Who is using one? Seems like the GoPro is the default, but i don't like the form factor. Lots to like about the Drift - waterproof, so no issues with condensation, has a good remote, seems easy to mount on side of helmet, and good for taking stills while riding - which is important to me. Anyone have real life experience with the Ghost?
There are comparisons on youtube that show the difference in video quality.. the Drift consistently came in last behind the gopro and the contour. My next cam is going to be the Replay XD,,, assuming I ever get off my ass and sell my two gopros and my contour
I saw those videos but the quality between the Ghost and the Hero 3 didn't look all that different to me. The Replay looks really cool - the only thing is I want the ability to attach to my helmet and trigger stills remotely - so I can take pictures while riding. I agree the round form is the best out there though. Stills are more important to me than video, but I can't find a good digital camera that mounts to a helmet and has remote. So am looking at the Drift. Plus it won't hurt to have video capability for sure. Anyone out there using the Ghost currently?
Hey disregard my post.. I was using old data.. I have not seen the results between the Ghost and Hero 3.. sorry.
I've always like the Drift cameras, never liking the GoPro form factor. I have the Stealth and the Ghost. The Ghost is quite an upgrade to the Stealth in many ways, the screen is much better and larger, the menus improved, the remote is better allowing you to change functions and see what mode you're in, the battery life is better, internal Mic is better, Photos look much better, the different field of view (zoom) options are welcomed and it's much smaller. The looping feature is neat. The form factor is stellar. The main thing that should be noted is you will need to charge the remote daily if using it a lot. this video was shot with both cameras with the Ghost being the helmet mounted one, to me it's obvious the colors are more realistic for what it really looked like. both shot at 720, the 1080 looks even better but I don't want to deal with larger files. <iframe src="http://player.vimeo.com/video/58411544?title=0&byline=0&portrait=0" width="1279" height="719" frameborder="0" webkitAllowFullScreen mozallowfullscreen allowFullScreen></iframe> <p><a href="http://vimeo.com/58411544">Death Valley Daze</a> from <a href="http://vimeo.com/lostrider">Lost Rider</a> on <a href="http://vimeo.com">Vimeo</a>.</p>
Bump for interest. The profile of the GoPro (big and blocky) vs. the slimmer Contour (what I have now) is the main reason I'm staying away from gopro. The Drift caught my eye because the profile's a lot like the Contour, but includes a lot of features the Gopro offers (wireless remote, LCD). Personally i'm not real impressed with the video/image quality off my Contour, but it is about 4 years old now. Interested to hear some real-world experience using the drift.
Saw the Drift at the bike show a month ago. I was impressed by the menu setup and the size. Saw a rider, a few days ago with on on the side of his helmet. Looks a lot slicker that the big square box off the top of the helmet. It will certainly be on the top of my list when the time come to look seriously.
Just picked up a Drift Ghost yesterday. Glad I spotted this thread before I shelled out the $400 on a Hero Black. I found the Ghost on ebay for $330 shipped, and was new in box. It has a ton of great features and is cheaper, figure its worth a shot! I'll be using it to document my TAT trip this summer. Thanks!
I have been using the Ghost for a few months now. It's my 1st POV camera and so far I really like it. The app for Iphone is cool and can access all the functions via wifi, and works great for framing shots.
Keep in mind mine's a few years old now ... Mechanical design ... leaves a lot to be desired. There's a ring on the outside of the lens. Under this ring is a plastic disc that protects the lens. There's a single, tiny, threadforming screw that holds that ring on. The first time you pull that screw out, the threads come with it. The O-ring between the outer ring and plastic disc never sealed right, allowing dirt and moisture between the disc and lens. Which required removal and reassembly of that tiny-ass screw. Pic related. The latch that holds the battery in is entirely too small. That broke about a year later. It still flops over and keeps the battery in place, and the rear cover has a feature on it that pushes the battery in ... but that little tiny plastic piece, in a camera that needs to be durable? Give me a break. Firmware's not bad, I like the text-file configuration. My camera is pre-bluetooth connectivity, so either a computer or smartphone with µSD card slot and a text editor is required to modify settings. Audio quality is terrible. Out-of-the-box, moving more than 20m/h makes the audio unusable. I put black electrical tape over the front LED and down along the bottom over the mic hole, and that made the audio usable up to 35m/h. Video quality is comparable to that of an average cameraphone. Not terrible, but not really great either.
I've got the original HD Hero, and have been trying to decide if I should branch out stay with the Heros. The Drift was the first one I was considering next to the Hero 3 Black. I do realize the Drift doesn't have the same specs as the Black (in terms of recording sizes/framerates/bitrates/etc), but people seem to really like the form factor and if it's significantly cheaper than a Black, I'd go for it. Plus I like the fact I wouldn't have to deal with multiple cases. How does everyone mount the Drift, specifically for POV shots? Or for that matter, the Contour since they both seem to have the same form factor. At the moment I have my GoPro in front of my mouth area for POV stuff as it comes out MUCH better than when it's mounted to the side or top of a helmet. I'm worried that the Drift's form factor will only let me mount it on the side of my helmet, but I haven't seen one in person. Also, from looking at the accessories, the Drift's mounts are "flat", as in you clip the camera directly into the mount and it sits relatively flush with the mounting surface. I can only seem to find one with an arm in the suction cup. Though it looks like the Drift might have a standard tripod hole, so a RAM mount could sorta solve the flush-mount-only issue. Of course I could be missing something, hence why I'm asking :)
I'd prefer to keep a separate thread where we can discuss this camera specifically. I am still hoping to purchase one in the near future and will then report on how i like it. Am hoping to get a discussion on features going if there are other owners on the board (not clear ow many people use this over the go pro).
...a heap you'd think, seeing as it looks better..... If I get one next week, I'll get back to you on this!
Well after a fair amount of reading and research I ordered and bought the Drift HD Ghost from ebay. I chose it over the Contour +2 due to the remote, the screen, the loop function and the price/extras in the box. I didn't want a stupid box on the top of my head (Go-Pro). My choice. My mate has the brand new Contour +2 so a comparision might be done eventually. This is a seriously technologically advanced bit of gear, and I thought it would take me ages to get my head around it. The Drift Innovations home page has a heap of short 70Mb training videos you can download, I've found some .pdf files for the older Drift cameras that explain a lot of stuff like field of view, snow/dark light settings, file types etc. So only a few hours after opening the box I'm pretty right. There's not a real lot of stuff on Google about it yet. Only the usual thin reviews, not settings and stuff. It will take some careful positioning to mount it on my helmet - you want it pointing at the right place. Then I'll probably fiddle around to work out what resolution I want to run at and what field of view. I suspect that high resolution (1080p) will make for large files, and won't allow for fast frame rates per second. Also I may not like it filming at 170degreees FOV. This seems to make the distant objects seem further away and you get a bit of the 'fish-eye' effect. Although the advantage is that it shows the side of the trail and the effect of speed quite well. edit: Don't believe any of this just yet, I'm testing at the moment and not is all as it appears (in a good way). More testing is in order. BTW, I think it is irrelevant to ANY of this discussion for someone to make opinions based on older model cameras. The latest ones are streets ahead of the older ones. This one has only been released for 3 months. Another BTW, they haven't released the final version of the Android App so that you can 'drive' your camera from your smartphone (the I-phone one is out), but it is due any week.
...........I would love if some clever guru got on here and posted up his/her preferred resolution, frame rate, field of view and lighting settings for single track dirt riding................
