Not sure if they ship to Australia, but google "vholdr" for the site. Youtube won't let you add links to a reply.

[minablock]

okays thanks very much..also sorry if i am wasting ur time but do u think it will go well with paintball? thats my last question mate thanks very much for ur help

[onewheeldrive]

I think it will do just fine. If you're keen I'd grab the waterproof case which will help with impacts in the event of a direct hit to the camera.

[blinkycab]

Hey man, I just bought one myself. If your in Australia google 'launch helmet cams'. That's where I got mine from.

[coasterman59]

@minablock its really easy to do. i just got mine yesterday for skiing and paintball. all you do is connect it to the computer

[usefulaz]

no mention of battery life at all?

[xi0rapsheeba0ix]

is it waterproof?

[onewheeldrive]

No, there is a waterproof case for it though.

[isrsan]

their website says it is water resistant. But i guess you can't use it under water

[PaintBallSensation]

Would it work for a paintball helment?

[onewheeldrive]

It works well on motorcycle helmets so I should imagine it would be fine on a paintball helmet. There is also a goggle mount.

[5b4afq]

Contour is much sliker nicer , and more practical than Vado.. Ok maybe the video is not perfect in low light or when shooting against the sun ,, but if i had the Vado on my head people would have confused me with the "Doc" in the film " Back to the future" .... i Love my contour...

[deauville0676]

Niet echt 1080p full HD maar het voordeel lijkt me toch dat dit een lichte en vrij robuuste ActionCam is zonder harde schijf of andere kwetsbare bewegende delen. Eens kijken of we er hier in BelgIë of Nederland aan geraken.

[dagwodzz]

Contour HD test against the Vado HD 2nd Gen

Truth is the Contour HD is SAD! Poor low light video and soft. I don't see how they get away saying its HD.

With some clever thought you can mount the Vado HD 2nd Gen any place you can mount the Contour HD using their mounting systems.

In the end its about the video. The Vado runs circles around the Contour at half the price.

see my post on youtube search dagwodzz

[staver76]

Its a mini cam corder

[dagwodzz]

I have been experimenting with small cameras for years on my ultralight. I have tried many! I was real excited when I found the Vholder HD Other than the mounting system the product sucks. I even up graded to the 1080P as soon as it was available. Sad to say it sucked as well. I set it back ASAP!

I really wanted it to work. In the end its about the video. The Vholder has crappy video. Low light? Are you kidding me? Don't waste your money.

[onewheeldrive]

We've just received the 1080p, will be giving it a whirl.

[JosephMBoyer]

hey do they fit on the goggle strap?

or did you use some type of glue or something?

I ride dirtbikes

so could I mount it to my goggles?

thanks man let me know I highly appreciate it

5*

[onewheeldrive]

We used the goggle mount and the helmet mount included with the camera.

[xxBUBBABOY333xx]

haha try this on my CRF250R probly horible

[bb0394]

low visbility

[dagwodzz]

I have been experimenting with small cameras for years on my ultralight. I have tried many! I was real excited when I found the Vholder HD Other than the mounting system the product sucks. I even up graded to the 1080P as soon as it was available. Sad to say it sucked as well. I set it back ASAP!

I really wanted it to work. In the end its about the video. The Vholder has crappy video. Low light? are you kidding me? Don't wast your money.

[Shitdudeee]

What is a low contrast day??? xD

[onewheeldrive]

Mostly heavy overhead cloud and poor light.

[HooligansDocumentary]

this camera does not have a great image stabilizer...the human head does...so when placed on helmet, the footage is fairly stable....but filming it in your hand is another story

[itakeyouthere]

So which helmet cam is better to get for a reasonable price?

[Philscbx]

@HooligansDocumentary Your right, I tried traditional video camera in hand while on 1800vtx on winding road with others and it was the worst footage ever seen. I was hoping by hand that it was somewhat stable, not a chance.

[liilpunky]

5stars fo friken laser beams on their friken heads!

[RunningWolfProductin]

That would be so fricken awesome!!!

[BerSerKer2k8]

which is better.. contour or gopro hero hd?

[onewheeldrive]

I'm going to see if we can't land a gopro fro review to answer that very question.

[Fuckation]

Contour.

[serguti]

I will visit Vancouver and Toronto in December...could you please tell me where to buy this camera?.. Thanks!

[NickAshmore]

"Now you can have riders with freakin laser beams on their heads!"

[Mitchd03]

@NickAshmore I want to strap one to a shark.

[2fstmotox]

or gopro helmet hd cams are alot better.. cheaper too

[HatenSuffering]

It runs out of battery really fast.

[bcbackrider]

I like where you ride along the KVR, been there done that and will have to go back again soon. Thx for the review.

[EpicPlasticBricks]

Nice Enderos! :D

[JayzBeerz]

not bad but for 300 bucks they can keep it

[darkfield82]

HI everyone,

where can I buy one of this camera????????

thanks a lot

[Malph46]

I own 1 since a few months,,,& my brother will also afford 1 so we can record eachother while snowboarding,,

check my previous movies

THnX Malph46

[d1incharge]

track sprinklers hit mine while riding mx, water got inside the lens. It dried, but cmon guys? If you asked me to guess real world frame-rate, I would say 2-10 fps @720p. Software is shty. I like the wide angle and the quality of the stuttery video, just not the stuttery part. Not bad for the price I guess, but flawed for sure.

[LUIZAT2004]

ContourHD or V.i.o 1.5 ?

[walthanas]

Contour-HD is a considerably cheaper and has a much higher resolution.

[halfthrottle]

so you can put in a 16 gig stick and record for 8 hours. How long does the battery last?

[walthanas]

Around 3 to 4 hours. I recorded enough to fill four 8GB microSD cards, and I had to swap the batteries every time a card was almost full. Personally I wouldn't go for the 16GB stick, because you can swap both the battery and card simultaneously. Besides having smaller cards spreads the risk of data loss through a corrupt or damaged card.

[RINGOTVHD]

Sony HXR-MC1

[RoughRoadFab]

It's poor. just got mine unboxed and its has a few issues, test shots are a lot like the Go Pro in lower light situations. kinda wavy, and not very good detail.

[msteelman]

whats better would you say? the go pro or this camera?

[onewheeldrive]

If you can wait, then GoPro is rumoured to have it's own HD camera in the works with 1080p at 30fps and 720p at 60fps.

[msteelman]

that would be so awesome, I love the go pro. Hope it comes out before this winter so i can use it for snowboarding

[Restarea11019V]

Sony HDR-CX520V just came out

[alextzam]

is it better?

[fenderman21guitar]

yeh and its $1300....this is $299...

[walthanas]

That Sony's in a different price range altogether, and it's not really just a head cam.

[RINGOTVHD]

Anyone have video of how night footage look. I mainly do a lot of night videos with my Viosport H20 helmet cam which look great. Do this cam produce great night footage?

Main thing I like about this HD cam is I don't need to carry a Mini-DV camcorder, buy tapes, or have wires all over the place.

Again, good someone post video of night footage. I want to know if night shots on the HD cam is better than the cam I'm using.

[scottishkingpin]

Camera is bad ass... footage comes out great... You just have to keep in mind it is a very wide angled lens. Not too sure a/b the durability yet. Had an issue with the camera audio getting fuzzy one time, however I used it again and audio seems to be working great. deff worth every penny. footage looks great.

[loneshark2000]

280 bux on ebay, the price could be better tho !

[spadastunter]

280 is cheap dude, unless im just prepared to spend more. I have a budget of 1k

[SultanMehmed]

Do you have cams(or even helmet cams) for cars?

[R4nd0mVid30s159]

with FREAKEN laser beams on there head :D

[kbreschini1]

is it good for snowboarding ?

[scottishkingpin]

Adventure Eye Video Systems has these for a pretty good deal. Got mine off ebay for $279.00 with free shipping. I used it to film my fireworks for the fourth of July and it came out awesome... I'llhave the videos up sometime today.

[0oziyado0]

Is it water proof ?

[streetwiseburger]

looks like quite a nice cam, but like 99% of all helmet cams, wind noise! This video wasn't even shot at high speeds. If the VholdR ContourHD comes with a external microphone jack, then it would be great!

[onewheeldrive]

Unfortunately no external mike.

[edgars636]

To eliminate the noise when riding and taping, I usually cover the mic. with tape, I can stil hear the roar of the engine and no wind noise.

[SindreNordby92]

My friends are gonna be so happy

[take450]

5* for the frickin lase beams!

[adrianTNT]

Looks good and practical.

[defaultuser11434]

awesome product great for making youtube vids. definitely want to get one. where are you riding off-road at, looks like fun.

[Camilookb]

Where are they?? That trip looks awsome, i would love to do that once I graduate...

[onewheeldrive]

A majority of the footage was shot between Clinton, Lillooet, and Goldbridge, BC I'll be turning out some travel bits with more specifics in the next couple weeks. Was a great ride though.

[lokito919]

i need one to record my paintball games :)

[RandomShadowMan]

This owns.

[oederdekoe]

At least it sounds as a honest comercial :D

U show even the downsider of it.

Thumbs up for that!

[onewheeldrive]

Wasn't intended as a commercial, mostly just footage showing what the camera did and a bit of narration to fill in the blanks. There's enough here to help decide on the ContourHD or not.

[seeman100]

can i set the memory to re-recording when it gos full i mean as for the last 8 hours for the 2GB coz i want to install it to my car for a security matter

[1991sincha]

:D :D 0:33 - 0:36 :D that was little bit funny

[raajaa32]

lol

[TheHuNTERplus]

looks great

[SmKnSTANG96]

All I can say is.... GoPro. To me... much better helmet cam.

[provid1234]

for portability this camera is great, but for video quality it is just horrible. It is a single 1/6 chip cmos sensor, no manual controls, low light performance sucks, and has the rolling shutter issue. Just because someone stamps the term hd doesn't make it hd. My xl1 pro sd camcorder destroys it in resolution (but it is about 9 pounds and is about 2 feet in length and cost about 1700 bucks). My point being that just because you stamp hd on it, it won't make it amazing. But this is a helmet cam.

[onewheeldrive]

I think you need to look at it in the context of the other helmet cams available out there - which in terms of quality tend to be pretty weak. You simply can't fit a huge chip into a tiny cam without Time Lord technology.

In comparison to the other Helmet-cams out there it is a start. More importantly it hopefully will open the market for competitors that will drive future development forwards.

[provid1234]

true, i have a suggestion would a more advanced hdcam such as the hfs100 fit your budget, it is a tapeless avchd camcorder from canon that costs about 900-1000 dollars and is a great camcorder with lots of manual controls, a very large sensor for its price and could easily be taped to a helmet.

[onewheeldrive]

We have a "good" 3CCD HD camera for producing the car and bike reviews which are pushed to the web and DVD. We tend to view the helmet cams as a disposable commodity because we're hard on them. I'm fine with burning through three 300.00 helmet cams at the loss of some quality, because we will undoubtably be replacing them :) I'd feel very bad putting a $1000 cam through some of the stuff done to get shots.

[provid1234]

yeah i would know what you mean it would be a waste of money.

[panties4275437]

You couldn't be more wrong. In fact you prove how wrong you are in your statement. For the price and size it's incredible, but hey, everyone's a critic.