Sunday, November 7, 2010

New Trail Camera Part 1

Moultrie Game Spy D40 Trail Cameras
Three years ago I was blessed to receive some wonderful additions to my Outdoor activity supplies.

Hubby saw to it that I was catching a picture of our wildlife even when I couldn't be on the lookout...A 24/7 job.

My two Moultrie Game Spy D40 cameras provided lots of fun, candid shots. Then they started taking pictures of nothing but the landscape. Missing whatever may have triggered them to snap a picture. I must say they withstood some pretty severe winter temperatures before I pulled them back inside the January of 2008. Then I put them back out when things warmed up in March and April. One memorable digital capture was some eye to ear action...

Last month my curiosity to watch deer movement coming into the rut grew to the point I went into serious research
mode for a replacement camera.


My information gathering brought me to the compact Bushnell Trophy Cam. I respect the Bushnell brand name for it's products in the field optics sector.

Next stop eBay. I am all for looking up deals on new merchandise. Yes, I also went to Amazon, and it's seller's page. Then off to Bushnell's website to see what might be of interest there.I ended back up at eBay. 

Qualities Needed for a Camera
1. IR trigger for the nighttime


2. Compact size - not clunky to transport
3. Picture size options

This model seems to be very user friendly. Having some previous knowledge of push button settings it didn't take long for me to work my way through the menu. They do offer a default mode suggested by the manufacturer if you decide not to customize.

I started with some manufacturer suggested settings and then a few days later did some customizing ,only to return to a few of the suggestions put forward in the owner's manual.

A setting I gravitated towards was the High sensitivity trigger for catching pictures. I soon found with the wind blowing the vegetation it was going off too often and filling up my 2MB memory card way to fast. The camera was only good for about four hours at that rate.

Some definite pluses for this camera is the ability for it to hold a 16 MB memory card, three different pixel settings(3,5,8), three sensitivity settings(low, normal,high) , a wide variety of timer options and last but not least the choice of camera or video modes.

I cannot speak for video quality yet, because I haven't tried it. I need to get a larger memory card so I won't miss anything when it starts to record.


Click here for a review by another blogger on the Trophy Cam.

Pictures will be forthcoming. Until then enjoy the outdoors! ;)

Important Update - I was looking over the memory card storage facts and it needs to be Giga-bytes(GB) not Mega-bytes(MB). Thanks! ;)

8 comments:

Gorges Smythe said...

Looks like fun. In my neighborhood, though, someone would steal the thing in no time.

Anonymous said...

As always, looking forward to your follow up posts to see what the new camera is catching. I don't own one myself, but, have enjoyed looking at the pictures from many who do have one.

CDGardens said...

Gorges Smythe -It is a fun pass time.Sorry to hear your location isn't conducive to having cameras stay where they are put.

Mel- Thank you! I have already got some what I consider to be comical animal antics. Will be sharing a few of those off and on. ;)

SimplyOutdoors said...

The Moultrie is a decent camera for the price, but I completely understand your desire to upgrade. I'm thinking about upgrading next season as well.

CDGardens said...

SimplyOutdoors- I did like my Moultries very much.However,they quit working so I needed to replace them. Heard some good things about this little Bushnell...I wouldn't be opposed to try another brand to compare, with all the places I want to watch. I am sold on smaller for handling purposes.

spotted face said...

Looking forward to seeing those pics, CD! It's neat seeing what people have showing up in their area.

Take care -

Casey

Anonymous said...

Trail camera's are one of the greatest inventions to the outdoors person, I love them.

Whitetail Woods Blog / Deer Hunting and Blackpowder Shooting at it’s best.

CDGardens said...

Rick Kratzke - I agree whole heartedly about the positive solution a trail camera can be for watching the outdoors when it isn't possible to be there personally. I sure am pleased with the pictures I have been getting.