trail cam question

chris4570 · Post by **chris4570** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:08 pm

Sometimes it seems as though my cam is slow to take a a picture. Does cold temp, low battery effect the speed at which the camera operates?

Just wondering why it would take this long for the camera to react to a passing deer. I would have liked to see the head, and should have because the camera is situated so it should take quartering towards photos.

chris4570 · Post by **chris4570** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:16 pm

oops!!

Wrong pic. Should have been this one.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:27 pm

Does it have a PIR sensor? The one we use does the same thing. Sometimes it triggers fine, sometimes it's really slow!

chris4570 · Post by **chris4570** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:35 pm

wabi wrote:Does it have a PIR sensor? The one we use does the same thing. Sometimes it triggers fine, sometimes it's really slow!

PIR meaning infa-red? Yes. it has a sensor on the front of the camera. It's a Moultrie Game Spy? I believe. I can't recall the model name.

Wabi, have you noticed a correlation between a slow "trigger" and low battery? Just wondering because the first pic of the doe was a couple days earlier. We have been experiencing some colder weather, battery life is shortened considerably.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:39 pm

Chris what I have learned while searching for information on trail cams tells alot about the time in shich a camrea takes a pic after being triggered. Some cameras are just too slow to take pictures of deer walking, they are ment to be set up over bait piles or scrapes.

IF you have a stop watch, test your camera. Walk infront then time it until the picture is taken. The consenses on the trail camera forum is that 2 seconds is a good time on the shutter. I also believe that low batteries would cause some delay in some cameras.

Your sensors can also cause a problem if it does not register the movement or heat of an animal in time. Now I do not know what or how they work, still trying to learn the workings of the trail camera. But I do know that most people that have "tail end pictures" have almost always blamed it on slow shutter speed from the camera.

Hope this might help you.

wabi · Post by **wabi** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:41 pm

Never really paid much attention, but it does seem like most of the slow triggers were after it had been out a couple of days. It usually gets about 3-4 days on a set of batteries.

Tom · Post by **Tom** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 7:46 pm

chris4570 wrote:[Wabi, have you noticed a correlation between a slow "trigger" and low battery? Just wondering because the first pic of the doe was a couple days earlier. We have been experiencing some colder weather, battery life is shortened considerably.

Chris I have seen may cam pics lately. The first pic looks like the doe is walking slowly or feeding or smelling the ground. Travelling slow will give the slow shutter speeds time to get a pic. If the deer was walking through quickly, you can get a "tail end shot" like you did in the other picture.

GaryL · Post by **GaryL** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 10:42 pm

A good trail cam will have a pir sensor + heat sensor, some have the delay setting between shots also. Mine has both plus how many shots you want it to take once triggered from 1-5.

Cheaper but fine working only use a motion sensor can be slow or fast depending on cost. Some even have to detect movement twice before they will trigger.

Read up good before you buy so it will do want ya want.

globemountain · Post by **globemountain** » Sat Feb 11, 2006 11:44 pm

I have a Moultrie Game Spy. I have become completely disgusted with it's performance. It takes forever to trigger. I built a "home brew" video setup and it triggers immediately when I walk in front of the sensor...out to about 30 yards. I am either going to build a new digital game cam or buy a Cuddeback.......I'm leaning toward the Cuddeback. I won't buy another Moultrie.

NewGuy · Post by **NewGuy** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 7:40 am

For you guys with the moultries you may want to check this out. http://www.chasingame.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=111

Partikle · Post by **Partikle** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 8:30 am

globemountain wrote:I have a Moultrie Game Spy. I have become completely disgusted with it's performance. It takes forever to trigger. I built a "home brew" video setup and it triggers immediately when I walk in front of the sensor...out to about 30 yards. I am either going to build a new digital game cam or buy a Cuddeback.......I'm leaning toward the Cuddeback. I won't buy another Moultrie.

Are the Moultrie's really that bad? I know you get what you pay for and I've heard the Cuddeback are the best but they are 3 to 4 times more expensive then the cuddeback. I hunt in an area where other people walk around and I don't want to spend $350 on a digital camera that gets stolen.

The article "NewGuy" quotes says the 1.5 MP is much better then the 1.2 MP. Here is the new moultrie GS 100 2.1 MP for $100, is this one just as bad? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... _Stores_IT

I'm looking to buy one in the next couple of weeks so any advice is appreciated.

Partikle

chris4570 · Post by **chris4570** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 11:46 am

Does distance play a role as well? Is there an optimal distance the camera should be placed from a trail. I imagine there is an ever widening cone that the sensor emits/picks up. Perhaps my cam is too close to the trail 2-3yards.

Oh yeah, from what you can see is the second deer a buck or doe. I'm leaning towards buck.

On a side note, Home Hardware had 6volt batteries on sale $4 each. Not the best, Rayovac Heavy Duty. But with batteries only lasting a week in this colder weather I picked up a half dozen.

Partikle · Post by **Partikle** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 12:57 pm

Hey Chris,

Why don't you pick up the solar charger panel? It will save you a lot over the long haul.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Solar-Panel-Moultri ... dZViewItem

Partikle

NewGuy · Post by **NewGuy** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 2:00 pm

Or try these batteries. I picked up 2.

http://www.fcsurplus.ca/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=321

globemountain · Post by **globemountain** » Sun Feb 12, 2006 2:49 pm

Partikle wrote:
globemountain wrote:I have a Moultrie Game Spy. I have become completely disgusted with it's performance. It takes forever to trigger. I built a "home brew" video setup and it triggers immediately when I walk in front of the sensor...out to about 30 yards. I am either going to build a new digital game cam or buy a Cuddeback.......I'm leaning toward the Cuddeback. I won't buy another Moultrie.
Are the Moultrie's really that bad? I know you get what you pay for and I've heard the Cuddeback are the best but they are 3 to 4 times more expensive then the cuddeback. I hunt in an area where other people walk around and I don't want to spend $350 on a digital camera that gets stolen.

The article "NewGuy" quotes says the 1.5 MP is much better then the 1.2 MP. Here is the new moultrie GS 100 2.1 MP for $100, is this one just as bad? http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... _Stores_IT

I'm looking to buy one in the next couple of weeks so any advice is appreciated.

Partikle

I have the 1.2MP model....And, YES, it is really that bad. I have walked past mine going in to my treestand and it didn't trigger! All I can say is if you purchase a Moultrie buy it at a place that has a return policy that will allow you to take it back if it doesn't work properly. Cuddeback is expensive and I probably wouldn't set it out on public land , BUT, it outperforms the others handily.