Trail/wildlife camera recommendation

[robin3mj]

My father in law has an interest in seeing what kind of wildlife passes through his gardens at night and wants a camera to take a peek.

Anyone have any recommendations for reasonable output? He is not super tech savvy but has a Mac and an iPad for what it’s worth. Also, lives in Ireland so not sure whether certain brands are better/worse for worldwide usage.

[j44ke]

This website has a pretty good overview of what to look for. Their reviews are also good, especially the ones that provide sample photos and videos. The one caveat is correct location is everything and best orientation is the rest of it. If the light fluctuates or is high contrast (light and shadow) the image will suffer. If the camera is constantly just out of range of passing animals, the image will suffer. Or if it is pointing towards the sun or in the direction of prevalent winds, the camera will get fooled on exposure and by movement of leaves.

https://www.trailcampro.com/pages/fi...m-buyers-guide

I have two Browning Patriot cameras. They are okay. I can get decent photos. Right now I get a lot of deer and squirrels and a few turkeys. And coyotes. That's winter. But if I get the angle right and the lighting and somehow put the camera close enough to where the animals walk by, then I get something.









Obviously night time is the most fun.

I have four SD cards. I leave a card in each for about 2-3 weeks. Then I stop by and switch out the cards. I take the full cards (one camera set for videos, one set for stills) and look at them on my computer. Any good ones I save to an external hard drive. The rest get deleted. In the warmer months, I can get 600-800 still images and 200-300 videos. In winter, sometimes it is too cold for the batteries and I don't get anything.

I haven't looked into the cellular versions because they are more expensive than I've wanted. I think my cameras cost something like $150 each.

Well worth the money. So much fun to scroll through images and find something that could eat you scratching its butt on a rotten log.



note: you can an example of a low light shot above. Early morning, lots of tree cover, very dim shaded light = grainy image.

[thollandpe]

We have a Moultrie and are pleased with the results. Like Jorn says you have to get the location and orientation right, that takes some experimentation. We also have two SD cards, and swap them when we think of it. I'm amazed at the number and variety of large animals that peacefully coexist with our little neighborhood and all the pets.













I've caught this character a few times.



There are also some bad actors dumping old tires and bags of diapers nearby, I've been thinking of redeploying to catch them in the act.