Contour has finally announced the ROAM3 action camera, which I confirmed was coming earlier this year. Contour just missed the summer launch window with the announcement coming on the first day of fall; however, Contour is back in business with the familiar-looking ROAM3.
As you can see the form-factor remains the same and the camera also retains Contour’s popular instant-on record switch on top of the camera body. It is also waterproof out of the box for up to 30′ depths. If you want to go deeper, you’ll need a dedicated dive housing.
The ROAM3 adds an instant photo mode that can be set for a single frame or multiple burst shots. It records 1080/30p and 720/60p, which is rather mediocre by today’s standards.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGuLEdyJax8@w=700]Contour ROAM3 Key Specs
- Waterproof up to 30 ft. without a case
- Quick Photo Mode (5MP)
- 270° Rotating Lens
- Laser alignment
- Long Lasting Built-in Rechargeable Battery
- Locking Instant On-Record Switch
- 8GB Memory Card Included
- 1080p HD Video @ 30 FPS
- Still Photo Mode
- 170° wide-angle Lens
Like other Contour cameras, the ROAM3 has a rotating lens unit, allowing the camera to leveled no matter the mounting position. The built-in later level ensures you can see the angle of the camera even when mounted in POV on your head.
It’s good to see Contour back in the game along with its excellent form-factor; however, the ROAM3 is mostly underwhelming in the specification department. Let’s hope the reasonable price tag can move some units and Contour continues to evolve the product line.
The Contour ROAM3 retails for $199.99. Check it out here at B&H Photo.
Also of note is the Contour ROAM2 is still available and has dropped in price to $146.99. Check it out here at B&H Photo.
Gizmodo had a review of the camera with some “hands on” a few days back… This camera has a specific purpose and is a decent side-helmet camera with the fairly low profile, but the specs are pretty bland. I’ve always wanted them to have a true live streaming style solution that could be utilized for decent frame-accurate “broadcasting”, but this one even lacks wifi controls! If they lowered the price to $150ish they may move some more units, but at $200 it’s directly competing against the GoPro HERO3 White Edition – which I think offers a lot more and a fully built ecosystem of successful products.
Nothing ground breaking here that one cannot get from newcomers at lower cost and as Brian pointed out, it may be a cool camera as a side-helmet mount but why not buy Gopro
I believe Contours’ new team could have done much more and now with 4K 30 fps becoming norm, if nothing else, it says your lens res have to be supper which says 5Mpix era had come and gone
I like the bullet shape that fits the helmet camera profile well and given its partly metal; one can cram in more to dissipate heat Vs the Gopro that acts as a flask with its waterproof enclosure
Contour all the good things are missing here and even I could do a better design that least can compete in today market but would catch-up soon after
Contour went bust because they didn’t innovate, they didn’t keep up with the spec race, they didn’t offer a killer feature and had bad marketing. I’m not seeing a single thing has changed.
Give them time. This is a logical first step to upgrade the existing line. Better form factor, battery and function. I expect a higher resolution model to appear, however for most people 1080/30 is ample and yields more video time per Gb. 4k with a low frame rate doesn’t excite me all that much. Improved sensors, processors and chip sets are coming.
I sincerely hope they do bring their A game to the market, if for no other reason than to keep GoPro honest.
But to stay alive this time they are going to have to do a better job, they need to win some market share and there are 2 ways of doing this, price or features/specs.
The problem for Contour is the action cam market is even more competitive now than when they last couldn’t compete, Sony has better offerings, JVC have one, Panasonic are giving it a go and a few others are throwing their hat in the ring.
But mostly likely the biggest problem for Contour is GoPro announced a really good basic model with its Hero 4, does everything the average buyer wants for just £99 and they have like a million mounts and accessories at their finger tips.
This therefore rules out trying to compete on price alone so they have to other something special on the features side. There is still room here for innovation, really effective image stabilisation would be good, H.265 encoding to cut down for sizes, super high frame rates, market leading battery life….
The list goes on, I’m not saying there isn’t a way back in but they really need to bring it to the table and soon or they will just bleed money for a year or 2 and go under like last time.
I’ve never liked GoPro’s form factor, and I’ve always liked Contour’s. I think the Roam 3 is a logical back-in-the-game-plan. And at $200 it’s a decent proposition. Their optics and build quality were always better than some of the cheaper alternatives, and I doubt that has changed. The laser levelling is a nice feature, as is waterproof without any shonky cases. 3 hour battery life is good too.
I’d want 240fps 720p before I returned to Contour. Hopefully they can deliver something like this soon. If it were in a $300 waterproof Roam3 form factor with 2hr+ battery life, I’d bite!