drift ghost 4k lcd touch screen free sample

Powerful 4K video cameras generate a lot of heat during recording, and this needs to be dissipated efficiently to prevent damage occurring. The back part of the Ghost 4K casing forms part of the camera"s heat sink, so if it feels hot to the touch that"s normal - the heat sink is drawing heat away from the camera"s processor, and spreading it out across the back of the camera casing, allowing it to dissipate effectively.

The Ghost 4K offers several different resolution options, all designed for different purposed. If you"re looking for crystal clear, high resolution footage, with a cinematic 19:9 aspect ratio, 4K will be the way to go. If you"re looking for a balance of great image quality, but with manageable file sizes and data rates, 1080p will be great, and this also offers the option of 120 frames per second for slow motion sequences.

Some older video players and editors are not compatible with 4K, 4K UHD, and 2.7K footage, so it"s important to make sure that you have a recent version installed.

It"s also important to consider the hardware you have available for editing and playback. To get the most out of your 4K resolution footage you"ll need a 4K TV or monitor, and a powerful computer with suitable editing software. Likewise, a higher resolution screen, and a compatible editing set up is necessary for 2.7K footage.

Upgrading the Ghost-4K firmware is really simple, and will ensure that you"re getting the most out of your camera. Download the latest Ghost 4K firmware above. Then format your memory card in your Ghost 4K settings menu, and connect the camera to your computer. Drag and drop the firmware file into the ‘root" of your memory card – place it beside, but not inside the DCIM folder. Eject the camera from your computer and power it on. You should see a ‘Firmware Upgrading" message, and after a few seconds the process will be complete.

You may have noticed that the Ghost 4K generates a ‘.THM" file for each photo or video. These ‘THM files are much smaller files that the Drift Life app can easily open, and play back. If you choose not to use the app, and would rather not have these files, you can disable them by turning off the ‘Thumbnails" option in your Ghost 4K settings menu.

The Ghost 4K is IPX4 rated. This means that you can use it in the rain, but that the camera can"t be submerged. If you want to use the camera in the water you"ll need the Ghost 4K waterproof case, which can be submerged to 60m. We also recommend using the case if the camera is likely to be subjected to any water pressure – for example travelling at high speed on a motorcycle, in heavy rain.

To carry out a master reset on your Ghost 4K, press the reset button next to the MicroSD card slot- you"ll need to remove the rubber cover and use a biro to press through the hole marked ‘R.’.

Powerful 4K video cameras generate a lot of heat during recording, and this needs to be dissipated efficiently to prevent damage occurring. The back part of the Ghost 4K casing forms part of the camera"s heat sink, so if it feels hot to the touch that"s normal - the heat sink is drawing heat away from the camera"s processor, and spreading it out across the back of the camera casing, allowing it to dissipate effectively.

The camera will be awaiting a response from the remote; press the top Drift logo button on your remote, which will pair your remote to the camera. You should see the message "successful" displayed on your Ghost"s LCD screen.

With the standard rear battery hatch attached securely the Ghost and Ghost-S cameras (not Stealth 2 ) is designed to have a water tight seal resistant to 3m submission for up to 30 minutes. Please note though, that this does not cover activities such as diving, where the camera is subject to a sudden impact of water and pressure. Similar to when using the camera in all intensive water-based sports, the camera should always be used in the waterproof case as it is not resistant to certain water pressures as instructed in the full manual for the camera.

This is in fact normal and a feature that cannot be switched off. The Ghost S has been designed to work efficiently alongside the iOS and Android app, producing two video or photo files of the same recording - a high and low (thm) resolution.

Please make sure you have downloaded the " Drift CONNECT App " as our " Drift App " is only compatible with Ghost and Ghost-S cameras. Currently, our app is not compatible with iOS 9 just yet. We are working on it! And will have an updated software, ensuring all Android phones running the latest software will be compatible. Check out our App Page for more details.

This is normally down to where the camera is mounted when in use. If the camera is mounted to a vibrating piece of bodywork or mount – you will get a wobble in the video due to the vibration. Usually having the camera as close to the surface of bodywork as possible, will reduce this – get in-touch with us to see what mounts will suit you best for your chosen activity.

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They make cameras with a bullet-style shape, and Ghost XL is not an exception. This shape makes it very easy to mount on your bicycle or motorcycle helmet.

This camera continues with its predecessors’ same design. You will easily confuse it with the Ghost X and the Ghost 4K. One physical distinguishing feature is the size, as the name suggests, the XL is the bigger brother here.

Weighing at 127 grams, the Ghost XL has a body dimension of 3.6 x 1.9 x 1.4 inches, and it features a bullet-shaped plastic body that is very comfortable to use in cycling or motorcycle riding.

I don’t like seeing this size of display especially when competitors like Akaso are producing very nice touch screen displays, in fact, two of them in the Akaso Brave 7 LE.

Drift innovation uses different colors to indicate modes; the green LED color indicates that the camera is in Video mode, Yellow LED for photo mode, Cyan LED for photo burst mode, and purple for Time Lapse photos.

Similar to the preceding models, Ghost XL does not have a touchscreen display. You have the option to use the buttons, the Drift App, or the Bluetooth remote to control your camera.

The Ghost XL has only one codec; the H.264. This codec is particularly important if you are using an old PC for post-production. It produces files that are very easy to edit.

However, you will easily notice that the footage at night becomes a bit grainy. Not as much as the Ghost X model but still, Drift should put in a lot of work to come up with a dedicated night mode.

Similar to its predecessor, the Ghost XL does not support slow-motion recording. Even though the maximum frame rate is 60fps, the camera doesn’t have a slow-motion feature.

As I pointed out earlier, the Ghost XL packs a CMOS sensor type which can capture photos at a maximum of 12MP. You also get an option to downsize the pixel counts to 8MP and 4MP.

Having in mind that the XL does not have a huge display and neither is it a touch screen, we expect a longer battery life here compared to other brand cameras like Akaso.

Drift Innovation claims that the battery can last for nine hours straight recording with full HD. I tested that out and I was impressed with the outcome.

Once you set up your camera after purchase and have already connected it to the Drift Life app, you need to make sure that your camera runs on the latest firmware.

If a firmware update is available, you will see a pop-up window that will show on your screen giving you a bit of information about the new update, be sure to click update if you see that.

The Drift Ghost XL is a good camera for riders out there. I am impressed by the inclusion of new features like the Event Detection mode that I found useful.

The battery life is impressive and Drift should continue with that trend with their upcoming models. When cycling, I have never, for once, ran out of power.

The mono microphone on the XL is not the best out there for the price range, I believe Drift is working on making the internal microphone better. I like the inclusion of an external microphone port.

Going with my Drift Ghost XL review, I can easily recommend this camera to anyone who is looking for a budget option, you will get more what you pay for.

The Drift Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera is very sturdily made, pretty easy to use and supported by a range of accessories, but it takes more than a handlebar mount to make a good action cam for cycling. The lack of image stabilisation is the main killer, but little about the design lends itself to bicycle use.

The Ghost XL"s shape, the positioning of its logos, and the orientation of its tiny LCD screen all imply you"re expected to attach this on the side of something. The side of a motorcycle or motorsport helmet, for instance... big, secure things where a 150-odd-gram box will go practically unnoticed by the wearer. The big, secure mounting system will also be at home with high speeds and forces.

Combine this camera with the vibration-damping effects of a rider, 200kg of motorcycle and 100mm+ of suspension, and the Ghost XL might well produce reliably decent pictures. Bolt it to a 10kg road bike with the chunky, rigid but rather cheap looking metal bar mount, however, and it works poorly.

Drift also does a vented helmet mount (£24.99) which, with its four straps and huge foam-backed baseplate, feels as overkill as the rest of this gear for cycling.

Drift also does stick-on mounts (£16.99 and gently curved to suit a full face helmet), and a waterproof jack for an external microphone. This screws in and seals with an o-ring, and works well.

The Ghost XL doesn"t sense its orientation – you have to remember to physically twist the lens, though that does mean you can set any angle along its 300 degrees of movement. The live screen won"t remind you where it"s pointing either, as there isn"t one.

The tiny LCD screen displays basic information (mode, resolution and battery life being the main things), but bar-mounted it"s lying on its side and too small to read while riding anyway. What is useful is the colour coding of the backlight; green means you"re on video mode, for instance, while purple is timelapse.

The screen colours are bright and visible in daylight, so it"s easy to see what the camera is up to. The inclusion of a cyan light (photoburst) as well as green (video) is irritating, though, as they can be confused.

The middle button scrolls through the settings for tweakage, and while it works if you"re patient, it"s easier to do via the Drift Life app on your phone. This also gives you a live view and lets you operate the camera remotely via wifi, though at that point you could just use your phone"s camera instead...

This thing has further features, but the manual is not entirely helpful. To use Dash Cam mode, for example, it says to "connect it to a power supply" so it can be triggered by the ignition. You can just switch it on manually. It also says you can select Event Detection to automatically store crash footage, but it doesn"t say how that works (turns out there"s an accelerometer in there, which I found out by looking through the FAQs on Drift"s site).

Dave tested the Kitvision Venture 4K in 2019 and it"s now available for far less than the original £149.99 – Argos is selling it for £79.99, and it"s about £55 on Amazon – but whether it"s improved with age is another matter. Dave gave it 2/10.

In truth, even if things didn"t move that fast in the world of cameras, the Drift XL would struggle – it"s very similar to the Drift Stealth 2 HD that George tested in 2015. That"s seven years ago.

The two cams" maximum resolutions are the same, the absence of stabilisation is the same, and the modes are the same. In fact, the Stealth 2 had a much larger screen and was lighter. George loved it back when the GoPro Hero 4 ruled the roost, image stabilisation hadn"t appeared, and the iPhone 6 was as good as it got.

This is a big, sturdy camera with big, sturdy mounts and some potentially useful features for cars and motorcycles. Despite the (big, sturdy) addition of bar and helmet mounts for bicycles, though, little about the Ghost XL makes it particularly good for cycling.

With our Drift Life App you"re only a tap away from editing, sharing and even live streaming your adventures. Our new auto-editing feature takes the effort out of creating your own movies.

Dave tested the Kitvision Venture 4K in 2019 and it"s now available for far less than the original £149.99 – Argos is doing it for £79.99, and it"s about £55 on Amazon – but has it improved with age? Dave gave it 2/10.

The Drift Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera is very sturdily made, pretty easy to use and supported by a range of accessories, but it takes more than a handlebar mount to make a good action cam for cycling. The lack of image stabilisation is the main killer, but little about the design lends itself to bicycle use.

The Ghost XL"s shape, the positioning of its logos, and the orientation of its tiny LCD screen all imply you"re expected to attach this on the side of something. The side of a motorcycle or motorsport helmet, for instance... big, secure things where a 150-odd-gram box will go practically unnoticed by the wearer. The big, secure mounting system will also be at home with high speeds and forces.

Combine this camera with the vibration-damping effects of a rider, 200kg of motorcycle and 100mm+ of suspension, and the Ghost XL might well produce reliably decent pictures. Bolt it to a 10kg road bike with the chunky, rigid but rather cheap looking metal bar mount, however, and it works poorly.

Drift also does a vented helmet mount (£24.99) which, with its four straps and huge foam-backed baseplate, feels as overkill as the rest of this gear for cycling.

Drift also does stick-on mounts (£16.99 and gently curved to suit a full face helmet), and a waterproof jack for an external microphone. This screws in and seals with an o-ring, and works well.

The Ghost XL doesn"t sense its orientation – you have to remember to physically twist the lens, though that does mean you can set any angle along its 300 degrees of movement. The live screen won"t remind you where it"s pointing either, as there isn"t one.

The tiny LCD screen displays basic information (mode, resolution and battery life being the main things), but bar-mounted it"s lying on its side and too small to read while riding anyway. What is useful is the colour coding of the backlight; green means you"re on video mode, for instance, while purple is timelapse.

The screen colours are bright and visible in daylight, so it"s easy to see what the camera is up to. The inclusion of a cyan light (photoburst) as well as green (video) is irritating, though, as they can be confused.

The middle button scrolls through the settings for tweakage, and while it works if you"re patient, it"s easier to do via the Drift Life app on your phone. This also gives you a live view and lets you operate the camera remotely via wifi, though at that point you could just use your phone"s camera instead...

This thing has further features, but the manual is not entirely helpful. To use Dash Cam mode, for example, it says to "connect it to a power supply" so it can be triggered by the ignition. You can just switch it on manually. It also says you can select Event Detection to automatically store crash footage, but it doesn"t say how that works (turns out there"s an accelerometer in there, which I found out by looking through the FAQs on Drift"s site).

Dave tested the Kitvision Venture 4K in 2019 and it"s now available for far less than the original £149.99 – Argos is selling it for £79.99, and it"s about £55 on Amazon – but whether it"s improved with age is another matter. Dave gave it 2/10.

In truth, even if things didn"t move that fast in the world of cameras, the Drift XL would struggle – it"s very similar to the Drift Stealth 2 HD that George tested in 2015. That"s seven years ago.

The two cams" maximum resolutions are the same, the absence of stabilisation is the same, and the modes are the same. In fact, the Stealth 2 had a much larger screen and was lighter. George loved it back when the GoPro Hero 4 ruled the roost, image stabilisation hadn"t appeared, and the iPhone 6 was as good as it got.

This is a big, sturdy camera with big, sturdy mounts and some potentially useful features for cars and motorcycles. Despite the (big, sturdy) addition of bar and helmet mounts for bicycles, though, little about the Ghost XL makes it particularly good for cycling.

With our Drift Life App you"re only a tap away from editing, sharing and even live streaming your adventures. Our new auto-editing feature takes the effort out of creating your own movies.

Dave tested the Kitvision Venture 4K in 2019 and it"s now available for far less than the original £149.99 – Argos is doing it for £79.99, and it"s about £55 on Amazon – but has it improved with age? Dave gave it 2/10.

With every new camera system we generally learn to make some adjustments to our shooting style – remember the first time you may have used a touchscreen, for example. That will surely be the case with the new Canon EOS R . Some familiar operational features you may have become accustomed to with Canon DSLRs have evolved with this new camera system, and I think you’ll agree, it’s all good.

EOS R has a full frame 30.3MP CMOS sensor.  It has the latest DIGIC8 image processing engine to enhance the speed of image processing and operations, and excels at high sensitivity performance using ISOs from 100 to 12800 for 4K or 100 to 25600 for Full HD.

The EOS R internal recordings are MP4 using the MPEG4 AVC/H.264 codec, and options include, 4K UHD up to 29.97/25.00fps, Full HD up to 59.94/50.00fps, and an HD High Frame Rate Movie mode of 119.9/100.00fps.

To facilitate camera operations, there’s a fully adjustable, or Vari-angle LCD panel with touchscreen operation. There’s an updated Dual Pixel CMOS AF system. The EOS R comes with Canon Log gamma pre-installed, allowing for 12 stops of dynamic range. An HDR movie mode, and a built-in intervalometer to produce edit-ready movies.

All internal recordings are to SD cards — including UHS II — and use the MP4 container format with MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 compression. The internal recordings are 4:2:0 8-bit and employ the REC 709 color space. When Canon Log is enabled, the video signal range for internal recordings is 32 to 254 Full range, and 0 to 255 for all other picture settings. The metadata flags either file option (Canon Log/Non Canon Log) for Full range. Resolution and frame rate choices include two compression methods: ALL-I (Intraframe) or IPB (Interframe). Both compression methods use variable or averaged bit rates. 4K UHD bit rates average 480 Mbps using ALL-I compression, and 120Mbps with IPB.

4K UHD recording is a cropped movie mode with a resolution of 3840x2160 (16x9), and essentially uses the area in the center of the EOS R full frame 6720x4480px sensor. While cropping is automatic for 4K video, or when using EF-S lenses for recordings, it is a necessity for any lenses incapable of covering the full frame sensor.

Movie Cropping can be enabled in the menu, producing a Super 35mm-like resolution. While cropping is automatic for 4K and EF-S lenses, Movie cropping allows for the use of lenses incapable of covering the full frame sensor.

Internal recordings using Canon Log are 8-bit, YCbCr 4:2:0 with Color Matrix options of Cinema EOS Original or Neutral. Canon Log can be applied to all frame rates and resolutions; however, noise reduction if desired can be applied when shooting 4K movies with Canon Log.

If additional color depth/bit depth is required for your project, the EOS R is also capable of outputting an uncompressed 4K UHD 4:2:2 10-bit signal through the HDMI with Canon Log gamma applied. The video signal range for devices supporting Full range is 128 to 1016/Full range, and 174 to 934/Video range for devices that do not support Full range. This setting also offers users a choice of encoding the signal with either the REC 709 or REC 2020 color spaces, along with additional options of two Color Matrix settings of Neutral (for REC 709 or REC 2020) and Cinema EOS Original (for REC 709). Naturally, recording 4K output signals will require a compatible external 4K recorder.

Alternatively, you can set the HDMI output to 8-bit which is also 4:2:2, then choose 4K UHD up to 30p or 1080p, FHD frame rate up to 60p, and both options use the REC 709 color space in that configuration.

The EOS R includes built-in intervalometer functions to record and compile time-lapse movies. Record time-lapse in either 4K UHD or Full HD using intervals from two seconds up to 99 hours, 59 minutes long with finished durations of up to 3600 frames. Time-lapse movies are assembled in-camera and produce your choice of a finished 3840x2160 or 1920x1080 image sequence.

The EOS R allows you to pull 4K frame grabs from 4K movies to produce high-quality stills from your footage. Let me get into this a bit further, because I think it’s an especially important video feature for still photographers. Acquiring 4K video is giving you an extra still capture option of 30 frames per second by letting you review, shuttle or scroll through the 4K footage — frame-by-frame if desired — select the exact pay-off frame of the sequence, and save it as a JPEG still directly to the SD card.

For a quick high quality review, you can display your 4K recordings and frame grabs directly from the EOS R to a 4K television over the HDMI, as long as the device settings are compatible.

This is a unique new capacitive touch control that supports slide and tap operations and offers quick controls to important functions. The Multi-function bar lets you assign touch settings that you might  want to adjust on the fly — like ISO, white balance, AF, check focus, start/stop movie recording, headphone levels — for instant access. These are silent adjustments with very little motion impact to the image while shooting video. You can even assign different functions for recording or functions for playback.

To access the video shooting modes (and begin the setup process), press the MODE button, and then touch the INFO button or screen, then select the video MODE by either the Quick Control dial, the MAIN dial, cross-keys, or simply touch the multi-angle, adjustable LCD screen.

As an example, you could set one up for slow motion, one for interiors, and one for exteriors. Doing so in advance would enable quick access to a setting you need to switch to from the still mode, and permit shooting video instantly. This would prevent having to go through the usual checklist of settings: “Did I change my shutter?” “What’s the ISO?” “Am I still in 4K?”

Here’s another new feature that allows you to confirm settings quickly: the EOS R Dot Matrix LCD panel. This panel provides the current parameters and camera status requiring real-time notification. It can also display camera settings that you can adjust directly with camera controls.

In standby mode, video information is displayed on the Dot Matrix LCD panel, which indicates metering, shutter, aperture, AF method, white balance, Movie Digital IS setting, possible recording time, and resolution. During recording, it displays Movie Shooting Mode, elapsed time, battery, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connection status.

A significant feature in this new EOS R that will probably get the most attention during use is the 3.15” Vari-angle touchscreen panel. Naturally, this lends the unit to vlogging and selfies, but it’s the LCD’s operational functions that make it indispensable. Using the touchscreen, you can adjust all of the internal MENU settings, change any of the displayed ‘big three’ camera parameters — shutter, ISO, aperture — or press the Q button to finesse operational details.

When you work with autofocus, the touchscreen becomes invaluable. For instance, you can simply tap the LCD monitor to change where the camera focuses.  Or, when you’re looking through the viewfinder, touch-and-drag AF lets you change your AF point location while dragging your thumb on the LCD monitor.

Few things are more important than nailing focus when shooting 4K, and the EOS R incorporates Canon’s Dual Pixel CMOS Autofocus. Operation modes include One-Shot AF, Servo AF, and Manual.

For the first time in an EOS still-image camera, Peaking has been incorporated in the EOS R. For a quick focus check, magnification of two to ten times — enabled in 15 steps — is easily accessed from a button on the body, and magnification steps can be quickly changed with double taps to the LCD screen.

Customize all four pads on the cross-keys or the SET button; the Multi-function button, the Mode button, the SET button, the AF switch on the lens, AF point selection button (AF-ON), even the LCD panel illumination button are some that be assigned to assist you with different camera functions for quick access. The key is you can set up the camera controls to operate to your specifications.

There’s one last operational feature to point out, and that’s Wi-Fi remote control. With this enabled, you can control the EOS R from a compatible device like your smartphone, laptop, or tablet. Setting up remote operation requires a free App from Canon called the Canon Camera Connect App, and once you establish the connection, you can operate the camera from a distance without having to physically touch the camera. View the image from the phone, change camera parameters like ISO, white balance, adjust sound levels, change focus, and of course start and stop the camera rolling. You can even transfer the files. This is especially useful if it’s mounted somewhere out of reach, or you need to get the images to someone, somewhere else in the world quickly.

Regarding the build, the Ghost XL Pro is roughly the same size as the Insta360 ONE RS and GoPro, and when it comes to building quality, it comfortably sits alongside them as a premium action camera option.

The styling is minimalistic with the small rotating lens mounted at the front, mounting on the base, logo on top, the small mono screen on the back, three control buttons along one side and the battery and MicroSD card door on the other.

Mounts are always an important factor with any action camera, and here the Drift utilises its style of clip mount. While this isn’t the GoPro three-prong style universally used by many manufacturers in practical use, it offers a far more rigid connection with anything it’s mounted to. In the past, before decent EIS, this mount proved itself for its robust build and reduction in vibration when compared with the GoPro equivalent.

Touch and voice control have made controlling action cameras exceptionally easy in the last few years. However, the Drift Ghost XL Pro has non of that. Sticking with the pure ready-for-action stance, a small LCD screen on the back shows the mode and setting, battery life and SD card capacity, and that’s about it.

The three buttons enable you to scroll through the options and update them as required. The display’s colour changes for each screen, making it easy to recognise which section you’re in. While using the LCD screen and carousel-style navigation is relatively easy, it does feel like you’re stepping back in time.

The small screen and direct control buttons are only used to start and stop recording, and if you want to change any settings, then the fastest route is through the App.

The Ghost-S uses the same design as the HD Ghost. The camera measures 1.3 inches wide by 2 inches high by 4.1 inches deep and weighs 5.9 ounces. Strapped to the side of a helmet or pair of goggles, you won"t exactly forget it"s there, but it"s not overly big, either.

The bullet-shaped body is waterproof down to 9 feet (a waterproof housing is available so you can take it down to 196 feet) with a built-in Gorilla Glass-protected 2-inch LCD on the right side (or top depending on how it"s mounted) and a flat, wide-angle lens with a 160-degree angle of view that can be rotated up to 300 degrees.

Though Drift has a selection of mounts that use a quick-connect clip, the clip attaches to the camera via a standard 1/4-inch tripod mount. That means you have plenty of mounting options outside of what Drift offers, including GoPro mounts.

It"s all of these things combined -- the long-life removable battery, rotating lens, tripod mount, built-in LCD, waterproofing -- that make the Ghost-S a top choice in the category.

However, much of this stuff isn"t new with the Ghost-S. Inside, though, is a new Sony 12-megapixel BSI CMOS sensor and a high-performance video processor that allows for, among other things, faster frame rates.

The Ghost-S can record MP4 files at 1080p at settings starting at 25fps, and going as high as 60fps; at 720p the options range from 25fps up to 120fps; and using WVGA your choices start at 25fps and go all the way to 240fps. You also adjust the amount of video compression with a choice of normal or high bit rates, with the latter recording at up to 35Mbps.

Drift has also added new scene modes: Normal, Vivid, or Low Light. Normal gives you more natural colors that are easier to work with if you want to adjust color to your liking when editing. Vivid pumps up colors so they pop, while Low Light seems to increase noise reduction, though not so much that subjects turn to mush.

The camera can burst shoot stills at 10fps at 12-megapixel resolution as well as simultaneously capture 8-megapixel photos while recording video. Unfortunately, they"re in a 4:3 aspect ratio rather than 16:9, so you"ll have to do some cropping if you want to use them in your HD videos and keep everything wide screen. The Ghost-S can do time-lapse photography as well, with settings for shots at intervals ranging from every 0.5 second all the way up to every 60 seconds.

Navigating the menu system and changing multiple settings on the camera can be a bit of a pain. Still, I"d rather have the Ghost-S menus and controls over the GoPro"s or needing to run to a computer to change settings. And, should you put together a group of settings that you use regularly for a particular activity, you can save them to one of three setting profiles.

Like the HD Ghost, the Ghost-S has built-in Wi-Fi. It can be used to connect to an Android or iOS smartphone or tablet to view and control the camera, change settings, or to play back your recordings on something larger than the camera"s screen. In my testing, both apps worked fine on an iPhone 5S and a Galaxy S4.

In addition to using the camera with mobile devices, a new Clone mode lets you use the Wi-Fi to connect and sync as many as five Ghost-S cameras (should you have the need and the finances). One is designated as the master camera, so if you press its record button, the others will start recording, too. The same goes for any setting adjustments: change the resolution on the master camera and they"ll all change.

Video quality is improved from the Drift HD Ghost, especially when it comes to detail. Everything looks more crisp, and I saw fewer artifacts when using the camera"s high-bit-rate setting. Using that setting will eat into the battery life and the files use up more storage, but it"s worth using if you plan to view the video at large sizes.

That"s not to say you won"t see any artifacts; quilting can be distracting, such as on the power lines in the clip above, and there"s still some blockiness visible when viewed closely on a big screen. And if you"re shooting in low light, you"ll notice an increase in noise/artifacts, too. Much of this is common to action cams, though. (Note: A firmware update is available that improves extreme low-light video.)

I liked the HD Ghost, and the Ghost-S is basically that camera with improved battery life and performance, more shooting options, better Wi-Fi, and nicer-looking video. What"s not to like about that?

During the previous Harley Davidson ride, I was also introduced to other action cameras like the Drift Innovation HD Ghost and Contour. A little more research led me to the video below that compare 4 of the leading brands of action cameras in the market.

At first sight, I was very intrigued by the Drift HD Ghost because of the LCD screen. I think it is the only one in the market with built-in screen, other models’ screen comes as an add-on. Although it is bigger, it is more streamlined when mounted on helmet so one does not end up looking like Teletubby.

Image quality at 1080p among the 4 cameras are pretty comparable. I realised that the colours in GoPro Hero 3 is pretty warm. Contour did not fare too well in low light, Drift HD Ghost was pretty horrible in the sound aspect, too much wind noise. However, I have seen a video filmed using Drift Ghost and the sound was alright. Probably it is due to the microphone sensitivity setting and the position of the microphone. Alternatively, an external microphone can be attached to the helmet. If sound is really crucial, go for Sony Action Camera.

Want to film slow-mo? GoPro Hero 3 and Sony Action Cam can record at 720pixel, 120 frames per second whereas Drift HD Ghost and Contour do it at 720p, 60fps. (The new Drift HD Ghost S can record at 120fps at 720p) GoPro can even shoot in Professional 4K Cinema quality.)

It comes as a standard. You need to buy the touch screen as add-on for GoPro Hero 3. The option to preview makes it a lot easier to adjust the view when shooting photos and videos. Or if you need to delete unwanted footage to free up memory space, you can easily preview and delete on the go, without having to plug it into a computer.

HD Ghost has a similar feature but it is much more awesome and useful. It is called the Video Tagging Mode. The camera is constantly recording and the older footage gets overwritten. The footage is only saved when you pressed the record button to tag. Not just that, it saves the footage before you pressed the button. So, you get a short footage with that Eureka moment captured. That saves you the hassle of having to browse through hours of footage for that Eureka moment and editing. Setting for tagging duration ranges from 10 seconds to 5 minutes.

So far, I managed to capture random conversations with stranger on the road, animals that were close to becoming roadkills when they crossed my path, crazy road users etc etc etc. Less time screening for action footage, it makes editing a whole lot easier.

Update: Below is a video of my 3 weeks road trip on Vespa scooter in 3 minutes, mostly shot on Drift HD Ghost. It wouldn’t be possible to capture interesting footage without using Video Tagging feature. My video clips are mostly 30 secs long containing interesting happenings, not just clips of the road, road and more road but also interaction with other road users and animal sightings.

The Drift HD Ghost claims to have the longest standard battery life in the market – 3 hours of recording time per battery charge as compared to GoPro of 1hr plus. (3.5hours for the new Drift HD Ghost S.) I tried it during my previous ride to Endau Rompin, the recording time is definitely more than 2 hours. Since it utilises USB cable, I could recharge it using Powerbank.

GoPro Hero 3 uses built-in Wi-Fi to connect with the remote which drains more battery while HD Ghost uses radio-frequency. That is a very good consideration to prolonging battery life when it comes to wireless connection. HD Ghost also uses Wi-Fi for connecting to iPhone and Android. You can control the camera using your phone and also download videos and photos to your phone via Wi-Fi.

Update on my experience: The camera works fine under rain. Look in the photo below how I cover the mic opening with Bluetac if I happen to use a external microphone. While I was on a row boat, I dunked my camera into the river to film fishes. Water got in!!! Lens and screen got foggy and camera froze! After drying with dessicant, camera is back working fine. It is still advisable to use a proper casing for underwater use.

My friend’s experience: Place the Ghost S on tripod stand near the waterfall. The camera was not even submerged, mist from the waterfall somehow gotten into the camera and fogged the lens and screen.

Thanks for getting back in touch, I hope you’re enjoying your camera. To help you out here, condensation can appear behind your LCD screen due to a few situations. The Ghost does feature anti-fog material, and if this becomes saturated condensation can occur. Or there could be a combination of events, moisture in the air in the camera, and a sudden temperature change between the air inside the camera, and the air on the other side of the LCD screen.

Then double check our full warranty terms here on waterproofing. Your retail store in Singapore will cover the warranty of your camera should you experience any manufacturing faults – www.driftinnovation.com/warranty

So I decided to conduct a little experiment with the camera – just submerge in still water. I switched on my Drift HD Ghost and placed it in small tub of water for 20 mins.

Update on 4th Sep 2014: My friend’s Ghost S still fogs up after 10 minutes ride in the rain. I am still waiting for reply regarding this issue. Let’s see what they say. So far I have been pleased with their response and attempt to resolve the problem.

I have written to Drift Innovation a few time about issues and have always received prompt reply and good suggestions. Example, I lost my external microphone clip and foam cover. I wrote to them asking if they supply those part which they unfortunately do not. However, the customer representative gave me a few eBay links where I can buy them at low cost.

I wrote in to complain about the broken LCD screen of my friend’s Ghost S. They offered US$100 discount on the next camera purchased. Speaking of which, I have dropped my HD Ghost many times and had it knocking against my moving tires when it fell off the mount while riding. No issues. However, my friend’s Ghost S screen broke when his helmet got blown off and had a good thrashing. If your sports activity is going to involve lots of crashing and hard knocking, I do not recommend getting any action camera with LCD screen no matter how strong they claim the Gorilla glass to be.

However, there is very little flexibility in the adjustment of the camera in some directions after mounting. The side mount of GoPro offers lots of leeway for adjustment but it is bulky. Actually this probably can be easily resolved if you preview your footage before sticking your mount. But it would be great if the Drift surface mounts have some pivot. However, this can be partially compensated by the rotatable lens.

(Update on 10 July 2013: I found this product, Windcutter to reduce wind noise in Drift HD Ghost. Alternatively, you can DIY your own foam and cover the internal microphone.)

Regarding the innate waterproof ability of the camera, do understand that there are limitations but I personally find that it is fine for splashes, rain and quick gentle immersion. I always keep my Drift HD Ghost in my case with a dessicant after use in those conditions. If you are going to use it for water activities, get the waterproof housing.

I must say GoPro Hero 3 has met a formidable match. If Drift HD Ghost is as well-marketed as GoPro, I wonder how the two brands will fare in sales. Overall, the Drift HD Ghost is a pretty balanced action camera. Drift Innovation managed to consider and capture what and how end-users want to record to come up with those subtle yet impactful, functional features.

If quality of videos or compactness of camera is of utmost priority, go for the GoPro Hero 3. If you choose to go for functionality, versatility and long battery life, I feel that Drift HD Ghost fares way better.

The camera is available at MotoWorld Kaki Bukit. The retail price is S$549 (inclusive of GST) but I got the last piece at promotional price during the Great Singapore Sale. The next batch of cameras should be arriving in a few weeks time. (Update on 6 July 2013: the new batch of goods has already arrived) The GoPro Hero 3 Black Edition retails at S$599, the LCD add-on costs another S$134. Considering all the things that comes in as standards (remote, LCD screen), the Drift HD Ghost is a very good buy.

I have no affiliation with Drift Innovation or Motoworld. I am just an end-user who is trying to share my views on a wonderful product (in my opinion).