The GoPro wide is the winner IMO!

BTW, you need to restain your deck rails :)

Actually I was considering the Hero until I watched your series of videos.

I captured several frames from your movie above, particularly when you are going through the swings because that is when an object was both close, and far away.

It's very quickly evident that the images from the Contour are HUGELY higher quality in all respects over the Hero. The chain is crystal clear, while the stairs way in the background are also crystal clear. The same footage from the Hero is not sharp at all side by side.

I believe THIS is the reason why the Contour looks more shaky even though the body is not shaking. When a camera is higher resolution - even from a perspective of being more in focus, any movement will be far more noticable - this is true of all cameras and particularly where video is concerned.

I've also noticed this in other Hero videos. The image is soft compared to the Contour in every situation.

I like the Hero concept and form factor a lot, but there's no question in terms of sharpness and clearness of image it far lags behind the Contour.

Capture the footage I indicated while passing through the chains and you'll see the same thing.

I actually prefer the mounts and the form factor of the Hero but not at a sacrifice for overall image quality which this would be.