Contour GPS helmet cam review

Helmet cameras have now achieved the pinnacle of HD recording: 1080p. If you have the cash, a head, and a pastime worth filming you have a few choices for full HD extreme POV recording. So what's a little lid-mounted recorder to do for its next trick? If you're Contour it's to add a positional sensor and the letters G, P, and S to your product and create the ContourGPS. It lets you not only record your extreme antics but also how fast you were going when you were partaking in them, plus a lot of other information. And, more promisingly, there's a suite of hardware updates here, some paving the way to letting you use your smartphone as a viewfinder. But how does this $350 piece of helmet jewelry perform on the ice? Keep on reading for some video evidence.

Updated hardware

The biggest update here is the included GPS receiver, naturally. Using it the camera adds positional information to the footage that it captures (at your choice of resolutions up to 1080p), which lets you later view the path covered and speed achieved while recording. Also new is a Bluetooth module, a nugget of silicon that's not doing anything right now but, in the near future, will enable mobile devices to receive video in real-time and to modify camera settings, a feature Contour calls Live Viewfinder.

Beyond that Contour has a habit of subtly tweaking and improving its camera designs with each revision, with the ContourHD 1080p model getting a more progressive slider compared to its 720p predecessor, along with a few other subtle tweaks. The new ContourGPS still shares the same look as those two that came before, but it offers still more modifications. The slider up top, which is used to start and stop recording, is now raised with little rubber nubbies sticking out. This makes it even easier to start and stop this camera without having to take off your super-comfy, fleece-lined mittens.

Around back the door that covers the battery case is now hard plastic and spring-loaded, much more secure than the previous one that always felt a bit flimsy. To keep it from flipping open at the wrong time a little lock has been added, but the push power button on the back remains unchanged. It's still awful hard to find with gloves on and sometimes hard to activate even bare handed.

Flip the door open and the layout inside is much the same, with a miniUSB port on the left (still no micro), battery on the right, and a microSD slot in the middle. The battery is now held in place by a spring-loaded clasp instead of the finicky rotating lock that always gave us problems before, and there's a tiny switch that lets you toggle between one of two modes. Which two modes? We're glad you asked.

We've never exactly been a fan of the software suite that's been provided with Contour's cameras, so we weren't too disappointed to see a wholly new software suite introduced here. It's called Storyteller unfortunately it's basically the same as before. Through this app you can download footage from your camera, view it, and upload it to Contour's site. You can also do simple editing -- as long as you only want to trim the front and the back off of the video. You can't do anything more advanced and, while you're free to do what you will using an external video tool (footage is encoded in a .mov container), if you do so you'll lose the GPS data. So much for that idea.

The software also lets you configure the camera, creating two configurations with different resolutions, exposure and sound settings, and also selecting whether GPS is enabled. Many of these tweaks will mess with your battery life, which the app will warn you about -- though it stops short of giving you any estimated figures.

Upload a video from the app and it'll show up on the Contour website, which attempts to offer a bit more social interaction than your YouTubes and the like. More important is that it has room for a map over on the right, providing a real-time Google Maps overlay of where the wearer was during this frame of footage and how fast they were going. At least, it will do that assuming the camera scored a GPS lock before the footage started recording.

So lets take a look at what comes in the box with the Contour GPS Camera:

• ContourGPS Camera
• Rechargeable Battery
• MicroSD Card (2GB)
• 2 Rotating Flat Surface Mounts
• Goggle Mount Rails
• Lens Cap
• Goggle Mount
• 2 Mount Tethers
• USB Cable
• Quick Start Guide

Lots of good stuff to get you started.

Now, let’s cover the specifics:

• 1080p Full HD at 30fps, 960p Tall HD at 30fps, 720p Action HD at 60fps and 720p Contour HD at 30fps.
• Built in GPS Receiver.
• Water Resistant Aluminum Shell weighing in at 5.3oz / 150 grams.
• 5 megapixel Still Photo Capture at intervals of 1, 2, 5, 10, 30 or 60 seconds.
• Expandable Storage - SD Memory Capacity up to 32GB.
• 135º Angle of View in 960p and 720p, 110º in 1080p.
• Newly Designed Omnidirectional Microphone.
• Rechargeable Lithium Battery.
• Multi Sport Mounting - package includes Goggle Mount, 2 Rotating Flat Surface Mounts and 2 Mount Tethers for camera security.
• Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7; Mac OS X 10.5 and later.
• 180 day manufacturers warranty.

Testing

Our first impressions with the camera out of the box were good, improved hardware feeling nice but still sharing the same sophisticated design as before. Sadly, our first impressions trying to use the thing were not so good. There's a little light on the front of the camera that blinks green when it's looking for GPS, turning solid when locked on. We tried and we wished as hard as we could but we just couldn't get it to go solid.

Once, when leaving the thing outside and on for 30 minutes it finally scored a lock, but we'd later find that it didn't connect to enough satellites to actually track our position. It was only after many, many failed attempts that we finally got a solid satellite lock -- while standing in the middle of a frozen lake, where we captured the above ice racing clip. Any trees overhead would block the signal, even particularly cloudy weather seemed to affect it. Once the camera had a lock it seemed okay even with some foliage overhead, but if we didn't start in a wide, wide open area all was lost. Well, all the GPS data, anyway. The footage would still record as normal.

You can see the results in the embed above for when we did finally get a lock, which charts our progress around the plowed out track, chasing down an opponent in a white Mitsubishi EVO. The pass was ultimately made but the position later given back, clipping a snow bank on the last lap of the race. Unfortunately we can't show you that part because the driver of the camera car took that opportunity to hurl a few choice bits of profanity. Since the Storyteller app doesn't allow you to cut out sections or do anything with the audio we simply had to cut the clip short.

Overall video and audio performance of the camera seems unchanged from our earlier review of the Contour 1080p, so you'll want to read that. Wind noise at high speeds is perhaps a bit better managed here but still very noticeable, as you can see in this other clip that we captured with the camera mounted on the roof. Curiously, the GPS didn't work for that one.

Battery life seems comparable to the 1080p model as well -- at least it is with the GPS module disabled. Recording at the highest quality 1080p mode with GPS enabled we eked out a minute short of two hours before our camera went kaput. Without GPS that time went up to 2.5 hours. Moving down to a 720p encoding at a lower bitrate battery life jumped another 30 minutes to three hours of continuous recording. If that's not enough you can plug the camera in to a charger while it's in use, assuming you have access to a charger while doing whatever extreme thing you're doing.

GPS accuracy, meanwhile, is good, but a low refresh rate in the camera can make for some occasionally chunky interpretation when you're moving at speed, as evidenced in the hairpin turn. You can see the difference of the camera's trace above on the left, compared to an external 5Hz Bluetooth GPS unit connected through TrackMaster on Android, shown on the right. However, since we captured this footage Contour has released an update enabling 4Hz refresh rates in GPS, which should go a long way to making things much more smooth.

The ContourGPS offers a subtly improved design that we think is definitely a step forward, and the inclusion of Bluetooth to enable the use of a smartphone as a viewfinder will be a huge coup when that releases. But that's not out now, and the poor performance of the GPS module itself makes the extra cost here -- $350 vs. $280 for the 1080p model -- something of a hard sell. At this point we'd go for the 1080p, get an extra battery for $30 and spend the rest on a nice dinner. But, that opinion may change once we get a chance to test out that upcoming live viewfinder mode, a feature that could truly set this camera apart.

What About Battery Life?

The Contour GPS sucks its power from a rechargeable lithium-ion battery… so not only are you doing something nice for the environment by not tossing out batteries… you are also giving yourself a nice, long battery life of up to 3 hours. Need to keep shooting? Grab an extra battery and keep it charged in your bag… just in case.

Durable Doesn’t Always Mean Heavy

The durable construction of this unit allows it to be used in some heavy hitting situations. Built from a tough, water resistant aluminum shell, the Contour GPS remains lightweight, sporting a streamlined silhouette, that really is perfect for mounting anywhere. Weighing in at a minimal 5.3oz / 150 grams, the Contour GPS is provides the best in versatility, because it really doesn’t hold you back in any way.

Designed to work perfectly with Contour’s TRail mounting system, the Contour GPS is perfectly compatible with all of Contour’s existing mounts. However, due to the new, more substantial record button which houses the GPS unit, this camera doesn’t fit into the existing waterproof case, but Contour is working on a case of its very own, to be released sometime this winter.

A major improvement in the body design of the Contour GPS has been made with the inclusion of the new locking back latch. This eliminates any fear of the latch opening to expose the battery, memory card and heart of the camera to the elements. In addition to this, the new, stiffer record button is much more difficult to accidentally knock into the on or off position. These welcome changes provide peace of mind when you are tearing down a super bumpy trail or a wet, muddy slope.

Right off the bat, this camera is different. I mean, it resembles its brethren, sporting Contour‘s great, original design… it’s sleek, cool, smooth and light… but the Contour GPS is still a little different. There are a few additions and alterations that put this camera into a place of its very own. Holding the two cameras at same time suggests that the Contour GPS has been beefed up a bit. This lends a bit more piece of mind, in terms of the cameras capabilities in those extreme, rough and tumble situations. It doesn’t stop there… in addition, the Contour GPS also addresses some previous concerns about the original ContourHD 1080p Camera. For instance, the back cover on the previous design wasn’t all that it could be… and for some, had the periodic tendency to flip open, exposing the battery and memory card, eliminating any protection they were getting from the elements. With the all new Contour GPS, this has been fixed, replacing the previous cover with a latching and locking back cover that isn’t going fly open in the middle of an extreme adventure.

Another sweet improvement is the new record switch. Requiring a good amount of pressure to move between the record and off positions, now there is no fear of accidentally bumping the switch, which was previously easy to slide with no effort. The new Contour GPS record button also houses the GPS unit, adding a bit of height to the camera… which I think totally adds an added sharpness to its silhouette. The down side to this button is that it makes the Contour GPS too tall to fit into the existingWaterproof Case. However, to rectify this, Contour is on it, and will be releasing a Waterproof Case specifically for the Contour GPS in Spring 2011.

I am also a fan of the Contour GPS’s Angle of View. It is just wide enough, without overly distorting the imagery. Wide angles lenses are great for recording action sports, no question, although personally, I think 110º in 1080p and 135º in 960 and 720 are totally sufficient, taking in the scene without too much of a fish eye effect. But hey, that’s just me!

I find it handy that the Contour GPS sports a range of indicator lights as well, it is always letting you know what’s going on. The blinking light on the front of the base systematically blinks green until a GPS signal is acquired, in which case it turns solid green. This is definitely a handy feature, because it lets you know that your engaged, instead of just hoping that you are. Directly behind the GPS signal light, at the back of the base of the camera, you’ve got a second light that engages when your memory card begins to reach capacity and finally, on the back of the camera at the top, you have a battery light, which indicates when you are reaching the end of your battery’s life. These are some pretty convenient features that make up for the lack of an LCD screen.

How about Pros and Cons…

Pros

• Outstanding HD Video Quality.
• Durable, rough and tumble body.
• 5 MP Still Photo Capabilities.
• Built in GPS, documenting speed, altitude and location on an interactive map.
• It comes with a lens cap… no more scratches!
• Slim, Sleek and lightweight.
• Rechargeable battery.
• Newly Designed Omnidirectional Microphone for better audio capture.
• Default data recording rate is half of the ContourHD 1080p, which provides the same high quality recording, while using half the space.
• Replaceable lens in case of scratching or breakage.

Cons

• No LCD screen, but this does keep the camera streamlined.
• Not waterproof without a Waterproof Case.
• Settings have to be configured through Contour’s Storyteller Application.
• The Storyteller Application is still a little buggy, but Contour is working on this issue.