Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Contour 1080p HD helmet cam

So far so good with the helmet cam. We have been playing with its high frequency stabilization technology. This is pretty effective at taking the jelly and jam out of the motor shakes. Which is a good sign, it is effective at taking out suspension bob when riding a bike, but low frequency motion it can only do so much with. If you move the camera 3" it can't take the shake out of that. You would not really expect it to.

At night, or in low-light conditions it gives a pretty good picture until it is hard to see. Once you break that threshold it is too dim as well. It does have a pretty good sensor, it can pick up even small changes in brightness well and does well with edges.

At the moment, I have yet to get virtual dub to open a quicktime movie. None of the plugins that have been found work. Although I am loathe to say it, it may be better to just go the Quicktime Pro route. Legendary fail of customer support is always a reason why Mr. Jobs' overpriced fanboi kit rarely graces my workspace. It may be a necessary evil this time. Especially, if it can automatically export all of the movie's frames in one drop.

I am not done testing the camera, but so far I recommend it. For the money, it is very usable, rugged and has a functional output that is good for tv viewing. Reliving past exploits are always a great way to kill  time while you lie to yourself about  how good you were.