ATN SHOT TRAK HD ACTION CAMERA REVIEW

[ehntr]

I just received this camera in the mail from B&H Photo ($97). I have been wanting an action camera for hunting. Not something that mounts to a tripod or a tree or to my head. Something dedicated to being mounted on a weapon only and purpose built for being mounted on a weapon. It's obvious I have not thoroughly tested the camera, but here are my observations so far:

Pro's

it can't get any smaller;
it can't get any lighter;
with a 5X lens you can see what you shot at in the video;
solid mount;
it has one switch, on or off (that's it);
has a red light that tells you it is on.

It is a dead nuts simple camera to operate.

Cons

with a 5X lens you cannot take real close up shots, if you're closer that 10 yards the video is going to have lots of fur on it;
audio does not play with windows media player (must use itunes or quicktime viewer from my experience so far;
it's grainy for HD
no mounting solutions provided (ie, all mounting solutions require a weaver/picatinny rail)

I made three purchases following the arrival of the camera, all necessary to mount the camera on a shotgun/rifle, compound bow and crossbow. This is what I purchased:

Glo TG85B Bow Picatinny Accessory Mount Stabilizer, Black



UTG Universal Shotgun Paintball Single-Rail Barrel Mount with 5 Picatinny Slots



Excalibur Tac Bracket with Quiver Attachment, Black



Here is a youtube video I posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ukduk99OPn8

[Bullzeye]

The price makes this very interesting, at B&H at least, every where else prices are very sporadic , many selling them at $150. for $100 I don't think you can go wrong.

[nyexhunter]

The videos demonstrate that the camera does a nice job. Thanks

As far as the mounting to the Xbow. Did you mount it to the quiver mount?
Also, do you think that it made things louder with any vibration?

For mounting to your gun, how did you do that? How would it mount to a rifle?

Thanks

[ehntr]

The videos demonstrate that the camera does a nice job. Thanks

As far as the mounting to the Xbow. Did you mount it to the quiver mount?
Also, do you think that it made things louder with any vibration?

For mounting to your gun, how did you do that? How would it mount to a rifle?

Thanks

There was no added vibration/noise and recoil from the bow did not mess up the video to any great extent.

You can mount it to your bow anywhere where you can screw on a picatinny rail. The camera mounts on a rail just like your scope mounts on your scope rail. I opted for the Excalibur Tac Bracket, which has 3 picatinny rails on it. I put the camera on the left side and the quiver on the right side. I have no use for the bottom rail (see pic of the Tac Bracket in the original post). It mounts to a shotgun/rifle/compound bow just like it mounts to everything.......it has to have a picatinny rail to mount to. I included pics of all the rails I bought in order to mount the camera in my OP. You can get a good view of many mounting solutions on the atn website: http://www.atncorp.com/atn-shot-trak-hd-x

[drkeenan]

I just bought one from ebay for $81 including shipping. Could you post a pic/vid on how you mounted it?

[amythntr]

....I am mounting it on my 335 using the TAC PAC Picatinny rail that comes with it!

That will be a spring job after tax season....

Anthony

[amythntr]

I just bought one from ebay for $81 including shipping. Could you post a pic/vid on how you mounted it?

....wow... great price....was that new? Couldn't find anything that low on ebay in the USA...

Anthony

[drkeenan]

I just bought one from ebay for $81 including shipping. Could you post a pic/vid on how you mounted it?

....wow... great price....was that new? Couldn't find anything that low on ebay in the USA...

Anthony

It was priced at Buy it Now for 90 or make and offer which I did. They accepted;)

[amythntr]

I just bought one from ebay for $81 including shipping. Could you post a pic/vid on how you mounted it?

....wow... great price....was that new? Couldn't find anything that low on ebay in the USA...

Anthony

It was priced at Buy it Now for 90 or make and offer which I did. They accepted;)

....there ya go...."shot from the side.....score!"

Anthony

[drkeenan]

I've located scope mounted picatinny rails on ebay for just $10. I'll post pics after I have it all set up!!

[ehntr]

I've located scope mounted picatinny rails on ebay for just $10. I'll post pics after I have it all set up!!

Yes, you can buy rails on the cheap and screw them in anywhere. My camera goes on an Excalibur Tac -Bracket.......thinking Anthony is doing the same thing. Had to modify the Tac-Bracket as it does not fit on the 310/330 Vix II (just cut a slot off the back)...............................pictures. Mounting it on the left side, as you will see in a pic, allows you to turn it on/off with just your thumb, without taking your hand off of the stock.........gotta love one thumb operation.








After looking at this pic ^^^^^^^^^ I put another twist in Vixenmasters string.



Here are a couple of shots of the camera mounted on a compound bow.......the thing about any camera on a compound bow is you tend to relax your hand after a shot.....you have to consciously hold the bow level, on target, after the shot, else you will have a good video of the ground....

[drkeenan]

Thanks ehntr. VERY Helpful. I was struggling visualizing what it was going to look like!

[amythntr]

.....EHNTR....that is exactly how I plan on mounting the camera on my Micro...I am thinking you are "righty" because you have it mounted on the left side...this way you do not have to reach around to turn the camera on and insure that the light comes on and it is recording....

I am a "lefty" and honestly was going to put it on the same side as you (like the quiver)....however it is so small and unobstructive and should be in your sight picture to be able to flip the switch and check that it is operational...

...great images, much appreciated....

Anthony

[drkeenan]

I've located scope mounted picatinny rails on ebay for just $10. I'll post pics after I have it all set up!!

Mounting failure using scope mounted picatinny rail. I opted for this because of the low price however there isn't enough clearance between the scope mounts and the camera mounts. I can attach the rail but it is not perfectly level so camera object is barely in the field of view.

Guess I'll have to spend the money on a TAC PAC

[ehntr]

Once you get the tac pac rail installed......consider this: You can mount virtually any camera (size permitting) that has the standard 1/4" 20 TPI thread to your rail by making a camera to rail mounting device from a quick detach swivel/base. There are some youtube videos on this...



Remove the QD swivel from base, drill the hole in the base to 1/4", insert 1/4" 20TPI bolt through hole, add washer, add 1/4 nut to secure the bolt to the base, add another 1/4 nut to run up to the camera and secure it, cut off bolt to desired length (or use bolt of desired length to start with).