ActionCam Wars. Does the UltimateCam exist?
I’m a fanatic of anyone who uses point of view cameras on their adventures.
The ultimate cam does not yet exist - but they are getting better.
I’ve been pursuing “the ultimate” for a few years now. Above all it needs to be user friendly, tough and bring home quality video.
Here is a comparison of Contour+2, GoProHero3Black, SonyActioncam and DriftGhost done by Gizmodo.
I don’t consider this Gizmodo review to be completely professional or accurate for ActionCam users.
The write up is invalid due to many impartial comments. And I’m not even going to mention the inaccurate or rigged way they concluded what camera is best, what they say “won”.
But the video gives some comparisons.
I’m going to edit their written review and post it here as an informative piece and include some knowledge I’ve picked up on each of these cameras.
GoProHero3Black
Pros
1080@60fps
720@120fps
12MP stills
30 stills per second.
60m Waterproof.
Popularity will give good re-sale and many 3rd party accessories.
“RAW” video.
Cons
Battery life is max at a little over 2hrs video. Use advanced functions (bacpac lcd, remote, wifi app, high frame rate) and it will be under 1hr. BacPac battery will almost double standard battery life.
Cost of accessories and number of accessories “needed”. GoPro specific mounts only.
Fogging while in housing.
Price
Specs your may not know.
Operating weight - 174g
Camera is not sealed - requires housing for serious use.
Some re-occurring issues raised.
Housing leaking.
Firmware update issues.
Making it work.
With over 2.5 million cameras out there some will be faulty.
Contour+2
Sony Actioncam
Pro’s
PRICE!
Kit includes wall charger.
Stereo mic, great audio.
720@120fps
30m waterproof
Con’s
Hot operating temperature causes fogging.
No image rotation.
Can’t change settings with housing on.
Specs your may not know.
Camera is not sealed - requires housing for serious use.
Some re-occurring issues raised.
Fogging
Making it work.
Buy antifog strips from the GoPro accessories rack.
Drift HD Ghost
Unpacked one today and gave it a play.
I’m going to be very harsh to begin to balance out my “like” of this brand.
Cons
With WiFi enabled camera can’t use high frame rates.
more to come…
I have to say just from watching the vid (I haven’t read anything on the gizmodo site about any of them) I was quite impressed with the Sony Action Cam.
Is that the one Nthn bought?
Yeah that’s the one Nthn has.
His experience confirms the fogging issue.
I have antifog strips for our current gopro anyway. Really like the audio it gets out. Showed the vid to Freddy, he still likes GP3 Black the best. Yes its darker, but the colours are truer. In the bike riding shot at the start you can still see the clouds…and the white flowers in the flower shot are not overexposed….just HIS opinion of course.
Probably more Pros you could add for the GP3:
+ higher resolutions, possibly useful for applying shake reduction in post
+ wifi control via app or dedicated remote, can control multiple cams
+ growing range of 3rd-party accessories (mounts, batteries, filters)
+ likely good re-sale value
WiFi is available on Drift, Contour and Sony also.
Higher res for anti shake is in camera for Sony. + for Sony.
3rd party accessories - OK, but the downfall is added cost due to GoPro not having 1/4” thread. Like gph3b isn’t pricey enough!?
Sony and Drift will work with any standard tripod attachment. That is 50 years of 3rd party growth! But yeah, I’ll give it that due to it’s popularity.
Re-Sale. Yes.
Thanks for the input.
I can’t believe Cords used the word “like” in conjunction with GoPro2 audio. Did you mean “tolerable”? even then I would 
I have to say, I am super impressed with the sound from the Sony
Audio is awesome on Sony - all the others are mono, Sony Stereo.
lol that was an accident that it came across that way. I was referring to the sony (saying we have the gopro strips already that we’d just use for the sony) when I said I liked the audio.
i have a liquid image ego hd will post some footage up
In time I hope to get my head around the marketing, manufacturer claims, augmented video and compare more brands. Liquid Image Ego is another on on a growing list I need to investigate.