VholdR ContourHD wearable HD camcorder hands-on

Tim Stevens at Engadget says:
We've been toying with a VholdR ContourHD helmet cam for a few weeks now, seeing how well it blends in with our adrenaline-fueled lifestyle. We've mounted it on various helmets, tried it with some moderately extreme endeavors, and, now that we've had a chance to refill our asthma inhalers, we thought we'd share a few of those adventures and give our impressions of this helmet-mounted HD shooter.


First the important numbers: the $299 cam shoots 720p video at 30fps through a 135 degree wide-angle lens, or can be set to capture 858 x 480 video at 60fps if things are going to get really fast-paced. It features a microSD card slot and ships with a 2GB card to start, upon which it will dump H.264-encoded video.

The body itself is durable, made of aluminum, is water-resistant, and interestingly the entire internals of the camera rotate through 192 degrees, meaning regardless of how you mount this thing you can get video that's right-side-up -- or at some crazy angle if you're so inclined. The only problem we had with construction was with a flimsy internal latch which occasionally didn't hold the battery tight enough to make solid contact. A removal and re-insertion fixed that in most cases, but we're wondering how that clip will hold up in the long run.

Via Engadget

Buy a VholdR Wearable Camcorder (Black)

ContourHD: Wearable HD Camcorder

Pretty cool stuff coming up for extreme sports fans, indie artists looking for new perspectives and all of you wanting to shell out the cash to own the first wearable, water resistant HD camcorder.

It's a problem sports and outdoor enthusiasts (and maybe some of the rest of us) know all too well: You desperately want to shoot high-quality video of something, but you don't always have the free hands available to hold your hardware. (Bikes, oars, and skis don't keep themselves moving, you know.) The Seattle-based VholdR has come up with a way to change all that: ContourHD, the first wearable HD camcorder.

The water-resistant, 4-ounce ContourHD can attach to your goggles or helmet (or, if absolutely necessary, your bicycle or car) and can shoot videos in either 30-frames-per-second (fps) 720p HD or 60-fps High Action SD format. It can record up to 8 hours of HD video on its internal microSD card, and is powered by a removable, rechargeable lithium-ion battery. Two lasesrs and a 192-degree rotating lens help you line up your shots.

The $299.99 ContourHD will be available in May from Abt Electronics, Amazon.com, B&H Photo, and HelmetCameraCentral.com.

Until then, you can buy a Oregon Scientific ATC 3K Waterproof Action Cam Flash Memory Video Recorder with Web Cam Capabilities (Black) at Amazon and support this blog.

Via GearLog, VholdR