Yesterday I was talking about the camera gear... loosly....
Let me give you some back ground...
I started out with the Contour 720 camera. When it came out it was awesome. 720! 135 degrees of view and very compact.
A review on Cnet
http://reviews.cnet.com/digital-camcorders/vholdr-contourhd-720p/4505-6500_7-33771011.html
Loved the camera. It got good video and was very easy to use. One switch turned it on.. one switch started recording, chip and battery were all tucked behind the back door. If you want a camera this was the way to go.... can be the way to go.... I went to the 1080 after...
Link to Engadget where you can read up on all the Contours out..
http://www.engadget.com/tag/contour,1080p/
Both cameras worked well.. but..... but...... I noticed a few things which made me go over to the GoPro side of the house...
One... Contour 720.. 135 degrees of view...This was the same for the 1080.. For a price that was higher than the GoPro with 170 degrees of view. What this means is you can be closer to your subject and still capture a wide range around your subject for a little rounding of the horizon. And thats adjustable down to 135 degrees easily.. Yeah.. I know the Contour can do that too..... but in the field? I still like the contour... really...
But...
You can still buy the GoPro on Amazon.com cheaply..
http://www.amazon.com/GoPro-HD-HERO2-Outdoor-Edition/dp/B005WY3TI4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1359340433&sr=1-1&keywords=gopro+hero2
Cheaply with scads of accessories.. Scads.. Tons.. many many!!
Two... really two of my top of the list... I kept getting Sun burn on the camera capture which looked terrible.. looks terrible.. When the camera faced the sun I had a purple digital vertical streak down the view. Not good. Always happened.
Contour prices kept going up for the same thing GoPro had for the same fixed price. Now there is a GoPro Hero3 is out.. More money now, but still competitively priced.
So now back to that "field of View" thing...
At 170 degrees of view from two feet away on the end of the Manfrotto arms give such an amazing point of view and captures action all around. The crispness at the edge of the frame is excellent and pointed at the sun leaves no freakish or weird images. The squareness and bulky case are sometimes frustrating but with the cases that come with the cam and the myriad of backs you get... wow... options.. waterproof.... granted the waterproof ( not skeletal ) back muffle the sound..
I live in the desert... and I use the skeletal back and I have yet to have the dust cause a problem. I have also had the camera whacked into the ground and Cacti and scraped across rocks and still work great. Scraped up the case but cases are cheap.
Lots more about the GoPro and Contour later.
P
