Action Cams Tested: What’s the Best Outdoor Camera?
GoPro Hero3 Silver Edition
The GoPro line of cams is arguably the most well-known, and with good reason. The company's cameras take some of the best footage around, and that tradition continues with the Hero3. The only thing holding this camera back is its battery life.
     |
Featured Sponsor
January 17th, 2013 at 6:29 pm
The comparison would have made more sense had you reviewed the Go Pro Hero 3 Black edition, which is priced at the same $400 mark that the Contour +2 is, the edition of the Hero 3 black could have been accompanied by the Contour Roam 2, Contour’s direct competition to the Hero 3 silver edition.
January 19th, 2013 at 10:13 am
The Contour Plus2 is a great camera and certainly holds its own in the tech stakes with the built in GPS. BUT the video quality is not as good as the GoPro Hero3 Black which is in the same price bracket and despite what the review says, it’s not as good as the Drift Ghost – which is comparable quality to the Hero 3 Silver – another excellent camera for video quality,
The big problem at the moment is that GoPro are having huge issues with the Hero3 with many of them freezing and becoming unusable. Their CEO had to make an hugely embarrassing apology to their millions of Facebook fans. They did release firm ware for it, but that made working cameras break too SERIOUS PROBLEMS FOR GOPRO.
January 21st, 2013 at 1:15 pm
It’s really between GoPro 3 and Countour with the +2 or ROAM2 (depending whether you want GPS.)
The remote view through a smartphone is the most useful feature (especially for those moments when you can’t wait to see the replay.)
Contour image (lens?) and sound is better than GoPro.
GoPro says they improved their sound/mic, so maybe it’s better now. They do good wind noise cancellation, but at the expense of losing fidelity.
Contour size and shape is far more convenient. I like the battery size/performance/charger.
Both are absurdly expensive compared to very good compact cameras that are weatherproof and do 720p or 1080p.
Aside from the two Contours, I use an “old” (two years?) Olympus compact camera that does superb 720p and has decent battery life. Cost $200.
March 15th, 2013 at 11:01 pm
Another alternative, like I’ve researched for a while is the Samsung WB 100, it has the ability to make 1080p for HDMI connections, and it has a pretty good 720p output. However, the audio does tend to make others voices pitched just a bit, it’s not too noticeable, but for certain tones, that might affect someone’s satisfaction with it. It runs on AA batteries, and it would’ve been a lot better if it had a rechargeable battery.
I think NiMH rechargeable batteries might do the trick, but it might end up costing a fair amount of cash. Hopefully the Contour is going to have better noise cancellation, because there’s nothing worse than going through a whole recording only to realize wind and other unnecessary noises will affect anyone recording their voice as well.
March 30th, 2013 at 5:36 pm
I have the sony action cam and I reckon it is the best cam for the buck!!! It has very nice sound and great quality.sony say they compare it to the sulver edition and that its much better blah blah blah . There is no compiting with the hero 3 black tho for it is simply the BEST. I also have the hero 2 and am very impressed with what it can do !!!