Last Updated on January 13, 2019
- Low light sensitivity automatically adjusts
- 60fps at 1080p / 120fps at 720p
- 12MP CMOS Sensor
- 2″ TFT Screen Corning™ Gorilla Glass™ setup, preview, play
- Up to 3.5 hours battery life recording 1080p video
- Photoburst/Timelapse capture 10 photos a second and more
- Two-way Remote Control with 30 feet range
Drift Ghost HD S Review– Same Frame, But Better
Enhancements to existing products have become quite the norm. Take the iPhone for instance. Apple released an iPhone 4, then after letting that sit in the market for some time, they release an iPhone 4S.
Just looking at the product name itself will tell you that the only thing added was the letter S. You start asking what makes this so special that they needed to add an additional S at the end?
Well, that’s the same thing when it comes to action cameras. When Drift Ghost S was released, the question was automatically asked, “What makes this better than the Drift HD Ghost?”
To answer that, it’s best to look at what changed between the two products. So, what were the modifications made?
Well, when it comes to the overall look, nothing much was changed. The physical appearance of the Ghost S pretty much looks like its earlier predecessor. The shell is still the same and even the mounting options are the same.
In short, Sony did not do much to alter how it looked. It’s still basically the Drift Ghost HD, but just made a whole lot better.
But there were modifications, right?
Yes. The biggest physical change between the two models happened with the lens. The Drift Ghost HD had a curved lens while the S model has a flat one. This was done to reduce to fisheye effect up to 70%.
The lens is still replaceable, but this time, you will have to find a flat lens to replace it with. It won’t work to install a curved one on the Ghost S.
What other features make the Ghost S different from the HD Ghost?
Higher frame rates
The Ghost S is capable of achieving 60 frames @ 1080p which allows for really smooth footage and 120 frames @ 120p that achieves really slow motion capability. This value is almost double that the HD Ghost was capable of (30 frames @ 1080p, 60 frames @ 720p).
In addition, the Ghost S is also capable of shooting at 60 frames @ 960p and 240 frames for WVGA.
New video modes
The newest Drift model has three video modes with each affecting the quality of video in a different way.
Low light – used for night filming or in cases where the shooting condition is in a dark indoor area. Equipped with a Sony CMOS sensor, the Ghost S allows you to achieve clearness and more detail even when the situation is quite dark.
Normal – default setting.
Vivid Mode – increases contrast colors in video; best for shooting during gray days when much color is needed.
Longer battery life
The Ghost S is quite capable of shooting video up to 3 and half hours. The HD Ghost on the other hand is quite capable of shooting up to 3 hours, but any added battery life is always good.
64 GB card support
The Ghost S is capable of supporting memory cards up to 64 GB, but the amount of time that you can record will depend on other factors such as file type and frame rates.
Flat lens
With this in place of the curved lens, images become less distorted and less blurry around the frames edges.
Increased 12 MP still photo capability
Thanks in part to the flat lens, the Ghost S is capable of an increased 12 MP when it comes to still photos.
Faster photo burst
The Ghost S is capable of shooting 10 frames @ 12 MP and 30 frames @ 5 MP. This is three times more than the HD Ghost.
Adjustable bit rate
Ghost S allows you to choose a higher compression so that a larger amount of data from the original recording can be preserved for a crisper and smoother video.
“Clone Mode” multi-camera control
Those who want synchronized video on four cameras will love the Ghost S. You can set one camera as “master” and all settings that you set on it will be copied across the others.
As you can see, the Ghost S is just like the HD Ghost that came before it. But if you want a better camera, than getting the Ghost S won’t be a mistake.
Ghost-S Specification
| 1080P | 960P | 720P | WVGA | ||
GHOST-S |
Framerate (FPS) | 25 / 30 / 50 / 60 | 25 / 30 / 48 / 50 / 60 | 25 / 30 / 50 / 60 / 100 / 120 | 25 / 30 / 50 / 60 / 100 / 120 / 200 / 240 |
| Field of View (FOV) | 90° / 127° / 160° | 160° | 160° | 160° |
Drift HD-S vs GO Pro Hero 3
[youtube height=”500″ width=”780″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7ByofopUsU?rel=0[/youtube]
Unboxing the Ghost HD-s
[youtube height=”500″ width=”780″]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3TprnBE0S3A?rel=0[/youtube] [/zl_tabs_cell][/zl_tabs_cell] [/zl_tabs_reload]
