We see a lot of wild life in our area and we love watching what our visitors do. I own several wild life cams and this one falls in the middle of the pack. I thought its user interface was not as intuitive to use as my other cameras (I will give some specific examples below), but it records reliably and both video and sound are pretty good. Another area where it did not do as well my other wild cams is the battery life, it lasts about a week on full of new Kirkland's AA batteries where the other camera go between 2 to 3 weeks on the full set of new batteries.
The camera runs on four AA batteries (included) and also has another compartment where you an add four more batteries to extend the period when the new batteries are needed. I run the battery with all 8 batteries installed. The camera writes video to a SD card. A 4G card was included with the camera, and it can accept cards up to 32G in size. I am running it with a 16G card. The camera is activated only when something interesting is happening, so every video it captures has something good on it.
The video quality is highly dependent on lighting. In the day light it is very good, however at dusk or right into the sun it is okay but not outstanding. The wild life camera also takes infrared pictures in total darkness (black and white). I have included a couple of video clips taken at night when the camera switched to infrared. When you see a black and white video that's the one that is taken at night.
This camera is large, robust, has a great camouflaged case. It is waterproof and has been out in several rain storms without any problems.
The camera can run in "test" mode or real mode. Test mode allows you to see what the camera is recording using the LCD screen. In the test mode you can also change settings via menus displayed on the LCD screen. The camera produces AVI and JPG output.
Some of the user interface quirks I mentioned earlier:
1. There are two buttons that don't do anything. In particular one looks like you would use to switch from camera to video mode, but this function in reality is controlled from the menu.
2. One of the common operation is formatting the SD card, however on this camera it is difficult to find and how to do this, it is not on the top level of menus like in other cameras. To format the SD card you need to keep hitting up button until you enter the mode that shows you the files on the sd, then if hit menu, you will see an option to delete the file or to format the SD card. I do this every time I move pictures from the camera to the computer.
3. In order to remove the SD card you have to take the camera off the tripod and take it apart. In my other cameras I can remove the SD by flipping the back cover open while the camera is still on the tripod.
In addition to the camera in its waterproof case, the package include USB cable for TV hookup TV cable, a mounting strap, and a user manual. The user manual is good to get you started but does not explain all details, such as how to format the SD card.
Overall, I like the camera. It is a lot of fun to see see our visitors!
This camera is made by Wildkamera in Germany. The camera was provided to me for testing and review as part of the new product introduction as products so people can hear and see some first hand experience. If the fact that I received a product at a discount makes you skeptical about what I say check my review history, I am leave critical reviews when the products deserve it. I state prior to accepting any product that review will be positive or negative strictly based on my experience with the product. I only deal with sellers that are interested in honest and factual reviews. This camera is made in Germany and I was hoping that it would be a Mercedes of my game cams and become my favorite. But I was somewhat disappointed in the battery life and some of the user interface choices. On the positive side it works well and records video reliably. I hope my video helps you set the expectations for how it works.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.
Ali Julia review ★★★★☆
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