# contour +2?



## MarshallV82

I can't decide either. 

How's the battery life compare on these as well?


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## Lamps

Battery life on the contour averages 45 mins for me, disappointing. Otherwise great camera.


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## MarshallV82

I'm thinking I'll go with Contour. I like the features on the GoPro but I don't want to ride around with a toaster on my head.


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## Extremo

I just had a super long response written and it logged me out so it never posted. 

So in short, it's def worth the upgrade. Maybe I'll do a review on it sometime.


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## poutanen

Lamps said:


> Battery life on the contour averages 45 mins for me, disappointing. Otherwise great camera.


Wow that sucks... That on the +2? Must be the GPS... Both roams I've had have never run out of battery in a day of boarding. Actual video shooting probably about 1.5 hr. Unfortunately there's no real battery meter on the roam, so I don't know how close to 0 I ever was. :dunno:


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## Lamps

poutanen said:


> Wow that sucks... That on the +2? Must be the GPS... Both roams I've had have never run out of battery in a day of boarding. Actual video shooting probably about 1.5 hr. Unfortunately there's no real battery meter on the roam, so I don't know how close to 0 I ever was. :dunno:


You get a full dashboard on your iPhone showing battery and memory status, lots of nifty features, but battery life is short. In going to buy a 2nd battery.


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## KIRKRIDER

I got the ROAM. dirt cheap and works. Haven't managed to finish battery or card so far. How much you guys shoot? All day on? I do "best run" takes... pow stashes, woods...small 3-4 min segments.


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## gmore10

sounds good probably buy it from him he only wants 300 or my old ride highlife but i love that board. Anyway sounds like its worth 300.


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## poutanen

KIRKRIDER said:


> I got the ROAM. dirt cheap and works. Haven't managed to finish battery or card so far. How much you guys shoot? All day on? I do "best run" takes... pow stashes, woods...small 3-4 min segments.


I do the same, sometimes pop it on on the first chair or if I'm heading up and want a vid of somebody coming down. Otherwise I click it on at the start of a run, stop it when I pause, restart, etc. The roam's so bloody easy to use it's been foolproof for me.


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## MarshallV82

I just used mine for the first time! 

Only got 2 vids, just a fast groomer and some trees. I'll have to mount on it on my helmet so its not so jumpy. Takes a great picture and the GPS feature is awesome. I used 720/60fpm. 

I forgot to charge it before I left so it died after a couple hours.. pretty excited though!


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## Sassicaia

I just picked up a +2. 

What are other owners doing with picture settings? Found anything that works well? Im going to set one setting up as 1080p, and one as 720p 60fps for slow motion edits.


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## atr3yu

Sassicaia said:


> I just picked up a +2.
> 
> What are other owners doing with picture settings? Found anything that works well? Im going to set one setting up as 1080p, and one as 720p 60fps for slow motion edits.


Yeah that's exactly how I have mine, mode 1: 720/60fps and mode2: 1080p. I have only had helmet POV up until now so I haven't edited anything. I just picked up the pole mount and found an old carbon ski pole for $5 I am going to use for the pole. I think edits always look better with multiple POVs.


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## MarshallV82

Yeah I'm not found of the Helmet POV, I feel like carrying a pole around would get old though.

I like to watch it though, I wish I would of had one last week when I was ripping through the trees and hit a stump. That stopped me pretty quick, haha.


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## Sassicaia

Is 720p 60fps enough fps to do a decent slow motion, or is there a need to drop it down to 480p at 120 fps?


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## RagJuice Crew

Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but a few of you mentioned the Roam - delighted you seem so happy with it as I'm getting one, but is there a significant difference from Roam to Roam 2? Is the 2 worth a $50 difference in price (bearing in mind that the 2 comes with a micro SD I suppose it's only 25)? I'm inclined to think for the price difference I'd be better to get the newer 2, seems it's only slightly improved but improved all the same.


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## Extremo

Sassicaia said:


> I just picked up a +2.
> 
> What are other owners doing with picture settings? Found anything that works well? Im going to set one setting up as 1080p, and one as 720p 60fps for slow motion edits.


You can take pics at set increments and you can change the increment lengths. But the mp is about as good as low quality cell phone. The lower the light the more grainy it gets. 



Sassicaia said:


> Is 720p 60fps enough fps to do a decent slow motion, or is there a need to drop it down to 480p at 120 fps?


60 frames isn't enough for slow mo. It's gets jagged and looks like it's skipping. The 120 is ok but 480p works like the picture quality. The lower the light the more grainy it is. You'd have to use it in bright conditions only. 

This is where the gopro exceeds contour -240f at 720p and a 12mp cam.

For the 60fps rate you could use a program like Twixtor. It essentially fills the gaps in frame rate. Here's a good video sample of 60fps using twixtor.

How to best use twixtor for extreme slow motion | Philip Bloom

You can find it here...it's compatible with most popular editing programs. 

RE:Vision Effects, Inc. : Products: Twixtor


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## Karpediem

RagJuice Crew said:


> Sorry to hijack the thread slightly, but a few of you mentioned the Roam - delighted you seem so happy with it as I'm getting one, but is there a significant difference from Roam to Roam 2? Is the 2 worth a $50 difference in price (bearing in mind that the 2 comes with a micro SD I suppose it's only 25)? I'm inclined to think for the price difference I'd be better to get the newer 2, seems it's only slightly improved but improved all the same.


I'm getting the Roam 2...amazon.com has it once in a while for $169, so I'm jumping on it next time they drop the price. You could hack a Roam to do the 720p 60fps. The Roam 2 is completely waterproof...roam 1 up to 1 meter...and you can get it in snazzy new colors....though I just want black.


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## Sassicaia

Extremo said:


> You can take pics at set increments and you can change the increment lengths. But the mp is about as good as low quality cell phone. The lower the light the more grainy it gets.
> 
> 
> 
> 60 frames isn't enough for slow mo. It's gets jagged and looks like it's skipping. The 120 is ok but 480p works like the picture quality. The lower the light the more grainy it is. You'd have to use it in bright conditions only.
> 
> This is where the gopro exceeds contour -240f at 720p and a 12mp cam.
> 
> For the 60fps rate you could use a program like Twixtor. It essentially fills the gaps in frame rate. Here's a good video sample of 60fps using twixtor.
> 
> How to best use twixtor for extreme slow motion | Philip Bloom
> 
> You can find it here...it's compatible with most popular editing programs.
> 
> RE:Vision Effects, Inc. : Products: Twixtor


Great post, thank you. 

Ill get twixtor and play around with it. Id assume 480p is good enough for small window view etc, but if twixtor does the trick ill just use that.

So twixtor is a plug in that works with Final Cut Pro?


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## poutanen

Extremo said:


> 60 frames isn't enough for slow mo. It's gets jagged and looks like it's skipping. The 120 is ok but 480p works like the picture quality. The lower the light the more grainy it is. You'd have to use it in bright conditions only.


If you're only going to 1/2 speed 60 FPS is plenty... :dunno:


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## Extremo

poutanen said:


> If you're only going to 1/2 speed 60 FPS is plenty... :dunno:


Oh definitely, you can slow it down with final cut pro by itself at 1/2 speed with 60fps no problem. But if you're looking to go slower than 1/4 speed you'd need either a program like Twixtor or 240fps. I'll have to get some shots and post them for reference.


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## poutanen

Extremo said:


> Oh definitely, you can slow it down with final cut pro by itself at 1/2 speed with 60fps no problem. But if you're looking to go slower than 1/4 speed you'd need either a program like Twixtor or 240fps. I'll have to get some shots and post them for reference.


Yeah fair enough, 60 fps will do 1/2 speed with no need for interpolation... Technically 120 fps should be able to do 1/4 speed with no interpolation too. 240 fps would be good for 1/8th speed and so on.

This is one of the things that bugs me about DSLRs. I really want to upgrade my DSLR to a full frame Canon 5D mark II, but it only shoots in 30 fps modes. I was thinking about renting a proper slow mo camera for a day at the hill, the rest of the stuff I want to catch will be fine at 60 fps.


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## KIRKRIDER

MarshallV82 said:


> Yeah I'm not found of the Helmet POV, I feel like carrying a pole around would get old though.
> 
> I like to watch it though, I wish I would of had one last week when I was ripping through the trees and hit a stump. That stopped me pretty quick, haha.


got a telescopic one for $24 at Sport Chalet... fits in your leg pocket.


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## RagJuice Crew

Karpediem said:


> I'm getting the Roam 2...amazon.com has it once in a while for $169, so I'm jumping on it next time they drop the price. You could hack a Roam to do the 720p 60fps. The Roam 2 is completely waterproof...roam 1 up to 1 meter...and you can get it in snazzy new colors....though I just want black.


Thanks. I can get a Roam 1 for CAD$179 or a 2 for 230. Will have to get the waterproof case anyway as I'll be taking it diving as well. Is it hard to hack the Roam to 720 60fps?


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## poutanen

RagJuice Crew said:


> Thanks. I can get a Roam 1 for CAD$179 or a 2 for 230. Will have to get the waterproof case anyway as I'll be taking it diving as well. Is it hard to hack the Roam to 720 60fps?


You in Canada? Those prices are high... Even in Canada we can get them cheaper.

The hack is simple if you're even slightly computer inclined.

1) Put an SD card in the camera and turn it on at least once
2) Get a copy of the old firmware (I've got it) and put it on the SD card
3) open up a txt file on the SD card and change something from "N'" to "Y"
4) Disconnect camera and push status button
5) Reconnect camera and change another part of the text file from "C" to "D"
6) Disconnect camera and push status button

It takes a total of about a minute to do everything. Easily reversible by putting the current firmware back on...


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## poutanen

For what it's worth, here's a little video I just made of some snorkelling I did last summer. This was in 960p 30 fps... First time I've ever had the camera underwater. It feels weird swimming around with the thing in your hand but it did fine, no issues.

Then I left it out in the rain all night. Again no issues...


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## Sassicaia

Im not going to post this on CL or the buy sell forum, nor am I going to ship anything because im just to lazy and i dont care, but i thought i let some people in on some deals that pass by me from time to time to you guys.

If you want a brand new Contour + 2 still in its original packaging with all it comes with for $300 let me know. You would need to pick it up from me downtown Vancouver. 

First come first serve...


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## RagJuice Crew

Sassicaia - will pm you but definitely interested if it's not gone


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## Extremo

I'm also finding that there are missing videos on my +2. I took 9 full run videos and at least 7-10 short 15-30 shots on the lift but only 3 are showing on the camera when I open storyteller. 

Anyone else having an issue with this?


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## Sassicaia

Extremo said:


> I'm also finding that there are missing videos on my +2. I took 9 full run videos and at least 7-10 short 15-30 shots on the lift but only 3 are showing on the camera when I open storyteller.
> 
> Anyone else having an issue with this?


Strange....are you running a Mac? If so how many do you see in iphone when you plug it in? Can you stick the SD in your comp direct or via a USB attachment?


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## Extremo

Sassicaia said:


> Strange....are you running a Mac? If so how many do you see in iphone when you plug it in? Can you stick the SD in your comp direct or via a USB attachment?


Running windows 7. No bluetooth app. Checked the SD with the adapter and it's still just 3 videos. I thought I noticed this before but figured I hadn't moved the slider all the way forward so I wasn't recording. Today, I was definitely recording. I don't know if it over wrote them or what but I contacted Contour customer service.


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## poutanen

Extremo said:


> Running windows 7. No bluetooth app. Checked the SD with the adapter and it's still just 3 videos. I thought I noticed this before but figured I hadn't moved the slider all the way forward so I wasn't recording. Today, I was definitely recording. I don't know if it over wrote them or what but I contacted Contour customer service.


Sounds like somethings wrong there... Have you tried a different memory card? Maybe it just doesn't like the one that's in it. :dunno:

I haven't lost one video, also leave the beeps enabled so you can be 100% sure when it starts and stops (if you haven't already)


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## RagJuice Crew

poutanen said:


> You in Canada? Those prices are high... Even in Canada we can get them cheaper.


Really? I thought I was doing ok with those prices! 



> The hack is simple if you're even slightly computer inclined.
> 
> 1) Put an SD card in the camera and turn it on at least once
> 2) Get a copy of the old firmware (I've got it) and put it on the SD card
> 3) open up a txt file on the SD card and change something from "N'" to "Y"
> 4) Disconnect camera and push status button
> 5) Reconnect camera and change another part of the text file from "C" to "D"
> 6) Disconnect camera and push status button
> 
> It takes a total of about a minute to do everything. Easily reversible by putting the current firmware back on...


Thanks for that. Hopefully will get the +2 and not have to worry about it though!


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## poutanen

RagJuice Crew said:


> Really? I thought I was doing ok with those prices!


I got my Roam last week for $99, although I think it's back up to about $160 at most stores now.... Should be able to find the Roam 2 for about $200. I'm a shopaholic for electronics stuff and hate paying too much!


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## Sassicaia

Just Curious..i noticed my Contour ROAM is water proof to 1 meter as per the contour site, but there is no such info on the +2. Does anyone know the water proof rating of the +2 without the case?

Thanks


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## Extremo

Sassicaia said:


> Just Curious..i noticed my Contour ROAM is water proof to 1 meter as per the contour site, but there is no such info on the +2. Does anyone know the water proof rating of the +2 without the case?
> 
> Thanks


I comes with a waterproof case. Without the case it says it's "weather resistant" which I interpret to be just from normal water from landing in the snow or riding in light rain.


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## Sassicaia

Extremo said:


> I comes with a waterproof case. Without the case it says it's "weather resistant" which I interpret to be just from normal water from landing in the snow or riding in light rain.


Yea I have it with the case. I also have the ROAM which is clearly spec'd as saying water proof to 1 meter. I have the water proof case for my roam as well for snorkling etc. The +2 does seem to say its resistant to water up to 1 meter.


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## v00d00

*Contour +2 recording issues*



Extremo said:


> I'm also finding that there are missing videos on my +2. I took 9 full run videos and at least 7-10 short 15-30 shots on the lift but only 3 are showing on the camera when I open storyteller.
> 
> Anyone else having an issue with this?


I had this same issue. What micro SD card are you using with your contour +2?

I used mine in mammoth this past Christmas where it had epic powder conditions. I had some of my best runs ever...thought that the contour recorded all of it. Since you can only playback the footage on a computer (tv at cabin didn't have HDMI), I had to wait until I got home. I came to find that only a handful of videos were there. It was missing over 10 videos. I was soooo bummed out and pissed. All the good powder videos weren't there...:icon_scratch:

I contacted contour, and they thought that I had a defective camera, and suggested I send it back to them. Thankfully, I purchased the camera from dogfunk and was able to do a quick exchange. However, when trying to reformat the second camera, it turned into a brick. That is, the camera would not turn on at all. I was really frustrated this time. I was thinking of going with a GoPro, but loved the convenience of the contour's big record slide bar on the mountain (also don't look like a telletubby). Therefore, I gave a third go around with dogfunk for a new camera. Third camera had issues with footage recorded onto micro SD card too.

Found out that the contour+2 has issues recording files with certain brand micro sd cards, class ratings, and size of the card. Has issues with certain 32 GB and class 10 cards. Found this info on contour's support forum from other customers with similar issues. Mine didn't work with a Sandisk 32 GB Ultra, class 10 UHS well at all. I ended up using a Samsung 16 GB, class 6 micro SD card, and the camera has worked flawlessly since then. The card is plenty fast enough with class 6 to record HD footage. 

You might want to use a different micro SD card, if your files are not there at the end of the day. Hope this helps.


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## Stinky Ninja

I purchased the contour roam 2. I really enjoyed the quality of the videos, but one time I fell and it came off. The mount didn't come off, it just slid right off the ridges. After loosing 200 dollars never thought of buying another one.


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## poutanen

Stinky Ninja said:


> I purchased the contour roam 2. I really enjoyed the quality of the videos, but one time I fell and it came off. The mount didn't come off, it just slid right off the ridges. After loosing 200 dollars never thought of buying another one.


You didn't have to safety strap mounted?!? :dunno: I attach mine to the goggle strap or the helmet, if the mount or the camera fall off at least they're still attached. Haven't lost a camera yet... :blink:


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## RagJuice Crew

poutanen said:


> You didn't have to safety strap mounted?!? :dunno: I attach mine to the goggle strap or the helmet, if the mount or the camera fall off at least they're still attached. Haven't lost a camera yet... :blink:


Yeah I always use the safety strap. And make sure it's pushed all the way in on the mount, until it clicks. Otherwise it's not secure


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## Extremo

v00d00 said:


> I had this same issue. What micro SD card are you using with your contour +2?
> 
> I used mine in mammoth this past Christmas where it had epic powder conditions. I had some of my best runs ever...thought that the contour recorded all of it. Since you can only playback the footage on a computer (tv at cabin didn't have HDMI), I had to wait until I got home. I came to find that only a handful of videos were there. It was missing over 10 videos. I was soooo bummed out and pissed. All the good powder videos weren't there...:icon_scratch:
> 
> I contacted contour, and they thought that I had a defective camera, and suggested I send it back to them. Thankfully, I purchased the camera from dogfunk and was able to do a quick exchange. However, when trying to reformat the second camera, it turned into a brick. That is, the camera would not turn on at all. I was really frustrated this time. I was thinking of going with a GoPro, but loved the convenience of the contour's big record slide bar on the mountain (also don't look like a telletubby). Therefore, I gave a third go around with dogfunk for a new camera. Third camera had issues with footage recorded onto micro SD card too.
> 
> Found out that the contour+2 has issues recording files with certain brand micro sd cards, class ratings, and size of the card. Has issues with certain 32 GB and class 10 cards. Found this info on contour's support forum from other customers with similar issues. Mine didn't work with a Sandisk 32 GB Ultra, class 10 UHS well at all. I ended up using a Samsung 16 GB, class 6 micro SD card, and the camera has worked flawlessly since then. The card is plenty fast enough with class 6 to record HD footage.
> 
> You might want to use a different micro SD card, if your files are not there at the end of the day. Hope this helps.


Thanks bro, you're a lifesaver. I talked to CS and they said to exchange it where I bought it and if I couldn't then they'd send me an RA number. I'm using a 32 GB Sandisk Class 10. I threw in my 8 GB card in today and I didn't lose any videos and I'm not having any problem uploading to storyteller which I always do with the 32GB card. I'll have to test it some more just to make sure but so far so good.


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## poutanen

FYI, I use a cheap $15 Kingston 16 gb class 6 card, no lost vids yet...


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