Video Camera

I use the contour hd.
I like the way it handles varying light conditions.. better than most cams i've had in the past. It has a very smooth transition between bright sunlight & shade, which you get a lot while riding.

The main con with this unit is determining if it's on. It has a beep, but it can be hard to hear when riding. The light is also hard to see. When it's on standby, you just slide the switch forward to begin recording. Easy even with gloves.

I like the simple, all in one unit. I can get 2 hrs of video on an 8g. card. The usb rechargeable battery lasts that long without recharging. 2 hrs is a *lot* of video. I try to just take clips of 2-3 min. max.. sometimes in a very interesting ride i'll go 5 min. Other times i will just go 20 seconds or less for a quick view.

It attaches easily & in a variety of ways. I have a simple velcro strap that wraps around the chin bar on my helmet. ..easy to put on & off. It's rated as water resistant, but will not go underwater. I've had it in the rain & it seems to be ok.

Overall, for ride reports, i think i prefer stills. they are sharper, easier to take in details, & easier to take. But the vid clips enable me to get more of a feel of the ride & the views. I'm a lazy photographer.. i don't mess with the shots a lot, just crop, resample, & post. The videos i seldom crop, unless there is a long boring part with a short interesting part. Then i might crop out some of it. Mostly i just upload the vids as they are.. another reason to take short clips.

I've tried to figure out a good way to mount my point & shoot & use it as a camcorder, but a chest mount is too low, & a helmet mount is too high & hits stuff. Handlebar mounts vibrate too much.

I like the high def feature.. though it makes big files & take a long time to upload. But they catch much more detail.

If i were doing more professional type of work, i'd probably go for one of the lipstick cameras, with a microphone lead inside the helmet, so you could narrate or comment on the video. Those have a recording unit that fits in a pocket or clips to a belt or jacket. But the contour hd has pretty decent sound, great video, & is easy to use. I would get another. I like the profile of it better than the gopro, which is more like a small camera mounted to the helmet. But if money was no object, i'd get the lipstick camera system.

I'll post up some pics of it later, with my mounting system.. i'll also compare it to my older vid camera.. the Oregon Scientific ATC2K Camcorder. My earlier videos were with it.