Hey up!
We've just been tinkering with a couple of Contour ROAM cameras... at the moment they're looking pretty darn mega! The quality of the footage is awesome (HD) and it's small enough to not be imposing/weighty (very slimline). We didn't want something like gopro which stuck out of our head like tellytubbies... not an ideal look when going through 3rd world countries and those not too keen on being filmed. Kinda makes us targets! So the ROAM is diddy enough to blend in (and you can chuck a bit of gaffa over it to make it look more duff if you're trying to be a bit more inconspicuous!)
Editing and what - you can use Contours own programs which are basic but we're fortunate to have Filmcutpro which I'm getting used to and makes things a doddle!
If you're looking at capturing sound then there's a slight problem in that their inbuilt microphone is a bit quiet. Talking to the camera when not riding is not a problem, but when riding it's just wind and a quiet distant baaaaaaaaaaarm of the bike you can hear, you can maybe make out the odd "Wheeeeeeeee" or muffled chatter when you're riding but that's it. There's no output on the ROAM to be able to put in your own microphone either.
We've toyed around and we get just over 4hours worth of filming before it needs to be recharged... this is tonnes enough. It's also waterproof and can be used underwater up to a metre.
The button is pipsqueek to flick on when riding and it's got a laser in it which comes on for a few seconds so you can line up where and what you're filming.
If sound is a biggy and you like the idea of GPS tracking and live feeds though I've heard the Contour + is pretty dandy, as it has an output for it microphone wise. Down side of this though... It's water resistant (so if you're looking for water tight you have to get a case for it) and battery life is much shorter (around 2.5hours) and it's pricey. I've also heard good things on the Hero HD2 but our budget just didn't stretch that far
IMO... when making biking videos I will be putting music over the top of it. With our comms set we'll probably be getting too there'll be a record button if we do want to record conversations but at the end of the day it's just to get riding footage. If we're stopped/walking about it's a great enough inbuilt mic!
We'll do a preview of it in a couple of days but will be reviewing it properly throughout our year and a half ride
For us it was the best priced and in betweener at £150ish. Nothing too fandangle and yet was durable enough for our trip whilst giving good footage.
The only edited together piece I have right now is this:
But you get an idea of how quiet the mic is in the first part of the riding but how it's fine just talking to it. We have some proper riding footage... when I get two seconds I can always bosh it on and show you the quality if you're interested
