Drift HD170 Camera - My review from a pilots perspective

[UtahMaule]

I switched to a Mac Book several years ago and really love it. I don't really know how to fully utilize it, but it sure seem to work good with zero trouble.

I got a Drift a few weeks ago and have been shooting some video. It sure is a huge improvement over any other cam I have used.

One thing that I think is way cool is the time lapse shots people have posted. I am assuming I can figure out how to do that.......

[TomD]

I am assuming I can figure out how to do that.......

From the last guy on earth who does not have a Facebook or Twitter account, I can tell you it can be done. Not easily, for me, but it can be done. Now gotta figure out how to get the sound track in.

I posted this on the NW Fly-ins as well with more detailed description.

[hicountry]

Getting to be a lot of Drift cameras out there in the hands of BCP'ers...keep the good videos coming..I will add a few myself.....great camera!!

[GroundLooper]

I've been trying to use the drift stealth HD 170 a few times now. I can't say I'm impressed with the battery life. I thought, the last time I ran it dry after a few short hours of flying with very little video, was because the LCD screen was on. I figured out how to turn off the LCD but still didn't feel I got very much time out of the battery. Unfortunately, I can't turn off the camera with the remote, just start and stop recording.

Yeah, it was on for under 3hrs but it wasn't actually recording for very long and the screen wasn't on. Is this normal or do I have a faulty battery? Only a few hours of operation time on a battery doesn't make for a very useful camera since I can't exactly change it out easily.

I wasn't very impressed they couldn't include a full manual with the camera, just a quick start guide, and the only charging connector is a simple cable from the Camera to a USB port.

[mountainmatt]

I've been trying to use the drift stealth HD 170 a few times now. I can't say I'm impressed with the battery life. I thought, the last time I ran it dry after a few short hours of flying with very little video, was because the LCD screen was on. I figured out how to turn off the LCD but still didn't feel I got very much time out of the battery. Unfortunately, I can't turn off the camera with the remote, just start and stop recording.

Yeah, it was on for under 3hrs but it wasn't actually recording for very long and the screen wasn't on. Is this normal or do I have a faulty battery? Only a few hours of operation time on a battery doesn't make for a very useful camera since I can't exactly change it out easily.

I wasn't very impressed they couldn't include a full manual with the camera, just a quick start guide, and the only charging connector is a simple cable from the Camera to a USB port.

The battery life is on par (perhaps even a little better) with most POV cameras. I believe the GoPro HD and Contour HD publish a 2.5hr battery life as well (without a screen). The 1700 battery might be worth it if you want to leave it hanging out there for a while (the cold temps can drain it quicker too). Or, you can get extra standard batteries for a good price. Also, which SD card are you using? A SDHC card is a bit more efficient and will help with battery life. I'm curious to know what you were expecting for battery life from a POV camera?

On long flights I just mount mine on the inside and reach over and turn it on when I want to record something.

Yes, the quick start manual sucks, but a full manual can be downloaded from the website. Also, a dock charger can be purchased if you don't like to charge via USB.

[Glidergeek]

I've been trying to use the drift stealth HD 170 a few times now. I can't say I'm impressed with the battery life. I thought, the last time I ran it dry after a few short hours of flying with very little video, was because the LCD screen was on. I figured out how to turn off the LCD but still didn't feel I got very much time out of the battery. Unfortunately, I can't turn off the camera with the remote, just start and stop recording.

Yeah, it was on for under 3hrs but it wasn't actually recording for very long and the screen wasn't on. Is this normal or do I have a faulty battery? Only a few hours of operation time on a battery doesn't make for a very useful camera since I can't exactly change it out easily.

I wasn't very impressed they couldn't include a full manual with the camera, just a quick start guide, and the only charging connector is a simple cable from the Camera to a USB port.

The battery life is on par (perhaps even a little better) with most POV cameras. I believe the GoPro HD and Contour HD publish a 2.5hr battery life as well (without a screen). The 1700 battery might be worth it if you want to leave it hanging out there for a while (the cold temps can drain it quicker too). Or, you can get extra standard batteries for a good price. Also, which SD card are you using? A SDHC card is a bit more efficient and will help with battery life. I'm curious to know what you were expecting for battery life from a POV camera?

On long flights I just mount mine on the inside and reach over and turn it on when I want to record something.

Yes, the quick start manual sucks, but a full manual can be downloaded from the website. Also, a dock charger can be purchased if you don't like to charge via USB.

Ya, battery life definitely sucks even with the long time GI battery. Charging takes a looonnnggg time too. Where do you get the charging dock Matt?

[mountainmatt]

Ya, battery life definitely sucks even with the long time GI battery. Charging takes a looonnnggg time too. Where do you get the charging dock Matt?

I've seen a few different sites that sell a dock for the HD170. I picked one up at myPOV360.
http://www.mypov360.com/buy/Drift-HD170 ... amera.html

I have 6 batteries and it's nice to have.

[GroundLooper]

The battery life is on par (perhaps even a little better) with most POV cameras. I believe the GoPro HD and Contour HD publish a 2.5hr battery life as well (without a screen). The 1700 battery might be worth it if you want to leave it hanging out there for a while (the cold temps can drain it quicker too). Or, you can get extra standard batteries for a good price. Also, which SD card are you using? A SDHC card is a bit more efficient and will help with battery life. I'm curious to know what you were expecting for battery life from a POV camera?

On long flights I just mount mine on the inside and reach over and turn it on when I want to record something.

Yes, the quick start manual sucks, but a full manual can be downloaded from the website. Also, a dock charger can be purchased if you don't like to charge via USB.

Yeah, I'll have to get the extended battery. I just expected it to last similar to my iPhone which will run a couple of days or so without charging so long as I'm not yaking on it or browsing the web. Bad assumption on my part. Right now I have a 4gig SDHC card, which is small. I filled it once and lost some shots because of that but I'm not blaming the drift for the small card.

I can easily see my biggest problem will be remembering to turn on record then off again.

[swixtt]

get the extended battery! i bought one and am happy with everything on this camera. you gotta remember what this thing is doing! it is remarkable to me what we can do these days compared to only a few years ago!!
my biggest problems are vibration. right now, mine is on the gear leg of my 7eca!
there is a new Drift coming out in a month. quite a bit smaller but similar to the Stealth.

[mountainmatt]

Wow Swixtt, that new little action cam is killer.

http://driftinnovation.com/drift-hd-action-camera/

[swixtt]

i know, it looks pretty nice! replaceable lens which may mean you could insert a filter in there without too much difficulty and have it STAY there:) 9mp pics too and smaller:)

BUT the Extended Batteries are NOT interchangeable!! Standard HD170 ones will work though!

[pokette]

I have a question for all you really smart guys out there. My brother has a PHD in physics and wants to know the details of why we get so many props. He doesn't just want words about scan rate and shutter speed etc... So if any of you out there can speak equations (and I know you are there) please answer up. I am also very interested to hear what you have to say.

[andy]

I'm guessing:
FPS RPM Props
24 2600 3.6
24 2400 3.3
24 2200 3.1
24 2000 2.8
24 1800 2.5
24 1600 2.2
24 1400 1.9
24 1200 1.7
24 1000 1.4
30 2600 2.9
30 2400 2.7
30 2200 2.4
30 2000 2.2
30 1800 2.0
30 1600 1.8
30 1400 1.6
30 1200 1.3
30 1000 1.1

Props = RPM*2/60/FPS
where Props = number of prop images visible
RPM = propeller revolutions per minute
FPS = camera scan rate in frames per second

Since the prop RPM and camera frame rate are not synchronized and the propeller RPM varies, the propeller images move. RPM is multiplied by 2 since there are 2 propeller blades.

[swixtt]

diana, can you show us a pic of the camera mounts you use? i running mine on the gear, the strut but can't isolate vibrations:( i've used the RAM mount and the basic bar-clamp that came with the Drift.
anyway, great vids you have and of the people flying that bird!!

cheers

[pokette]

Andy, that looks good, but what about why the prop seems to not be attached to the airplane - and sometimes distorted and looking very curved, sometimes straight, but not attached? Scan rate?

I have posed pictures of the mount before - here they are again. A machinist friend did it for me:



any ram mount will work with the front of the mount!!

[swixtt]

thanks! looks very pro!

[andy]

The reason that the prop images appear curved is that the camera's scan takes .033 seconds for one frame at 30 frames per second and it scans progressively from top to bottom, left to right. The prop is moving counter-clockwise while the scan is occuring. If the scan was instantaneous, the prop blade image would be the same as if it was standing still. However, the scan is not instantaneous, so points along the prop blade move counter-clockwise as the scan proceeds and make it look curved. I think the reason that the prop tips seem to become occasionally detached from the hub at higher RPMs is that the tip is traveling much faster than the root and only appears briefly in one scan at a different point in time than when the root is scanned. At 2500 RPM, the tip of a 76 inch prop is traveling at about 344 inches per second while a point 12 inches from the hub is traveling at about 54 inches per second. At higher RPMs the tip is traveling so fast that it disappears entirely from some frames and appears in others at different points in time. That would make it seem like the brief image of the tip seems not to be attached to rest of the blade.

[pokette]

Good words Andy; Here is a video that someone produced: (My camera is set at 60fps which helps but doesn't eliminate)

[andy]

CMOS image sensors are used in most video cameras due to their low cost and low power consumption. They use the "rolling shutter" method of reading the charge off each pixel on the sensor, which allows the image to change during the read operation. Some new image sensors, such as InVisage (http://www.invisageinc.com/page.aspx?cont=QuantumShutter), use a different method that captures the state of all pixels on the image sensor at one instant and then reads it while it is unchanged. This eliminates rolling shutter artifacts such as curved props. I think all of the current action cameras use the older rolling shutter approach. If you're thinking of buying one that has the newer technology, you'll have to wait a year or two. Higher frame rates like 60 FPS help since each scan of the image sensor takes a shorter amount of time: .017 seconds instead of .033 seconds. During that time, the prop moves less distance and the image is less curved. The downside of the faster frame rate is larger file size and less recording time available for a given memory module size. At 1280x720p resolution each frame contains 921,600 pixels each with 24-bits of color information which are being stored on the memory card at a frame rate of 24, 30 or 60 frames per second. Battery charge usually is more of a limiting factor than memory module size on an action camera, so a 60 FPS frame rate is the best choice for least image distortion. The cameras automatically create separate video files every 3.6GB but it takes longer to view and edit larger files.

[blackrock]

Jello - That is what my in-flight images look like. The mount is very solid so I don't think it is camera shake. Is any one else having this problem with their Drift Stealth at 1080p mode?