Anyone know anything about trail cameras?

Jannyfox

Jannyfox

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Jan
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As per the title really. I know nothing about them but I've had a new garden planted up and mulched with bark. I know there's a hedgehog around as I've found its droppings, and there has been a badger around. Several mornings I've found the bark chips all over the paths where something's had a root around. Could be a cat but there's no cr*p. I'm just interested to find out what it is, and to find out in general what wildlife is around at night. It's a very small garden so range isn't an issue and I'm probably looking to do photos rather than video, though I think they all do both. I'm not looking for photo quality resolution - it's just for interest. Do they pick up small animals like hedgehogs? There are gaps between plants at the moment so nothing can hide under foliage for long, but all the info on them shows things like deer and badgers. Needless to say I don't want to spend a lot of money. I can pick up a Primos 2 from Uttings for £90, which would be fine - if it can do the job I want it to do. It does have to weatherproof. I'd be willing to spend up to £130 but no more, and I'm not interested in buying s/h no matter how good a deal it is.............
 
We have this Bushnell - http://bushnell.eu/eu/produits/all/trail-cameras/trophy-cam/119446/

The good and the bad

Good
Totally weatherproof, it has been out in torrential rain and below zero temperatures and is still working
Sensitive enough to pick up things as small as a mouse
Definition won't win any prizes but is definitely good enough for identification purposes
It can be set to take still photos or videos of up to 60 seconds in length


Bad
There aren't any real bad points just a few niggles -
The claimed range for the IR lights of 45 feet is optimistic. I doubt I could identify anything more than about 25 feet away.
The claimed battery life of one year is a joke. It takes 8 AA batteries and I usually, depending on the number of videos recorded, recharge four of them about every two or three days.
The strap to attach it to a convenient tree, post, drain pipe isn't much use. The strap is OK, its just I can never find somewhere in the right place to attach it to. I use a small tripod that I bought from 7dayshop.
The IR lights that come on at night glow red so are visible. This could be an issue if the camera is in a place with public access. There are other cameras that use IR lights with no visible output.

As I said these are really just niggles and this camera works well.

Here is a link to the output of this camera -
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6NJXFUny4Ls


Hope this helps.

Dave

BTW Checking the videos of the previous night can become addictive. :)
 
Thanks Dave. The Trophy range is a bit pricey, however it might be worth spending a bit more. The IR range something to bear in mind. Some of them are quite short range and probably won't be suitable for my garden. I have plenty of possible attachments, so that's not an issue. It won't be visible so no chance of it getting nicked. It's not going to out every night - addictive or not I'll soon get bored with wading through the output!

PaulButler said:
Posted a similar q the other week :) https://www.talkphotography.co.uk/threads/nature-or-trap-cameras.676837/
The browning spec ops seems to be very good - still testing it, but so far has worked flawlessly.
Click to expand...

I did read your thread, Paul, but your requirements seemed a bit different to mine, hence starting a new one, however I've flagged the one you got as a possible too. Again a bit more money but it comes with an SD card.
 
The 'low glow' LED versions are usually quite a bit cheaper than the 'no glow' (and less detectable) version that Paul required. So perhaps give Nature Spy a call next week and see what they recommend for your budget and requirements, Jan?

If you're buying a single camera and it's not likely to be seen and stolen then I would suggest that you consider paying that bit extra for a good one with a fast trigger time, otherwise you could well spend half your time watching videos of an empty garden and wondering what triggered it! As for the bark-chip mulch, blackbirds seem to love fishing around in bark chippings and chucking them all over the place, so they could be the culprit! They certainly were when I had a garden makeover a few years ago!
 
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We bought one from Lidl last year to try, at £80 what could go wrong?
It is one of the best things we have got for the garden, it is out everynight through spring summer and autumn it will record stills and video with good detail and starts pretty much once it is triggered. We have it set for 5 mins record time and have caught the hedgehogs humping and the rat family from under the shed using everything at the bottom of the garden including the bird table apple tree and wooden planters as the rodent equivalent of Alton Towers! I just wish I could charge them an entry fee!
The only thing is to get rechargable batteries for it, they last about 4 nights before needing to be replaced.
Go for it, the footage over breakfast is far better than anything on TV!
 
Mr Badger said:
The 'low glow' LED versions are usually quite a bit cheaper than the 'no glow' (and less detectable) version that Paul required. So perhaps give Nature Spy a call next week and see what they recommend for your budget and requirements, Jan?

If you're buying a single camera and it's not likely to be seen and stolen then I would suggest that you consider paying that bit extra for a good one with a fast trigger time, otherwise you could well spend half your time watching videos of an empty garden and wondering what triggered it! As for the bark-chip mulch, blackbirds seem to love fishing around in bark chippings and chucking them all over the place, so they could be the culprit! They certainly were when I had a garden makeover a few years ago!
Click to expand...

Having read the replies here has made me think harder about what I want. Low glow is fine for me and I noticed they're cheaper, and I think the trigger time will be a factor. I think I'm getting more than one creature having a forage and I did think blackbirds. There's loads of ants in the garden - do they eat them? They're busy feeding young so I think they're going for anything that wriggles. That would certainly explain the small marks, but probably not the bigger foragings that happen overnight.
I can't do anything about getting one for a few weeks. Now I really wish it could be sooner..............:)
 
The thing to check is the trigger time for video, the time for photos is usually quicker so it tends to get quoted in the adverts, so do check the video trigger time too - don't confuse this with video recording time though, as you can usually change how long it will record each individual video clip! I generally use the video rather than the photo setting as I think I've got more chance of seeing what triggered it during a 20 or 30 second video clip, rather than a single snapshot.

I'm looking to get a better trail cam soon, as I bought 2 cheapish ones from Aldi a couple of years ago as I needed to set them in a place where they could potentially have got stolen, so didn't want to risk a £200 one! However, I'd like something with a faster trigger time so I'm not missing as many animals. I'd also prefer a 'no glow' one, but for your purpose, Jan, I'd imagine a 'low glow' version might be ideal if that puts a better spec one in your price range? As I said, try giving Nature Spy a call when you're ready and discuss your requirements with them; they're using camera traps on a daily basis as their main business (wildlife monitoring) as well as selling them (at a competitive price it seems), so they should know what they're talking about. Best of luck choosing and I'll look forward to finding out what's been chucking your bark chip about. (y)
 
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