$300 Helmet Camera ( GoPro Hero HD Vs Drift Stealth FX)

Craig Sanchez rips Whistler A-Line to give us a prime example of GoPro's legendary image stability and sound quality. The HD Helmet HERO from GoPro...simply the shiz.



GoPro HD HERO Camera Crankworx Whistler - Brian Lopes Air Downhill Run



$300 Helmet Camera Shootout
Saturday May 14th, 2011 at 3:55 AM
Posted by: mountainbiketales

GoPro Hero HD Vs Drift Stealth FX

Mike Sullivan

Until recently, if you wanted to make a movie of your mountain bike excursions you had to either advance to professional level where people paid you to put your skills on video, or shell out big bucks for a high end unit by the likes of Sony, Nikon or one of the other specialty camera brands. Not so anymore. Over the last few years, a few companies have put together camera packages that boast professional quality video at amateur prices.

In this article I am going to showcase the two leaders in this market: The GoPro Hero HD and the Drift Innovation HD170 Stealth.

GoPro Hero HD ($299)




The GoPro camera system is a highly versatile camera package with kits available for almost any type of extreme sport out there. They boast true 1080p video in a small lightweight package that almost any rider can afford. Their camera package for biking includes a small lightweight camera with 2 housings; a waterproof shell for really nasty environments and a skeleton housing that will protect your lens and give you decent audio but won’t protect your investment in wet environments.

Both housings come equipped with a removable and replaceable lens cover so when you pull a full-on yard sale and scratch up your gear, you’re only about 20 bucks away from a clear picture. Along with the camera and housings you get an assortment of mounting options like strap, helmet mount, and several different stick-on mounts. The user interface is pretty basic with 2-button operation; both of which are easily accessible even while wearing gloves.

As I said before, the Gopro HD shoots in true 1080p (with the option of getting additional video time by scaling down the resolution). Other shooting options include single shot still photo capture as well as 3-shot photo sequence and a timed single shot that will grab a photo ever few seconds (you are in charge of how many seconds between shots) until you either shut it down or it runs out of memory.

On The Trail

Using the GoPro for the first time can be a bit awkward. Out of the box, you load up a standard SD memory card (I recommend at least 8 GB) and stuff the included rechargeable battery pack into the unit before charging right off your computer (with the included USB cable).

After charging, the real fun starts. Pull out the instruction manual and you will instantly realize that setup is going to require a little bit of forethought and intuition to avoid capturing footage of the ground or sky. With only two buttons to work with, it takes a little bit of time to navigate the multiple menus to set the camera in the picture mode and recording resolution that you are looking to use. I strongly recommend keeping your manual with your camera at all times because you’re going to need it to make any changes in the future!

Luckily, the camera remembers its last used settings so unless you are looking to do something different, you won’t have to mess with it too much. After you’ve set up the camera you need to figure out where you are going to mount it. The model that I picked up comes with a strap mount, a helmet strap and some stick-ons. No matter where you mount the camera you’re going to have to try and think ahead. Without the luxury of a preview display, you can’t see where the camera is actually aimed. I would like to pretend there is a solid scientific approach to insuring that you will capture the best angle of the action, you really have to simply take a best guess at it. The plus side is that with it’s wide angle lens, if you’re pointed even remotely in the right direction, you’re going to catch the action (although possibly not at quite the angle you want).

I haven’t spent too much time fiddling with the included helmet strap because it doesn’t seem to really secure the camera to my helmet. Plus I’m not particularly keen on the idea of dropping my 200+ dollar camera out on the trail. I suspect the strap mount works best when used with a standard vented bike helmet (which I was not sporting). However I should report that the mount proved really effective for mounting the camera to the underside of my seat.

The best method for mounting the unit to a helmet I discovered was to apply the provided stick-on’s. These allow you to stick the camera wherever you want it without concerns of the camera turning into a trail treasure for somebody else to discover. Even using these mounts, the form factor and mounting system puts the camera in a fairly awkward position however and leaves it vulnerable to smacking tree branches along the way. Also worth noting, the pivot actions on the mounts tend to move no matter how hard you clamp down on them. Applying a bit of hair spray on these pivots helps hold them in place so that you don’t get home and find that got a great video of the underside of a bunch of tree-limbs.
http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
Pros: Excellent video quality, multiple mounting options, replaceable lens cover, waterproof, wide angle lens with minimal distortion, battery life.

Cons: Awkward mounting positions, no display for preview, a bit difficult to setup.


http://www.gopro.com


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Drift Innovation Stealth FX ($329)




El pasado sábado 5 de Marzo de 2011 el equipo SPORTCAM (DRIFT Innovation) junto a los Riders Franco y Guido Michetti fuimos a tandil a disfrutar de un día de DH en las sierras del dique.En esta oportunidad elegimos el circuito del Quijote y allí filmamos estos videos.



Here we follow Pete on the final descent of The Wall trail at Afan in Wales. The section is called Zigzags, as it has a few switchbacks in it - but as you will see it gets faster and faster as you drop down! Shot with a Drift HD170 Stealth in 720p mode





The Drift Stealth is the other major offering in this class and shows a lot of forethought in its design; almost if their engineers looked at the competition and tried to capitalize on each of their shortcomings. The Drift Stealth, like the GoPro, boasts true 1080p recording capability as well as lower resolution settings to allow for longer recording times.

The Drift has multiple mounting options including helmet straps, stick-ons and surface straps. Unlike the GoPro the Drift sports an LCD display and a wireless on/off switch so you can turn it on for the cool sections of trail and turn it off at will to conserve your battery.

Also like the GoPro you get the option of capturing video, stills and multiple still shots. Unlike the GoPro, the Drift does not come with any housings, so you have to be a bit more careful when using it. Whatever you damage on the Drift in the event of a get-off (including the lens), you’re stuck with. There is no denying the peace of mind that comes with knowing the GoPro’s lens plate can be replaced for $20 should you manage to scratch it.

On The Trail

Like the GoPro, the Drift is pretty straightforward out of the box. Drop in a standard SD card, battery and plug the unit in to charge. The first difference I noticed is that along with an LCD display the Drift Stealth also sports multiple buttons that really help with the setup.

Sadly mounting the Drift is as equally awkward as the GoPro. While it boasts a longer form factor that doesn’t stick out nearly as bad as the Hero, once you’ve mounted it with the stick-on’s, you’re pretty much locked in with only a single axis of rotation at your disposal.

Unlike the GoPro you can rotate the lens to get your shot right side up without having to navigate menus but I’d still appreciate adjustment through two-axis. Also like the GoPro, the head strap and strap-on mounts are passable though I’m still not completely comfortable with trusting them. And forget about trying to mount the Drift under your seat facing backwards! It simply doesn’t work.

Once you’ve gotten your camera mounted up it’s a pretty straightforward process to set up the camera to get the kind of shots that you seek. With just a few button clicks, you can set up the remote control, which easily straps to your handlebars for easy on/off recording. I suppose the positive side to the lack of axis adjustability is that when you get the Drift mounted and pointed in the right direction, it’s locked in place/ not going anywhere. No need to mess with hairspray or other home remedies to simply keep it in the right direction. Couple this to its lower profile exterior design and there is little need to worry about smacking it on a low-hanging tree branch.

Pros: Excellent video, multiple mounting options, battery life, super wide angle lens with minimal distortion, remote control, low profile design, LCD screen, easy to set up.

Cons: Limited range of motion in mounting, decreased protection for lens or camera body.

Conclusion

Both of these cameras offer such excellent video quality that the only way I could tell the difference between the two was in judging the view based on the mounting locations I selected. Yes, it’s really that close! Both of them can do just about anything a mountain biker can ask of them on both still captures or video quality.

To our surprise, and in all honesty, neither one of these units really stands out head and shoulders above the other as we initially anticipated. Rather I found that I personally like/ dislike them equally but for different reasons.

Its awkward mounting easily offsets the GoPro’s awesome versatility & video quality. Additionally the fact that it is fully waterproof is counteracted a bit by a cumbersome user interface.

The Drift on the other hand boasts a much nicer form factor and is super easy to use right out of the box but it’s lack of a protective housing makes me question whether this camera was actually designed with extreme sports in mind.

All factors considering, unless you want to spend nearly a grand on a remote camera and recorder package, either of these units are pretty darn incredible for their price point. Sure there are a few shortcomings to take into consideration but both proved quite reliable and trouble-free during our testing.

Perhaps the biggest news to be excited about is that what nits I could pick during the shootout are all concerns that could be easily remedied in future model updates.

This review has been brought to you by Mountain Bike Tales digital magazine.
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This entry was posted on Saturday, May 14th, 2011 at 3:21 am and is filed under Feature Articles, Pro Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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