I finally got some time to test out the ContourHD camera. The first wearable 720p HD POV solid state camera. And I love it.

There is an ever better version of this camera coming out in about a month that will shoot 1080p video in the same form factor. The video that I have seen thus far shot with the 1080p camera is spectacular.

This video blog will discuss the features, versatility and the video quality of this great little 720p camera. I will soon have the 1080p version to test and I will post my review in a future blog.

I mounted this tiny camera with only gaffers and electrical tape to my car and travelled down the highway at 70 miles an hour. I also demonstrated how easy it is to mount to a mountain bike using just electrical tape.

I even enter a smelly sewer pipe with a book of matches to show you how it does in very low light!

A few things to note before watching the video below:

All audio was recorded from the ContourHD camera (except my voice over). I did find a slight static problem with the audio when the camera was mounted inside my car. You will hear it. Not certain what that issue was. UPDATE: I have been told by the manufacturer that this problem has been fixed in the current shipping contourHD cameras.

The standard definition footage was shot at 60fps, but I was unable to playback the footage with Final Cut Pro at the faster frame rate for slow motion. I will need more time to test this out.

I had an issue with the card filling up and not properly deleting the 2GB micro SD card. The camera refused to record. I simply reformatted the SD card using DOS FAT and this fixed the problem. I was told by the manufacturer to be sure to delete the files off the card and empty the computer trash can.

The camera did come with two mounts, the goggle mount and a sticky-pad mount. I only used the goggle mount. I did not want to waste the sticky-pad mount for this test. I found that electrical tape and gaffers tape worked very well instead.

The footage is sharp, but not THAT sharp at 720p. The camera I tested is available at BH Video for $280. I would much rather be using the newer 1080p ContourHD camera that will soon be available for $330.

In conclusion, this is a great POV camera for the price. The 1080p version will be a must by and will include options to adjust mic gain, exposure and a few other things by using the easy video software that is included with the camera for Mac and Windows.

Read this email I received from the company:

Hey Gang,

On Tuesday September 29th, 2009 we officially announced a big brother to ContourHD, the ContourHD1080p.

An addition to the family, ContourHD1080p is identical to ContourHD except for two features:

1. ContourHD1080p has five video settings instead of two:

Full HD – 1080p (1920×1080) at 30fps
Tall HD – 960p (1280×960) at 30fps
Action HD – 720p (1280×720) at 60fps
Contour HD – 720p (1280×720) at 30fps
Fast SD – WVGA (848×480) at 60fps

2. You can configure Contrast, Exposure, Metering, and Microphone Gain for the ContourHD1080p from within the Easy Edit software.

Features>>

Built for the Professional Market
ContourHD1080p was built for production companies, professional videographers, and hardcore video enthusiasts, with the means (i.e., a powerful computer) to take advantage of the upgrade in resolution. We created a simple page called “Which to Buy” to help you make the best decision.

Which to Buy>>

News for You
ContourHD1080p will be available late October from our retailers for purchase at $329.99. A few of them have even begun pre-selling the product. In November we’re finally going to be able to provide an upgrade program for any VholdR customers who want to buy a ContourHD (stay tuned for an email with the details).

Some More Goodies
It gets better. In November we have a new Lens Kit coming that not only includes a lens repair kit, but enables you to screw on standard 37mm filters. That means you can use a standard camera filter on your ContourHD or ContourHD1080p to adjust for lighting conditions on the go!

That’s all for now. Check out the new camera pages on the site and the new launch video from our boy Ryan Cutter.

BooYah!

-DholdR

For more information on this camera system and for a list of retailers where you can buy one please visit, http://www.vholdr.com.

If you want to see the ContourHD 1080p footage look at this!

This camera would have been nice to have a month ago! I had to bolt a Canon 5dmk2 to my head at a mountain resort in New Hampshire! Read the blog here!

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.