Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

I use this camera for surfing and out door activities.
It is simple to use and produces great footage.
The remote control comes in the boxed paired to the camera . Turn the remote and camera on and start recording. Another great feature is that the remote and camera change to different colours to let you know what mode the camera is in.
The camera is small and can use GoPro mounts with a adapter. I own two GoPro cameras but im really enjoying the simplicity of the Drift Ghost. The only down side is the remote control is not water proof and there is no night mode. But over all I am very happy with this product.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

I use this camcorder for ATV riding, kayaking and hiking. I am very pleased with the ease of operation, video quality and especially the two-way communication between remote and camera, it lets you know with an LED indicator on your wrist when the camera is recording or stopped. I have not used the Wi-fi yet but I intend to when the Android application becomes available.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

Purchased this as an upgrade to an already fine camera by Drift (HD170). This camera is more compact in size and incorporates more features such as 2 wider FOV's for 1080 HD. I use this camera mounted on my motorcycle and on my helmet. Takes great quality videos. The new 2 way remote is fantastic giving you the ability to switch modes and turning the camera on and off remotely - a big plus when it's mounted in a location you can't access while you're riding.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

No customer service phone number on web site.
Live chat, offline for last 4 days.
No return of email request.
Is anyone there?

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

This camera is more expensive than others, but it also has a lot more features. To me, it's worth the price.
Here's what sold me: Full HD, easy to mount, remote control (both wireless control and via smartphone), LCD screen, and ruggedness. The lens also tilts so you can keep your video horizontal however you mount the camera.
The batteries are also another big selling point: they're relatively cheap, and there's one available which will provide 20 hours of use!
2 improvements I'd like to see: waterproof down to 30 or more feet, and batteries that charge OUTSIDE the camera (so you can charge one while still using the camera).

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

There are so many things to like about this camera over the gopro black and other competitors.
Where the Drift excels is functionality and value for the money. For the same price as the gopro black, I got the drift standard package (camera, remote, mounts...), an extra battery, lens replacement kit, and the suction cup!

** The video tag/loop is amazing..
* WI-fi iPhone app is better than the gopro
** The battery life is great!
* The Drift is already waterproof (to ~10 ft) and does not need the sound-muffling-and-mudding-waterproof case that others do. Also you can adjust the mic sensitivity or use an external mic.
* The controls are superior to the gopro when switching settings or camera modes.
* The remote is much better than gopro because of the color LEDs (I see competitors copying this design). You can tell what is happening without having to read any small text
** The battery life is great! (again)
* you can mount this anywhere since you can rotate the lens to make the video the angle you need
* you have a screen to review the video without having to purchase additional accessories (backpacks for gopro)

I could go on and on... but there are more detailed reviews out there.
I am returning the gopro black for sure.

Now the negatives I see are:
1) Several reviews on youtube compare the image quality and it looks like gopro is the winner... BUT the ghost is not far behind and is definitely is second place ot ar least near the top.
2) It is heavier than the gopro. If you were to load the gopro with the screen backpack and keep it in the underwater case, then you are not really going to notice any difference... so this is not really a negative in that regard. I would rather have the extra battery life of the Drift and not risk battery swapping between shoots.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

for point of views

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

This canera rocks and is waaaaay better than the GoPro. Very easy to use.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

B&H was quick, answered questions and got it when they said. The Ghost is a wonderful product...Picture is incredible, remote works perfect, battery last close to 3 hours. Used all day on trails with water and mud and it worked great and the video and sound came out great too.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

I've owned a number of Drift cameras over the past several years, and I've always been impressed but they keep getting better. The Drift Ghost has been redesigned to be a much smarter, and much more versatile camera -- it's really an all-in-one package that gives you all you need to shoot action video and to get unique shots that you wouldn't try with a more fragile camera. I know that most people get these for the extreme sports and action shots - and I do use this for things I couldn't get otherwise - but as an amateur videographer and documentarian I find that the Drift cameras are useful for lots of other things. They're easy to mount anywhere on just about anything and with the remote control they are extremely flexible to go places I couldn't with a camera in my hand. I've mounted them on a 12' paint pole and stuck it up and out the window of my car, for example, or raised them high over my house. I've gotten POV shots for documentary, and stuck them on the hood of my car with a suction mount to get a shot of someone driving.

The new Ghost shares a number of features with the Drift HD, which was (rather: is) already an excellent and powerful action camera. It has the same form function, the same replaceable Gorilla Glass lens cover, that can be rotated around so you can mount the camera where you need to and still get the orientation you like. They both come with a wearable wrist remote, that allows you to start and stop recording or shoot photos without needing to touch the camera. Both have an LCD screen that allows you to see what you're shooting to be sure you're getting what you want -- that's a feature that has always made the Drift cameras stand out among action cameras. Both allow you to shoot HD video, various modes; time lapse and photos. Both come with two rear covers, one that works as a secure seal against the elements, and one that allows for a USB input for charging and transferring video and an external microphone input. Both record to a micro SD card. Both come with several different mounting solutions, for securing the camera to a helmet, a motorcycle, a surf board, etc.

Here's what's new:

Better hardware, better lens -- The Ghost has revamped hardware, and a better lens, and as a result it shoots discernibly better -- noticeably sharper -- video, and it now does 960p in addition to 1080p, 720p and WVGA. It shoots 11MP stills and they look quite good. Another thing I really like is that now you can adjust the FOV (the "Field of View" or range of the shot) in each of the modes, from 90 degrees, to 127 or 170 degrees.

Easier firmware updates -- from time to time Drift updates the firmware on their cameras, usually in response to user feedback. They'll announce updates on their webpage or the Drift HD Facebook page, and they've always been easy to access: just drag the updated firmware onto the memory card. In the past, though, you had to go in and select an upgrade from the menu. With the Ghost, it automatically detects updates. When I'd put the new firmware on the card, and I turned it on, the Ghost immediately gave me a message that it was updating the firmware and then shut down when it was done. When I turned it on again, it was ready to go.

Much improved onboard microphone -- The audio, right out of the box, is much improved. With the older drifts the audio tended to be muffled and for decent sound you had to connect an external mike. With this one the audio is already good enough for most purposes even without an auxiliary microphone -- in fact I recorded all of the audio on the attached video using the onboard mike on the Ghost. I'm very happy with this improvement.

Two-way remote! -- The wrist remote is much improved. You can pair it with one or more cameras at once - which would be especially useful for getting multiple points of view on the same action. What's really exciting with the new design is that you can enable the "Remote Pairing" option and you get feedback on the remote itself as to what mode the camera is in (green for video, yellow for photo mode, purple for time-lapse mode, cyan for photo burst mode) and you can change the mode remotely.

Redesigned case, bigger screen, water proof -- The case is the same size as the Drift HD, but it's been redesigned, in a number of significant ways. The buttons have been moved to the side to give more space for an expanded 2" color LCD screen. There's room now to fit the full 1080p image on the screen as well as status and other indicators above and below. Another thing that makes me very happy is that this is waterproof to 3m right out of the box. If you plan to go deep, they sell a case; but for surfing and kiteboarding and kayaking and other surface water sports, this is good to go right out of the box. It also has an indicator light that shows when it's on and ready and what mode it's in and when it's recording (red).

Photoburst and simultaneous photo -- Now you can take photos while you're shooting video. Just press Menu on the camera itself or hit the Action button on the remote. The new photoburst mode is pretty excellent. It's hard to get the perfect action shot, but with this mode you can shoot up to 10 high quality (11MP) images per second, capturing a range of shots from which you can select the perfect one.

Video tagging -- this is an excellent new feature. HD video can be pretty memory intensive, and you don't really want to record everything. At the same time, sometimes something happens that's amazing and you wish you'd been recording. I had this happen a couple of months ago when I was shooting with the Drift HD720 in a waterproof case while I was floating down a river. I'd gotten a lot of underwater footage, of fish and turtles and birds (and of course my kids). But I was running out of memory, so I stopped recording, thinking I'd start up again later. Right then a river otter and its babies started swimming around us and under us, but by the time I got the camera back on and recording, they were gone. Video tagging lets you record continuously (and the battery lasts for about 3 hours of recording, so it would have been fine for that trip), without filling up the memory card. At any given moment, it only saves a specified interval of video that you've selected, between 10 seconds and 5 minutes. When you realize, after the fact, that you've shot something interesting, you can "tag" the video by pressing the "Menu" button on the camera or the "Action" button on the remote. Then the camera keeps the footage recorded just before and just after you tag it. If you had it set for a 10 second interval, the camera would keep the 10 seconds before you tagged it, the current 10 seconds and then ten more seconds for good measure. This would be excellent at, say, an extreme sports event where athletes were performing the same kinds of stunts over and over, and you didn't really want to get it all but then, every once in a while, something astonishing happens and you want to be sure you don't miss it.

Wi-Fi!! -- I'm very excited to try out this new feature, but as of yet I haven't been able to. The wi-fi turns on and I can connect to it from my computer, but I can't do much else. Drift promises a new connectivity app is coming soon for iOS and Android that will allow you to change camera settings, shoot and playback directly from the a mobile device - and will also allow you to download and share content directly. This will give a range of control that's unprecedented for this type of device. I can't wait to try it!

On the whole the new Ghost builds on the strong features of its predecessors but goes much farther to make this an extremely versatile package for a wide range of uses. This isn't just an upgrade but is a significant advance -- and as far as I can tell this one has features that no other action camera on the market shares. It's really a complete package that for many will do all they need right out of the box, without any additional accessories. (Although, I have to say if you buy one accessory the newly redesigned suction mount is pretty amazing and extremely useful.) The new Drift Ghost is an exciting camera whose potential I am just beginning to glimpse and I know I will make good use of it, and can't wait to see what other people do with it.

One minor issue -- the first few times I took this out in the sun, I noticed some condensation on the inside of the LCD screen. It went away as soon as I took the camera in doors, and, after a few times out I haven't noticed it anymore. I assume there was a bit of moisture trapped inside, but, again, the problem seems to have resolved itself now. I don't know if this is a universal problem, but this is just a heads up to new users in case they notice anything similar. I'll contact Drift and update the review if I see it again.

Note: I was given a sample of this product to try, with the understanding that I would post an honest and thorough review.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

I use this camera for surfing and out door activities.
It is simple to use and produces great footage.
The remote control comes in the boxed paired to the camera . Turn the remote and camera on and start recording. Another great feature is that the remote and camera change to different colours to let you know what mode the camera is in.
The camera is small and can use GoPro mounts with a adapter. I own two GoPro cameras but im really enjoying the simplicity of the Drift Ghost. The only down side is the remote control is not water proof and there is no night mode. But over all I am very happy with this product.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

I use this camcorder for ATV riding, kayaking and hiking. I am very pleased with the ease of operation, video quality and especially the two-way communication between remote and camera, it lets you know with an LED indicator on your wrist when the camera is recording or stopped. I have not used the Wi-fi yet but I intend to when the Android application becomes available.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

Purchased this as an upgrade to an already fine camera by Drift (HD170). This camera is more compact in size and incorporates more features such as 2 wider FOV's for 1080 HD. I use this camera mounted on my motorcycle and on my helmet. Takes great quality videos. The new 2 way remote is fantastic giving you the ability to switch modes and turning the camera on and off remotely - a big plus when it's mounted in a location you can't access while you're riding.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

No customer service phone number on web site.
Live chat, offline for last 4 days.
No return of email request.
Is anyone there?

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

This camera is more expensive than others, but it also has a lot more features. To me, it's worth the price.
Here's what sold me: Full HD, easy to mount, remote control (both wireless control and via smartphone), LCD screen, and ruggedness. The lens also tilts so you can keep your video horizontal however you mount the camera.
The batteries are also another big selling point: they're relatively cheap, and there's one available which will provide 20 hours of use!
2 improvements I'd like to see: waterproof down to 30 or more feet, and batteries that charge OUTSIDE the camera (so you can charge one while still using the camera).

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

There are so many things to like about this camera over the gopro black and other competitors.
Where the Drift excels is functionality and value for the money. For the same price as the gopro black, I got the drift standard package (camera, remote, mounts...), an extra battery, lens replacement kit, and the suction cup!

** The video tag/loop is amazing..
* WI-fi iPhone app is better than the gopro
** The battery life is great!
* The Drift is already waterproof (to ~10 ft) and does not need the sound-muffling-and-mudding-waterproof case that others do. Also you can adjust the mic sensitivity or use an external mic.
* The controls are superior to the gopro when switching settings or camera modes.
* The remote is much better than gopro because of the color LEDs (I see competitors copying this design). You can tell what is happening without having to read any small text
** The battery life is great! (again)
* you can mount this anywhere since you can rotate the lens to make the video the angle you need
* you have a screen to review the video without having to purchase additional accessories (backpacks for gopro)

I could go on and on... but there are more detailed reviews out there.
I am returning the gopro black for sure.

Now the negatives I see are:
1) Several reviews on youtube compare the image quality and it looks like gopro is the winner... BUT the ghost is not far behind and is definitely is second place ot ar least near the top.
2) It is heavier than the gopro. If you were to load the gopro with the screen backpack and keep it in the underwater case, then you are not really going to notice any difference... so this is not really a negative in that regard. I would rather have the extra battery life of the Drift and not risk battery swapping between shoots.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

for point of views

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

This canera rocks and is waaaaay better than the GoPro. Very easy to use.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

B&H was quick, answered questions and got it when they said. The Ghost is a wonderful product...Picture is incredible, remote works perfect, battery last close to 3 hours. Used all day on trails with water and mud and it worked great and the video and sound came out great too.

Comments about Drift HD Ghost Action Camcorder:

I've owned a number of Drift cameras over the past several years, and I've always been impressed but they keep getting better. The Drift Ghost has been redesigned to be a much smarter, and much more versatile camera -- it's really an all-in-one package that gives you all you need to shoot action video and to get unique shots that you wouldn't try with a more fragile camera. I know that most people get these for the extreme sports and action shots - and I do use this for things I couldn't get otherwise - but as an amateur videographer and documentarian I find that the Drift cameras are useful for lots of other things. They're easy to mount anywhere on just about anything and with the remote control they are extremely flexible to go places I couldn't with a camera in my hand. I've mounted them on a 12' paint pole and stuck it up and out the window of my car, for example, or raised them high over my house. I've gotten POV shots for documentary, and stuck them on the hood of my car with a suction mount to get a shot of someone driving.

The new Ghost shares a number of features with the Drift HD, which was (rather: is) already an excellent and powerful action camera. It has the same form function, the same replaceable Gorilla Glass lens cover, that can be rotated around so you can mount the camera where you need to and still get the orientation you like. They both come with a wearable wrist remote, that allows you to start and stop recording or shoot photos without needing to touch the camera. Both have an LCD screen that allows you to see what you're shooting to be sure you're getting what you want -- that's a feature that has always made the Drift cameras stand out among action cameras. Both allow you to shoot HD video, various modes; time lapse and photos. Both come with two rear covers, one that works as a secure seal against the elements, and one that allows for a USB input for charging and transferring video and an external microphone input. Both record to a micro SD card. Both come with several different mounting solutions, for securing the camera to a helmet, a motorcycle, a surf board, etc.

Here's what's new:

Better hardware, better lens -- The Ghost has revamped hardware, and a better lens, and as a result it shoots discernibly better -- noticeably sharper -- video, and it now does 960p in addition to 1080p, 720p and WVGA. It shoots 11MP stills and they look quite good. Another thing I really like is that now you can adjust the FOV (the "Field of View" or range of the shot) in each of the modes, from 90 degrees, to 127 or 170 degrees.

Easier firmware updates -- from time to time Drift updates the firmware on their cameras, usually in response to user feedback. They'll announce updates on their webpage or the Drift HD Facebook page, and they've always been easy to access: just drag the updated firmware onto the memory card. In the past, though, you had to go in and select an upgrade from the menu. With the Ghost, it automatically detects updates. When I'd put the new firmware on the card, and I turned it on, the Ghost immediately gave me a message that it was updating the firmware and then shut down when it was done. When I turned it on again, it was ready to go.

Much improved onboard microphone -- The audio, right out of the box, is much improved. With the older drifts the audio tended to be muffled and for decent sound you had to connect an external mike. With this one the audio is already good enough for most purposes even without an auxiliary microphone -- in fact I recorded all of the audio on the attached video using the onboard mike on the Ghost. I'm very happy with this improvement.

Two-way remote! -- The wrist remote is much improved. You can pair it with one or more cameras at once - which would be especially useful for getting multiple points of view on the same action. What's really exciting with the new design is that you can enable the "Remote Pairing" option and you get feedback on the remote itself as to what mode the camera is in (green for video, yellow for photo mode, purple for time-lapse mode, cyan for photo burst mode) and you can change the mode remotely.

Redesigned case, bigger screen, water proof -- The case is the same size as the Drift HD, but it's been redesigned, in a number of significant ways. The buttons have been moved to the side to give more space for an expanded 2" color LCD screen. There's room now to fit the full 1080p image on the screen as well as status and other indicators above and below. Another thing that makes me very happy is that this is waterproof to 3m right out of the box. If you plan to go deep, they sell a case; but for surfing and kiteboarding and kayaking and other surface water sports, this is good to go right out of the box. It also has an indicator light that shows when it's on and ready and what mode it's in and when it's recording (red).

Photoburst and simultaneous photo -- Now you can take photos while you're shooting video. Just press Menu on the camera itself or hit the Action button on the remote. The new photoburst mode is pretty excellent. It's hard to get the perfect action shot, but with this mode you can shoot up to 10 high quality (11MP) images per second, capturing a range of shots from which you can select the perfect one.

Video tagging -- this is an excellent new feature. HD video can be pretty memory intensive, and you don't really want to record everything. At the same time, sometimes something happens that's amazing and you wish you'd been recording. I had this happen a couple of months ago when I was shooting with the Drift HD720 in a waterproof case while I was floating down a river. I'd gotten a lot of underwater footage, of fish and turtles and birds (and of course my kids). But I was running out of memory, so I stopped recording, thinking I'd start up again later. Right then a river otter and its babies started swimming around us and under us, but by the time I got the camera back on and recording, they were gone. Video tagging lets you record continuously (and the battery lasts for about 3 hours of recording, so it would have been fine for that trip), without filling up the memory card. At any given moment, it only saves a specified interval of video that you've selected, between 10 seconds and 5 minutes. When you realize, after the fact, that you've shot something interesting, you can "tag" the video by pressing the "Menu" button on the camera or the "Action" button on the remote. Then the camera keeps the footage recorded just before and just after you tag it. If you had it set for a 10 second interval, the camera would keep the 10 seconds before you tagged it, the current 10 seconds and then ten more seconds for good measure. This would be excellent at, say, an extreme sports event where athletes were performing the same kinds of stunts over and over, and you didn't really want to get it all but then, every once in a while, something astonishing happens and you want to be sure you don't miss it.

Wi-Fi!! -- I'm very excited to try out this new feature, but as of yet I haven't been able to. The wi-fi turns on and I can connect to it from my computer, but I can't do much else. Drift promises a new connectivity app is coming soon for iOS and Android that will allow you to change camera settings, shoot and playback directly from the a mobile device - and will also allow you to download and share content directly. This will give a range of control that's unprecedented for this type of device. I can't wait to try it!

On the whole the new Ghost builds on the strong features of its predecessors but goes much farther to make this an extremely versatile package for a wide range of uses. This isn't just an upgrade but is a significant advance -- and as far as I can tell this one has features that no other action camera on the market shares. It's really a complete package that for many will do all they need right out of the box, without any additional accessories. (Although, I have to say if you buy one accessory the newly redesigned suction mount is pretty amazing and extremely useful.) The new Drift Ghost is an exciting camera whose potential I am just beginning to glimpse and I know I will make good use of it, and can't wait to see what other people do with it.

One minor issue -- the first few times I took this out in the sun, I noticed some condensation on the inside of the LCD screen. It went away as soon as I took the camera in doors, and, after a few times out I haven't noticed it anymore. I assume there was a bit of moisture trapped inside, but, again, the problem seems to have resolved itself now. I don't know if this is a universal problem, but this is just a heads up to new users in case they notice anything similar. I'll contact Drift and update the review if I see it again.

Note: I was given a sample of this product to try, with the understanding that I would post an honest and thorough review.