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Twenty20 ContourHD – Wearable Point of View HD Camera
I have been looking for a high definition point of view “mini-cam” to cover action sports. My buddy Aaron, sent me a link to a new product made by Twenty20 that appears to fill a void to help cover action from the athletes point of view. And it is very inexpensive bit of gear!
I had been following my mate from the UK, Den Lennie at Tapeless Made Easy and he recently tested out a Sony HD mini-cam. You can find his video blog here. The new Sony HXR-MC1 records 1080i in AVCHD format on memory stick duo cards. This camera even has a little LCD screen to view the video and the recorded files. Nice, but it costs $2700! It is a high end Sony product, but do you really need to spend that for a “crash” camera? You can find it at B&H Video here. Now there is a cheap alternative for extreme action sports fans. And the guys who try to capture all the sick action.
I found some interesting information on how this camera came about and the guys who created it. The story about the Twenty20 company began in 2003, when two undergrads from the University of Washington, Marc Barros and Jason Green, put together a simple helmet camera to record their skiing adventures. They won third place in a U of Washington business model competition and took the award money to rent a place to start making the Twenty20 Helmet Camera full time. They went through a bunch of camera designs since 2003 and they are finally offering an affordable, wearable and decent quality HD mini-cam POV camera. And best of all, the camera only costs $279.99! I have not used this camera yet, and it is not due to ship until the end of July, but I am planning on contacting Twenty20 to see if I can try out a demo. I want to use it on a project that I will be working on with a bunch of talented mountain bikers from New England later this summer. The video will chronicle the riders as they rip down a remote and non-lift assisted single track line in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. I will be shooting the entire video with the Canon 5dmk2 Digital SLR and I want to mix in ContourHD camera content throughout the short MTB documentary. Another interesting twist to this camera is the fact that the website where it can be found, http://www.vholdr.com, offers a video showcase of POV action films. The Twenty20 company obviously wanted “community” to be part of their business model. I am looking forward to watching how this idea takes off and I feel that these guys are on the right track.
A few things to mention about this camera, that I have found by researching it. First of all, it is tiny! Look at the picture above to get the measurements. This camera will not weigh you down and when mounted to a helmet or bike frame, the athlete will not even know it is there. The ContourHD does not have a viewfinder. You simply must point the thing and hope the framing is correct. Not really a big deal, since this exclusion makes for a cheaper price tag and one less thing to get busted during that inevitable, ugly crash.
This camera also only records HD at 720p not 1080. But… you can record in 60fps at standard def, so it is possible to record high speed at a lower resolution. Nice option, for a cheap POV. The camera records onto inexpensive microSD memory cards and even includes a 2gb card that gives you about an hour of HD and 2 hrs of SD video. The HD lens is nice and wide, at 135 degrees with no zoom and the body is water resistant made of aluminum and fiberglass. I will need to get my hands on this camera to verify a good build, but again, for the price this thing is disposable.
The ContourHD is powered by a removable and replaceable Li-ion battery and you can record up to 2hrs in SD mode. I am not sure how long you can record in HD with the battery, it is not stated on the website. You charge the camera to full in about 3hrs using USB to computer like an iPod. You can buy an optional a/c plug in battery charger as well. The camera comes with “Easy Edit” software and works with the PC and the Mac. You use the USB 2 cable to download the h.264 .mov files to the computer. Like the Canon 5dmk2, you will probably want to convert these files to ProRes 422 before you edit with the current version of Final Cut Pro. Editing native h.264 files are very clunky and like to beat up FCP! In the box you get the camera, the 2gb microSD card, a goggle mount, a flat surface mount, a rechargeable battery and the USB cable. Again, all this for $279.99. That is pretty reasonable for the quality that this little versatile camera can put out. You can find this camera (currently pre-order only) at B&H Video by clicking here.
You can also see a bunch of other videos on the vholdr website by clicking here. I hope to get my hands on one of these cameras very soon. When I do, I will post another blog with video to show you how the world’s first wearable high definition camera stacks up. 27 comments to Twenty20 ContourHD – Wearable Point of View HD Camera |
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Copyright © 2010 Tom Guilmette - All Rights Reserved |
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Wow! about time someone came out with an HD helmet cam. I have been using these SD ones from Helmet Camera for a while now, on troops parachuting, and in vehicles.
Initial comments on the Contour HD; video looks a bit soft. I will be getting one as well to test. I would like to have an HD helmet cam for military shoots.
Thank you Aaron for finding this!
Scott Karlins
check out the video gallery at http://www.vholdr.com for more video. it seems sharp enough for me, but i do not think the video sample i had was at 30fps in 720p. it seemed a little choppy.
i hope to do more testing soon.
tom
Hi there,
we have a Contour HD and will use the Countour HD during the Windsurf & Kiteboarding World Cup for a TV production.
After some testing, we find that the image looks like upscaled SD. and it looks really good when downscaled back to SD. When using the SD resolution with 60 fps you do not get the wide angle as the image is cropped and overall image quality drops as well.
The Contour HD is advertised as ‘waterproof’. I find this misleading. The back cover has no sealing. I wouldn’t use it without a housing on a rainy day. When using it in watersports, a housing is a must.
Overall it’s worth the money. But one might consider a sanyo xacti for much better image quality while being not that much bigger than the Contour HD.
Christian
thanks, i was also thinking about the panasonic DMC-ZS3 point and shoot camera instead of the sanyo xacti. the ZS3 shoots 720p, takes great stills and could easily be mounted onto a helmet and it has a LCD viewfinder! Click here to check it out.
Hey Tom
Looks pretty impressive! I’ll be keen to get your thoughts when you manage to get your hands on one.
Pictures look good. Will be great if they can manifacture some mic wind gag into the unit since most use is going to be POV in extreme environments.
let me know how you get on with it!
Speak soon mate
Den
thanks den. they did do some work with the mic on the camera to help out with the wind noise. i hope to get a hold of this camera to test soon!
…thanks for the hint concerning the Panasonic. With a wide angle adapter snapped on it should really be good.
Another drawback of the Contour HD is a very noticeable jello effect. 30p seems somewhat choppy to me. Maybe it drops frames. Image sharpness decreases a lot to the edges.
After all that testing I wouldn’t buy it again…
Call me a wuss but that video actually got my adrenaline running.
Nice heads up Tom, I’m fairly desperate to get an all in one HD helmet cam, and the Sony is too much camera, over engineered, a zoom on POV? too expensive to crash, although if Sony lost the LCD, zoom, basically the inside of a TG1 (3) and mounted in a single small bullet like the Contour, made one switch SD or HD, it would be on to a winner for me.
But it hasn’t….
My only problem with the Contour and maybe if you get one to test, it sounds like you’re also FCP user, is could you experiment with dropping footage into HDV 1080 50i (Pro Res) or a PAL DV timeline and see what happens, or see if you can get it to work, as I’m from PAL land in the UK, and VHoldR have no current plans to do a PAL version, do I Multi Cam motorsport event coverage utilising Multi Clip in FCP and would love to start using POVs again, even if I can’t incorporate them in the multi Clips I could still lay it on top of the tmeline and cut footage in, I’ve used Vio sport bullets attached to camcorders or attached to Chasecam PDR they are just too bulky, too many wires and a mess about with.
But there’s expectation in motorsport coverage these days of onboard footage, so I’m eager to find an elegant solution, that is not prohibitively expensive for a small scale production.
i will have a contourHD camera to test in august. i will see if there are any problems with final cut pro using pal.
Thanks Tom, I’m still waiting to hear back from VholdR to see I could download any raw HD and SD files to tinker with myself.
Tom, you just made me a very happy man
Tom, GoPro just announced a new Fully Waterproof to 100ft HD cam in 1080p @30fps and 720p @60fps. I have been using the SD cams for 3 years no problems.
http://rambos-locker.blogspot.com/2009/07/new-gopro-hd-cam-high-def-1080p.html
Cheers Rambo
sweet. i will try to get one of those to test out as well.
i am currently using a panasonic point and shoot lumix camera that shoots 720p 30p avchd with great results. planning a quick blog about it soon. thanks for the info.
tom
Also meant to say the GoPro HD is wide angle 170 degrees … yep that wide.
Rambo
Tom,
I’m currently hunting for a high quality POV camera and am curious how you’d weigh the ZS3 against the Contour and new GoPro HD (judging by what information we’ve got so far). The most important factor is quality video (preferably 720 60p w/ minimal rolling shutter), but it won’t matter if the camera can’t be secured to a helmet safely or will fail after a soft crash. I imagine the Lumix point and shoots will have the best quality, but how would you mount it to a helmet?
Thanks,
Arlin
I still need to do more testing. i found out that the lumix does not optically stabilize the image in video mode. if your mount is not 100 percent secure, you get a lot of “high frequency” shake. the rolling shutter can also become a big issue with these cmos sensors.
i hope to have a contour hd camera at the end of august to test out. i am also looking forward to the gopro hd. these cameras were MADE for fast action pov, so they might be the best bet. wish they had some sort of optical stabilization, but at these speeds, best to try to clean it up in post.
as for a mount, i just get creative. sometimes just a piece of 90 degree angle metal bolted to the helmet gives a little shelf to hold the zs3 lumix in place.
Arlin, If you carve out the shape of the Lumix zs3 in a bock of foam (slightly under size), you can insert it in there and cable tie the foam block to the helmet, i used to do this with P&S Cams before GOpro, HD Contour etc were available. Works fine and helps protect the cam and dampen vibrations.
Tom, i’ve found Optical image stabilization is too delicate for Helmet Cams, even the $2700 Sony HXR-MC1 above missed out on image stabilization. Best to use as wide angle lens as possible and keep a steady head which acts as a shock absorber anyway.
In the latest “Crank” movie, they used the tiny Canon HF100 as POV cams as they are full HD Res, small and expendable. That’s what i use as my main Cam, indestructible and no moving parts. They do have OIS, and i’ve not broken it yet….hahaha
Cheers Rambo
i shot some footage today with the lumix zs3 and found that it did not work very well in heavy vibration situations and at high speeds. lots of jitter and cmos jelly effect. so far, i have had the best luck with my sony hdr-sr11 (built in hard drive) mounted to my mountain bike! the optical stabilization does make a difference and i used a screw-on wide angle lens.
i hope to get a “go pro hd” and a “contour hd” camera to test in the near future.
Tom, check this short (29sec) Time Lapse video i did with the standard model NOT the HD model GoPro. http://tinyurl.com/nexo6q
Also I’ve found a great HD cam for POV, the Panasonic SD9 with 3CCD, optical IS, SDHC card and tiny size. No rolling shutter problems there, perfect for your bike.
Cheers Rambo
Hi There!
Googled and found the page and I have with great interest followed the thread.
I am a skydiver where most features of the Contour HD and the GoPro is meeting my requirements. These features are 1. Wide angle lens and 2. Light weight (sub 200g) 3. OK resolution (you have the camera on your head and light weight in order to save your neck).
I have actually bough both cameras and will test them in a near future (will recieve them very soon).
However, as you write, non of the action cameras have image stabilization which can become a problem if you do not have the possability to post process the video in order to get a stable picture. Its very interesting to see that GoPro has a HD cam comming up with a new battery – I wonder what the weight will be…
Claes, there will be very little change in weight with the GoPro HD, the case is slightly deeper to accommodate the new battery.
Cheers Rambo
UPDATE 8/36/09: This company will be sending me a ContourHD camera to test out the first week of September! I’m looking forward to it!
Hello,
I was reaading about Contour HD vs Lumix DCM
In fact, similar comparison can be made betwen “specific POV cameras” and “standard photo cameras”, and I would give you some personal experience:
Actual Photo-cameras record video in almost aspects better than specific POV cameras (light, contrast, colour, no jello effect in CCD cameras…)
But photo-cameras normally were not resistent for hevy duty.
That is now changing: Pentax Optio W60; Lumix FT1 (TS1 in USA); Olympus Tough… give you very much quality and versatility than POV camera for similar price.
You can see some samples here:
http://www.vimeo.com/5598294
http://www.vimeo.com/5614246
http://www.vimeo.com/4874026
http://www.vimeo.com/4695168
Or in my blog (in spanish), where you can see some photos about mounting system “on board”:
http://www.jelmetcamexperience.blogspot.com
Saludos!
Lorenzo Montón
(sorry my bad english)
take a look at my new blog post. i am trying out different pov options. right now, the canon 5dmk2 with a 16mm fisheye is working very well. i will soon be testing the contourHD pov camera (mid september).
Good post, amazing looking blog, added it to my favorites.
thanks!