Trailcams

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Trailcams

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Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 20 11:19 am Post subject: Trailcams

Anyone any experience of a trailcam?

Thinking it might be a fun Christmas present. I'm after something we can pop in the garden/local wood/hedgerows, works on a battery, is motion sensitive and takes a picture of whatever it sees and saves it to a memory card.

We've got hedgehogs and badgers and foxes and stuff, be nice to see them.

I see them advertised from £20 up. I'm assuming some are awful, and some are David Attenborough level. Any reviews or experience or thoughts would be nice, please.

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46245
Location: yes

Posted: Fri Nov 27, 20 12:06 pm Post subject:

iirc there have been ds trailcam snaps, i cannot remember who did them , buzzy?

broad camera kit advice for night as well as day is go for quality rather than maximum pixels, a decent lens ie a big hole and nice glass is far better than fancy electrics, fancy electrics is good but only with good glass

for amusement, sharing snaps and learning, a bit less than 10meg P is very adequate

IR mode is nice for darkness, ie they do not see the flash but tis a better snap than a "low light" sensor which uses available light

for a trail cam i expect ease of tying it to a tree is an issue so make sure the casing has adaptable attachment points

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15993

Posted: Sat Nov 28, 20 8:58 am Post subject:
We have quite a good one, but sadly neither husband nor I am sure what make it is. Will try to find out. It does good quality pictures during the daylight and enough to tell you what the animal is in darkness. Runs off batteries and has a chip that can be used to run the whole lot on the computer. Motion activated.

roobarb

Joined: 15 Apr 2008
Posts: 139
Location: Carmarthenshire

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 20 5:06 pm Post subject:

I asked a similar question back in 2016
https://forum.downsizer.net/about86204.html&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight=

We went for a Bushnell camera from NatureSpy, and we've been very happy with it. Does day and night, sound, pictures or video. Runs on 8 AA batteries; we bought some long lasting rechargeable ones, which have yet to run out of charge when putting it out over night. Comes with a strap to attach to a tree, which had limited use, so bought a pole attachment for it (screws in the base), so you can stick it anywhere you like. Have had some wonderful images, particularly at night of hedgehogs, foxes, rabbits, cats and rats. It has also been very useful in monitoring other things, such as seeing what else is eating our chicken food, other than the chickens; how rats are getting into the loft and various other useful things that need recording day or night.
I think you can pay what you like for these, but as with everything you get what you pay for.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Wed Dec 09, 20 5:07 pm Post subject:
Thank you. This is the perfect answer. I knew we'd asked before.

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15993

Posted: Thu Dec 10, 20 8:32 am Post subject:
I think we may have a similar one. Know it runs on 8 batteries, but because ours is on 24 hours a day, we do need to change both the chip and batteries now and again. Ours is strapped to a pine tree in the woods to monitor the 'yard'.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Sat Jan 02, 21 6:59 pm Post subject:
I ended up buying a couple of £20* ones. Actually quite impressive in the light. I’ve put them out in the field for a few days, to see what we can see. I’ll post anything interesting. Unsure how sensitive they are, but first impressions are surprisingly good. * You also need to buy/supply a micro SD card and batteries.

Nick

Joined: 02 Nov 2004
Posts: 34535
Location: Hereford

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 21 1:34 pm Post subject:
Caught an intruder last night.... Before. A few seconds later... She has been suitably admonished. Several stills of her drinking from the pond. Bad dog!

dpack

Joined: 02 Jul 2005
Posts: 46245
Location: yes

Posted: Mon Jan 04, 21 1:38 pm Post subject:
ron had a liking for pig pen run off

Mistress Rose

Joined: 21 Jul 2011
Posts: 15993

Posted: Tue Jan 05, 21 8:44 am Post subject:
Well at least you know where the dog was.

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