Drift HD170 Camera - My review from a pilots perspective

[emflys]

Hey Mike - usually the "rolling" jello effect is either vibration or some other movement in the field of view. Changing to 60fps (720p) will help. Sometimes I have the same issue and thought I had minimized vibration but then.... Where is it mounted? Try holding in your hand during a flight and see if you get the same effect.

[swixtt]

yep, same thing with mine.

[blackrock]

Thanks Emmit. I'll give that a try. This is a warranty replacement after the first one died. The first one would do it once in a while, but not often. The replacement does to all my flying videos, but I haven't tried it from inside. I'll try that tomorrow to see if it improves.

[emflys]

BTW Mike...if you are around Labor day....

http://www.backcountrypilot.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=18&t=8049&start=60

[blackrock]

Thanks for the invite Emmit; that looks like a lot of fun. I'm rafting the lower gorge of the Salmon that weekend so I won't be able to join you guys. I've been traveling a lot so I must have missed that tread? Otherwise I would have thought twice about the raft trip.

[GroundLooper]

Getting this Windows 7 editor figured out. Not nearly as intuitive as the XP editor in my opinion.

Anyway, a pass over what I think is called Joe's strip. I forgot I left the window open.

[TomD]

Quick question

The HD 170 Stealth saves the video files in .mov format; however, the XP movie maker does not recognize .mov.

How are you handing this? Just change the .mov to .mpg or .mpg4?

Tom

[mmartin1872]

Well ended up getting the Stinson out this past weekend. There was a bit of a party out on a farm, that we went to. Ended up being a good time to try out the new Vio-pov HD unit I have, along side with the 'Vio-pov 1' that i've been using for the past few years. The 1st part of the video is with the 1.0, the 2nd part is with the hd. Next time I'll be moving the hd out on the wing also, that way the video doesn't show all the bug guts, 'light refraction' and scratches that are on the window. lol. Differences i noticed so far. The old 1 doesn't get the 'prop' bend, the new HD at 30fps does. But i can change the 'exposure', to a bit dimmer, and see if that might help a bit (I'm hoping the 'exposure' is 'shutter speed' rather than 'software', but it is probably software. You can't see but the HD is 142 degrees, and the 1.0 is 110 degrees, but if i switch the HD unit down to 720 mode i go down to 98 degrees (but can get 60fps.) The video isn't the greatest, because of the window though.. I need to get my pilots license so i can do some more of this flying. (I own an airplane and can't fly, lol).. This year i should start on 'learning' to fly.

[Grassstrippilot]

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.

So is this difference between new vs. old technology why my Sony Cybershot does not have have any problem with prop bending but cameras like the Drift do?

I'm trying to learn about all this and this has all been good info. Thanks.

[Bonanza Man]

So is this difference between new vs. old technology why my Sony Cybershot does not have have any problem with prop bending but cameras like the Drift do?

I'm trying to learn about all this and this has all been good info. Thanks.

Yes and the way to fix it is with a neutral density filter which probably isn't available from the manufacturer so you have to cobble one up.

[mountainmatt]

Last week MHG was a little short staffed, so I went out and flew the towplane for the day. Getting back in that PA-25-260 was sure fun.

I had fun playing with a few different angles, front-forward, front-back, top-back, side-back (all with the drift suction cup mount).

[robw56]

That's pretty cool Matt, I've been wondering how the drift suction cup mount will hold up on the side of an airplane. Looks like I might have to get one now! Have you ever had any problems with it coming loose? do you use a tether?

[mountainmatt]

Rob, for $20 (myPOV360.com) the suction cup works amazingly well and comes it handy for times your not flying your plane.

I do put a tether on it some times if I question how the seal it, but most of the time I do not (I was flying over Boulder in this video). It has come loose once, when it was on top of the pawnee, but I knew it wasn't the best seal as the paint was chipped and cracked. Once it let go, it just hung there until I was finished with the tow (it doesn't bang around).

[GroundLooper]

Quick question

The HD 170 Stealth saves the video files in .mov format; however, the XP movie maker does not recognize .mov.

How are you handing this? Just change the .mov to .mpg or .mpg4?

Tom

I was trying to use the XP version of movie maker in Win 7 and just couldn't get things to work right. Once I switched to the Win 7 version of MM, it worked a lot better.

I tried converting mov to AVI using a freeware program called Pazera. You might try it if you are using XP. I suspect the problems I was having had more to do with running under Win 7.

Craig

[swixtt]

craig, make sure you get the latest rev of MM for win7. it has some better and definitely more useful features! i'm on build 15.4.3538.0513

[mountainmatt]

For those of you with a Drift camera, I'd recommend taking a few minutes to do a firmware update.
http://driftinnovation.com/drift-firmware/

I just did mine and thought I would pass it along.

[swixtt]

cool... and it still works:)

may have to send mine back... the 1/4" is pulled out from the body of the camera now:(

[Desert Rat]

So is this difference between new vs. old technology why my Sony Cybershot does not have have any problem with prop bending but cameras like the Drift do?

I'm trying to learn about all this and this has all been good info. Thanks.

That's exactly my question. My old Samsung SC-DC164 (which shoots 640/480 30FPS) almost never shows the prop artifacts. I have a couple of newer Canon cameras as well as my cell phone (Samsung Focus) and they all show the prop. The phone is the worst.

The problem with my old Samsung Digital Camcorder is that the auto focus "hunts". I think it wants to focus on the prop or ?? I can turn off auto focus and focus on infinity and that works pretty good but the images are obviously degraded. I borrowed a GoPro and sure enough the prop is there. The quality is much better with the 12MP Canon than the GoPro (5MP). The GoPro 2 is probably better.

[Bushcaddy]

OK a dilemma on the Drift POV's.

I can buy a Drift HD 170 Stealth these days for $169 on Amazon.

The new Drift HD is over $300.

I've read all the threads on the Drift and I want one but I want to be sure I'm making the right decision on which. Is the only real difference between the two the smaller size of the Drift HD? I'm just not familiar enough with the Stealth to know. I would much prefer the hard waterproof case of the smaller version...this would seem to easily enable adding the filter that apparently is needed to get rid of prop artifacts. I'm not sure that a replaceable lens and a 9mp pic matter. I don't even know what a 9mp pic is ...and how that compares to the Stealth. I don't want to be cheap and in 6 mos wish I had gotten the other camera.

Can anyone offer any insite?? I have been unable to find anything that compares the two cameras

Thanks....Don

[mountainmatt]

If you can get a Drift HD170 Stealth for $170, I can not think of a rational reason to buy the new version. Overall, it's the same camera and you gain nothing huge over the Stealth for the extra $150.

The Stealth is a heck of a camera, and the HD is just that much better.