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Trail camera
Trail camera
There are lots of trail cameras on the market in the UK, all offering different features at different prices from too many brands to mention, and the growth of online shopping from sites like Amazon means that the market is now even fuller, with direct ordering from places like the USA now easier than ever.
So, what should you go for? What do you need? What should you pay? Here are some of the best cameras around, some of the most popular, and some you might not have heard of that could be hidden gems.
Crenova Trail Cam
Crenova may be better known for their garden equipment and projectors, but they also sell a trail cam.
The Crenova 186 PH760 is the only trail cam in their range and looks to pack some interesting features. Photo quality is 20MP, that’s not bad, though there are higher counts available, but the video is recorded in 4K, so that helps to balance it out quite a bit. There are the usual things you would expect to find on any worthwhile wildlife camera, like IR LED night vision for taking pics in the dark, and a fast trigger speed (Crenova advertises it as 0.2 seconds, which is one of the fastest available), it’s also waterproof, has a good detection range and runs off 8x AA batteries.
All in all, the features seem to balance themselves out to make a camera that seems to be very competent and a good all-rounder that might easily get overlooked.
Reviews: Some of the Best
Here are three of the top-rated trail cams from Amazon UK.
Gardepro A3 Wildlife Camera
1080p video, 20MP photos, IR night vison with 100ft range and a trigger speed advertised as just 0.1 seconds, which is impressive. Power comes from 8 AA batteries.
UsoGood Wildlife Camera
20MP 1080p photo and video, 0.2 second ‘lightning’ trigger, waterproof and able to perform in temperatures from -20o up to 40o, and powered by 8 AA batteries.
Ltl Acorn 5210A Wildlife Cam
Photo quality might only be 12MP but video is still 1080p, it has storage space for up to a 16GB Sd card, which is smaller than many in this class, so if you’re shooting a lot, you’ll need to keep a check on available space, it has IR, and while it has space for eight AA batteries, Acorn say it can run off just four.
Features to look out for
Like most tech, trail cams are stuffed with features, and if you don’t know what you need then you could end up paying for things you’ll never use. Here are some extras to consider.
Wi-Fi connectivity lets you view and download videos and images remotely on your phone or tablet without needing to get the SD card from the camera. This is useful if you don’t get to visit the camera often or it’s located in an awkward to reach place.
Infra-red night vision is a common feature on wildlife cameras these days, and it’s a useful thing to have. Rather than using a standard white light flash, these cameras use infrared to deliver a near invisible flash which is much less likely to cause glare on the images or startle the animals.
Solar power is becoming more common on trial cameras as it is on many other things, rather than using conventional batteries, the camera comes with its own solar panel to provide renewable power. It’s quite a useful thing to have as it’s one less reason to keep having to disturb the camera once you’ve situated it, and when paired with Wi-Fi it can create a camera that can be left undisturbed for months with no need to be constantly checking on it.