Hi Black Dog,

The Drift is a near-fisheye lens giving a wide 170deg field of view, which is where the X170 got its name from. The perspective is different from the human eye, which is why it appears distorted. I’m sure you’re right, it does make it look you’re going faster, and this is probably due at least in part to the scenery whizzing by at the edges of the picture, like peripheral vision.

However, IMHO I would say that on-bike video footage is primarily for enjoyment rather than for optical accuracy, and having the scenery whizzing by gives a more involving viewing experience.

The fish-eye distortion is most noticeable at the edge of the picture when passing tall lamposts and under bridges, they seem to “bend” as you go past them. Take a look at some of my other bike videos and you'll see what I mean. (To find my other videos, use the link above to go to my video, then click on my avatar photo or the username link. It'll take you to my Channel where you can browse my other videos).

One advantage of a wide-angle lens is that it allows you to capture all the action without worrying too much about where the camera is pointing. Other cameras having a narrower lens will produce a picture with perspective closer to the human eye, but then the camera setup becomes important, it needs to point in exactly the right direction otherwise you'll miss some of the action. Not too difficult if the camera is mounted on the bike, but harder if it’s helmet-mounted.

There are lots of great action cameras out there, but some things I like about the Drift is its all-in-one compact design, the excellent range of mounting accessories it comes with, and especially the built-in colour monitor screen, which firstly allows an easy-to-use and very intuitive user-interface, and secondly makes camera set-up a breeze, plus you can review your footage while still out on the road.

The X170 has been superseded by several other Drift models like the HD170, Stealth, and most recently the Ghost. The newer ones are more compact (but no lighter) and offer higher-def, but they’re much more expensive, and the video files generated can be huge. Cost was a major factor in my decision. If YouTube is your target audience, why not skip the HD versions, go for a more basic model and save yourself a wad of cash. As you said, the video quality of my X170 is pretty good and I agree.

Cheers,
Dave.