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wildlife camera - which to buy?

AlbeAlbe Posts: 135
in Wildlife gardening
Hello,
our garden has plenty of wildlife visiting regularly, may squirrels. They are super pretty and we'd like to buy a camera with motion sensor to take films.
Any recommendation?
Thanks,
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Posts

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    edited January 2021
    I got a Bushnell trailcam.


    Amazing what you get at night and in the day.

    You can set it for stills or video. It takes 15 second bursts, records in black and white at night with an infra red illumination, or colour in the day with ambient light.



    The videos show the difference between night and day. It doesn't filter out the background traffic noise though.
     If it gets triggered a lot you need a 32 GB card in it or it runs out of memory.




  • AlbeAlbe Posts: 135
    Thanks for sharing.
    And your videos are great!
    At 240€ your camera is fairly expensive, some are as cheap as 50€. I'm trying to figure how expensive is the best purchase....
  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    You need to compare the trigger speed. If it takes a second or two before it starts to film, most of the action has been and gone. Using food to keep the animals in one place works well with the camera fixed on a stable tripod.

    comparison of cameras here.


     Compare the no of pixels as well for your photos.

  • AlbeAlbe Posts: 135
    We have feeding stations (one for the squirrels, one for the birds) where the animals spend time for eating, from some seconds to a few minutes. I think the trigger speed is therefore not so important.

    Thanks for the comparison link.
  • rachelQrtJHBjbrachelQrtJHBjb Posts: 819
    fidgetbones said:
    I got a Bushnell trailcam.


    Amazing what you get at night and in the day.

    You can set it for stills or video. It takes 15 second bursts, records in black and white at night with an infra red illumination, or colour in the day with ambient light.



    The videos show the difference between night and day. It doesn't filter out the background traffic noise though.
     If it gets triggered a lot you need a 32 GB card in it or it runs out of memory.




    How long does the battery last @fidgetbones?

  • fidgetbonesfidgetbones Posts: 17,618
    We use rechargeable , it takes three AA and they last a couple of days usually.  It will record several hours of video in a night without any problem.
  • AlbeAlbe Posts: 135
    Can you also power it from a cable?
    I plan to mount our (not bought it yet) on the outer garage wall, so it'd be easy for me to run a cable which I'd prefer because having to replace batteries every two days I'd prefer to avoid the hassle....
  • BobTheGardenerBobTheGardener Posts: 11,385
    Many of them have a 12V DC power socket on the bottom which can be used with an external 12V battery etc.  Both my Swann and Browning trail cameras have those, but you'd need to check the individual specs of any cameras you shortlist.  Some cameras can also hold more AA batteries, so last longer (it is usually the SD card getting filled which stops them though, well before the batteries die, in my own experience.)  I must have read about 20 'best trail camera' online reviews before I chose them.  As fb says, a short trigger delay is important.
    A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
  • AlbeAlbe Posts: 135
    Thanks.
    What if the camera camera can send the data wireless, say WiFi, would this prevent the card getting filled?
  • BijdezeeBijdezee Posts: 1,484
    I have an Apeman model H45. It was about £50. Its on the more basic side but it seems to work fine. Uses batteries. 
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