Am going to give a helmet-cam a try, never used one before and only want to give it a try so need to balance getting a quality unit in case I keep it, and not spending too much if I don't!

A link to any special offers or any other deals would be greatly appreciated, as well as your reviews if you've got/had one.

I've got the older Go-Pro helmet hero which has been pretty much indestructible. So much so that I think I'm going to upgrade to the HD version soon as it addresses most of the issues I had with the original camera.
Firstly battery life from the AAA's – Now a lithium rechargeable
Second is the lack of a view screen – Now an LCD expansion soon to be available

Plus the range of mounts is brilliant, the chest mount seems to give some incredible pictures. But I've also had great results with the camera fixed to the bike. Had better results this way than when fixed on the helmet where the vibration seems to be more exaggerated.

I've got Contour HD 720 very pleased with it. replaces the VIO POV I had before it much easier to use

Some examples here http://www.youtube.com/forge197 stuff that is 1month or newer is done with Contour.

I have also had and Oregan Scientific whihc lasted 5 days in Morzine before it was landfill. The VIO was reliable and hopefully the Contour will be this season.

Contour HD or Go Pro HD seem to be the best liked – seen some great footage from both – I'm trying to decided between them at the moment.

I'm edging towards the Contour, does anyone know of any good deals for them at the minute? Also what's the best extras to buy at the same time.

Thanks
Smudge

contour looks best to me.

Smudge – give dogcamsports a call they sometimes do bundles and deals

Potdog, will you be selling your old GoPro? If so, how much?

I went for the GoPro HD.

Everything about it is easy to use.

The mounting system gives you loads of options too.

Chest mount.
http://www.youtube.com/user/singlespeedstu2#p/u/10/v_j9yuqaccs

Bar mount.
http://www.youtube.com/user/singlespeedstu2#p/u/17/XNciTdZZ7U8

Seatstay mount.

http://www.youtube.com/user/singlespeedstu2#p/u/22/AMBN7_KQY9I

Oh and it's even got an attentionwhore setting. 😉
http://www.youtube.com/user/singlespeedstu2#p/u/19/qdVZjzHp2Pk

Definitly impressed by the Contour, but it is far from perfect. Controls are hard to use on the trail, you can't really tell if it is on or off too easily (especially helmet mounted).

I do like mounting it on the side of my Lefty, get some slightly different riding angles, and being a tall lad the helment mounting does look a bit odd.

Builth Wells Spring Marathon – The First Few Miles

Cwmcarn, Twrch Trail, Airstream

GoPro HD for me. Super tough, versatile and loads of different mounting positions.

The only thing about when it is helmet mounted is that it is quite bulky and after a while it does feel heavy if mounted on the side of the lid and unless your helmet straps are really tight you end up with your lid at a jaunty sailor angle.

Muvi

What about the cheap veho muvi copies off e-bay. I wonder if they have all broken or produce video quality that's below acceptable?

I ended up doing lots of comparasons when I was looking, eventually settled on the VIO POV 1.5, expensive but decided to treat myself, some footage here http://www.vimeo.com/8597091 but I was looking for something that had a good run time on easily replacable batteries to use abroad where I might not be able to charge it – my other videos in Tibet, Nepal, Morocco are taken using the POV 1.5, it's nice just to have the camera head to mount on your helmet, you don't notice it at all, and a small screen to see where you're pointing it and that it's working, but it can be a bit of a faff with the cable and recorder unit – I've had it fail a few times when it's been on the waist belt of my camelbak from all the jarring around and find it better to put it in my pack, but the remote is useless when it's in my pack.

Got one of the Muvi copies too, was good at first but now won't record unless it's on the sound detection mode and the battery won't last long now, maybe 25 mins.

I like the look of the Contour but never tried one, if only they made it to run off of AA's I'd get one – the Tachyon XC thing has an incredible run time off of AA's, and the look of the GoPro has always put me off, looks like a cheap camera stuck to the side of your head, they could have done a really good redesign with their new one, but the footage from them always looks good.

Maybe check out any used one's on ebay?

I got a Contour HD off ebay this week for $175 + $40 shipping – Was delivered in 2 days!
Haven't used it in anger yet, my first ride with it will be this afternoon on local donkey trails, won't be the most exciting but will post results up here later on

Ive got the Contour HD 720p, very easy to use.. Ive had no issues with mine.. hardly notice it's there very lite..

heres some footage..
Carron valley – Contour HD

Glentress – Contour HD

I had to compress the glenstress footage quite a bit to up it onto Vimeo

Here's some video from one of those el cheapo muvi copies.

Not bad for the price, bit difficult to tell if its on or off though.

The Contour HD is a bit cheaper – I like the chest mount view on the GoPro videos I've seen though. Anyone chest mounted a ContourHD?

Ok here's my first clip (still working out how to put all clips together)

http://www.vholdr.com/node/87212

Quality is much better when played direct on my laptop than what is shown on this link. Once i get a bit more into it i'll try different hosting websites to see which gives a truer reflection of quality

Overall i'm really impressed, yeah there's a bit of wind noise but that can be edited out

Houns.

Was that filmed inside the inner sanctum of you walled garden?

There is a whole word of trails the other side of your "keep the commoners out" wall you know. 😆

MTB idle.

If you want helmet mounted why not put it on top of your lid.

I'm scared to go any further 😕

Houns – Member

I'm scared to go any further

No need to worry Tom isn't allowed out any more. 😉

if you can afford it the HD go-pro is good…also check out tachyon 2010 xc cameras and there new mini cam…unlike the go pro you can fix these to your lid with 3M snap velcro and they are alot less likely to hit branches etc…
i have 2 tachyon 2010 xc cams i won and thay have been faultless…also thay take up to 32g cards (go-pro-2g) thats 8 hours film or about 2 weeks time lapse!
heres a film i did with the tachyon, there are reviews on youtube you should look at,
pie run onto magic mushroom, glentress…

The Gopro's mounts are a huge advantage, the chest mount's the best commercially available mount by far but they cover all sorts of options effectively. Mostly you have to pay for them, mind, so it can work out expensive.

Packaging/mounting's much more important for pushbike use than for, say, car or motorbike use where you've got space and you don't need to run cabling (I've used a seperate recorder/cam on the motorbike but after a couple of trials I dismissed in on the mtb as too much hassle compared to a single box)

For a low cost camera under £100 theres a Sports Action Helmet Camera on here thats good if youre on a budget, Helmet Cameras.

I bought 2 of them, 1 for me 1 for my friend when we went biking in Wales about 5 weeks ago, and we were pretty pleased with the videos we took.

I use a bullet HD super high quality small light and reliable.
Hed camz