Re: GoPro or Contour?
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: bronco_buster</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I'll put the old flame suit on, because everyone seems to be drinking the POV camera Kewl Aid...but I bought the HD GO PRO (2) and I have never been so disappointed with a camera in my life. I bought the package that included a water sports package for a trip to St. Thomas. I saw the commercials, "filmed with an actual GO PRO" was the selling point. I watched youtube videos of Corliss "grinding the crack" and figured man these cameras are really cool. So I bought one for a vacation. I figured the $400 camera would be sort of a do it all...with the water sports package, no worries about sand in my SLR, hi def video plus pics, plus underwater video...too cool!! Anyway, the lack of view finder is a lot more problematic than it seemed like it would be in real life. Videos and photos were always tilted, slanted and generally awkward due to my inability to compose a shot. Granted I could have invested in the backpack screen, but it was unavailable at the time, so I had to rough it. I blew more shots with the camera than a simple point and shoot could have made simply due to the lack of screen or viewfinder. The interface is archaic and crappy. This is 2012. If I wanted an LCD monochromatic menu, I'd buy a TI calculator. Sure it may be cheap, bare bones, and utilitarian...but its still cumbersome. You'll be learning little monochromatic icons to figure out what mode your camera is in, and then you'll have the tactile feel of turning scope knobs under two or three flanel blankets, to push the damn button. I'm relatively young, relatively fit, and by no means obese, but my medium/large fingers found the controls dismal and lacking much responsiveness or feel. Hands down...the worst shutter depress ever experienced on a camera...that includes those cardboard disposable snap cameras. The polycarbonate housing FOGS like crazy. It drove me insane. The internet nerds who "mod" this camera usually recommend a piece of aluminum foil placed in the housing to act as a cool heatsink for moisture. I tried the WECSOG tricks to get the camera lens to stop fogging, the foil, rice, acclimating the camera to its environment...and it never stopped fogging. Eventually, despite my best efforts, the polycarbonate lens on the housing would develop a spot of fog right over the lens. Granted I was using this thing in the tropics...big shock...using a water sports camera in the caribbean???!! Don't even get me started on the absolutely SHITTY underwater performance of this thing. So nobody told me that to shoot under water clearly you'd need to purchase a special filter which is basically somebody's diy improvement on the waterproof housing. It costs somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 for AL's cheapo variant or $200 for a "prosumer variant," and that's in addition to the cost of the camera...to do what the water package was advertised to do on its own...The photos and videos underwater are all but worthless. The videos were grainy and blurry, with no evidence of 1080HD anywhere. Taking the thing in the water just distracted me from enjoying the scenery since I was so busy "Jacques Cousteauing" I spent time chasing down shots, or trying to capture something on film, only to find out later at the computer that it looked like videos taken on my kid's Leapsters. Did I mention the stainless steel screws and nuts that rusted in the course of 10 days of use? I washed it religiously after each salt water exposure, and used a little local variety WD40, and the hardware was still visibly corroded after that short of an exposure to a salt water environment.
All in all, I think the HD GO PRO is a colossal waste of money and a generally disappointing product. I probably could have gotten it to work the way it should have...added a viewfinder for another $100...purchased the special aftermarket 3rd party underwater filter for $80. (free WECSOG install that I'm sure would have provided a waterproof seal at 60 ft.) Maybe an upgrade of the hardware to some sort of marine resistant finish?? But why bother. I'll stick with any point and shoot from Sony, Canon, Panasonic etc...which all kick this little turd's ass.
I found that when I abandoned the camera and left it in the house, I spent less time browsing through hundreds of bad photos to find one good shot, less time culling bad photos, and less time clearing space off the card for more garbage shots...IE more time vacationing on my vacation rather than trying to sort through a bunch of photos to find "the good one."
Your mileage may vary...I'm just giving one man's experience. Luckily Best Buy was more than apologetic in accepting the return. In the words of the pubescent Best Buy clerk in the return line..."Most of these end up getting returned."
Maybe slung on a picatinny rail, it magically transforms into a high def precision optic capturing that moment of impact on the target...I personally would rather use it as THE target. </div></div>
Soooooo your vote is Contour....LOL
Sucks you had such a bad experience...noted...
I'm not planning on using this in the water...not as a replacement for another camera for still photos...for POV action images and video...and it looks like from other users that both of these cameras will do what I want them for.
