Hi DwarfHog
From what I’ve seen, most of the cameras recommend to use ordinary batteries but I use rechargeable batteries in mine. I think part of the ‘problem’ is that the rechargeable batteries are only approx 1.2v and the ordinary batteries are 1.5v. So if you use rechargeable ones in a camera which says it will run on 4, it may need at least 6 and I always use 8. They just need recharging quite frequently, but before using them I was getting through a ridiculous number of ordinary batteries.
I have 2 makes of camera. One is a Bushnell trophy cam HD E3. It has an excellent picture quality 16MP (I use for video). You can set it for night only, so that it isn’t wasting battery life during the day. The drawbacks are that it doesn’t cover a very wide field of view (couldn’t find the actual amount mentioned) and night time videos are limited to 15 seconds – but the time between videos seems quite short so that compensates. Not easy to tell how many videos taken without connecting to a computer. It has a one year guarantee. Seems to have quite good battery life. Records sound. Will add date and time stamp.
Another one is a Konig SAS-DVR0DR22. 12MP. 2 year guarantee – useful as I have had 2 cameras previously (another make) which went wrong. It will record 30 seconds of night time video which I find useful for hogs. The picture isn’t as good, but good enough to see what is happening. Batteries seem to last fairly long. Again, this one doesn’t cover a very wide field of view – 52 degrees. Probably comparable to the Bushnell. Records sound.
My older camera was also Konig SAS-DVR0DR21 12MP, but has a wider 60 degree field of view, which I find very useful for hogs, especially if they are a bit closer, as otherwise they go out of view so quickly. Picture quality is similar to the Konig above. Will record for 20 seconds at night. Doesn’t record sound.
Konigs are cheaper than Bushnells. The Bushnell hasn’t gone wrong nor the newer Konig. The older Konig does occasionally have a bit of a blip, but if you format it every time not so often, and it is older than the others – out of guarantee. For me it is worth persevering with for the wider field of view.
All use AA batteries.
All will take photos as an alternative.
Things to think about:
Field of view
Picture quality – less important if using for video than for photos
length of video
Sound recording?
Date and time stamp?
Price
Hope this is of some help.
