Interbike 2011: Contour cameras

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And with no further ado (and no apparent gap between Eurobike and Interbike) we start here with our Interbike coverage. Chipps, Jon and Mark are all out in the desert, trying to track down some new stuff worth chatting about. Let’s start with the video camera company, Contour…

 

Contour, you’ll remember, are the other action sports video camera company… With the little Perspex boxes of GoPro cameras all over the place, it seemed that Contour decided it had to up its came and has come out with not one, but two new cameras this year.

Earlier in the year was the news that the regular Contour camera had been upgraded to include a GPS receiver to track your runs, but it also had a secret Bluetooth capability to use your iPhone or Android as a remote video screen (not that we’ve been able to try that feature yet…)

However, a couple of months ago, Contour launched the ‘Contour+’ at the premium end of the market. It features a six piece glass lens, Bluetooth and GPS, plus a 170° wide angle lens (the original has a 130° lens). It also features an external mic input, plus ports to take a live HDMI feed out for broadcast or laptop viewing. There’s also a still mode. It goes for US$500, while the regular Contour goes for $300 over here.

The +, GPS and Roam

 

Now, though, there’s the Contour Roam, launched last week and aimed very much at the popular (cough, gopro, cough) end of the market. It features an instant-on record switch, so no waiting to boot up the camera, just slide the big, positive switch and you’re recording in a couple of seconds.

The Contour Roam is also waterproof to a metre (for half an hour!) without needing to add a waterproof housing. There’s an internal battery (rather than the replaceable one of the others) and a regular tripod camera mount (yay!)

There’s still a laser alignment system, though it’s a single flat-line laser, rather than the two dots of the other two. You can still rotate the lens 180 degrees to line it up and there’s a 170° lens. It’ll retail in the States for $200.

 

Contour+, Contour GPS and new Contour Roam

 

There's a new flat-surface mount for helmets. It's slightly concave to fit better, plus there's a clever switchable swivel clutch - rotate to suit, then press the button to lock it.

 

This big rubber mount seemed popular too - low-tech but effective and great for down-tube shots.

 

...or 'me, me, me' shots of your ankles and the guys you're beating

The only question that Contour couldn’t answer today was ‘Who is your new UK distributor now that Madison isn’t doing you?’ – which we’ll post here when we have an answer…

 

 

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Chipps Chippendale

Singletrackworld's Editor At Large

With 23 years as Editor of Singletrack World Magazine, Chipps is the longest-running mountain bike magazine editor in the world. He started in the bike trade in 1990 and became a full time mountain bike journalist at the start of 1994. Over the last 30 years as a bike writer and photographer, he has seen mountain bike culture flourish, strengthen and diversify and bike technology go from rigid steel frames to fully suspended carbon fibre (and sometimes back to rigid steel as well.)

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