A trail Camera has a ton of features that can get overwhelming, and it is hard to choose one for you. The list continues and on: Low Glow, No Glow, Hyper Burst, ARD, Freeze Frame Shutter, and so on. If you’re looking for a new trail camera, it’s crucial to know what these phrases imply, which features you require, and which are mostly “nice to haves.” Let’s get started.
Trail Camera Flashes
The sort of flash emitted by a trail camera is maybe the most contentious aspect. Different flash choices are available and deciding on the finest trail camera comes down to how adult bucks react to camera flashes. We have received some feedback on how various flashes may frighten bucks. Aside from that argument, there are the following flash alternatives.
No-Glow Flash
Black LEDs are used in cameras with a “no-glow” flash function, making them completely undetectable to not just game animals but also people. It should be mentioned that with this choice, all photos shot at night will be black and white.
Trail cameras with no-glow flash, on the other hand, are a favourite of ours, especially when used in sensitive locations. The flash range isn’t as long as other camera flashes, but that isn’t nearly as important as deer being aware of your camera.
Low-Glow Flash
There will be a visible flash from this function, but it will be much diminished. The hue will usually be a faint red glow. This is an excellent option if you don’t want to pay for the no-glow feature. Images taken at night will be black and white as well.
White-Flash
While white-flash trail cameras have gone a long way, I won’t insult your brain by attempting to explain what they are. All photos will be in colour, either at night or during the day. They may take the finest pictures, but they’ll drive your deer to the next county. We’re kidding, but only a little.
Primos Truth Cam Ultra HD 46 trail camera captures a beautiful buck.
Some trail cameras are more straightforward to use than others. The Primos camera used to take this shot is simple to use. It’s as simple as turning it on and going.
When it comes to flash settings, it’s worth noting that night photos taken with “No-Glow” rather than “White-Flash” will be darker and grainier. When comparing no-glow, red glow (low-glow), and normal flash trail cameras, the flash range will vary. Because of its capacity to light up the forest from a greater distance, the white flash usually performs better.
The number of LEDs in your trail camera of choice should also be examined. In general, the number of LEDs and the flash range have a direct connection. Cameras with a higher number of infrared LEDs will often have more illumination than cameras with fewer LEDs.
Trail Camera Megapixels
Buyers should pay special attention to the number of megapixels in a camera. In other words, just because a firm boasts impressive figures doesn’t indicate your photos will be of excellent quality. The rationale is straightforward. Megapixels are meaningless if the camera’s lens quality is poor. Examining real-world photographs is the simplest approach to assess image quality. Examine trail camera business websites, discussion forums, and other social media platforms. Do your research.
Camera Capture Modes
When it comes to picture capture, your trail camera has two options: still photos and video. Still images are fantastic. However, adding a video option has the benefit of allowing the viewer to see into the world of the game creatures (for a minute or two) and see how they behave. This may sometimes offer more information than a single image fixed in time.
Trail camera users have traditionally chosen to record a still image or a brief video clip. Companies like Bushnell, on the other hand, now sell cameras that can catch both types of light at the same time, giving you the best of both worlds.
Trigger Speed
Trigger speed, also known as trigger time, refers to how long it takes a camera to shoot a photo after detecting a subject such as a deer. Without a doubt, trigger speed is an important element that may mean the difference between seeing and not seeing specific dollars.
Buck or Doe
Is it a buck or a doe? A sluggish trigger speed can lose you critical data, even if your body says buck.
However, because deer are anticipated to stay in the area for several minutes before moving on, it may not be the most significant feature on a camera positioned over a feeding plot or corn pile. A camera with a slow trigger speed will have more time to “wake up” and take a picture because of this.
Trail cameras with quick trigger times, on the other hand, can take a lot of images that cameras with slower trigger times would miss. Cameras with speeds ranging from 0.13 seconds to over 1.3 seconds have been seen.
If you want to take a picture on a game path (where animals will be moving considerably faster), you’ll need a camera with a rapid trigger speed.
Camera Recovery Time
Camera recovery time is the time it takes for a camera to “start-up” or “recycle” after capturing a shot. While sluggish trigger timings might result in missed chances, so can poor camera recovery times.
Camera recovery timings reveal that this can take anything from a fraction of a second to more than a minute! While a low-cost trail camera may be appealing, we recommend double-checking the trigger speed and recovery time, especially if the camera will be used on a route or trail.
Detection Zone
A trail camera’s “Detection Zone” is an unseen region that begins at the camera’s face and extends outward in a V shape, getting larger as distance increases. The camera detects movement in this “zone.” The camera will activate and take an image or begin recording video if movement is detected.
When it comes to detecting zones, be mindful of how broad and long your specific models are, since you may not require a large zone depending on where you want to deploy them. High numbers in both categories will, of course, enable the camera to detect more movement and take more images, and vice versa.
PIR Angle
The term “PIR Angle” refers to the degree to which the camera can detect movement using passive infrared. Cameras with a wide PIR Angle can detect movement faster and are more likely to capture the subject in the centre of the picture rather than the edges, as some lower-quality cameras do. If you’ve ever seen half of a deer in one of your trail cam photos, you know what a low PIR Angle, say 10 degrees, can do.
The PIR Angle on high-quality cameras is generally 48 degrees. As a result, these cameras are capable of capturing photos of nearly everything that passes across their field of vision, even animals moving swiftly through the frame.
Time Lapse
You’ve probably seen the tiny “time-lapse” cameras that are commonly put near to food crops. Within the hours of your choosing, time-lapse technology automatically captures photos at predetermined intervals of one minute to one hour. After that, users may go back and observe a whole day’s worth of action in only a few minutes. The same functionality is now accessible on ordinary trail cameras.
Some camera manufacturers include this function with two time slots, allowing you to observe movement at dark and morning. Because the finest ones aren’t activated by gaming, they have the largest viewing area. Better still, search for a camera model that has this function while also having a live trigger, so it can take photos of everything that passes by while also recording time-lapse video.
Conclusion
Each year it seems as though something new is added to the list of available trail camera features. All of them are useful, but not all of them are necessary. Start by understanding what each feature does, then consider if you really need them before you pay for the ones that you don’t. That is the easiest way to get the most out of your next trail camera purchase.
