Charley Hoyt

I have been using a Contour + for A few years and now it needs some replacement parts that are no longer available. ...so it is time to get a new camera. What are you using, and how do you like it? I am thinking about a Smarty cam because it will integrate with my Aim dash. My only concern is the video quality doesn't seem that good. I am also considering a go pro 4.

Any input is appreciated

BOTTLE FEDvette

sony action cam here and love it.

bdanyluk

Go pro Original Hero here at 1080p....If i bought one today, I'd get the new Go Pro with 4K resolution...super clear!

naschmitz

I run two of these Vio POV HDs at 720p 60fps. (https://vio-pov.com/pov-hd)

With an accessory you can wire them directly to 12V and never have to charge batteries. RF remote starts and stops both cameras simultaneously. Global shutter -- no jelly vision. External mic inputs. Easy to mount camera heads. Viewfinder so you know what you are shooting without guessing.

GoPros keep getting better and have many of these features too. But they are also getting pricey.

Plenty of examples here: www.youtube.com/bertschmitz

Charley Hoyt

Great input...Thanks.

Has anyone tried the Smartycan GP HD?

Charley

dhowdy

Where did you mount this second camera? Is it on the back glass? Looks further forward.

Rx7Rob

I recently borrowed a Garmin Virb Elite. It was nice but I had two complaints: no back-light on the display and max optical zoom is only 4x. It has built-in gps and will overlay all kinds of info w/o additional hardware.

My normal setup is a huge Canon GL1.

RDnomorecobra

Looks cool. Can't really tell from the website - but I assume you cannot connect more than one camera to one recorder. So you use two of these complete units, recorder+camera, correct?

Bill Dearborn

I use a Flip 8 GB 1080P HD camera. When I got it in 2011 Cisco was getting out of the camera business and I got it for $78 on Amazon. Same camera today costs close to $300. However, it takes great videos, is small, mounts on my rollbar with a I/O Port camera mount. It has video stabilization software built in and is a neat little package. At the price I paid for it there was nothing even close in capability Vs dollars.

Bill

flink

The monprice MHD is pretty good. It's the same form factor as your contour. No wind noise. Mine ran for 2-1/2 hours off a charge. $100 from amazon prime. It's very simple and reliable - it Just Works.

Example:

RDnomorecobra

Seems that happened with a few products. I have a Kodak Playsport which I love. Got it for $99. They now go for close to $300 if you can still find one since Kodak as gone kaput...

autoxer6

I have had trouble with my GoPro 2 on sunny days with it mounted behind the driver on the roll bar. The auto contrast adjusts to the dark dash board, and then washes out a lot of the road surface. With my old camera, I would just adjust the contrast manually. I haven't seen any POV cameras that let you do that. Anyone else experiencing this? Any tips? I know it works fine if I mount it on the roof, but I want to see my hands.

dhowdy

What do you have the metering set to? Either set it to average metering and hope it figures it out, or set it to spot metering and make sure the center of the view is pointed outside to the bright sunny parts you want to capture. Sounds like an exposure issue, not contrast.

WICKEDFRC

Why not just opt for a handy-cam video camera?

Most of those little cameras like Go-Pro may have increasing and impressive video, but the audio is still garbage unless using an external mic.

Like you, I've been looking for a nice camera alternative, but I am not impressed with YouTube uploads when it comes to audio quality.

Since Go Pro has a new version, I will look into that. But damn they are some ugly looking units.

Wish someone would invest the time and money into a solid selection.

Carl Zeiss or better polarized glass
1080p or greater
60fps
32gb+ built in memory and card slot expandable up to 128gb
10-12 hour battery
Remote
Weatherproof
Hdmi / USB
Under $400

jimtway

I prefer the Race Keeper system. It records all your data and camera feeds at once to a single card. I used to do the cheap Go Pro type cameras and separate data logger. It was less expensive, but I lost all the savings in post processing and editing trying to sync the two feeds and data. Wasn't worth it after awhile.

Now I just pop the SD card right into my laptop and voila, I can start reviewing my sync'd video and data realtime and look for speed.

Ludedude

An external mic is key with those but at least they're easy to set up and place in the car. I've been looking at adding an external mic to my GoPro setup but I have to say that the GoPro sound beats the sound from my iPhone stock for stock.

Ludedude

Ouch!

BOTTLE FEDvette

I've done that and the video was upside down, but I was able to flip it. No it was on the pass. side window.

autoxer6

Wow great thanks! I didn't know this existed. This will help. I just searched for spot meter to learn about it.

Charley Hoyt

Your thought process is similar to mine. Since I have an Aim MXL Pista dash in my car it makes sense to get a Smartycam HD GP so the data is fully I tegrated with the video. But, I am a little concerned because the stats on the Smartycam are not I the same league as many of the sports cameras so I am hopeing to find someone with first hand experience with this camera to see how they like it.

Charley