[Closed] Gopro alternative

Contour make some nice stuff Maybe worth having a look at them.

I have a DRIFT HD 170 camera from Action Cameras.
720p HD footage, integral viewing screen, remote start/stop, fish-eye lens all for £130 from the above website.

Nice little camera and ive just found out you can buy a shoulder harness ala the gopro system 🙂
The DRIFT cameras range from the HD 170 at £130 up to the top hi spec model at £300.

I just spent a while looking at this. I ended up with a gopro hero 3 white edition as it ticked all the boxes for me, iPhone setup and live preview is pretty neat. Haven't tested it on the bike yet.

Found a £20 off code for action cameras which helped. Works on any camera including drifts, contours and gopro. Search for the progression ski school blog.

Just to muddy the waters further, a mate has recently bought a hero 3 and has had the battery go tits up on him ruining the camera apparently. No doubt he'll get a replacement but it seems he is not the only one to have this problem.

That's why I didn't save a few quid by getting it cheaper on eBay...

Veho Muvi HD worth considering. Good price from here at the moment.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Veho-VCC-005-MUVI-PRO-Muvi-HD-micro-DV-Camcorder-/190517336821?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_Video_Camcorders&hash=item2c5bb7daf5
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Veho-VCC-A010-WPC-Waterproof-case-kit-Muvi-HD-Range-/120776731556?pt=UK_Gadgets&hash=item1c1edaaba4

I've read a few bad things about the new Gopro that's the reason I'm looking for alternatives, but I do like the idea of it working with an iPhone etc.

The muvi is cheaper here.......
http://www.evomtb.co.uk/veho-vcc-005-muvi-hd10-muvi-hd-1080p-mini-handsfree-camcorder-with-remote-control-and-wide-angle-lens-4gb-memory-card

But I would recommend the gobandit, great quality footage and records speed altitude ect ect.....
http://www.evomtb.co.uk/gobandit-race-gps-hd-action-camera-grey

Oh and I think the gobandit can be operated through your iPhone to, although also has a screen

I have a Muvi HD. Decent little camera for the money. Loads of mounting options available too.

SportPursuit currently have the BulletHD Pro 2 on a flash sale for £120

I have the Drift HD...similar to MuddyDwarf's but mine can record n 1080p. Viewfinder is very useful. So far the footage I have managed has been perfectly usable...saying that almost all my filming has been just me so t is boring as hell to watch.

Good device, seems pretty water resistant without the fancy diving case, and seems to work very well.

I did try a GoPro before, to be honest, my skills with the camera, I couldn't tell any difference between the GoPro and the Drift. The Drift worked out cheaper and had the viewfinder built in which made the difference for me.

Good unit and I get about 2 hours constant use from the battery, but if I'm careful and remember to switch it off, I can get it recording for 4 hours or so...not constantly but depends on how much recording and facing you do with it. From my play with both cameras, the GoPro didn't last as long on the battery...but it was a hero 2 and I suspect wasn't used often so the battery was needing to be cycled.

I dont really want to carry yet more kit.
I'm told there is an iPhone 4 app that that steadies the shot for this kind of stuff. Anyone know what it is? Case needed too.

Ultimately, we all buy a camera for it's playback quality.

On that note, my friend has just posted the vid he shot on his hero 3 (saved the footage from the SD card) on FB.

To be quite honest, on that site i really can't tell the difference between my 720pHD DRIFT and his 1080p HD Hero 3, although to be fair i'm not sure what setting he had it on.

I suspect that if you are going to stick the majority of your footage on FB/Youtube etc then you won't notice the difference. If you are making pro-quality footage with slo-mo action etc and watching it on your 50" flat screen TV then the gopro is probably better for you.

You pays your money etc, but for me the DRIFT is a reliable unit with good quality footage at a lower price than GoPro.

Saw the [url= http://www.ukbikestore.co.uk/product/193/nilox_foolish/nilox-foolish-1080-action-camera---free-accessories.html ]Nilox foolish[/url] 1080 mentioned in a mag the other day, of any use?
(not seen it mentioned before)

[url= http://www.bikeradar.com/mtb/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/helmet-cams/product/review-drift-innovation-hd-camera-12-46252 ]Drift HD review ...[/url] Is it really that pants?

Have a look at the Contour, a serious alternative to the GoPro. Loads of mounts and a lower profile too, so doesn't look as bad when its on the bike or helmet. Also a lot easier to replace batteries and cards, so much so I didn't need to stop sometimes.

The Contour also has an app for lining up the video and settings.

Video below was using a GoPro Hero HD (chest mount) and the Contour was the rear facing camera (seatpost).

"Is the DRIFT pants?"

Depends on your needs and viewpoint. The HD quality is absolutely fine for most uploading applications - Facebook and YouTube for example - but it isn't quite as good as the Hero 3.

It is let down somewhat by the mounting systems, you can tell it comes from a motorsport background with its stick on mounts etc, however there is also a universal mount with velcro straps that i use on my helmet that is very secure. There are handlebar and various suction mounts available as well and now they have addressed the gap in their supply with the new harness mount.
There is also an adapter that works with all gopro mounting systems as well.
I had a problem with the firmware and the support desk were very helpful in talking me through the upgrade process - free by the way.

Its robust, well made, reliable and a lot less money than the gopro so up to you really, do you need the wifi/iphone interface of the gopro?

and a lot less money

a lot less than the black hero3 but I paid £180 for the white edition so its not that big a difference...

It's a tricky one because there's been a fair bit of negative press re the Hero, e.g. was it rushed onto the shelves as it has known issues, customer service getting slated, etc.

Yet it still offers probably the best quality (for more than just YouTube, Vimeo blah blah) which is what I'm after. But I don't want a donkey. Likewise I don't want a less "competent" albeit more stable device such as the DRIFT, Contour et al.

All a bit of an ar5e.

I went for the hero3 white edition because:

a: HD2 internals/picture quality with addition of built in wifi
b: it was cheaper than a HD2 + wifi backpack
c: most versatile housing/mounting options
d: iphone app
e: I'm a firm believer in buy cheap, buy twice.

Drift have also recently released their Ghost camera which has even more bells and whistles. To be honest, it depends entirely on what you want to do - is it for personal filming and viewing of the videos? If so, all the above mentioned cameras are perfect for that. If it is for high production stuff then there are a couple that stand out (Contour, GoPro and the Drift Ghost).

I have 2 Drift HD cameras (I won one)...the first one gave me problems but Drift replaced it without any issues...and the replacement has been faultless...the prize one has also been faultless.

I need to get a few mates together and think of something I want to film to see if it can produce decent stuff...the one I created most recently seems to work for me (using a Drift HD - but recall if it was 720 or 1080 - according to my notes it was 1080 @ 30fps) - it is 8 minutes - so be prepared to be under-awed for most of it -

[url]

I suspect some of my settings to export the video is affecting quality (I didn't want a large filesize so turned down most of the settings slightly. Watching it back, it does look like I've selected inferior settings...I might try another export with slightly higher settings to see if that improves the footage a bit...

I think it looks ok (but then I'm biased).

This one is with a GoPro (set to 1080p/60fps) - [url]

- again, standby to be completely under-awed by the footage.

My only real gripe with the Drift is that the helmet mounts are fine for helmets with plenty of space i.e. lack of vents...I've overcome this by getting the GoPro adapter and use the GoPro helmet strap mount...

z1ppy - Member
Saw the Nilox foolish 1080 mentioned in a mag the other day, of any use?
(not seen it mentioned before)

Good review [url= http://www.bikeradar.com/gear/category/accessories/gadgets/product/review-nilox--foolish-action-camera-47010 ]here.[/url] It also seems to be the same camera that Decathlon sell under their own name for less money (and gets similarly good reviews).

Watching it back, it does look like I've selected inferior settings...I

Watching it back on YouTube doesn't tell you much because they heavily compress the videos anyway (even when you select HD).

Vimeo is slightly better in that respect.

Just played the raw footage back and it must be something with my settings that I exported out to as in the footage, the image is much sharper...

I just dont like the, I have a toaster on my helmet look of the gopro

So, is Vimeo better for posting HD footage then?

Just posted a little vid on facebook for some mates to take a look at Whinlatter, and found the footage quality to be quite poor compared with the original.

Dick Barton - have you seen the shoulder harness for the Drift camera?

Yes, but it isn't ideal if you are wearing a backpack...I'm thinking the goggle mount that comes with the camera could be amended to work on a rucsac shoulder strap...I just need to get round to trying to jig around with it.

I think it is better than the chest mount from GoPro - I've used it several times and going by my inability to ride properly I was finding I kept knocking the camera on my saddle - wasn't anything extreme, just my inability to ride properly...I think the shoulder mount might actually be a better position for it.

have uploaded to vimeo and quality is better however i think this is due to higher quality output...so will upload to youtube as well and then compare.

sorry for thread hijack.