Drift Innovation first brought us the HD170 actioncam, followed by the smaller Drift HD, and then the upgraded Drift HD Ghost. Now it's taken another step forward, with the Drift Ghost-S.
The new camera has the same basic form as the Ghost – swiveling lens on the front that lets users level out their shots, 2-inch Gorilla Glass viewfinder/playback screen on the side, and basic control buttons on top. They also both feature a two-way remote, that transmits user commands to the camera, and relays camera status to the user.
But what improvements have been added to the Ghost-S?
For starters, it has a new 7-element aspherical lens, a 12-megapixel Sony CMOS sensor and a faster processor, all of which add up to automatically-adjusting low-light sensitivity and a claimed sharper overall picture.
The faster processor also allows it to shoot in 1080p resolution at a maximum frame rate of 60 fps, whereas the HD Ghost tops out at 1080p/30 fps. In fact, the Ghost-S can manage 120 fps at 720p, while the HD Ghost only offers that rate at WVGA resolution.
Another new feature is Clone Mode, in which multiple "slave" Ghost-S cameras can be controlled from one master camera.
Additionally, battery life has been boosted by 30 minutes, to a total of 3.5 hours when shooting at 1080p/30fps.
Returning features that the Ghost-S shares with the HD Ghost include Wi-Fi connectivity, external mic input, three field of view settings (up to 160 degrees on the S model), and waterproofing to a depth of 3 meters (9.8 ft). They also both offer video tagging, a feature in which the camera temporarily stores footage of whatever is in its field of view, continuously overwriting that footage, so there's never more than the past 30 seconds to five minutes (depending on the selected setting) stored at one time. If something interesting happens, however, the user can tag that footage. This causes the camera to save the footage and set it aside, so it isn't overwritten.
The Drift Ghost-S is available now for pre-order. It should be in stores by Nov. 26, selling for US$399. Footage shot with it can be seen below.
Source: Drift Innovation via BikeRadar
