Drift HD170 Stealth - Reviewed

Here’s my review of this Camera. Its not the latest (smaller) version. This is also an ongoing review so I’ll give meaningful updates as I continue to learn about the Camera.

Review will cover 4 topics:

Price; Accessories; Performance; Value for money.

Price

When I bought this in Feb I found a good deal for about £200. This included many accessories which will be covered below. This price places the Camera between a Dogcam type Bullet Camera @ £100+ and a Countour GPS / Go Pro @ about £300+.

I deliberately went for the best of both worlds and chose this camera based on its perceived value for money. Also note that its difficult to find new old stock (this version) as the retailers are promoting the new mini version @ £220+.

Accessories

The standard pack comes with Velcro mounts, a head strap for helmet mounting, Adhesive velcro pads and a handlebar mount. It has the standard USB Charger and Remote control.

Now, I found a bit of a special deal and acquired the following:

- Extra Helmet Mount and Velcro straps;
- Waterproof case (10m)
- External Mic;
- Rear Cover (to protect the exposed rear when using the charger/external mic, particularly in action);
- Drift Power Pack. Basically extends the life of the Camera significantly and can charge other devices via USB (have a look online for a full review).

There are so many accessories that I’ll probably never use. However, the best so far are the Velcro mounts and adhesive pads. Why? Because you can simply mount the camera anywhere. This might not sound significant but ... see below.

The only other accessory I could use is the suction mount but if you're fairly creative, the sky's the limit. Note, you’ll also need an SD Card with a good transfer rate (I've used a 32gb ultra fast SD Card).

Performance

Bad points:

- The Mini is 25% smaller and for this reason is more flexible (and easier on the eye). The Mini also has a rear cover that doesn't need an additional cover to use the connecting cables. The back can be exposed if using the external mic for example which is not so good in poor weather.

- Battery Life. This is a general criticism of action cams as they are more likely to run out of battery before running out of space (depending on the size of your memory card and recording settings).

However, this could be better. The Battery Pack is an excellent (but slightly expensive) solution as it can be used to charge your phone - depending on the phone - MP3 player and the Camera. You can also get an extended battery so this feature is upgradeable.

- The Lens. The Mini has a replaceable lens because the original design exposes the lens to a certain extent. More importantly its an action cam so you can expect some bumps and bruises along the way. But if the lens is damaged or scratched then generally its Camera Kaput! A very sobering thought if you have invested a bit on this camera. There is no protective accessory either.

- Image quality. Its good, I would say very good. However, its not as good as the GoPro. Nothing more to say on this.

The Good:

I'm gonna try to shorten this list. Here are some examples of the picture quality.









You can see some Vids on my Youtube channel.

You can see the quality for yourself, although I'm still learning how to use it so it will improve once I conquer all the right settings (Some of my Vids are overexposed).

The "real" benefits of this camera make it stand out for me. Two things in particular - The preview screen and the mount/mounting design.

I bought this for the bike as I wanted to enjoy/re-live/improve my riding. Does this deliver? 100%. The mounting design means as long as you have a mount and a spare Velcro pad you can put this cam almost anywhere. Check out my Vids, I'm currently using 3 positions on the bike.

But the real beauty of the mounting design is that you can swivel the mount 360 degrees. That means you can turn it forward, backwards or to the side ... whatever you want.

Added to this is the Camera Len's ability to rotate by almost 300 degrees means you can position the mounts wherever you want and still get "right-side-up" shots if this is what you want. So, there are literally no fixed amount of positions you can put this camera in.

And then there's the preview screen. You will not believe how annoying it is to not know if a camera is recording, or if its the right way up, or at the right angle, until you get back from your ride and upload the vid. What a waste of time! How frustrating! Er, no.

With this, you place your mount, you switch on the cam to standby mode (loud beep), the preview screen comes on. You mount the cam in the position you want on the bike (or wherever), use the preview screen and rotate the lens as desired. Do a short record, stop it, remove it and instantly playback to check this is what you want. Voila!

Want to try a different angle? Pull over, change the mounting position (I have 3 positions permanently affixed to the bike) check the position and away you go. Guaranteed vid. No messing. I’ll leave you all to figure out the right settings etc.

Haven't tested the waterproof functions or needed the power pack but I'm on tour this summer so will update.

A mention for the mic. The Drift HD has an internal mic but this is prone to excessive wind noise on the bike and is only good for non-action close contact. However the external mic is easy to use, just plug and play. The lead is long enough to fix the camera to the bike and the mic to your helmet if you wish to Vlog. Of course, you can mount the Camera to the helmet for POV.

But lately I've taken to mounting the mic to the frame cause I just love the sound of that sweet V Twin! Mounting the Mic is trial and error because it picks up all sort of weird and wonderful noises but generally shield it from the wind and the exhaust note should still come through.

Still trying new stuff and I've got a ton of video to upload so watch this space.

Value for Money

Well, this was always gonna be a positive post but there are so many reasons why this is value for money. Most importantly, when compared to its more expensive rivals, it is far more flexible and this is the real usefulness of an action cam.

You don't wanna be spending all day setting up a camera or planning where to mount it or worry about whether its recording or not. You wanna put it on, turn it on and forget about it.

Its is a fairly rugged and durable camera (apart from the lens issue and open back which is an admitted design flaw). But with considered use - even track use - you will get some amazing footage.

What's next? Trackday footage and European touring. So I intend to test the camera settings and try out some more interesting mounting positions. Then, on tour, we'll see if we can live with it over a number of weeks and really see how flexible this thing is.

I recommend that, if you’re considering this camera, get the new version. But you can surely get a bargain if you look around hard enough, if you want this version.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I make no apologies for the lengthy post, I admittedly talk far too much but its my thread so there

A great review, i have the same camera with a bunch of the ram mounts.

Just to revive this old thread, where are your mounts on the bike and what type do you use?

I had a RAM U-bolt mount for my old bike (on the middle of the bars) - which i can't use any more with the SV's clip-ons. I am also struggling to find a good place for the suction cup (tank has some stickers in the way so i think i will remove the ones on top so i can have a good forward facing view).

Cheers,
Disco Dave

Thanks! Because of the awful 'you know what', I haven't had time to ride for fun so not tried any new positions other than those previously mentioned. But I've composed a video showing all my current mounting positions. I just need to upload it to the tube, then I'll link it here.

I'll probably start a new thread ... maybe something called "Show us your positions then" where maybe we can experiment with the mounts and come up with some interesting angles.

Ah, so much to do, so little time!

P.s. Saw a Youtube video where a guy side mounted the suction cup and lockwired it to the mirrors or something. This gave an unrestricted front view and meant that the camera didn't vibrate so much. Seemed a bit much to me plus I don't have the sunction mount, but clever idea though.

Ah awesome
I just tried the ram suction cup on the front half of the tank and its not bad.
A little shaky but could be worse.

I'm sure you could mod up a solution for that, or have a look around as there are better suction cup mounts. But all that was a bit much for me as I wasn't too servious about vlogging and I'm still having fun playing around with other POV's using the other mounts. You uploaded any vids?

Hrmm, i wasnt aware of any better suction cup mounts, from what i have been told the RAM mounts are supposed to be top notch (although i cant compare as its all i have ever tried).
I have uploaded one vid from my SV but have afew others from my old bike (GS500F).
Here is the vid from the tank mount on the SV - just ignore my terrible video editing haha.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcQQUSUo1GQ&feature=plcp

P.S do you have a link to the video with your different mount configurations?

I will try experimenting with the suction cup in different locations but think i need to work out a more solid mount. I have seen those fuel cap ones which bolt onto the rim of the fuel cap opening but they look like they would get annoying if you were just riding without the camera and would look ugly as well.

Ah well, the search goes on.

If anyone has any suggestions feel free to chime in.