Hi Folks

I'm not much of a hunter (although I'm pretty dang good at eating what hunters bring in ) -- I'm a wildlife biologist who works in rainforests in Nicaragua.

Anyway my friend and I are going to be setting up a study of jaguars there using camera traps. We need as many as we can get our hands on, preferably for $250 or less a unit, including any security boxes etc. Based on his research and talking to other biologists, he's narrowed it down to the Little Acorn or the Covert Deuce. He is leaning towards the latter, but I was not able to find a review of it on this site, so I'm wondering if anyone out there has any insight or experience with the both and might share an opinion with us.

In terms of the deployment:
- It is super rainy, so we will be putting dessicants in the boxes.
- We are trying to study mostly noctural animals, jaguars. We can use coat patterns to distinguish between animals, so decent pictures at night are a must; I think this is why my friend likes the Deuce, because it has a white flash option for color pictures at night.
- Probability of theft is very high, to the extent that I'm not sure a "black flash" (not sure what that means -- is it different from an IR flash?) would be worth it for all of them. Our plan is to have white flash away from communities, and use IR flash closer to where people live.
- We're expecting to lose a fair number of cameras due to theft or mechanical failure because it's hot and rainy. So we won't be investing in Reconyx cameras! No matter how well secured, we expect a certain number of these to get stolen.
- We also want lots of cameras because we will want them in pairs to get both sides of the jaguars (better for IDing individuals and in case
- I think cameras will be checked and possibly moved at least once every 2 weeks, hopefully once per week. We will probably be relying entirely on internal batteries because it will be too dark in the forest to rely on a solar panel or somesuch to charge the thing.
- We're more interested in still than in video.
IF YOU HAVE ANY INSIGHT INTO WHICH ONE OF THESE MIGHT BE MORE RESISTANT TO HUMIDITY, I REALLY WOULD LOVE TO KNOW

Thanks for any opinions or insights you may want to share!
Kim

Hi Kim, welcome to chasing game!

I have a few thoughts and I am sure you will get a lot of great information from others.

I think you would be very well served to look into getting the covert reveal, which is basically the same as the duece but is white flash only. These can be found online here for around $100, have great battery life, and take nice color photos that you could use to match spot patterns on the jaguars.

I do not think you will find IR cameras that meet your needs for 2 reasons:

1. IR cameras typically have a lot of motion blur when animals are moving (i.e. the spots would all be smeared and you would not be able to differentiate between jaguars)
2. IR cameras show a very visible red light that tells thieves where to come look for your camera anytime any animal walks in front of it. Many believe this red light scares animals much more than the white flash.

I would suggest that you could use white flash cameras in the wilderness and buy blackflash cameras for areas with people.
The blackflash camera flash would not be able to be seen by thieves (good) and you can get them for 150 - $200. I would suggest the new 2012 Bushnell 119476c which has a very fast trigger and a 2 yr warranty. The downside of blackflash is that you will get the motion blur described above, so on those camera sets you may have to use a scent to get the jaguar to stop.

Best of luck Please let us know what you decide to get and then how it all worked out. I would LOVE to see some jaguar photos

_________________
SG550, 560, 570
Hunten 20IR, 20S
Bushnell 466, 476, 576
Moultrie M-80, M-990
Covert Reveal

Thanks for your thoughts -- I will pass these along.

Another couple of issues raised is the distance and our time frame. They actually need to function within fairly short distances (maybe 10 yards at the very very most) because the vegetation is so dense, so there's not much opportunity to take photos at longer range.

We are looking to buy these cameras ASAP due to some funding issues so for the first batch.

It's interesting that the red light would alarm animals more than the flash! I know that for a sea turtle project our organization has, we have to use red lights on the beach when the sea turtles come to nest because the white light disturbs them. But as they say, sea turtles ain't jaguars!

Thank you for your thoughts, I will definitely share them with my friend.

White flash is really bad for theft, shouldn't bother animals that much. normal red ir would be more visible to animals because it stays on longer than white flash, is also not good for theft. Both red ir and blackflash will have some motion blur if the animal is moving fast, they can also be a little grainy depending on the camera. I would recommend the Bushnell 119466 or the new 2012 119476, it takes HD videos with audio, also there is no motion blur in video mode, and it being blackflash the ir will not be seen. They also take excellent day pics and decent night pics. The 476 has better flash range than the 466, so it illuminates farther. The 476 is harder to find right now because they just came out, will be easily available in a month or so, is also more expensive around $250. The 466 is only about $180 right now. For the cameras you have chosen both are reliable cams, about the ltl acorn go with the improved model ltl 5210A, not the regular 5210 which is only 4 megapixel i think.

_________________
2010 Bushnell TC 119435CN
X2 2011 Bushnell TC 119466CN
2012 Bushnell TC 119476C HD MAX
2012 Uway VH200B
2012 WGI Elite LightsOut 8
2012 LTL Acorn 5210A
2012 Covert Black 60
2013 Bushnell TC 119576C HD MAX
2013 Bushnell Natureview 119439C HD MAX 1080P
2013 Covert Black 60 HD

I AGREE WITH THE ADVICE THAT HAS BEEN GIVEN. maybe the bushnell 476 on video would be good. the white flash while giving great color where you could identify the animal will be visible to humans. the little acorn 5210a would probably work here also. it is unlike a lot of red ir cams the low intensity very short duration flash is hard to spot. another issue you may run into with the very powerfull sensing cams like the bushnell and the littles would be false triggers. but both have great battery life and do not let anything get by them. make sure you have them on multishot burst. i believe you should purchase the little acorn 5210 -a, the bushnell 476, and the cheaper covert so you will have three great weapons. try the little for red ir the bushnell fot pictures or video and the covert will give you great nightime pictures, the only downside is that i have heard it is slow to trigger. whatever you do let us know how it turns out. truly hazelvillebucks

_________________
TRULY HAZELVILLEBUCKS
5 little acorn 5210-a
6 bushnell 119-325 - 1 bushnell 119-466 - 1 119-405 - 1 119-427
1 covert extreme red 40 - 1 nv-5
2 w.g.i. x10 cg
1 moutrie m80 xt 2 m80 x blk 2 m100 xt
1 hunten gsc35-50ir

i thought i should post some pictures from todays card pull from the little acorn 5210-a and 940. these pictures demonstrate the problems with ir pictures on a critter such as a bobcat at night. to get the degree of sharpness you need you are probably going to need whiteflash. a cam such as the new bushnell 476 blackflash on video may be able to improve the quality where it would be usable.
another cam from little acorn which apparantly is not going to be offered by oldboys outdoors. is supposed to have white ir,s and the capability of whiteflash video. i have found the little red flash 5210-a to meet my needs really well and was excited to see what they would offer next. its the 6210-a. NO THANKS. i feel that they have dropped the ball.

_________________
TRULY HAZELVILLEBUCKS
5 little acorn 5210-a
6 bushnell 119-325 - 1 bushnell 119-466 - 1 119-405 - 1 119-427
1 covert extreme red 40 - 1 nv-5
2 w.g.i. x10 cg
1 moutrie m80 xt 2 m80 x blk 2 m100 xt
1 hunten gsc35-50ir

I'd also recommend the Bushnell 466 in video mode (or 476 if you can get hold of one quickly).
To save on batteries you could set to take short vids, say 5-10 seconds, and you could extract still pics from the video using Windows movie maker or similar software.

sean

_________________
1 x Uway NT50B
1 x Uway XtendIR-B (both from Joe @ BeeBusyOutdoors)
1 x Ltl Acorn 5210a
1 x Bushnell HD 119466

When you say a lot of cameras what do you mean ? . To most of us on here a lot is 20 or so. Do you need 200 ?? The reason I ask is if you only need say... 20 +- you would be best to go with a" home brew "made by one of the guys that sell them ready to go. You will have to wait since they are custom made to order. You will get WAY better image quality than any commercial camera. Do more research ! look at the home brew images on this site. It sounds like image quality should be your #1 concern.

_________________
1 Spypoint 2012 BF-7
1 Reconyx 2011 HC 600
2 Moultrie 2011 M-80


1 WGI IR-4 ( dead )
2 Stealth 1540 ( dead )

Thanks again for your thoughts, and the pictures! I would say a "lot" is about 30 cameras for us. My collaborator is still very interested in the Deuce, partly because that is what has been recommended to him by some of his other colleagues and partly because we can get them for a real steal, but for our second batch we're hoping to include some other models.

I will check out the "homebrew" cameras -- how long does the manufacture take usually?

Another issue that hasn't been addressed is camera security. I use Cam-Loc boxes bolted to the tree with hardened API lag bolts (available on E-Bay from a guy called Montana Freak) and 5/16" hardened washers. Then I buy hardened Master padlocks in packs of 4. (same key fits all 4 locks) All 4 locks and keys are spray painted with matching textured or camo paint so I know which key fits which locks at a glance. I'm not a big fan of python cables. They are really easy to defeat and stand out in the woods, drawing attention to the cameras. Oh, and welcome to the forum!

Thanks Pic-N-Stick -- I'm a little unclear as to how the camera is then attached to the lag bolt? Do you have a picture of such a set up? We would definitely be interested in something that is more theft-proof than a python cable. (Although we will also be periodically moving camera stations, so if such installation is onerous or heavily damaging to trees it could be problematic.)