Contour Roam 3 The Best 100ish Motovlogging Camera?

[BlackPearl]

that I haven't seen many people mention? Maybe there's a reason but don't tell me it's the mic I am planning on buying a sony mic and having a budget-ish sound recorder gotta find one.

The Camera that I have been looking into that I am seeing nothing but amazing things on is the Contour Roam 3 on amazon for 129 bucks. This camera has a great battery life, waterproof, great video, Audio will be covered through another source but what am I missing? and plz I ain't saying it is the best!

if there is another sub 120-150 dollar motovlogging camera out there please let me know! I was looking at maybe the SJ4000 but eh not sure how I feel about it on the + side it is a lot cheaper

Thanks for stopping by my first post everyone hope you all have a fantastic weekend! ride safe

 

[Hippo-Drones]

Did some of your message get deleted? The beginning doesn't make much sense?

 

[Reize]

The Roam 3 is only halfway decent in bright sunlight, is unable to compensate for changing lighting conditions, no easy way of changing settings on the fly without a PC. Sure, it's easy to use and pretty rugged.

But there's a good reason I chucked my Roam 2 and 2+ in the cupboard and forgot all about it. And the Roam 3 isn't a huge upgrade over it's predecessors as far as image quality is concerned.

I still bring it out here and there whenever I need a second POV or B-roll footage. But otherwise, I'd rather stick to my Drift Ghost-S as the most basic of basic cameras.

 

[BlackPearl]

Did some of your message get deleted? The beginning doesn't make much sense?

It was an extension from the actual title

 

[BlackPearl]

The Roam 3 is only halfway decent in bright sunlight, is unable to compensate for changing lighting conditions, no easy way of changing settings on the fly without a PC. Sure, it's easy to use and pretty rugged.

But there's a good reason I chucked my Roam 2 and 2+ in the cupboard and forgot all about it. And the Roam 3 isn't a huge upgrade over it's predecessors as far as image quality is concerned.

I still bring it out here and there whenever I need a second POV or B-roll footage. But otherwise, I'd rather stick to my Drift Ghost-S as the most basic of basic cameras.

Really appreciate your feedback on this, I have been looking around some more and trying to find the perfect one sub $150 used or new and have come across the GoPro Session which looks the part, seen some great videos coming from this little camera, decent battery life and other features however I have also seen videos that look pretty darn grainy I don't know why its such a difference in quality that I saw but overall I see good things for this one.

Could anyone give any feedback on the GoPro Session? for under 150 it seems like a solid choice but also looking at used GoPro's the other models like the Hero 3+ is a contender......so many gopro's it's maddening

 

[Reize]

I've seen the GoPro session quality, it's pretty darn good for it's price. But suffers from the same setbacks the ROAM2/3 has with the inability to change battery.

Might be a better choice than the ROAM anyway, since at least you can connect it to an app and change settings without a computer.

 

[RiderInRed]

In case this is of any significant interest. I should be getting the Firefly 6s sometimes this or next week. I'll be posting some examples and impressions if you want (Also Chaseon2wheels has a review of it). One of the selling points it had over other similarly priced cameras (and oh boy are there dozens of em) was that this guy fits in a gopro case and should also fit the skeleton cases. I think it's the same size as gopro 4

 

[BlackPearl]

In case this is of any significant interest. I should be getting the Firefly 6s sometimes this or next week. I'll be posting some examples and impressions if you want (Also Chaseon2wheels has a review of it). One of the selling points it had over other similarly priced cameras (and oh boy are there dozens of em) was that this guy fits in a gopro case and should also fit the skeleton cases. I think it's the same size as gopro 4

I did some looking and though the Firefly 6S looks good it would seem that the Sj5000x i think its called is a bit better... honestly dont know which way to go because I can probably get a used GoPro and be good to go haha

 

[RiderInRed]

I did some looking and though the Firefly 6S looks good it would seem that the Sj5000x i think its called is a bit better... honestly dont know which way to go because I can probably get a used GoPro and be good to go haha

Actually can't comment on the SJ5000. Does it have a mic input?

Firefly 6s has a gyro stabilization as they call it and I think it's basically an inbody stabilization. I think even Firefly 7s is missing the gyro.


Anyways acquired the Firefly 6s and OH MY GOD do I see a difference from my previous camera. I'll be doing a vlog tomorrow so I'll be able to post it next monday here. It'll be in Armenian (local language) though. But you'll see the quality! My only little beef is that Firefly 6s doesn't accept a mic. However, the quality of the footage is great! I'm honestly super excited about this new addition to the arsenal!

 

[ShiftHer]

Anyways acquired the Firefly 6s and OH MY GOD do I see a difference from my previous camera. I'll be doing a vlog tomorrow so I'll be able to post it next monday here. It'll be in Armenian (local language) though. But you'll see the quality! My only little beef is that Firefly 6s doesn't accept a mic. However, the quality of the footage is great! I'm honestly super excited about this new addition to the arsenal!

Looking forward to your video, as I'm in the market for a second camera. I've seen c2w review on the Firefly, but would definitely like to see someone else using it.

 

[WheelyPerd]

Firefly 6s has a gyro stabilization as they call it and I think it's basically an inbody stabilization. I think even Firefly 7s is missing the gyro.

Oh wow, didnt even know these kinds of camera's existed for us mere mortals. I'm very very keen to hear your thoughts as an owner of the FireFly 6s. Whats battery life like? Tell me more

PS: The FireFly s7 also has Gyro stabilization.

 

[RiderInRed]

Looking forward to your video, as I'm in the market for a second camera. I've seen c2w review on the Firefly, but would definitely like to see someone else using it.

I gotta be honest it doesn't look like what you get on the internet. It looks way better. Here's a vlog in a local language I've done. I'm thinking of doing something in english these two days.

Hope this video works (it's on FB).

Oh wow, didnt even know these kinds of camera's existed for us mere mortals. I'm very very keen to hear your thoughts as an owner of the FireFly 6s. Whats battery life like? Tell me more

PS: The FireFly s7 also has Gyro stabilization.

Yep it DOES seem to have it. I have to be honest gyro stabilization is working really well. If the mount is too shaky it'll have a lot of artifacts (but still stabilize it out somehow) but on anything that is more or less stable it gets rid of any shakiness. There's also a way to turn it off.

See the video i posted.

As for battery life, I've managed to capture about 40 mins of footage (worth over 12 GBs) and it showed two bars still. My biggest gripe is that it's metering is not the best. It shows 4 full bars then goes down to three within the next ten mins. But stays there waaay longer than you'd expect. Overal it seems to perform really well.


Hope this is helpful. Let me know if you have any other questions!

EDIT: Firefly 7s has 120 degrees FOV so that's Not going to be as wide as you'd want for motovlogging. At least that's what the stats say

 

[WheelyPerd]

I gotta be honest it doesn't look like what you get on the internet. It looks way better.

You totally right. It's hard to find this camera on anything motorcycle related, so its hard to tell hos it works. But wow I'm really impressed, this is the kind of stabilization you get with gimbals and cranes.

Firefly 7s has 120 degrees FOV so that's Not going to be as wide as you'd want for motovlogging. At least that's what the stats say

Honestly I'd rather get the 6s, the 7s has a 40% worse battery life but does have a screen on the back. The screen is a bit stupid honestly, as you can just connect it to your phone, position shot.

@OP: Apologies for taking this off thread.

 

[RiderInRed]

You totally right. It's hard to find this camera on anything motorcycle related, so its hard to tell hos it works. But wow I'm really impressed, this is the kind of stabilization you get with gimbals and cranes.

Yeha I'm really impressed. Just make sure you don't mount it on anything super shaky ass the stabilization will create a lot of noise/artifacts.

Honestly I'd rather get the 6s, the 7s has a 40% worse battery life but does have a screen on the back. The screen is a bit stupid honestly, as you can just connect it to your phone, position shot.
@OP: Apologies for taking this off thread.

Yeah initially I wanted a camera with the screen but if it affects the battery life then thanks but no thanks. Also, does 7s have built in battery? That'd be a dealbreaker for me. Screen DOES come in handy, often times things that you could do in five seconds by just staring at the screen waste you a few minutes while youre trying to connect your iphone to the wifi. The wifi does work though, and it works better than many other cameras I've tried.

To me, the biggest problem with 7s is the 120° video. That could result in your motorcycle not being in the frame while it's on your helmet (depending on your riding position)

 

[ShiftHer]

Thank you for the video!! It does look like a good quality image and the stabilization is good, too!