Trail Cam?

I went on a trail camera training course a couple of years ago and the batteries they recommended for use in most trail cams are the non rechargeable lithium type, such as Energiser Lithium. I believe rechargeable batteries will work short term as long as they're above 2500 mah in power capacity, but they're apt to lose charge quicker and be more susceptible to voltage drop in cold weather. We were advised to avoid standard Duracell alkali type batteries as apparently their power delivery characteristics aren't particularly well suited to use in most trail cameras (long periods of standby, followed by a sudden demand for power).

From what I've read, symptoms of failing/less suitable batteries can apparently include a failure to record at night (due to the additional sudden power demand from the IR illuminators/flash), production of empty files (power insufficient to complete the writing process), and other assorted issues. My own limited findings seem to suggest that testing a new trail cam for a day or so with a fresh set of high quality batteries is probably OK, but I use Energiser Lithium batteries after I know everything is working OK. I also test each battery with a meter before installing them in anything new... you can occasionally get the odd dud one and it saves wasting time or blaming a perfectly good electrical item as a result of a dud battery!
 
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Mr Badger said:
From what I've read, symptoms of failing/less suitable batteries can apparently include a failure to record at night (due to the additional sudden power demand from the IR illuminators/flash), production of empty files (power insufficient to complete the writing process), and other assorted issues. My own limited findings seem to suggest that testing a new trail cam for a day or so with a fresh set of high quality batteries is probably OK, but I use Energiser Lithium batteries after I know everything is working OK. I also test each battery with a meter before installing them in anything new... you can occasionally get the odd dud one and it saves wasting time or blaming a perfectly good electrical item as a result of a dud battery!
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Agree about the failing batteries. I found it confusing at first until I looked it up online. Getting a number of zero byte files, sometimes interspersed with the odd normal length file, suggests a failing camera.

I've found no problem using rechargeable NiMH batteries in our camera (Bushnell model 119446) anything from 2000mAh upwards. This might be how I use the camera. It is checked every morning so I'm aware if the charge in the batteries is getting too low, but things might be different if a camera has to left out for a long time unchecked.

Dave
 
Well, the new 'updated' Apeman H55 arrived this afternoon and I got time to give it a quick test in the back garden before the light went completely (dull and spotting with rain) and it seems to work OK, so I'll put it out tonight and see how it goes. The quick test revealed it seems to have a wider field of view in video mode than my existing H55. They've not changed the 15 frames/second frame rate on the 'full HD' video though (I was hoping they might have increased it), so I'll opt for the 1280 x 720 at 30 frames/second setting instead to capture smoother motion.

The initial test showed it produces nicer looking colour in video mode than the previous model H55 I compared it against, and less lens-flare too. I want to test it against the other H55 that I own before confirming this though, just in case the camera I tested it against is a bit of a rogue model. Will keep you posted. As long as it works OK at night and the sensor is as good as the previous models I'll be very happy for the £35.99 I paid for it... I still feel a bit like I stole it at that price!
 
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A quick update, after testing the new 'updated' camera against my existing ones I can confirm the video from the new one does look just a little bit sharper, with a noticeably warmer, nicer-looking colour to it. The black and white night-vision video looks slightly sharper and more detailed too. However, the field of view hasn't been changed and remains the same; it must have been my imagination before! All things considered it seems to be a nice little upgrade on the original version, making it even more appealing at the price it sells for, especially if you manage to bag one at a 'flash sale' price.
 
michael23 said:
What's the close focus on these? I have wondered about trying to capture video of birds visiting my feeders in the garden with something like this.
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In reference to the Apeman H55 trail camera; I've not measured it, but I'd guess around 1m or so. However, while it will record photos of birds and you should be able to identify the species and see how they fly (I think there are some examples in the reviews section of Amazon), don't expect even 'smartphone from 6 years ago' type photo quality, that's not what trail cameras are really about or designed for. The shutter speed may be too slow to crisply freeze wing beats, almost certainly so in dull weather. The camera on a trail cam has to cope with all sorts of lighting conditions and also infrared night vision, so it's always going to be something of a 'Jack of all trades' compromise.

Likewise with video, the footage at full HD (1080p) is taken at 15 frames per second which, while giving fairly good clarity, will often give not particularly smooth motion footage. Dropping the resolution to the 1280 x 720p setting provides 30 frames per second, which gives smoother looking footage (and is the setting I prefer), but you'll lose a bit of that crispness you get with full HD. Even so, even 30 fps isn't the best for recording flying and hovering birds, and I'd think 60fps+ would be better for producing fairly smooth-looking flight videos (without getting into high-speed type specialist stuff).

This said, it rather depends on your expectations; you'll probably get some interesting video footage from it, but we can't expect BBC broadcast quality video of birds at a feeder from a sub £50 trail camera. A good quality camcorder set up near your bird feeder would probably produce better footage of birds fluttering around and squabbling, and you'd have the optical zoom facility with that too. However, you don't get the PIR sensor, weatherproofing and self-activation like you do with a trail cam! In short, this trail cam should produce some watchable video of birds at a feeder or table (after a bit of trial and error to get the positioning of the camera right); whether you'll be happy with the video quality will probably depend on your expectations. Hope this is helpful.
 
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Mr Badger said:
In reference to the Apeman H55 trail camera; I've not measured it, but I'd guess around 1m or so. However, while it will record photos of birds and you should be able to identify the species and see how they fly (I think there are some examples in the reviews section of Amazon), don't expect even 'smartphone from 6 years ago' type photo quality, that's not what trail cameras are really about or designed for. The shutter speed may be too slow to crisply freeze wing beats, almost certainly so in dull weather. The camera on a trail cam has to cope with all sorts of lighting conditions and also infrared night vision, so it's always going to be something of a 'Jack of all trades' compromise.

Likewise with video, the footage at full HD (1080p) is taken at 15 frames per second which, while giving fairly good clarity, will often give not particularly smooth motion footage. Dropping the resolution to the 1280 x 720p setting provides 30 frames per second, which gives smoother looking footage (and is the setting I prefer), but you'll lose a bit of that crispness you get with full HD. Even so, even 30 fps isn't the best for recording flying and hovering birds, and I'd think 60fps+ would be better for producing fairly smooth-looking flight videos (without getting into high-speed type specialist stuff).

This said, it rather depends on your expectations; you'll probably get some interesting video footage from it, but we can't expect BBC broadcast quality video of birds at a feeder from a sub £50 trail camera. A good quality camcorder set up near your bird feeder would probably produce better footage of birds fluttering around and squabbling, and you'd have the optical zoom facility with that too. However, you don't get the PIR sensor, weatherproofing and self-activation like you do with a trail cam! In short, this trail cam should produce some watchable video of birds at a feeder or table (after a bit of trial and error to get the positioning of the camera right); whether you'll be happy with the video quality will probably depend on your expectations. Hope this is helpful.
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Very helpful, I was mainly thinking for when I don't have the time to watch the feeders, and to see if anything different or the more uncommon visitors come to the feeders when I'm not able to watch them.
 
michael23 said:
Very helpful, I was mainly thinking for when I don't have the time to watch the feeders, and to see if anything different or the more uncommon visitors come to the feeders when I'm not able to watch them.
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It should be up to the job for that, wildlife monitoring/survey is really what they're made for. It may take a bit of trial and error to position the camera to get the best success rate and viewing position, also don't have it pointing towards the sun if at all possible to avoid lens flare (which trail cams are prone too as there's no lens hood!), particularly when the sun is low.

Depending on how busy your feeder is, you're probably going to end up with hundreds of recordings or photos to wade through, as each time a bids flies into shot it will record it. For your purposes, perhaps consider trying single shot photos and hope for the best, or reduce the video to 5 or 10 second clips and set aside an evening to go through the recordings, and see how that works for you.
 
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I have a Gosira which is also rebadged under different brands as well as a cheapo Swann outback and both are really good performers and give an excellent insight into what you miss when you are elsewhere. I have never had problems when using nmh rechargeable batteries. I normally use them for video so you tend not to miss as much rather than something happening once the shutter has clicked when doing stills. A great learning device.
 
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