Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

review

Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera and accessories

4
£149.99

VERDICT:

4
10
Rugged and pretty easy to use, but bad sound and unstabilised visuals don't suit cycling use
Strong build
Great waterproofing
No image stabilisation
Poor sound
Relatively low res
Bulky
Bar mount is big and heavy
Weight: 
133g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

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.

Combine a maximum resolution of 1,080p with zero image stabilisation and you get a picture that at the best of times is a little fuzzy, and at the worst is downright blurry.

Even riding on 32mm tyres and reasonably surfaced roads, its view from a road bike is neither especially attractive nor reliably good for evidence – number plates are illegible from further than 15-20m, and illegible all the way past if the road is rough.

Also, wind noise seems to overwhelm the microphone right from the off, leaving little but a roaring rumble as a soundtrack.

> Find your nearest dealer here

> Buy this online here

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.

A mountain bike with anything but the longest, plushest travel would be worse, while a gravel bike is probably the worst option of all.

The bar mount (£24.99) is also very tall, raising the top of the camera 11cm above the centre of my bar, where it's extremely noticeable. It is secure, though.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - handle bar mount on bars.jpg

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.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - helemet mount.jpg

Once on it's absolutely secure, though the foam only works if your lid has a central bar – if it's a central vent then you risk the plastic edges rubbing. You'll also need to trim or tie up the massive strap ends to stop them dangling like dreadlocks around your head.

The camera's weight is very noticeable up high, and tends to drag your helmet around unless it's quite tight. The webbing straps can also interfere with MIPS layers.

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.

In use

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.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - lens.jpg

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.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - LCD screen.jpg

It also turns red when it's recording, and a red LED at the front flashes too (though it's only in clear view if you mount this camera sideways...).

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.

Mode switching is easy, as the rearmost of the three big buttons cycles through them. The front one deals with on/off and record, and I like how it makes different sounds for starting and stopping recording.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - buttons.jpg

Less pleasing is the shutter sound: very loud by default, it plays once per second the entire time you're filming in timelapse mode. Both the sounds and the gap between images can be adjusted, though.

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...

Your phone might not be this waterproof, though, as the Ghost XL's IPX7 rating means it can spend 30 mins in a metre of water.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - side door open USB port and SD card slot.jpg

To avoid serious fisheye distortion, it's best to swap from the default 140-degree FOV (field of view) to one of the other two. I tried 90 degrees but settled on 115 for a bit more peripheral vision, as this setting has no distortion either. (Note: in the video it says 110 degrees, but it's 115).

More features

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).

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - box accessories.jpg

I tried dropping it from around 1m onto a rug and it worked – there's an 'Event' folder on the SD card (not provided, £9.99), and sure enough it safely stashed the clip in there. It certainly seems sensitive enough to detect a bicycle accident.

2021 Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera - Micro SD card.jpg

Then there's 'Clone Mode,' which lets you control this in synch with other Ghost cameras (XL, X or 4K models).

Value

We rarely test cameras at anywhere near this price – both the GoPro Hero9 Black and the DJI Osmo were just pennies from £330 when we reviewed them. GoPro has since moved on to the Hero10 (still £329.98), while the Osmo action cam seems to have been discontinued.

Things apparently move just as fast at the cheaper end of the market. The Techalogic DC-1 Dual Lens helmet cam tested in March 2020 is still out there for £179.95 and still records in two directions at once, but the RoadHawk Ride R+ Cycle Edition is no longer with us. That was £139.99 back in 2018 and had similarly poor sound, but at 62g and tubular it was at least unobtrusive.

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.

> How to buy the best bike camera — plus 7 of the best

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.

Overall

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.

Verdict

Rugged and pretty easy to use, but bad sound and unstabilised visuals don't suit cycling use

If you're thinking of buying this product using a cashback deal why not use the road.cc Top Cashback page and get some top cashback while helping to support your favourite independent cycling website

road.cc test report

Make and model: Drift Innovation Ghost XL Waterproof Action Camera and accessories

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for and who it's aimed at. What do the manufacturers say about it? How does that compare to your own feelings about it?

Drift says: "Supercharged battery life and IPX7 waterproofing come together to deliver the Ghost XL, a camera that never stops."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

Drift lists:

KEY FEATURES

* 9 hours of battery life

* Dash Cam Loop recording mode

* Event Detection

* 300° Rotating Lens

* 1080p Full HD Video

* 12MP stills

* Flashback Video Tagging

* Video Lapse

* High-quality low-light performance

* Rear LCD Screen

* Built-in Wi-Fi

WATERPROOF

IPX7 rated right out of the box, no need for an additional waterproof case.

Clone Mode

Connect up to 10 camera for wireless remote control from a single master camera. Start and stop recording, change mode, or change settings on the master unit and the others will follow.

Drift Life

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.

KEY FEATURES

* 9 hours of battery life

* Dash Cam Loop recording mode

* Event Detection

* 300° Rotating Lens

* 1080p Full HD Video

* 12MP stills

* Flashback Video Tagging

* Video Lapse

* High-quality low-light performance

* Rear LCD Screen

* Built-in Wi-Fi

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS

Video Resolution / Frame Rate

1080P (1920 X 1080 16:9) @ 25, 30 FPS

720P (1280 X 720 16:9)@ 25, 30, 50, 60 FPS

WVGA (848 X 480 16:9) @ 25, 30, 50, 60 FPS

Photo Resolution

12MP

8MP

4MP

Timelapse Resolution / Interval

12MP

8MP

4MP

1S, 2S, 3S, 5S, 10S, 30S, 1MIN, 2MIN, 5MIN, 10MIN, 30MIN, 1H

Photoburst Resolution / Capture Rate

4MP

5/S, 10/S, 15/S

Sensor

OV4689 4MP

Lens

140° Optical FOV, CURVED LENS (F/NO 2.4, Focal Length 3.8mm)

Field of View

90°, 115°, 140°

Lens Rotation

300°

Camera Dimensions

47 x 92 x 35 mm

Camera Weight

133g

Internal Memory

2Gb Flash 1Gb DDR3

External Memory

Up to 128GB Micro SD

WiFi Module

2.4 G

Remote Control

Via Drift Life App

BT Remote Compatible (sold separately)

Battery Design

3000mAh

Internal Microphone

Front microphone

External Microphone

Waterproof adaptor included

A/V Output

via USB adaptor

USB Type

Micro USB

See More Specs

Contents

1 x Ghost XL

1 x Universal Clip

1 x Flat Adhesive Mount

1 x Curved Adhesive Mount

1 x Waterproof microphone Adapter Cable

1 x Waterproof USB Adapter Cable

1 x Micro USB Cable

Quick Guide

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
8/10

Very neat and feels solid.

Rate the product for performance:
 
3/10

For cycling, the lack of image stabilisation, relatively low resolutions and poor microphone are all major issues.

Rate the product for durability:
 
8/10

Feels very rugged.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
3/10

At 147g for just the camera, or 261g with the bar mount, it's very noticeable.

Rate the product for value:
 
3/10

Far cheaper than the market leaders, but not really up to the job.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

This doesn't feel like it's designed with cycling in mind, which is the problem.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

Good waterproofing.

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

No image stabilisation, no live screen, poor sound, tall and clunky mount, bulky.

How does the price compare to that of similar products in the market, including ones recently tested on road.cc?

We rarely test cameras at anywhere near this price – both the GoPro Hero9 Black and the DJI Osmo were just pennies from £330 when we reviewed them. The GoPro has since moved on to the Hero10 (still £329.98) and the Osmo Action cam seems to have been discontinued.

At the cheaper end of the market, the Techalogic DC-1 Dual Lens helmet cam tested in March 2020 is still out there for £179.95 and still records in two directions at once, at least, but unfortunately the RoadHawk Ride R+ Cycle Edition is no longer with us.

That was £139.99 back in 2018 and had similarly poor sound, but at 62g and tubular it was at least unobtrusive.

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.

Did you enjoy using the product? No

Would you consider buying the product? No

Would you recommend the product to a friend? For cars or motorcycles, maybe.

Use this box to explain your overall score

This is built tough with great waterproofing, has a trustworthy mount and is mostly easy to use. It just doesn't work well on a bicycle, though, and nothing about it says it was originally designed with cycling in mind – it's overbuilt and underspecced for it.

Overall rating: 4/10

About the tester

Age: 48  Height: 183cm  Weight: 78kg

I usually ride: Vitus Zenium SL VR Disc  My best bike is:

I've been riding for: 10-20 years  I ride: A few times a week  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: general fitness riding, mtb,

Add new comment

38 comments

Avatar
Exup | 2 years ago
2 likes

I have a couple of generations of this Drift camera and find them excellent for my purposes.

I use it for cycling and motorcycling.

The key feature for me is the size/shape/mounting - it is slim and can be mounted flat on a helmet to create a small form factor. This is even more apparent when motorcycling at speed..... it has less effect on helmet drag and does not pull your head off!  I have never considered a GoPro type for this reason.

I mount on helmets as that then allows me to look around and hence  capture events from all directions.

Picture quality is good, weather proofing is good, battery life is good.

My only regret was not using it the day I was hit head-on by an overtaking car on the wrong side of the road. This would have invalidated the absurd lies peddled by the driver and made it easy for the legal profession (CPS + lawyers) to do their simple job [today they are incapable of doing proper analysis of this crash].

 

Avatar
0-0 | 2 years ago
0 likes

I'd rather spend another £20 and get a refurbished GoPro 6 Black from eBay.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184550787153?epid=9042684822

I use one as my rear bike camera.

Avatar
Secret_squirrel replied to 0-0 | 2 years ago
5 likes

 But with less than 2 hrs battery life it only supports the commuting and quick blast uses. The drift will cover an entire days cycling..

Avatar
Arjimlad | 2 years ago
5 likes

https://youtube.com/user/TheJimvt I use one of these mounted neatlyon the side of my helmet using the sticky curved mount, or on the bar for leisure rides.
Whilst I'd love the image quality of a GoPro, I can't justify the expense, or the whacking great helmet mounting, or the battery life. I've reported 113 drivers this year using this camera.

Avatar
boxrick | 2 years ago
5 likes

I own one of these I have it mounted below my handlebars for recording close passes and bad driving. There is a single reason it hasn't been replaced, the exemplary battery life. This is a huge plus and to not make a big deal of it in this review is a little disappointing.

The footage is good enough to make out registrations it's waterproof and just keeps going. In the same time I've had two faulty cycliq cameras and a gopro hero 9 which barely lasted an hour.

The microphone is trash, it has no stabilisation. But in terms of a long lasting camera to report bad driving, sadly nothing out there beats it right now.

Avatar
HoarseMann | 2 years ago
1 like

I'm surprised how poor the footage is. Looking at the Omnivision datasheet, the sensor looks on paper to be more capable than the results.

The 'jellyvision' effect is not due to a lack of image stabilisation, but the use of a rolling shutter rather than a global shutter.

Avatar
Bungle_52 | 2 years ago
1 like

I use one of these. I have it helmet mounted using the versatile standard 1/4" thread on the body so it sits on the helmet and is quite aero certainly much better than the  Apemen gopro type that I used before and because it is close to the helmet it doesn't seem heavy. Haven't tried the self adhesive mount yet. It gets reg plates in good light, I think helmet mounting helps here as you can follow the car with your head which tends to steady it out a bit. Low light, forget it. The main attraction for me is the 8 hours battery life which means charge it after every use and format the card after viewing the close passes, then turn it on before the ride and forget it. I use continuous recording which means 30min segments and I haven't noticed any gaps. 64GB card hasn't run out on me yet. Claims to be water proof but haven't tried it in a deluge yet. Seems OK in light rain.

Others have mentioned the ability to connect an external mic using a waterproof adaptor. Haven't tried this yet but it's looking like it may be an option for low light plates.

So far very pleased with it. I wasn't expecting it to last from what I read on the web about battery charging problems. If it is going to fail I hope it does it before it's a year old but so far so good.

Avatar
njwcat7 | 2 years ago
0 likes

I use one of these mounted below my handlebars to record my rides in the event of close passes / poor driving etc and dont usually have a problem reading number plates etc from the footage (for the avoidance of doubt I'm not a camera warrior, i just want to be able to submit evidence should the need arise).

The 9 hour battery life is useful as it means I dont have to change batteries or use an external power pack except on very long rides. The horizonal form factor works well on a bike, whether handlebar, frame or helmet mounted and the rotating lens means it can be mounted at any angle.

However, the real achilles heel is long periods of steady rain or drizzle, which given enough time can work their way past the waterproofing and destroy the electronics. My first camera died like this and as it was just out of warranty Drift support couldn't/wouldn't help. There's no external waterproof case for it (unlike the Ghost X). Drift support can be hit-and-miss and is always slow too.

Avatar
Sriracha replied to njwcat7 | 2 years ago
0 likes
njwcat7 wrote:

My first camera died like this and as it was just out of warranty Drift support couldn't/wouldn't help.

They certainly could help, they chose not to. I hope they think it was money well saved.

Avatar
KentRider | 2 years ago
1 like

This review and the comments are very interesting to me. I’m eager to buy a front-facing camera: my current reliance on solely a rear camera led to a lack of police action on a very dangerous overtake (see NMOTD 657). However, I simply can’t identify one that provides what I’m looking for. 

My use-case is thus: recreational rider wanting a camera to capture any poor driving encountered. I ride only during daylight (I’m not a commuter), so integrated lights are unnecessary. Also, no need for any fancy video features – I’m not recording to regale my friends with my thrilling escapades. I’m not quite a weight-weenie, but I do want the camera to be light, unobtrusive, and ideally not un-aerodynamic. I need it to be able to record for 3+ hours and have “dash-cam” looping. I would happily pay up to £200, and perhaps even up to £300 if durability were excellent.

I briefly possessed the Drift Ghost X (it appeared on paper to tick most of the boxes, especially when mounted using this system: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErcAeK6q4f8), but it froze and then died before I had ever completed the initial set up. Judging from a trawl of the internet, reliability with Drift cameras is a huge problem, so I got a refund rather than a replacement. Also, I’ve since discovered that people have noted a problem with missing seconds of footage between sections of recording in dash-cam mode (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_jmpL2xcw8U), which immediately rules it out of contention for me.

Go-Pros just don’t have the battery life. I’m happy with my rear Cycliq Fly6, but the Fly12 is too expensive and big given that it incorporates (from my perspective) a completely superfluous front light.

I’m puzzled that no one has yet either spotted the need for or been able to design a camera that fits the use-case described above. Perhaps it’s not as attractive a market segment as I’m imagining it would be.

Avatar
Secret_squirrel replied to KentRider | 2 years ago
0 likes

keep an eye on eBay for a 2nd hand fly12 is your best choice to be honest. 

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
2 likes

I would agree with this. Unfortunately I never managed to get a 2nd hand fly12 but I was lucky to get a new one for Christmas. First ride out on Monday, close pass happened, uploaded video to Lincs Police Operation Snap, and already have had a "positive outcome" letter back confirming action would be taken. I now feel like South Holland's answer to Cycling Mikey!🤣

Avatar
wtjs replied to SimoninSpalding | 2 years ago
0 likes

Take a close look at your letter! If OpSnap Lincs is like OpSnap Lancs, the 'positive outcome' will be a list which could include doing nothing at all or the worthless 'words of advice' and, crucially, they won't tell you. That dodge means they did nothing.

Avatar
SaveTheWail | 2 years ago
0 likes

I think 4 is generous, judging it for cycling purposes.  For capturing registrations, it is almost completely useless - you might get a legible view of the reg. if the vehicle is travelling at 20 m.p.h. or less, ideally stationary.  If it's mounted on the handlebars, even shouting out the reg. is no help, as you can't hear anything at all above the roaring background sound.  Mounting it on a helmet solves that problem, but it's heavy and the poor video produced is still the main problem.  It's no use even if you only want it to watch your rides and not for reporting purposes - I feel travel sick after watching the videos for a while, and I don't even normally get travel sick.

Avatar
Awavey replied to SaveTheWail | 2 years ago
1 like

what camera would you recommend then ? the footage doesnt look radically much different to that of a Cycliq, I dont run a camera because Im trying to create a movie of my rides to impress my friends, its solely for capturing close passes and dangerous driving around me, if it shows that and the reg is legible at some point, thats good enough for my purposes.

Avatar
Oldfatgit replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
1 like

Other than a high end GoPro, I think you're going to be hard pressed to beat the Cyclic.
Sure, it's not without fault, but in my opinion (as a faceless guy on the internet, who you don't know from Adam), the positives far outweigh any negatives.

Avatar
Surreyrider replied to Oldfatgit | 2 years ago
0 likes

Hmmm, what positive outweighs the device dying as soon as water gets into it I wonder?!

Avatar
Oldfatgit replied to Surreyrider | 2 years ago
0 likes
Surreyrider wrote:

Hmmm, what positive outweighs the device dying as soon as water gets into it I wonder?!

I've been out in the kind of rain where I would have been dryer swimming in the North Sea ... And yet, both my Fly 6 and Fly 12CE have never stopped working.
Happy to provide you with a link to the video for evidence of you wish.

Avatar
Secret_squirrel replied to Oldfatgit | 2 years ago
1 like

Same here with my 2nd hand Gen 2 fly12 and fly 6 both have been out in all weathers with no issues.

Im willing to accept there is a waterproofing problem with the rear fly 6 because of that cruddy rubber flap.  I'm unconvinced there is a big issue with the fly 12 waterproofing based on a sample size of 1. 

Avatar
Awavey replied to Oldfatgit | 2 years ago
1 like

which is fair enough, and Id agree with that (as facelass gal on the internet who you dont know from Eve)

I just felt if they are marking this camera down as a 4/10 for being essentially under spec'd, and sharing annoying quirks alot of other cameras have, its kind of well in the perfect world we'd have this 10/10 camera that ticked all the boxes we wanted, but to my limited knowledge no such camera like that exists.

So where does this sit alongside its equally flawed competition ? is it well its 4/10 but everything else is only 5/10 but twice the price, so you pay your money and take your pick and live with its foibles perhaps ?

Avatar
SaveTheWail replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
1 like

Not having tried any others, I can't recommend any from personal experience, but from what I've read, I wish I'd gone for a Cycliq instead.

Avatar
TonyE-H replied to Awavey | 2 years ago
2 likes

Over the past year I've used several different cameras including the Drift Ghost XL, Garmin Virb, GoPro Hero 5 black and Cycliq Fly12.

Depending on what you're looking for the GoPro and Cycliq Fly are by far the best two cameras.  The Cycliq for battery life and good image quality, the GoPro for excellent image quality but poor battery life (less than hour typically).

The Garmin and Drift were both poor on image quality with the garmin having poor battery life as well.

Avatar
Surreyrider replied to TonyE-H | 2 years ago
3 likes

There really is a big gap in the market for a good cycling video camera that is light, small, has long battery life, strong and unobtrusive mounts and good footage for identifying registration plates. 

Avatar
SimoninSpalding replied to Surreyrider | 2 years ago
0 likes

I agree, but unfortunately I think what we ask is difficult and therefore expensive. Lightweight = smaller battery, so to make battery last longer you have smaller sensor, (lower resolution, particularly in low light) reduce the other power users like image stabilising software.

Avatar
Hirsute | 2 years ago
2 likes

It's not designed for a handlebar but for a helmet
A number of nmotd have been with this or another in the same line.
I think 4 is rather harsh given size, weight and battery life.

Avatar
Sriracha replied to Hirsute | 2 years ago
4 likes
hirsute wrote:

A number of nmotd have been with this or another in the same line

It's been said before (probably by me...) NMOTD should include make and model of the camera, every time. Can't be hard to do, and it would build into a great database of real-world camera tests.

Avatar
Oldfatgit replied to Sriracha | 2 years ago
0 likes

Make, model, frame rate and quality setting (such as 720, 1076HD, HDR etc), and frame rate as these all have an impact on the final image.

Cyclic certainly have a make, time and date stamp, anything else would either have to be added manually or just included in the blurb to NMOTD.

Avatar
Oldfatgit replied to Oldfatgit | 2 years ago
0 likes
Oldfatgit wrote:

Make, model, frame rate and quality setting (such as 720, 1076HD, HDR etc), and frame rate as these all have an impact on the final image. Cyclic certainly have a make, time and date stamp, anything else would either have to be added manually or just included in the blurb to NMOTD.

Just looked at my editing software:
Davinci Resolve does not pull and display the frame rate - if it does I can't work out how to do it, and all the information I could find is about changing frame rates - maybe my question to qoogle was badly phrased.

VirbEdit - that won't do it. It's happy to stitch video and telemetry together, but won't show frame rate

DashWare - that won't do it; again, it's happy to stitch video and telemetry but nothing to do with the actual video

ClycliqPlus - certainly not the version that I have installed (although there was an update offered when I opened it - but i doubt it will pull this information.

The information is stored in the metadata for the source file - but that may differ with camera makes / models etc.

 

Avatar
Sriracha | 2 years ago
0 likes

Mounted on the handlebars I guess most of the vibration is in the vertical axis. Is it not possible to design a mount tuned to damp those vibrations for the mass of the camera?

Avatar
Secret_squirrel | 2 years ago
2 likes

I don't own one of these but the review seems overly harsh to me.  It may be valid compared to action cams with a fraction of the battery life but apart from the Image Stabilisation and the lack of a light it compares well to the Cycliq Fly 12.

weight : lighter

size: smaller

battery life : much longer 

resolution : same

price :almost half the price.

The mount is fugly but cycliqs version break easily. Aftermarket combo mounts with a go pro attachment are ten a penny.

The wind noise is irrelevant as long as it captures the post pass altercation or horn toots.

Also the reviewer neglected to mention there's a 4k version with Stabilisation but is happy to moan that it's an old product!

Any chance this can be given to a Fly 12 user for a second opinion?  Several forumites seem to recommend this camera  

 

Pages

Latest Comments