CheapTrail Cam thread revisited

[comanche 3,057]

I don't  know where the Trail Cam thread went; l thought there was already one in Photography section  lt would make sense if there was. 

Anyway, l set my el cheapo camera, all £25 worth of it, in a customer's loft  . She was being kept awake by rats or possibly small wilderbeest. Droppings indicated  mice but who was l to argue .

I could've  simply set a trap or two to identify the species but  following the recent thread on cheap cameras l opted for the latter. 

Clearly l had set the sensitivity too high because  when l retrieved it the thing  had been triggered  2800 times!

Probably by  dust or mice passing the perifory of the sensors because there really wasn't very much "on tape" except motionless loft insulation and a wooden block smeared with peanut butter. 

I manfully trawled through the photos though,   and there were a enough useful images  to lD the perps! 

Unsurprisingly the batteries had taken a hammering and the later videos resembled something from a 1960s  TV screen in warm up mode.

This was even though the battery icon was still showing a third of capacity and the batteries were "Extra Capacity" ones. Not my usual Poundland things

Out of the loft , under the house lights , the camera worked perfectly in still and video mode.. So working in the dark was clearly a real drain on the power . 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 24, 2021 by comanche

[Nicepix 5,650]

The camera looks very much like the one recommended by Greyman last year. It was over forty quid on amazon so you got a good deal.

I also had a lot of empty scenes and put it down to mice or whatever passing quickly through the sensor. Switching on the side sensors helped improve the capture rate. Another problem is foliage tripping the camera. On windy nights it can be a big problem. I usually set it to take a photo then 30 seconds of video. Sometimes the varmit appears almost at the end of the video so it is worth checking carefully as sometimes all you get to see are bright spots from reflections of the eyes.

Mine has paid for itself in rental costs. I charge them €5 to borrow it between my fortnightly visits. They supply the batteries.