What settings are you using for video? (Esp the contour folks out there)

[rprice54]

I'm the proud owner of a new ContourRoam with the contour underwater housing. We're leaving this weekend for a week long trip in San Salvador. I'm trying to not bring my laptop if I don't have to, so I want to get the camera setup right before I leave since I need a computer to make changes.

I've made some sample videos walking around the house and yard between 1080p and 720p, both at 30FPS. I'm not interested in the 'tall HD' setting, not sure what that's for. On my 27" iMac 2560 x 1440 display I can see a small but noticable difference in picture quality between 1080 and 720, but when I play it back over my Apple TV (which is how I would be viewing the video on my TV after the trip) on my 1080p plasma I can't tell a difference between the two- but I don't know how much of that is because the AppleTV cuts out at 720p anyways (at least the old one does).

the other thing I noticed is that the 720 setting has a wider angle of view, but at the expense of introducing a large amount of fisheye effect. Maybe that won't matter underwater, but in the house, surrounded by straight lines, it's very apparent- things seem farther away with the 720 than the 1080 which seems a little more zoomed in. So overall I think I like the 'look' of the 1080p over the 720.

I have 36GB of cards available, which should hold more than 8 hours of 1080p footage, so I don't think storage will be an issue (16 dives) even if I record every minute of every dive- and realistically I won't, who wants to record a safety stop? Plus I'm bringing my iPad which has 12GB free, so I can offload videos if I start running tight on space. And for whatever it's worth, two 46 second clips I made, trying to walk an identical route through the house, are 66MB and 69MB a piece, not really much of a space difference.

All that to say, I think I'm going with 1080p but wanted to see what you guys thought. Thanks.

 

[TSwain]

I use about 8 GB on a hour dive if I record the whole dive with my GoPro on 720p 60fps. Just to give you a heads up. I dont think 36 GBs will last you 16 dives if you record like this. I dont know much and have never used a contour so I just wanted to let you know about the memory.

 

[jdandvalerie]

My 2cents: if you are shooting 720 and 1080 both at 30, my preference is based on perspective subject. You may get a wider field of view with the 720 so you will be able to get closer to the subject (probably more important than any other aspect). on the contrary, 1080 will give you more to use in post production with motion effects/zooms and pans at least from what I have found with dslrs and smaller subjects without sacrificing to much resolution (if the end result is 720)

That said, I shoot with 2 slrs and gopros at 720p 60 fps for fast moving subjects (bait balls, sailfish), and 1080 for slower stuff (turtles whale sharks, Rays)

I don't think you have the 60fps but even so if the final output will be 720, I might be tempted to go 720. I really don't think you can make a bad decision on resolution.

The only thing I would do different is bring the laptop...I like the option and the possibility to check my work on larger formats with the ability to make changes if needed...but thats just IMO.

 

[jdandvalerie]

One thing I forgot...if you are worried about fisheye effect, I wouldn't underwater. My favorite lens is a fisheye. It wouldn't influence my decision underwater

 

[rprice54]

Thanks for the tips. I'm just paranoid about bringing my laptop. I can offload and edit the video on my iPad, just can't change the settings. I guess I'll have to get over it and bring the laptop so I can try different settings.

 

[Marty Cerven]

Thanks for the tips. I'm just paranoid about bringing my laptop. I can offload and edit the video on my iPad, just can't change the settings. I guess I'll have to get over it and bring the laptop so I can try different settings.

Doesn't the contour allow setting changes on the camera itself? that would be a huge bummer for me as I like to try all the methods out myself. Ive had 4 gopro's in the water together before and gone through all the modes which is still a bit of a drag with the 2 button menu setup but at least it lets you change them at any time. Its much more of a hassle with the HD2 cameras as there are plenty more options to choose and it takes a while to change modes on many cameras lol.

I prefer the widest angle using the gopro most of the time as long as you can get close enough to your subject, best colours and image quality the closer you are to your subject. The wide angle lens helps to fit more into the frame even though you are so close which gives very god results, when I get a proper camera setup I will still be using wide angle lenses the most for the same reason. Water takes about 25% of the FOV away and I guess they call it fisheye as thats how fish will see underwater to counteract the waters magnification level. A macro lens is great on a proper camera for some of those cool closeups but thats not possible with gopro cameras or any other action cam as far as I know.

The higher frame rate will come with faster shutter speeds and will give less motion blur if your not mounting it on something very stable, 30P is good with minimum camera movement so with a steady setup it will give you more options to play with.

Data wise your better off getting 16GB or 32GB cards, smaller cards are a little pointless as you cant change them underwater, I dont know the battery run time of a contour or the data rate but it should be similar to a gopro in the hd modes. Like Tswain said you just under 8GB per hour and that would be in 1080P modes and 720P60 at an average data rate of 15mbps. The smallest data rate on a gopro is around 8mbps in 720P30 and 480P60 which would give around 5GB per hour. The gopro battery runs around 2.5hrs so it will pretty much run out of battery as it fills a 16GB card on a full battery cycle.

You want a card that will outlast your battery in the highest data rate or else you will find youve got power left but no space left to record anything.

 

[rprice54]

No, that's the downside to the contour, no changes on the go. The plus side is I was able to get the camera and housing for ~$220 overnighted to me from Amazon (it was a last minute impulse buy). I couldn't find a gopro and housing close to that. Plus I read about the blur fix issue as well, which adds to cost. I saw some side/by/side comparisons on you tube and the contour seemed a bit sharper, but who knows what the setup was.

I may just set it at 720 and go from there.

 

[testpilot58d]

rprice,

Here's a video I shot of 'The Islander' on St. Lawrence river in Alexandria Bay, NY using a Contour HD. I always record 720p 60FPS. It's a shame youtube interpolates to 30FPS when you upload videos. It introduces jerkiness that you can't see at 60 FPS.

(Plus my hands weren't exactly rock steady as the water was 36 degrees that day)

Video is kinda boring, I didn't add music to it, just wanted to get it upped to show the quality of the Contour HD. Enjoy. (The Bass were looking at me like 'Dude...seriously...why are you down here. It's friggin cold!')

Diving the Islander in Alex Bay, NY - YouTube

 

[testpilot58d]

Make sure you change the quality to 720p when viewing the video.

 

[dfx]

I've noticed the same decrease in quality in 960p mode. The wide angle (170 degrees in 960p, vs. 135 degrees in 1080p/720p) is nice to have, but the video doesn't look like it's actually been recorded at that resolution. It looks like it's been recorded at lower resolution and then blown up - it's noticably blocky. Plus I find the extreme fisheye effect annoying, but that's probably not a big problem under water (the viewing angle becomes narrower). Of course, if you plan on downsizing the video anyway, then 960p is probably fine. I'll stick with 1080p.