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I like to place trail cameras in the mountains during hikes and leave them for a few months to see if they catch any animals. One of them caught in one of the b

I like to place trail cameras in the mountains during hikes and leave them for a few months to see if they catch any animals. One of them caught in one of the big fires in CA last year. When I got back to the area the only thing I could find was the metal rod it was on, some wires and a disk of molten plastic material under it. I guess they were luck to find as much as they did :-)

jerrysievert 8y ago
any suggestions on good trail cameras? most of the stuff that I've seen/used has been mass-made Chinese cameras, rebranded, with very little support that tend to break easily. I'd love to be able to put something higher quality out, but am having trouble finding anything that detects motion, has infrared, and takes short videos, while still being high enough quality to not leak, not shut down randomly, and take pictures of empty space.
- CamperBob2 8y ago
  Motion detection seems to be a real problem in particular. It's interesting to consider how good humans are at distinguishing shadows and leaves moving around on a windy day from a real animal... and how bad cameras are at it.
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    Leaves and branches are real killers. Or moths. Now I always look for rocky or sandy areas where nothing grows or somewhere where the wind can't reach. I think you could probably run object recognition algorithms but then you need a lot of power which is a problem by itself.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  I have a Stealth Cam G42, a Moltrie Wingscapes and a Bushnell. All bought for around $100 on sale or used. Image and video quality is just about OK but they seem to work at night and hold up to weather. You can recognize the animal and see what it's doing but that's about it. Definitely far away from what you could achieve with a DSLR or mirrorless camera. But if something goes wrong like stolen camera (or fire!) the loss is not too painful. There also cameras with data connections but that gets pretty expensive quickly too. The biggest problem is grass or branches in the field of view that move in the wind. I have had the camera fill the card in windy weather in one or two days because a little branch moved all the time. Now I spend a lot of time finding spots where nothing can move.
  - Symbiote 8y ago
    I bought a Spypoint Force 11D for a relative. I haven't used it myself, but I've been pleased with the shots I've seen from it [1]. It's nice to share the observations you make onto iNaturalist, they can then get used in scientific research. In fact, observations tagged "trail camera" are probably the best source of example images from the various cameras: [2] [1] Example: https://imgur.com/a/xon9M19 https://imgur.com/a/xon9M19 [2] https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&q=%22trail%20camera%22&subview=grid https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&q=%22t...
    - maxxxxx 8y ago
      This looks about similar quality to what I tend to get with mine. Good enough to have fun but probably not award winning :-)
  - Steel_Phoenix 8y ago
    I've tried a few, and I've found the ones with the three motion sensors haven't been giving me so many false positives in the wind. They supposedly wake up when something triggers a side sensor, and then snap the picture if it then triggers the middle one.
- jrs235 8y ago
  Reconyx. Top of the line. Assembled and supported in the U.S.
adrianN 8y ago
Is it legal to just place cameras where you live? I think in Germany you could get in serious trouble for planting cameras.
- Moru 8y ago
  Illegal in Sweden too. And are you sure it wasn't your camera starting the fire in the first place? :-)
- zaarn 8y ago
  You could, though depending on the measures you take to ensure someone's privacy it would probably be okay (ie, put contact details on the camera so people can tell you they want their stuff deleted, don't record 24/7 and when picking it up again immediately delete all recordings with humans on them) I think that the intent to film animals matters more than the potential privacy violation as long as you take steps to rectify them once you pick up the camera.
- fergbrain 8y ago
  The law in the USA is vastly from Europe with regards to photography. Generally speaking, “When in public spaces where you are lawfully present you have the right to photograph anything that is in plain view.” (Source: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/photographers-what-do-if-you-are-stopped-or-detained-taking-photographs https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/photographers-what-do-...).
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  It seems a pretty common thing to do in the US so I suppose it's legal. The cameras are also way out in the wilderness so I hope nobody will ever see them.

jerrysievert 8y ago

any suggestions on good trail cameras? most of the stuff that I've seen/used has been mass-made Chinese cameras, rebranded, with very little support that tend to break easily. I'd love to be able to put something higher quality out, but am having trouble finding anything that detects motion, has infrared, and takes short videos, while still being high enough quality to not leak, not shut down randomly, and take pictures of empty space.

CamperBob2 8y ago
Motion detection seems to be a real problem in particular. It's interesting to consider how good humans are at distinguishing shadows and leaves moving around on a windy day from a real animal... and how bad cameras are at it.
- maxxxxx 8y ago
  Leaves and branches are real killers. Or moths. Now I always look for rocky or sandy areas where nothing grows or somewhere where the wind can't reach. I think you could probably run object recognition algorithms but then you need a lot of power which is a problem by itself.
maxxxxx 8y ago
I have a Stealth Cam G42, a Moltrie Wingscapes and a Bushnell. All bought for around $100 on sale or used. Image and video quality is just about OK but they seem to work at night and hold up to weather. You can recognize the animal and see what it's doing but that's about it. Definitely far away from what you could achieve with a DSLR or mirrorless camera. But if something goes wrong like stolen camera (or fire!) the loss is not too painful. There also cameras with data connections but that gets pretty expensive quickly too. The biggest problem is grass or branches in the field of view that move in the wind. I have had the camera fill the card in windy weather in one or two days because a little branch moved all the time. Now I spend a lot of time finding spots where nothing can move.
- Symbiote 8y ago
  I bought a Spypoint Force 11D for a relative. I haven't used it myself, but I've been pleased with the shots I've seen from it [1]. It's nice to share the observations you make onto iNaturalist, they can then get used in scientific research. In fact, observations tagged "trail camera" are probably the best source of example images from the various cameras: [2] [1] Example: https://imgur.com/a/xon9M19 https://imgur.com/a/xon9M19 [2] https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&q=%22trail%20camera%22&subview=grid https://www.inaturalist.org/observations?place_id=any&q=%22t...
  - maxxxxx 8y ago
    This looks about similar quality to what I tend to get with mine. Good enough to have fun but probably not award winning :-)
- Steel_Phoenix 8y ago
  I've tried a few, and I've found the ones with the three motion sensors haven't been giving me so many false positives in the wind. They supposedly wake up when something triggers a side sensor, and then snap the picture if it then triggers the middle one.
jrs235 8y ago
Reconyx. Top of the line. Assembled and supported in the U.S.

adrianN 8y ago

Is it legal to just place cameras where you live? I think in Germany you could get in serious trouble for planting cameras.

Moru 8y ago
Illegal in Sweden too. And are you sure it wasn't your camera starting the fire in the first place? :-)
zaarn 8y ago
You could, though depending on the measures you take to ensure someone's privacy it would probably be okay (ie, put contact details on the camera so people can tell you they want their stuff deleted, don't record 24/7 and when picking it up again immediately delete all recordings with humans on them) I think that the intent to film animals matters more than the potential privacy violation as long as you take steps to rectify them once you pick up the camera.
fergbrain 8y ago
The law in the USA is vastly from Europe with regards to photography. Generally speaking, “When in public spaces where you are lawfully present you have the right to photograph anything that is in plain view.” (Source: https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/photographers-what-do-if-you-are-stopped-or-detained-taking-photographs https://www.aclu.org/know-your-rights/photographers-what-do-...).
maxxxxx 8y ago
It seems a pretty common thing to do in the US so I suppose it's legal. The cameras are also way out in the wilderness so I hope nobody will ever see them.