Dubai: There is no dearth of wearable action-packed cameras in the market, but Drift Innovation’s Ghost-S HD is slim and light and can be mounted on masks, helmets, motorcycle, surf board, etc. It weighs 172 grams.
The two-inch Gorilla Glass-protected LCD device has a built-in WiFi for connecting to Apple and Android devices via an app, which can be used for increased functionality.
With this app, users can access their settings, preview your shot set up, change camera modes, control the recording modes (video, photo, time lapse and photo burst), as well as review and download media directly to mobile devices. Live streaming and editing is also possible with the Ghost S while you are recording with app version 2.6.
The bottom of the camcorder has a standard tripod screw mount, and when mounted the camera points forward.
The box comes with a two-way rechargeable RF remote control, which can be slotted on to a wrist strap, for starting and stopping recordings and changing modes when used on a helmet or mask modes from up to 30 feet away. The coloured LED lights will indicate what you are doing.
Green LED show the camcorder is ready to record while the red to confirm recording is in progress.
The battery, microSD card slots, micro-HDMI out, mini USB and 3.5mm mike jack are protected by a housing as it is water proof up to three metres. The microSD slot supports up to 32GB and it records only if SD card is available.
The housing is big hard to open and close as it needs to withstand the abuse and the lens of the camera is replaceable. The good thing about Ghost-S is that the lens can cover a field of 170 degrees to give a wider view and the lens can rotate up to 300 degrees.
The field of view is menu-selectable at three settings — a super-wide 170 degrees, a standard wide 127 or a normal 90 degrees in 1080p only and a 130 degree field of view at 60fps.
It uses Sony CMOS sensor and seven-element aspherical lens technology.
There are plenty of options to record — 1080p at 25, 50, 60 or 30 frames per second (fps); 960p at 25, 30, 48 or 50fps; 720p at 25, 30, 50, 60, 100 or 120fps; WVGA at 25, 30, 50, 60, 100, 120, 200 or 240fps. The frame rates are important when it comes to recording.
It can be used for burst-shooting at 5, 8 or 12MP shots at up to 10fps.
The recorded action videos are rich in quality with appropriate colours and details and the built-mic does a decent job and users can plug in an external mic for better audio quality.
The photo quality is decent and not up to the smartphone standards and is good for sharing on social media platforms.
Videos can be recorded in MP4 or QuickTime MOV formats while pictures in JPEG format.
The menu, forward, back, and record buttons on top of the device are hard to press while setting up the device is very simple.
The Flashback Video mode saves up to five minutes before starting the loop again and it is an interesting feature on this device.
The box comes with different accessories like google mount, universal clip, mount kit, USB cable, microphone extension cable
During my testing, the 1,700mAh rechargeable battery lasted for just more than three hours, which is pretty good. The remote has a 350mAh rechargeable battery. It is priced at Dh1,695.