A battle of action cameras is heating up. GoPro is about to release a few new models, HTC is rumored to be sneaking in to the arena with a 16MP sensor cam, and two camera companies that took a fall are making a comeback with action cams.
Those in the market for an action cam might be considering GoPro Hero vs Contour vs Polaroid Cube, so lets have a look.
GoPro Hero 4
The action cam giant is bringing out a new monster cam this October, in fact, two new ones: the Hero 4 Black Edition, and the Hero 4 Silver.
The Hero 4 Black will have an Ambarella A9 processor clocked at 1GHz, as well as an FPU accelerator. Video recording capabilities have been upped from 15fps to 30fps for 4K resolution, 50fps for 2.7K, 80 fps for 1440p, and 120fps for 720p, 960p, and 1080p resolution. It also features a 12MP sensor for stills, capable of up to 30fps capture.
The camera has evolved in terms of manual settings, slowly coming to par with compact cameras. The user can now manually select to use either ultra-wide, medium, or narrow field-of-view. ISO, color, and exposure settings are now also available.
The Hero4 Silver is not as powerful as the Black edition in terms of video specs. 4K resolution maxes out at 15fps, same with the Hero 3+. Other resolutions include 2.7K at 30 fps, 1440p at 48fps, 1080p at 60fps, 960p at 100fps, and 720p at 120fps. Of course, it has to have a one up from the Black edition, and that is the touchscreen display, making it much easier to manipulate.
It has the same 12MP sensor as the Black edition, capable of 30fps for stills. Also similar with the Black edition, it features, WiFi, Bluetooth, HiLight Tag for night shooting, QuikCapture, and 131m waterproofing.
GoPro Hero
While the Hero 4 has a heart-stopping price tag at $499, GoPro will also be releasing a lower end model, simply called the Hero.
Key specs include video recording at 30fps for 1080p resolution, and 60fps for 720p resolution. It has a 5MP 5fps burst mode, and is also equipped with QuikCapture similar to the Hero4. It is waterproof by means of its case which is non-removable.
The Hero is rumored to be priced at around $130.
Contour ROAM3
After failing in combat against the GoPro Hero 3, Contour went quiet. However, they seem to be making an attempt at getting things together and taking another shot with the Contour ROAM3.
Their previous models were highly criticized for their flimsy mounts and for delivering less than amazing video quality.
But, their minimalist design of making the camera waterproof without need of a special casing was regarded as an absolute plus. The older model had waterproof capabilities of up to 3m, and has been upgraded in the ROAM3 to 30m depth.
A 5MP quick photo mode is added in the ROAM3. It still has the 170 degree wide angle lens, which is capable of 270 degree rotation to be able to keep shots level despite irregular mounting conditions.
On video recording capabilities, the ROAM3 does not seem to have much of an upgrade from its predecessor. Video specs still stand at 60fps at 720p and a somewhat disappointing 30fps at 1080p resolution.
The ROAM3 is priced at $199.
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