The Contour family of cameras, which competes with GoPro and other small, hardened imaging devices, has a new member. The Roam rounds out the range at the low end, providing the primary functions of the adventure-proof camera for $200, far less than the latest addition and $100 less than the GPS model. Let’s run down the specs.

The focus of the Roam is on ease of use and waterproofing. While the other versions of the camera can handle rain or a splash, the Roam is actually waterproof, and is certified to… well, only a meter underwater, but for half an hour. Realistically speaking (though Contour can’t promise it because of the way these things are certified), the pressure difference isn’t going to crack this thing open if you go into the deep end of the pool or kick down to 10 feet to check out a cool eel.

Operation has been simplified, too. They wanted this one to simply be recording or not. So you slide the big top slider forward and it records, slide it back and it stops. The button on the back lights up the battery indicators and fires a laser level for keeping your shots straight. The one I’ve got seems skewed a bit counter-clockwise, so you might want to check that before you record.

The battery is built-in, which means you won’t be able to quickly switch it out, but hey. The lens is still nice and wide and fairly flush with the body (helps water and dirt off it), and it rotates 90° in one direction and 180° in the other, meaning it can pretty much be mounted anywhere.

So what do you give up for this lower price? Well, you can’t use Contour’s cool Bluetooth pairing app that lets you see what the camera sees live. And the image processor and lens aren’t of the same quality as the other cameras. Less configuration options. And there’s no GPS. That said, the construction feels as solid, and the video must be as good as the version I reviewed a while back, which is to say over-compressed but sharp and colorful.

It’s shipping today. Pick one up at Contour or your local electronics place.

Summer is here, and there’s a good chance some of you are thinking of picking up something to document your vacations with. iPhones and point-and-shoots are all well and good, but if you want to take it to the pool or the beach, it’s nice to feel sure that an errant splash isn’t going to disable your camera permanently. We’ve got a few water-hardened Flip-esque pocket cams here for you to choose from, but which deserves your hard-earned cash?

I’m not including image samples because to be honest, all these cameras have tiny sensors and small, weak lenses, which combine to produce noisy images with poor sharpness and so on. But they’re cheap and vacation-proof (i.e. immune to trips in shallow water, sand and dirt, and short drops). You can’t have everything.

Here they are, in no particular order:

Kodak Playsport – $160

Pros:

• Nice hand-feel
• Wide angle lens
• Extra video options

Cons:

• Sluggish menu
• Small LCD screen
• Easy to accidentally open port doors

I liked the old Playsport, and the new one seems to be an incremental improvement. It’s more compact, and has an ostensibly ergonomic layout — for right-handers, at least. There’s less of a plastic-y feel than the other devices and personally I think it looks the best. It’s much heavier than Samsung’s similarly sized BW10, but the shape is better.

There are several extra video options: in addition to 1080p/30, there’s 720p at 30 and 60 fps, and a WVGA (640×360) mode for more manageable file sizes and SD playback. Navigating the menu is an exercise in patience, however; the d-pad is stiff and moving between selections is slow. The LCD, while small, is easily the sharpest of the cameras.

I found it was a bit too easy to open up the areas where the device’s ports are. A simple slip of the hand (or a could pop open your SD door and in goes the sand. The other cameras have significantly more security in this area.

Samsung W200 – $160

Pros:

• Image stabilization
• Spring-loaded port doors feel secure
• Biggest LCD of the bunch
• Multi-take, single-file recording

Cons:

• Somewhat large
• Ugly, if I’m honest
• Only two video modes
• Built-in USB plug questionably convenient

The W200 is easily the biggest of these devices. It’s still fairly small, of course, but it feels more bulky. It also feels nice and solid, and that feeling extends to its port doors, which are too easily opened on the Playsport and too fiddly on the BW10. The W200′s doors are spring-loaded and open only with effort — but the good kind of effort. They open when you want them to.

The screen is the biggest of the lineup here, not by much, but it’s worth mentioning. The extra space is used to display info in black bands above and below the picture. The menus are attractive and quick to navigate. The d-pad feels stiff but actually responds very well. Unfortunately the middle button is very deep, as it is used in photo mode to set focus, and you have to press it in quite a ways to make a selection. Not a truly substantial issue, but it bothered me. There’s a flip-out USB plug at the bottom, which is handy if it works for your setup, and a pain if you’d just rather have a port to plug a cable into.

There are only two video modes, 1080p/30 and 720p/30, which is too bad. It has the admirable ability to “pause” the recording without creating a new file, which will be welcomed by many who don’t feel like editing after the fact. It felt better taking still pictures than the others, the camera-shaped Easyshare Sport included.

Also it just about gave me a heart attack suddenly making a droplet noise for its auto-off procedure. You can turn that off.

Toshiba Camileo BW10 – $130

Pros:

• Compact
• Nice clicky controls
• Straightforward to use

Cons:

• What’s with the field of view?
• Extremely slow aperture response
• Must use fingernail to open port door

The BW10 is the simplest to operate of these devices, all of which are pretty simple to operate. But the BW10 is ready to take a picture or video at any moment, and you can take pictures while you’re taking video. The LCD has two modes, one showing just what you record and one showing the whole picture with guidelines showing what the camera will actually record.

Wait, what?

Yes, apparently Toshiba felt that instead of recording everything it can see through the wide-angle lens, the BW10 should cut off the edges and only record the middle. Anything outside the boundary of the box won’t be recorded – even though it’s there. What the hell? I’m pretty sure I’m not mistaken about this, and it’s just a really dumb limitation.

The BW10 also takes a long time to recover from lighting changes. Going from outdoors to indoors, the shot will be dark for several seconds while the camera ratches open the aperture. It takes a long time and actually also affects the cast of the image, going from warm to cool as the aperture opens.

The port doors are very secure — too secure, I might say, since the tiny switch you need to hit can’t be done easily with a finger. Not a big deal really, but it’s annoying that opening the door should be a precision action.

Kodak Easyshare Sport – $80

Pros:

• Shaped like a camera, if you like that

Cons:

• Always starts up in still shot mode
• No video options
• Poorly placed USB port

The Easyshare Sport is more of a budget point and shoot that happens to be waterproof, but it seems to fit in with these guys more than other point and shoots. The trouble is it’s just not very good. There’s a big grip in which fit the AA batteries that power it, but the shutter button isn’t on top of it, where you’d expect it to be. The control layout is a bit arbitrary overall. Why aren’t the zoom buttons mapped to the D-pad, for instance? Why is the D-pad so small, and the center button so hard to hit, that I end up hitting every direction at once when I try to select a menu option? Why isn’t video next to “auto” in the mode select? The whole thing gives an impression of being thrown together with no design at all.

The quality isn’t impressive, either. It looks like it has a real lens but it’s more or less a pinhole, like the rest of these cameras (which also go to some length to make it look like they have real, round lenses), and its slowness shows in the choppiness of the image on the LCD. Even in a well-lit room the image was dim and jumpy. There is only one video mode (two if you count underwater, but I don’t) and I don’t trust it.

To get at the USB port you have to open the bottom panel where the batteries and SD card go, and it’s a pain in the first place. No grip and having to press in two directions at once means if your hands are wet, forget about it. Not really user-friendly.

Our pick

The Toshiba makes too many compromises, and I wouldn’t pay a dollar for the Easyshare Sport. So it’s between the W200 and the Playsport. Here’s how it breaks down in my opinion:

Playsport

• Sharper, more accurate LCD
• More video modes (60fps can be used as slow-mo)
• Wider lens

W200

• Bigger LCD
• Superior video quality (though it’s still not that good)
• Handy features like image stabiliztion and record-pause

I can’t tell you which is the best choice for you. If I absolutely had to choose, I’d go with the W200 simply because the end product is better — none of these cameras produces good images, but the Playsport was significantly less sharp in images and video. They have the same MSRP, so think hard about what part of the camera is important to you and make a choice based on that.

The newer one is the P100, a pistol-grip in the true Toshiba style, which does 1080p, has a 5x optical zoom, and a 3″ touchscreen of unstated resolution. The sensor is 8 megapixels, but they claim they can produce 16 with “interpolation,” which I doubt has a positive effect on image quality. If you’re taking pictures with your camcorder, you’re probably not too worried about the megapixel count anyway. It also will do 720p at 30 or 60fps, and 640×480 at 30. Plus there’s a slow-motion mode, which only gives you 960×540 but (I’m guessing) ups the framerate to 120.

That guy will set you back $180, though there’s a deal where you get $20 off if you order one before June 30th. Act now!

The B10 is just the BW10 without the W, which is to say without the waterproofing. Why these weren’t released simultaneously is beyond me, but at $120 ($100 if you buy this month) it is significantly cheaper than its cousin, though of course less rugged.

Both come with software that lets you immediately upload to your favorite sites upon plugging in, and you can also choose to record sequential shots to a single video file to simplify the process.

They have dropped the Xacti brand name, but the three new camcorders Panasonic (which bought Xacti maker Sanyo in 2009) announced [JP] today are essentially Xactis. All models feature full HD resolution and will be released in Japan on June 25.

The HX-WA10 (pictured above) is the only model that’s waterproof (up to 3 meters). It comes with a 16MP sensor, a stereo mic, mini HDMI/USB/SDXC interfaces, essentially no internal memory (80MB), and a 2.6-inch LCD (price: $550).

The HX-DC15 (pictured above) is basically the same camera as the HX-WA10, except that it’s not waterproof, comes with a 3-inch LCD and 16GB of internal memory. At 162g, it’s also 70g lighter (price: $610).

Panasonic is positioning the HX-DC1 (shown above) as an entry-level model. The camcorder features a 14MP sensor, no (80MB) memory, mini HDMI/USB/SDXC interfaces, a stereo mic, and a 3-inch LCD (price: $425).

They’ve also added some new functionality: there’s now a 2.5mm mic jack for external sound recording — which is great, because pinhole mics are especially awful when in motion.

And now there’s an HDMI port, doing exactly what you expect an HDMI port to do — handy for reviewing footage quickly without worrying about transferring files or removing the micro SD card with muddy hands. This and the USB port have pass-throughs in the rear cover, a nice touch. And of course you can still stream the video using Bluetooth to your iPhone or Android device. Very handy for framing the shot.

Video modes appear to be unchanged; if there are bitrate or encoding tweaks under the hood, they aren’t listed on the specs page. GPS performance has been improved to a 4Hz update rate (sweet).

The price is a whopping $500, twice as much as the ContourHD and $150 more than the GPS. You’re getting a lot of hardware tweaks for that price, and for a lot of people the extra degrees of wide angle will be more than worth it. We’ll have one soon to review, though, so if you’re not quite sure, just hold tight.

What, I said it was the same route.

The LS-20M will do 1080p video and records 24-bit, 96kHz linear PCM audio with variable gain. The screen is only 2″, unfortunately, but there’s an extra little LCD for crucial information below it, something I found very handy on the Q3HD. It records to SDHC, and will of course also do 720p and 640×480. Everything’s at 30FPS, alas, but that’s to be expected.

There sure are a lot of buttons on there. I guess you’ll find your way around it after a while, but I liked the Q3HD’s simple interface. Different strokes!

Update: I didn’t get this at first, but the lens is actually on the “top” of the device, between the microphones. That’s pretty weird, Olympus. How will you look at the screen if you’re pointing this thing like a remote? I’m not optimistic.

The device will be available in June for an “estimated street price” of $300.

Here’s the full press release, in case you’re curious:

It does 1080p, like the W200 and Playsport, and has USB and HDMI out like the W200 and Playsport, but is only rated to 2m of water, but falls behind the W200 with a slower (F/2.8) lens and smaller (2″) LCD — like the Playsport. MSRP is $150 — like the Playsport (the W200 is $160).

I’m going to have to get one of each of these things and tell you which is worth your money. Be patient, it’s not summer yet.

It shoots 1080p video through its F/2.2 lens (the Playsport has a F/2.8) and displays it on a 2.3″ screen (versus the Playsport’s 2″). Beyond that the differences kind of dry up, although the ability to “pause” recording and continue with the same video file later will be handy to a lot of people who don’t want to fiddle with editing afterwards.

It goes down to 3 meters underwater, and is safe against basic drops and dust. They claim a water-drop resistant coating, which may or may not be real; we’ll have to get our hands on it to determine that. The rest of the specs you can find below:

Looks sweet; I can’t wait for the official announcement.

[via Engadget]

Japan’s most famous maker of silly gadgets, Tokyo-based Thanko, today announced yet another micro camera, the MAME-CAM DX [JP]. The 8MP device weighs just 14g and can record video “in HD”, namely in 1,280×960 resolution and at 30fps (AVI). JPEGs can be shot with 3,264×2,448 resolution.

Thanko says that owners can also use the device as a voice recorder. All files can be stored on microSD/SDHC cards (32GB max.) and transferred to computers via the camera’s USB 2.0 port.

The MAME-CAM DX is already on sale on Thanko’s Japanese website (price: $99). Contact Geek Stuff 4 U if you’re interested but don’t live in Japan.

Here at the CrunchGear offices, we have a few GoPro HD Hero cameras that we use for an assortment of footage, including our auto coverage. These are great cameras for getting video in places you wouldn’t want to put an expensive, more fragile, camera. But, the biggest problem with the HD Hero has been its lack of a viewfinder. Sometimes, when the camera is pointed too high, like towards the sky, everything gets overexposed and washed out. Unfortunately, the only way to know exactly what you’re shooting is by lugging around a laptop in hopes of getting a good test shot. Luckily, that problem is a thing of the past. Can we hear an amen for technological advance?

GoPro is launching their new LCD BacPac today; a detachable LCD screen for the HD Hero. It simply clicks into the back of the camera, where is connects to the Hero Port. We got a chance to look at this earlier this year at CES, and we thought it worked pretty nicely. We also noticed that GoPro only needs to ship new backdoors for their waterproof cases; so all the old housings still work. While some may not need an LCD — the HD Hero has such a wide lens — for only $79.99, it’s worth knowing what you’re shooting. It’s also available now at GoPro.com.

Press Release

The FCC has taken a gander at a new digital video camera from Cisco that has 802.11a/b/g/n support. The confidentiality request asks that setup photos remain confidential May 1st, so I’m guessing that’s when they’re going official with it. Not much beyond this, but I’d say we’re looking at the real thing here.

[via Wireless Goodness]

• High-quality microphones
• 1080p/720p recording
• On-device levels and EQ
• Takes AA batteries
• MSRP: $299

Pros:

• Audio really is way better, levels display is great to have
• Wide-ish angle lens
• AA batteries

Cons:

• Feels cheap
• Small screen for video
• AA batteries

Full review:

Pocket cams are convenient little devices, but they sacrifice a lot of image quality by having a tiny lens and sensor, and although people don’t often think of it, they also sacrifice audio quality by having a simple mono microphone, often poorly placed. This doesn’t seem like a problem until you truly can’t make out what’s being said because of traffic noise or what have you. The Zoom Q3HD attempts to fix this by putting a pair of high-quality (compared to other pocket cams, anyway) microphones at the top, which are also more sensitive.

We may as well be honest and admit that this isn’t exactly a new product. The Zoom Q3 has been out for a while, and this is an HD refresh. But to be fair, it’s a new design and the complaints relating to the old Q3 were often video-related. At any rate, the HD one is here now, and we’re reviewing it.

The device is very light, more so than other pocket cams, and really has the feel of a toy rather than a piece of equipment. I can’t say I’m too pleased with that, but it is at least well put together, and includes a USB connector (on a rather short leash). There are a number of ports on the side for audio in and out. The battery compartment is in the front, but is secure enough that I doubt you’ll accidentally pop it out.

Operation is quite simple, like other pocket cams: you have a big red button for starting and stopping the recording, a d-pad surrounding it, and buttons for mode, menu, and delete. The buttons themselves aren’t noteworthy; they’re buttons. The d-pad could be more responsive, but I got around the simple graphical menu system fine. There’s really not too much configuration that needs to be done with these simple camcorders anyway.

The options are mostly self-explanatory: a couple frame and scene modes for video, and some bitrate/format options for audio. AAC and PCM are your choices, bitrate from 160 to 320kbps, and you can change the low cut and gain settings.

Video is no better than your average pocket cam, but the Q3HD does have a refreshingly wide-angle lens. It’s not something the average shopper thinks of or notices, but most pocket cams have millimeter equivalents of maybe 50mm, when what you really want is something below 30. I’d put the Q3HD at around 35mm in angle, which makes framing shots easier. It’s not autofocus, unfortunately, so you’re stuck with a fixed infinity focus starting at around 18 inches from the lens. Par for the course with pocket cams, though you can find autofocus camcorders easily for under $200.

I wanted to make a video showing the improvement a Q3HD provides in the audio department, but things weren’t really working out as I hoped. I realize that makes it sound like the device doesn’t actually do anything different, but I assure you it does. It’s much, much better at filtering out voices in a crowded room, and making sounds much warmer and more natural to the ear. The pinhole mics often found on pocket cams and even some mid-range camcorders tend to muddle everything together, but the Q3HD (as has been noted in its previous version) really does make for better sound.

One thing that helps is a quick switch for going between low gain, high gain, and auto. While it does a good job auto-leveling, occasionally you might want to minimize background noise or just be sure you catch every word, and the switch from lo to hi is instant and noticeable. It’s especially handy having the live levels feedback on the video screen at all times (though the actual video itself is relatively small, unfortunately), as it lets you know when you’re clipping or not getting enough sound.

Another thing the Q3HD provides is a wealth of ports. A built-in USB cord is convenient, but it also has analog TV out, HDMI out, and 1/8″ lines in and out. This means it can be a plain sound recorder or a microphone for your DSLR or camcorder; you can turn the camera function off and just use the sound-recording function.

Conclusion

Basically what we’ve got here is a video blogger’s multitool. It’s no better than the competition when it comes to video quality, but the much-improved microphones provide better stereo separation, more warmth, better clarity, and also function as a digital voice recorder and external microphone. At $300, it’s nearly double the price of its Flip and Kodak competition, however, and it’s not a particularly rugged device, so consider what your needs are before dropping your dollar.

Product page: Zoom Q3HD

Full HD 3D Handycam
This camcorder is probably the most spectacular model: as the name suggests, it shoots 3D video in full HD resolution, and it boasts a naked-eye 3.5-inch 3D LCD screen so you can check your footage right on the spot.

Handycam with built-in projector
The HDR-PJ40V will be released in Japan next month and comes with a projector built into its LCD panel. It produces 60-inch images at a distance of 3m and also has stereo speakers.

Bloggie Touch and Bloggie 3D
Sony’s easy-to-use camcorder Bloggie gets a touchscreen update and another model that lets you shoot video in 3D through two Exmor 5.1MP CMOS sensors.

JVC announced [JP] three new Everio camcorders yesterday, the high-end GZ-HM670/690 and the GZ-HM450. While the first two models boast a back-side illuminated 3.3MP CMOS sensor (for better images in dark areas), the HM450 only has a 1.5MP CMOS sensor.

All three models feature 40x optical zoom, full HD video recording, an SD/SDHC slot, a USB port, an HDMI interface, a 2.7-inch LCD screen and an automatic upload function (for example to YouTube and Facebook).

Sanyo plans to start selling the new Everios in the next few days (in Japan). Prices: $950 for the GZ-HM670 (pictured above in pink) with 32GB of internal memory, $950 for the HM690 (with 64GB) and $540 for the low-end model with just 8GB on board.

One good thing, though, is that 24/25p support is being pledged right out of the gate. Hopefully they won’t gimp it — Sony loves them some AVCHD and 24/25p will be H.264/MP4, and there may be quality differences. At any rate, it’s better than the VG10, which from what I understand only shoots interlaced. That’s some weak sauce. No pricing information now, but Sony said the new camcorder would be available in mid-2011.

It’s a nice-looking thing, and not having multiple sensors or too many built-in features could keep the price sane. I’m going to guess… $3500. We’ll see how accurate I was when the camera gets priced in six months or so. Update: Uhhh, no. Probably more like $20,000.

[via Akihabara News]

Tokyo-based camera maker Exemode yesterday announced the EXEMODE 3DV-5WF [JP], a mini camcorder that can shoot video in 3D. The specs clearly indicate you can’t really expect much in terms of quality here, but the camera’s biggest selling point is its price: at $300, it’s more expensive than Viewsonic’s 3DV5 but way cheaper than Panasonic’s 3D camcorder.

The price is only of interest in case you just want to try out shooting video in 3D though, because I don’t believe the pictures you produce with the Exemode model can possibly be good. The 5MP CMOS camcorder lets you record video in 3D in either WVGA (848×480/30fps) or VGA (640×480/30fps) resolution (in 2D mode, you can shoot video with 720p quality).

Footage can be checked on the camera’s 3.2-inch 3D display and stored on SD or SDHC cards (32GB max). The camera weighs 164g and offers an HDMI interface and a USB port.

It will go on sale in Japan by the end of this month. Expect many, many more cheap 3D camcorders to rear their heads in the next few months.

They also released made available (it was announced a while back, I missed it) a 3D camcorder, the 3DV5. I know, I know, all camcorders are 3D. I mean this one records 3D anaglyph images using two sensors. Strange-looking thing, isn’t it! You can preview the images in 3D on the rear LCD, or watch them on your computer with the usual 3D accessories. It’s an NVIDIA-branded product, so you’d do best to stick with them.

Interestingly, the 3DV5 is only $180, which is pretty cheap for a 3D camcorder — not that there are many, but that’s about what a high-end pocket cam runs. Probably means you can’t trust the quality. What, it’s true!

[via Electronista]

• Takes 720p video
• Built-in 14-lumen 640×480 projector
• USB and HDMI out
• Micro SD slot
• MSRP: $299

Pros:

• Fun idea
• Video is comparable to other pocket cams
• Simple operation

cons:

• Expensive
• Low brightness and low sensitivity
• Bulky for a pocket cam

Full review:

3M makes a nice pico projector — which isn’t saying too much since the field is pretty limited at the moment, but the fact is that their MPro line is a pretty decent buy if you know what you’re getting into. However, on the announcement of their new projectors and the pocket cam I am reviewing, I felt they might be slipping a bit. The lumen increase on the MP180 is nice, but it got pretty chunky. And this camcorder — well, it’s here before its time, let’s put it that way.

The Shoot ‘n Share is a compromise — a unique compromise at the moment, but a compromise nonetheless. It is, of course, both a pocket cam and a pico projector. In a way, they go together, but in the end, it’s a bit like putting wasabi on your ice cream. These things are both delicious, but they don’t go together well.

It’s not an ugly piece of hardware, exactly, but it isn’t particularly attractive, either, and compact it ain’t when compared to a regular Flip or Kodak pocket cam. It’s surprisingly light, though, and yet feels very solid. That is, except for the little flaps covering the ports and micro SD slot. Those things feel like they’ll break off with the slightest touch.

The controls are little touch-sensitive glowing buttons, which do look cool, and are very responsive, but seem a bit inelegant. Why is there a back button on the right when you already have a left arrow? Simplicity is the word here, 3M, and you have fully ten buttons on the back of your device. At least the interface is clear, although the LCD is rather low-rez.

Video quality is pretty much what you’d expect from a pocket cam. Mediocre, lots of jelly-motion, but certainly no worse than your average $150 Flip. Ahh, don’t listen to me. It does its job, and the video is just fine.

The projector is about the quality of the original MPro 120: 12 lumens on battery, 14 plugged in, a nice short throw, and good color, though this picture doesn’t really show it off:

In fact, that picture is terrible. Don’t look at it. Look at this one and imagine that instead of the MPro 120, there’s the Shoot ‘n Share:

About like that. And the Shoot ‘n Share does have a tripod mount, so it’s handy in a pinch for a regular projector as well. You can run RCA through its little AV port and it does a decent job of showing SD video.

So it does its two jobs decently, though not as well as its single-purpose contemporaries. And the issue really is that there’s not a lot of reason to have both in one device. After all, if it’s bright enough to shoot video, it’s too bright to share. And if it’s dim enough to share, it’s too dim to shoot. And with a battery life of about two hours, it’s not really an ideal travel companion either.

Conclusion

I don’t want to be too hard on this little guy, because it really feels like more of an experiment than a bold entry to a new field. I have no doubt there will be more and better of these, just as pico projectors and pocket cams themselves have improved quite a bit in just the last two years. I can’t really advise buying this thing, though its $300 price isn’t really asking that much. It’s just that I know they’ll get a lot better soon, and unless you absolutely must combine your pocket cam with your pico projector, this is too expensive of a lark to recommend.

Product page: 3M Shoot ‘n Share

It does 1080p, has a 2″ LCD on the back, and records mediocre video video to an SDHC card. So far, so like every other one out there, but the HP has a couple tricks up its sleeve. It’s got a gyro for image stabilization, which is “handy” with these light cameras that can’t seem to sit still when you’re shooting. It’s also got a motion detection feature, which I assume starts to take video when something crosses its path.

It’ll cost $159 and should be available in October.