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GoPro Black or Drift Ghost HD?

59K views 66 replies 21 participants last post by  KingAlrik 
#1 ·
Hi Guys,

does anyone have any experience with the Drift Ghost HD camera? It seems to have better battery life than the GoPro. I like the look of it but wondering why the GoPro Black will be better?

Cheers
 
#39 ·
Personally, I'd probably go with the Drift, The GoPro does have a slightly better image and all, but it's form factor makes it much harder to mount in places. I do think the Chesty mount is about the best single spot... but even then a vid with 10 mins of just chest mounted shot gets boring fast. :skep: Also unless you plan on taking home and plugging into a TV to watch, the quality really isn't going to show. If (like the rest of us) you are just uploading to Youtube and Vimeo honestly 720 is all you need as the 1080 doesn't show any real improvement in quality after the websites add compression.

I do like the Slow motion as some one mentioned above, but again,.. unless you have software and hardware to take advantage, not worth the cost as you'll probably not be able to use it.
Honestly If I were going thru it all again, I'd buy 2-3 cheaper models over one fancy one.. that way you can have the vid switching views with edits, but not have to stop the ride every few mins to move the cam :rolleyes:
after using a few diff ones of my own and friends the 2 basic things I've learned...
rotation lens... Important!! allows for odd mount locations
slim line profile,..Important!! allows for odd mont locations also...

seriously,.. another option that I'd recommend, get cheaper versions of either/both,.. play with them and decide which unit/body style you like better then sell (or keep for multi view recording ;) ) then after playing go get the better model of the one you like... :thumbsup:
 
#40 ·
Good points.

1080 vs. 720 - I think that's debatable. I think it's more in the actual rendering/processing of the final video edit that has much more to do with final quality. I see very professional looking results on youtube, and very bad examples from GoPro/Pov cams.

Regardless of odd mount locations, the best videos seem to those that have good balance of on/off the bike, with other unique vantage points included.

Multiple cams is a great suggestion. :thumbsup:

(keen website, btw!)
 
#41 ·
So did you make a decision?

I'm thinking about getting a Ghost at the moment... Already have the HD and taken lots of hours of video which I'm most satisfied with, everything from sunshine/bluebird days of skiing to night time riding in the forest, all is pretty decent. I often mix it with addtional Video I take with a Nikon Coolpix 9200 camera to give different perspectives.

On trips where we have multiple cameras, and makes, I am often amazed by how folk are often not impressed with the results from their GoPro's and are surprised that the Drift's video is so different. This might be that they have not experimented enough with their cameras settings, but are there really that many options on most of them?

Colour balance, light balance, focus, reactions to changing lighting conditions seems to be good on the HD, (with latest firmware updates), and I expect the Ghost to be similar of better. The ability to rotate the lense is essential I find. Drift mounts are ok, but a simple adapter makes all the Go Pro mounts usable, and there are lots of them out there.

Two aspects that interest me on the new ghost are are the Tag loop abilty, and the promised option of the ability to take stills concurrently with Video. These I need to explore. The video tagging seems a great way to avoid endless hours of tedious video, and you only store what was interesting... Ability to shoot stills concurrent with Video, 11MP, seems really interesting.

Anone got a ghost yet and like to post their impressions??

Cheers

David
 
#42 ·
Still havent pulled the trigger on one yet, unexpected bills have put a hold on things for the moment but will be getting one sooner rather than later.
Still not 100% - it's very close and changes by the day.
At the moment the GPBlack is winning as it has all the features of the Ghost and obviously higher spec which I'm thinking will future proof me a bit. I also think the better slow mo of the GP might come in handy.

Although as said above the Drift has advantages, form factor and rotation the big ones.

It really is a toss of a coin at the moment for me but as above the GP is winning because of the ability to give me a few more options if needed in the future.

The suggestion of getting a few cheaper models is a great idea.

Will update this thread when I've finally got one :)
 
#44 ·
I just bought a Ghost. The primary selling feature for me was the:
Drift FlashbackTM Video Tag/Loop Action sports enthusiasts can save a recorded event up to five minutes after it happens while in Video Tag/Loop mode, which records footage in a continuous loop style. The video clip is stored in the camera’s memory, and will save the clip only if the user chooses to “tag” it

This would give you the ability to save a shorter video of say 30 seconds or 5 minutes and not have to edit hours worth of video just get to a shot of the guy doing an endo in front you or the jack ass in the car almost killing you.

My ADD keeps me from watching any videos longer then 2 minutes anyway.
 
#45 ·
I just bought a Ghost. The primary selling feature for me was the:
Drift FlashbackTM Video Tag/Loop Action sports enthusiasts can save a recorded event up to five minutes after it happens while in Video Tag/Loop mode, which records footage in a continuous loop style. The video clip is stored in the camera's memory, and will save the clip only if the user chooses to "tag" it

This would give you the ability to save a shorter video of say 30 seconds or 5 minutes and not have to edit hours worth of video just get to a shot of the guy doing an endo in front you or the jack ass in the car almost killing you.

My ADD keeps me from watching any videos longer then 2 minutes anyway.
The Hero 3 Black offers that option as well, from the manual:

Looping Video options inlcude:

OFF (Default)
Max video Camera records until memory card is full, then overwrites with a
new video.
5 min video
Camera records for 5 minutes, then begins a new video,
progressively overwriting the previous 5 minute video.

20 min video

Camera records for 20 minutes, then begins a new video,
progressively overwriting the previous 20 minute video.

60 min video

Camera records for 60 minutes, then begins a new video,
progressively overwriting the previous 60 minute video.

Post back with how the Ghost works out, seems like a keen camera...
 
#47 ·
Went to look at the Ghost today. I like some features, but others are not quite as I understood the advertising.

There is an ability to take photos concurrently whilst recording video, but this is a screen grab, so a relatively low resolution picture... 1920*1080. Not quite the same as grabbing a 11MP shot. So camera function whilst recording video it not a bonus.

The differing wide angle aspects are very interesting. 170, 120 and 90 degrees, will allow some variation form the ultra wide angle overdose we're suffering from.

Battery is different from the old 170 long life battery, and different pins from the HD battery, so its another battery charger if you want to charge batteries without the camera.

The remote is larger than the drift HD, not quite usable on your wrist anymore... I like the lights on it indicateing whats happening on the camera, but its another internal battery that needs charging. Apparently its got a life of ~ 8 hours, but..... Comunication between remote and camera is now WiFi

The tag loop option is great. I can see myself buying this camera simply to avoid hours of tedious video.. (Over christmas, coming in from 6 hours of skiing, I was sometimes glad the Drifts batteries had died on the slopes..).


Android app still not available, and not being an apple fan, couldn't test this feature.

Cheers

David
 
#50 ·
First ride with my Ghost
I used the curved fixation on my helmet - waiting for the new shoulder mount, it wasn´t easy because of the weight, but all went right.
The camera is very, very good; easy to operate with the remote, fantastic image quality, good sound capture.
I´m very happy with the Ghost.
 
#53 ·
And you need to aim it higher. Looking at your front wheel and the dirt 3' in front of it doesn't make for a good video, especially when we know there's all those riders in front of you, not to mention actual trail.

And second the 360p. At that resolution, the video could be from virtually ANY camera.
 
#56 ·
Agres with you.
The problem isn't in the camera, it's my lack of editing skills.
I'll get better.
The shooting was made in 960p, but when loading, Youtube said it was too heavy, maybe i'll find a way to go around this too.
Volta 10 Fev I Drift Ghost - YouTube
keep at it... try using some diff software for editing .. (if on a PC, on mac just use Imovie ;) ) there are a few free trials out for software so do a search , download a few and play.. have fun with it!!!

Also try other spots for mounting, the helmet mount is actually about the worst, but is still good for mix ins. get a few diff mounts so you can easily just pop it from one location to the next without having to fiddle with the mount it's self.

Not sure why Youtube is saying a 5 min vid is too heavy..? try editing it down and using some compression (thou as little as possible)

Don't let it stress you, I stopped using mine for a time cause I just got too worried about it and it started loosing it's "fun" factor. Now I just kinda go with it and don't let it worry me.... editing I take my time and play. great to do on a rainy day where you can try a few diff options/edits.
 
#55 ·
Are you rendering as a MP4 ? Whats size was your final file you were uploading ?

Seriously i cant notice any difference in the quality when i go over 14mbps max bitrate.

An approx 5 minute render from my GP3 black at 1080x30 (shot at 1080x60) with a max bitrate of around 14mbps ends up under a 300mb file and uploads to youtube/vimeo in around 25mins.
 
#57 · (Edited)
Thanks, yes i'm the big trouble.
I load it as MP4, perhaps not the best option? How do you guys do?
Haven't done any compression; must learn more about it.
I use iMovie; and i´m not disappointed with the posts, i´m here to learn with you and my mistakes.
I´m not looking for the Oscar and as a Drift Ghost owner, i don´t want to say this camera is better, it was an option. Besides, here in Portugal the new GoPro is a rarity to find.
In the future (if prices go down), i may buy a GoPro and use both.

Regards
 
#66 ·
I purchased the GoPro Black a few months ago and enjoy the camera. Battery life isn't as long as the Hero 2 or Hero HD but not bad enough that the camera is unusable. Plus, you can get Wasabi external charger with 2 batteries for like $21 buck or so on Amazon.com.

I purchased the external battery pack for it and it helps the camera last about as long as the Hero 2 and Hero HD. The only thing I don't like about it is that the battery pac doesn't have removable battery, it is one unit and the first one I got crapped out after a few uses and had to get exchanged. Haven't used the replacement one yet so I reserve judgment on how reliable the external battery pacs are.

I liked the ones for the Hero 2 and Hero HD mainly because could charge the battery with a USB cable instead of having to use the camera for that purpose.
 
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