Contour GPS review

Plastic rails on either side of the camera allow it to be connected securely and removed from any mount, and the lens rotates 270 degrees so you can mount it on a variety of surfaces. The aluminium body is tough and rain-proof. An optional waterproof housing costs £30. Build quality is mixed: it feels sturdy overall, but the power button didn’t work on occasion.

Video quality is fairly good considering the size of the lens, but it’s more on a par with a Flip Ultra HD than a handheld camcorder such as Canon’s similarly-priced Legria HF R206

. Colours are accurate, and exposure changes quickly to changing light conditions. However, there’s significant purple fringing on high-contrast lines and a fair amount of video wobble and shake when the camera is moving around – as it will for most of its journeys. It’s disappointing there’s no apparent image stabilisation.

Once you’ve shot your footage, you upload it to Storyteller, which lets you mark the best part and upload it to Contour’s website. This keeps the GPS information, which is lost if you upload to YouTube. There are no other editing functions.

The Contour GPS isn’t perfect, but it will give you a decent enough record of your day’s events. The shaky video is our biggest gripe, but if you have some decent video editing software, much of that can be eliminated. If you need a hands-free video camera, the Contour is a decent choice.