I need cameras for wildlife recording which can be hidden in places where there is very high likelihood of them being stolen. They should be small and with long lasting batteries, no flash, just infrared. Operating range is important, ca 12-15 m is good. I do not need high quality and colour pictures - these features are sacrificed for the sake of secret use. Well, Reconyx are possibly good, but they are big and I suppose will use flash. So please, advise me. Price is not a problem, if there are good chances to hide camera, if not - then I will need to use cheapest ones and make a lot of replacements. Thanks a lot. LB
A team I work with uses motion activated reconyx to get infrared photos of seabirds in a dark cave - they don't use a flash - so they might be OK for you? They are quite big, as you said, but you can get them in camouflage colours, so you may be able to hide them effectively.
Cheers,
Alice
@Alice, I just had recommendations to check Reconyx, so I did. You are the second recommendation. What is the range of the model you use, and which one you use? Birds are small, maybe can you wrote more on the use, before I decide to invest money? Thank you in advance.
24h - and 300 km driving for batery change, it is not good. Othervise, camera seems very small and convenient. Thank you, Emilio, I will investigate this option. What was the price of camera per pcs?
car batteries - you mean ca 12 kg car battery? Or I miss something? then power consumption is so huge! perhaps, You mean some other power source.
And in some web pages it was written "indoor"; then sorry, not much suitable.
There is a nice review of several cameras (in German) at
http://www.wald-prinz.de/wildkamera-fotofalle-wer-macht-wann-was-in-meinem-wald/2435
Peter
Linas, I use cameras for 3 years in various environments, in some cases there is some probability of them being stolen. My experience indicates that it is hardly possible to find camera if you doesn't know where it is. Cameras could be seen at night when they produce red light. If you want to avoid it, you need cameras with "no glow" effect. I know that this have MOULTRIE cameras and Reconyx. I did not use Reconyx so far, we just got them couple of days ago, but Moultrie cams are ok. I used them this fall and I did not change batteries for 3 months. Well, it depends on the visitors activity for sure, but still, I had no problems with Moultrie cams. They are of standard size, about A5, a little bit thicker than Bushnell cams, we payed about 500USD per unit but they must be cheaper in Europe. And they worked properly in harsh conditions of autumn in Urals, when cold periods change with pretty warm days, and rain comes after snowfall.
Hi, may be give a look at www.fototrappolaggio.com, they offer a wide range of cameras and (according to the ordered quantity), it is possible to customize the camera for particular purposes.
Hi, we (Raptor Protection of Slovakia) use Scoutguard (here is description, but only in slovak - www.ibo.sk/produkt-fotopasca-scoutguard-sg-550-v-s-fareb-prehliadacom-po120/165/341/283/), the photo quality is not the best, but good. Second model is this - mms photo trap - www.ibo.sk/produkt-mms-fotopasca-scoutguard-sg550-mms-8-mpx-gprs-po1050/165/341/2361/. Some new models have invisible infrared mode. And I recommend some lock and iron box - like this www.ibo.sk/produkt-bezpecnostny-box-pre-fotopascu-sg550-mms-po133n/165/341/305/.
We use this cameras by monitoring of raptor nests. Some models like Cuddeback has straight beam motion sensor - good for monitoring of nests or some little areas.
Hi Linus
It's true that Reconyx are relatively big. However as others have said they are very good cameras and come in camouflage pattern. I use them in peri-urban areas and secure them on trees with locking cables. I have PC900 Hyperfires which last many months without battery changes. I don't know the minimum range but I have lots of good footage of animals sniffing the cameras. I've used Moultrie (not bad), and Scoutguard (not good) BUT I don't think they are as good as Reconyx. I work in a wet tropical environment and have found out the hard way that if you buy cheap camera traps you get what you pay for and they will be unreliable and deteriorate quickly; not an issue with a Reconyx. Some of the Reconyx models come with true IR flashes. As as Nickolay pointed out, some brands claim to have IR flashes but there may still be a very faint red led visible. My Scoutguards had this type of IR and as a result I have plenty of images of animals jumping back from the flash; again not an issue with my Reconyx cameras.
Hello all, today had a chance to look at Moultrie, one of the cheaper models, and, really, red light is visible. Not good. Will write a letter to both Moultrie and Reconyx dealers, maybe there is trully invisible solution.
Cheap Moltires are indeed visible. Well, anyway, even expensive Moultries are cheaper than Reconyx :))
Reconyx has truly invisible IR in their more-expensive models.
Maybe someone can comment, what "black LEDs" may mean in practice? Is this ans invisible flash?
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Biological Science
- Zoology