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Last year, we thoroughly evaluated every one-piece Action Camera on the Australian market and this was the only camera we could confidently recommend. Why? Well, first we made a list of every essential feature required for this type of camera. Then we shortlisted the few that ticked every box, and performance-tested each one.

Our clear winner was the Drift HD170 Stealth.

Since then, Drift have released the upmarket new Drift HD, GoPro released the new Hero2 and Contour have a couple of new versions too.

We've now also tested these, but thanks to the wide price gap between the Stealth and the newcomers, we're sticking by our original conclusion. If you can't justify the considerable extra cost for various extra features, then the Stealth is still the winner. It's also the only camera with an optional 4 hour internal battery.

So what were the essential features?

1) LCD VIEWFINDER Seems so obvious but the GoPro HD and the Contour HD don't have one and they're frustrating to operate without one. We lost count of the times we got back to the office to find the other cameras were not framed ideally or had dirt on the lens for part of the footage, and by then it was too late to re-shoot. On one recent shoot with the GoPro, we filled our only memory card sooner than expected, knew there were clips that could be deleted but couldn't see which ones to delete! An LCD screen allows both accurate framing AND full replay on location. Sure you can buy an LCD BacPak for the GoPro but it's another $130 for more weight and bulk.

2) WIRELESS REMOTE CONTROL Your camera won't always be mounted within easy reach. The standard Drift Wireless Remote can be wrist-mounted and turned on & off at will, saving battery and storage space.

3) A ROTATABLE LENS This allows you to mount the camera in any position you want, even upside down, then simply rotate the lens until the shot is level. No need to flip the footage during the edit. And if you deliberately want an angled view, the LCD screen lets you see it before you commit!

4) PROVISION FOR EXTERNAL MIC Most built-in mics are pretty ordinary in windy environments and can also pick-up extraneous vibration noises. A separate external mic avoids all that and offers genuine narration possibilities too.

5) A PROPER UNIVERSAL THREAD to enable mounting on any tripod or camera mount of your choice. GoPro's proprietary mounting system requires an optional tripod adapter for universal mounting but the Drift cameras will fit everything with no need for adapters.

The HD170 Stealth has all these features and plenty more, plus it performed brilliantly in all our tests. To read more about it, just visit the Drift Innovation website.

To see some great videos shot with it, check the Drift Innovation video channel.

So are there any aspects we didn't like? Well there's a couple of minor things worth knowing about:

1) It's waterproof to half a metre. That's fine for regular use with rain, mud, snow and shallow water, but if you want it for surfing or snorkelling, make sure you get the optional waterproof pouch too.

2) If you stack, the HD170 body is very robust but the wide-angle lens is not completely protected. If you're a budding stuntman and this is an issue, get the waterproof pouch. Its protective (and replaceable) lens cover is great insurance and will certainly give you added peace of mind.

Other than that, we had no real complaints and loved the high quality video, great feature set and ease of use.

To read the full spec sheet, just download it from the "More Info" section below.

Start shooting some great action videos straight away! The kit comes with a full set of helmet and goggle mounts plus a basic handlebar mount, remote start/stop with wrist-strap, standard battery, heavy-duty velcro and various USB & AV cables.

And just contact us if you'd like a special package price with any Camzilla mount...

BTW, to see what's ultimately possible with a helmet camera, check out film director Guy Richie's extended ad for Nike.