Camera traps

[Mike G]

We regularly have wildlife visiting our garden, and the footprints in the snow in the last week or so have made us realise just how much we were missing out on. We had a hare in the garden last night, and a fox revealed itself in the snow last week. I know that Andy in France has a camera trap, but I'm after general advice on what to look out for. I'm not after photos to enter into "Wildlife Photograper of the Year", but want a reasonable idea of what is visiting us after dark. What are my options?

 

[novocaine]

from the research I did for my FIL when we wanted to get him one for christmas, lots of pretty crappy quality cameras (most of which are exactly the same but have different software to interpolate things just slightly different) in cheap plastic cases. all of them that use 4aa batteries are pretty much identical and all will eat batteries. I assume this is because someone had a glut of camera internals that they couldn't bring to market so they found a better way.

we found the golden price is around 60 quid, most above that price are the same thing with absurd claims of battery life and image quality.

for the record, I made one using a Pi mini a IR light and a PI camera so he could see if he used it. he did. for a week. the bit he found the most useful was he could get a warning to his phone and watch the camera through his Ipad, after a week it was the same cat, fox or bird returning every time.

 

[AndyP]

Mike,
Mine is a Browning dark ops HD Pro X. I bought it from here https://www.naturespy.org/
takes good quality images and video day or night but eats batteries. I now have it attached to the barn so I can use a power adapter, something Browning DO NOT recommend but I have had no issues.

It does not have a timer so it cannot be set to work only at night etc. Might be a useful.
See if you can find one that does work with a power adapter.

 

[Mike G]

Thanks guys. Very handy. I hadn't imagined the battery life issue.

 

[AndyP]

you can save battery life by just taking one image every trigger and you can set how many images, how far apart to take and how often the trigger resets.
Remember the images of the Marten in my garden. That that was rapid fire 6 images.
Video quality can be set as well as how long. You will need a large memory card, or two, and check regularly. Also make sure you have a fast memory card reader. the one on the iMac is useless. I actually use the one in the printer.

most frequent visitor of late is a mouse and of course the neighbours cats.

 

[AndyP]

BTW although Browning to dot recommend a power adapter they do provide a socket on the camera which is designed to plug an extra battery pack. i used that and a correctly rated power adapter.

 

[RogerS]

I asked this question a year or so over on t'other place. Bushnell kept coming out as a top recommendation and so I bought one. Very happy with it. Not the cheapest but YGWYPF.

 

[novocaine]

I love that the likes of browning and bushnell are in on this action. browning make firearms, bushnell make optics. neither make cameras. both make a lot of kit for hunting (one more so than the other), talk about diversification of the market. :lol:

in merica they aren't sold as wildlife cameras, they are sold as trail cameras and predominantly to hunters so they can see what is in the area before they go out (because all that walking is just to much like hard work).

what I could never find out was who licensed the name to make these products.

 

[RogerS]

... bushnell make optics. neither make cameras. ....

.....

Oh silly me. I must be going blind then and imagining the images I've downloaded from my Bushnell.

 

[Mike Jordan]

I've had two cameras over the last ten years, the current one was much cheaper and both have worked very well. They both use 8 AA batteries ( I have two sets of rechargeable ones) both have had the ability to take photos or video and various other modes I haven't used. It's amazing what you see by infrared.

 

[9fingers]

Rather than take a memory card in and out daily do any cameras offer WiFi connection?
It seems to me that opening and closing a water resistant enclosure could eventually be compromised. Similarly running on an external power source seems equally important to me for similar reasons.
Bob

 

[novocaine]

... bushnell make optics. neither make cameras. ....

.....

Oh silly me. I must be going blind then and imagining the images I've downloaded from my Bushnell.

read the whole thing Roger, last line:

"what I could never find out was who licensed the name to make these products."

I'm not say what you have isn't a decent product, what I'm saying is it unlikely to be made in a factory owned by Bushnell and quite likely is being sold as the exact same product without the name or with someone elses name on it.

I stand by my comment, Bushnell do not make cameras, much like dell don't make screens, coke don't make cans (actually that one isn't true anymore) and snap on don't make torches (yet I have one in the garage). they have allowed someone else to make and market the product for them, under their name.

I'm going to guess it's someone like SJCam or xiomi, both of which produce decent enough action cameras at a considerably cheaper price point than the likes of gopro.

 

[novocaine]

Rather than take a memory card in and out daily do any cameras offer WiFi connection?
It seems to me that opening and closing a water resistant enclosure could eventually be compromised. Similarly running on an external power source seems equally important to me for similar reasons.
Bob

yes. but the range is limited and the battery life will suffer.

the Bushnell and Browning ones are a good design in that the battery compartment and the camera unit are seperated.

 

[Mike G]

I've had two cameras over the last ten years, the current one was much cheaper and both have worked very well. They both use 8 AA batteries ( I have two sets of rechargeable ones) both have had the ability to take photos or video and various other modes I haven't used. It's amazing what you see by infrared.

Can you remember where you bought that from, Mike?

 

[novocaine]

Bezos emporium of tat... was around 60 quid before christmas, quick check of the wishlist shows it at 40-50 now.

Bezos tat

 

[eezageeza]

For what its worth, I recently bought a Bushnell, and had to return it. The retailer admitted they'd had a lot of trouble with their latest models coming back!
I subsequently bought a Browning, and its been super.
Bought the Browning from www.wildviewcameras.co.uk who seem to know what they're talking about!

 

[AJB Temple]

As a somewhat different approach, we have 10 CCTV cameras around the place. Part of this is home security but some are used to cover the garden and ponds. We have a mix of Arlo pro 2 and 3. Battery life is measured in weeks or months, but some are connected to mains via transformers. Motion detection, IR, high quality images, uploads to smartphone, PC, cloud etc all wireless.

We get the early morning Heron visits, the Tawny owls etc this way and a swallows nest (in season). The one over the outdoor kitchen and Koi pond has a built in light and catches even bats. The cameras are easy to move around as they have magnetic mounts and the mount units can be fixed in various ways, using (eg) one screw.

Obviously more expensive but if you are installing home security anyway, then an expandable system for wildlife is great. You get colour night vision, 2K HDR and 160degree viewing angle. I know zippo about wildlife cameras, but I find the current range of home security cameras do a great job and really easy to set up and use.

Next year I am going to have a go at nest box cameras. (Too late for this year).

 

[Lons]

Adrian beat me to it, one of our cameras covers part of the back garden and picks up most wildlife, they're hard wired but can send notifications to my phone for viewing live, I had to switch that off or I'd be up all night! WiFi security cameras are pretty good as well.

One of my friends bought a cheap sub £30 trail camera off ebay to monitor the shed on his smallholding and I was very surprised at the results, certainly not great quality and does go through batteries but clear enough from IR to be able to easily recognize what set it off. He's had it a couple of years without problems.

 

[Mike G]

Apparently security cameras give off some sort of visible glow after dark, which the better trail cameras don't. Ironically, this might mean that your wildlife camera makes a better security camera than your security camera, as the scumbags burgling your property aren't so likely to pull on a balaclava if they can't see a glow.

 

[the bear]

At my house you just listen out for the bin being knocked over. The wildlife doesn’t even care if you open the window to photograph them. Buggars even know to flip the handle to unlock it

I also have arlo cameras. The wildlife gets quickly conditioned to any lights etc. They are almost constantly armed and batteries last weeks between charges

Mark

 

[Lurker]

Bezos emporium of tat... was around 60 quid before christmas, quick check of the wishlist shows it at 40-50 now.

Bezos tat

That one is £32 in Amazon warehouse.
Assume that you are all aware of the warehouse, some good deals there sometimes.
I bought a spotting scope with £50 off, all that was wrong was the box it came in was ripped.

 

[AJB Temple]

It is true Mike that some security cameras can have a low red or blue glow. Any burglar who is not just opportunist will case property in daylight before attempting burglary. Security is a deterrent as much as anything. We are very low key and it is possible to hide cameras out of sight lines.

Wildlife simply don't care. The results for wildlife pictures are very much dependent on the quality of the camera and processor and you get what you pay for. When we first moved here I tried the cheap trail cameras as I wanted to see what the bats and swallows were up to, but the current high res cameras give results in a different league really.

I have one camera attached to my outdoor kitchen building looking out over the fish pond. It has a slight blue glow but doesn't stop the Tawny Owl perching on it and making a racket.

 

[Mike Jordan]

Mike.
It's called - Victure IP66 Wildlife. -Trail Camera from Amazon £39.88 sold by. MING-EU

 

[Mike G]

.....Amazon warehouse.
Assume that you are all aware of the warehouse, some good deals there sometimes.....

Never heard of it. What? Where? How?

 

[novocaine]

.....Amazon warehouse.
Assume that you are all aware of the warehouse, some good deals there sometimes.....

Never heard of it. What? Where? How?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Amazon-Warehou ... 3581866031

enjoy.

 

[Cabinetman]

The police put out an appeal here last week for the owners of trail cameras found in our local wood to come forward as they were looking for a man who had gone missing, out for a walk in the woods you never know who’s looking at you – no privacy anywhere nowadays is there.

 

[Lurker]

.....Amazon warehouse.
Assume that you are all aware of the warehouse, some good deals there sometimes.....

Never heard of it. What? Where? How?

Basically selling “returns” and I think overstock and obsolete stuff.

It implies the stuff is used but goes on to detail.
Eg. Damaged box........ this is the retail box not the shipping package.

Ordinary Amazon open page, but then warehouse deals.
Delivery and terms and conditions are normal Amazon ones.

 

[Phil]

Here you go Mike, something to also make you homesick for Africa!


https://willbl.com/about/


https://willbl.com/camera-traps/


First prize goes to these little chaps.

https://blog.burrard-lucas.com/2014/04/ ... -meerkats/

 

[Mike G]

Ag, nee man. Moet dit nie aan my doen nie. :lol:

 

[Phil]

Ag, nee man. Moet dit nie aan my doen nie. :lol:

Ja Boet, en ons kan ook vloek, drink en braai dat die biesies bewe :lol: :lol:

 

[novocaine]

Yer what he said......... :eusa-shifty:

 

[Mike G]

I was with you up to "biesies bewe".......then you lost me.

 

[Phil]

I was with you up to "biesies bewe".......then you lost me.

The reeds rustle in the breeze around the camp fire

 

[eezageeza]

Apparently security cameras give off some sort of visible glow after dark, which the better trail cameras don't. Ironically, this might mean that your wildlife camera makes a better security camera than your security camera, as the scumbags burgling your property aren't so likely to pull on a balaclava if they can't see a glow.

Yep, they're usually listed as low-glow, or no-glow, depending on the wavelength of IR they emit. The low glow are brighter, so give better photo exposure, but as you say, give off some visible light. But apparently both types are visible to wildlife, so it'll make no difference to them which one you choose!

I got a no-glow, just because it may get called into service as a security camera, and needs to stay invisible to anyone it might catch (lots of fly-tipping around here ATM!).

 

[Harv-53]

here is a quick screen shot of our cctv cameras, the bright glows are the cameras, their not visible to the naked eye, we get lots of wildlife and used to check regularly but the novelty wore off a couple of years ago.
I log into a App to view.

 

[Phil]

Ag, nee man. Moet dit nie aan my doen nie. :lol:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?reload=9&v=kJ4CYbCGhLA

 

[Just4fun]

At my house you just listen out for the bin being knocked over.

We also have badgers around. A couple of years ago we asked some local hunters to come and have a go and they solved the problem, at least for a while. Today the hunters turned up unrequested and unannounced, complete with a specialist dog and a gun. They just went to one of our outbuildings, because the badgers tend to get under there. They later sent a message to say they got 4 of the blighters. Good job too; they are a menace.

I understand it is not possible to disturb them in the UK. Here, it is OK to hunt them at certain times of the year and I assume it is currently allowed. It is nice to have helpful neighbours. Or do badgers have some value? Do people still make shaving brushes etc from badger bristles?

 

[Woodster]

read the whole thing Roger, last line:

"what I could never find out was who licensed the name to make these products."

I'm not say what you have isn't a decent product, what I'm saying is it unlikely to be made in a factory owned by Bushnell and quite likely is being sold as the exact same product without the name or with someone elses name on it.

I stand by my comment, Bushnell do not make cameras, much like dell don't make screens, coke don't make cans (actually that one isn't true anymore) and snap on don't make torches (yet I have one in the garage). they have allowed someone else to make and market the product for them, under their name.

I'm going to guess it's someone like SJCam or xiomi, both of which produce decent enough action cameras at a considerably cheaper price point than the likes of gopro.

Not looked for years but you used to be able to buy Pentax and Nikon Telescopic sights in America. Both companies make cameras but not telescopic sights. Rather daft as everyone knew the Pentax ones were made by Burris at the time. Not sure who made the Nikon’s though.

 

[9fingers]

It’s all about branding designed to trick the punter.

If as JC Bamford you have a reputation for big strong digging machines. You can licence the use of JCB to someone importing cordless tools and punters will think the cordless tools are tough like the digger. Provided the tools are not so rubbish as to damage the original brand you now have an income stream you did not have before.
Until such times as the buyers of new diggers thinks because they once had a cordless tool that failed and so they buy Kubota instead everyone is happy. The same goes for JCB boots

Does anyone with half a brain cell think Bamford make foot wear? Of course not

Bob

 

[Mike G]

.....do badgers have some value?.....

Yes. Just part of life's rich tapestry.