spy camera

[spikeyb]

i am disappointed with my wildlife spy camera .i have had it about 3 years.spent pounds on batteries .can the camera be worn out,because i know the hedgehogs are out there but the camera is not being set off .any advice please ,is it time to invest in another camera and ifso which one ?

[Alcuza]

I bought a Browning Recon which gives high quality videos but has the disadvantage of no time switch. I also have a much cheaper Victure which doesn’t have the quality but you can set a time switch to record just at might. Although wildlife cameras often say that rechargeable batteries are not recommended, they do work well if you buy high quality ones. Buy Panasonic Eneloop 2500 ones, they work fine and last for ages. Expensive to buy but they continue to recharge for years, so are worth it. So as far as a new camera is concerned you have to decide whether you want high quality images, or just basic images to see your wildlife. My Victure has worked well to simply see hedgehogs visiting, my Browning does provide better quality but costs a lot more. In my opinion, any camera provides joy, it’s just great to see the hedgehogs.
Jane

[Nic]

Hi spikeyb

I agree re. the rechargeable batteries. I have used them for years and they seem to work fine. But I tend to recharge them every day, as there’s quite a lot of ‘traffic’, what with the hogs, cats, mice, birds and bats. I agree is best to get the mAh as high as possible. I use Duracell 2500 and Energiser 2300 mAh. Both seem to work just as well. (Lower amounts of mAh don’t seem to last the night on full functionality. i.e. the cheaper ones are as low as 300 mAh and not much good for cameras). But you do have to bear in mind that they gradually become less efficient with time. Even rechargeable batteries have a lifespan. But I found that they work better than ordinary alkaline batteries. I have also tried Lithium batteries which worked quite well for a while – much longer than the alkaline ones, but expensive.

But also, rechargeable batteries only have 1.2v as opposed to 1.5v in ordinary ones. So you really need to use all 8 batteries, if the camera allows.

You might find it’s a battery problem which is causing your camera not to pick up everything, so it might be worth trying either lithium batteries or good quality rechargeable ones before you decide whether to invest in another camera. I found when there were battery problems, as well as not picking up everything, they did things like flashing and only taking short clips (both, when on video). But some things can be missed because of the delay between photos/videos. It may be something you can change the setting of – it might be worth checking. But it’s a bit of a standing joke about hogs and invisibility cloaks – how they manage to get past cameras without being seen!

Having said that, there must be some times when cameras have an actual fault and maybe you have one of them.

[FuzzyG]

I have a Victure camera which we got a few weeks ago and it has proved really good we have had some faulty videos when fly’s or bugs have set it off but it means it is really sensitive. we have caught a rat a mouse a fly a cat and luckily quite a few hedgehogs.

hope the advice helped

FuzzyG

[alanfrew]

I currently have three cameras and all three have different quality images with the most expensive being the worst. However, I put this down to my particular use rather than the camera. All three cameras appear to work great in daytime, recording HD quality. However, for night-time IR recording which is all I do for Hedgehog video they differ very much. The cameras by the way all cost £60- £80 so not in the expensive bracket.
Initially I used to connect each of the cameras to a DC power supply which was then put in one of those waterproof boxes and the mains lead run back to an outside weatherproof socket, hence no batteries required. However, I had issues with this method and resorted to using re-chargeable batteries, which I now charge approx. every 5 days. All the cameras are set to activate on the PIR between 21:00 – 05:00 with 30sec clips and a 3 min interval which is why the recharge is around 5 days of use. During the activation period I get anything up to 60+ clips per night of the hogs.
If you know the problem is power related, then maybe adopt a similar method as above to increase the battery life. Otherwise I would suggest setting up the camera parameters and testing whether the PIR and other functions are working as you expect. Each of my cameras has different parameters which can be adjusted and also, I have found some cameras store all the settings but some lose certain settings when the batteries are removed and have to be re-entered.

[Augusta26]

I have a camera from the Bushnell brand features the advantage of two image sensors – one optimized for sharp and rich images during the day, and the other – you guessed it – optimized for night use, with high contrast clarity promised at up to 80ft in the dim. Being a camera for the great outdoors, it goes without saying that this one is also built to survive in both the cold and the heat.
The Dual Sensor (DS) product gets its ‘No Glow’ moniker courtesy of LED lights that are described as ‘nearly invisible’ – thus making the unit ideal for both viewing wildlife and, conveniently, security purposes. Features Full HD video capture at up to 60fps with audio too, plus a 30-megapixel color camera with a triggered response time of just 0.2 seconds.

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