Thanks Guillermo,

My organisation wants to capture relatively large mammals such as leopard, impala. The smallest animal would be house cat-size. A problem we experience is that moving leopard for example, show no spots just a blur with the white LED flash.

Hi Rion,

Which cameras did you test? When something moves fast, you will get by most of the cameras a blurred image. I got this by Reconyx hc500, hc550, hc600 and many Bushnell cameras. This is, because there is to much movement in the time that the sensor get light of the Ir leds or white leds. The flash of cuddebacks are quit short. Otherwise you can use dslr cameras with extended flashes, than you are sure the exposure time is real short.

Hope it helps a bit?

René 

Hello there, it depends on your key objective, if you would like to assess occupancy based on presence/absence model or presence only model then IR will be better, as it won't have much impact on detection, as in using white flash often make animals using alternative paths. However if you would like to estimate density based on SECR model then it will be better to use white flash, as you will be identify the individual based on their distinct marking (which is possible in the case of common leopard). I personally prefer IR and use brand Bushnell, I found them the best in terms of cost and efficacy. Reconyx or Cuddeback are not bad however reconyx is really expensive. Thank you so much. Hopefully it helps. Best of luck for your endeavor. 

The triggerspeed of the newest Agressor Models of Bushnell are real stunning and more rapid than Reconyx. Don't use the Black LED versions, they give less light than the normal LED's and by that a less clear view.

Thanks everyone! We only record presence/absence and not interested in densities. Interesting we found that impala herds sleep in front of camera and flash does not seem to drive them off during the night. It will be interesting to test though.

Great Rion, we found feral cattle spending night in front of camera! :) 

Hello Rion, Just adding an experiences we had on the field with nocturnal animal observations, IR better option if affordable in tropical range animal. White and red LED made them avoid the observer in second or 3rd counts as most fauna learn and remembered by 1st count, examples are Slender Loris, Night jar, some time fishing-cat. Amphibians nocturnal reptiles, and most of rodents are more accurate with LED than other taxa. 

Hi, you can use a lure (perfume), this make animals stop for a while, allowing better photo-captures

Hi, a great paper worth reading is this one- Rovero, F., Zimmermann, F., Berzi, D. and Meek, P., 2013. " Which camera trap type and how many do I need?" A review of camera features and study designs for a range of wildlife research applications. Hystrix, the Italian Journal of Mammalogy, 24(2), pp.148-156. I have found it particularly useful in putting together a training workshop for camera trap users. It says everything I could tell you here.

Hi Rion,

If detection is the priority and high picture quality is not necessary, I suggest you focus on trigger speed and reliability. For example, we found that IR Moultries tended to get far more detections than white flash Cuddebacks.

Best wishes,

Robin

Pls check the attachment. 

Depends on the aim. If identifying individuals of a species (especially for mammals that have unique coat patterns) is the goal then LED flash is better as it enables clearer pictures. Otherwise for occupancy surveys based only on detection then IR works fine. Also, a lot depends on the sensitivity of the sensor and the mode. Small videos work better than just photos for IR.