MY RESULTS: Ltl Acorn VS HC600

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:54 pm

Bee Busy Outdoors wrote:

Thanks for the kind words Slay :mrgreen:

Great effort on the testing. Feel free to put it up against everything you got. Gives a good perspective.
I agree with Rick, a reward sounds like a good idea. I appreciate all the hard work you put into the tests.
I would like you to keep the cam as a thanks :mrgreen:

The only catch is you have to keep posting any positives and negatives you find with the cam.

Thanks again,
Joe
BBO

Holy molee!!!
Joe, are you sure? :shock:

That's way more than I deserve. I have certainly enjoyed testing it. It almost feels like stealing.
I will certainly run some more test and display any results good or bad.

D Mayes · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 8:57 pm

From the way it sound. I would not have got these pictures with the ltl acorn cam. This deer stayed to the side. I got lots of pictures of him and he was never spooked by the flash either. I don't care if the deer is centered in the picture as long as I have a picture that shows me what he is.

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:18 pm

I see a man has to chose his words carefully describing this.

D MAYES,
I am sure that deer would have been in the Ltl Acorn's main sensor. When I say mostly centered, I should have said mostly in the frame. The HC600 has a much wider field of range on it's PIR sensor, so it triggers. Those side sensors on the Ltl Reconyx only tells the camera to get ready to take a picture. The animal must still enter the main PIR sensor of the Ltl Acorn. If it leaves the way it came, it wont trigger.

I do not think this camera missed anything that came within it's range. That was the point I think, to see if it was reliable and repeatable. The HC600 is really verifying if it is missing animals. I don't think it did. It just cant compete with the wider detection range of the Reconyx.

A better test would be on a trail and not a pile of corn. That way you would know for sure when game triggered on one camera and not the other. A pile of corn has significant shortcomings in testing. There are far too many deer at one time in the area for one thing. This causes triggers on movement when one camera is still in it's minute wait and vice versa. Additionally there is too much game milling around and after awhile all the deer look alike, so I cant really say camera 1 got this doe, but camera 2 did not.

I will run a trail only test in a few days I reckon.
I will say this again, I think the camera performed exactly as advertised. I do not think there is a camera in it's range that is equal in terms of picture quality and repeatability. I don't think it missed any game that enetered the range of it's main PIR. If you want a wider PIR that triggers immediately, you have no choice but to up your game to the Reconyx line of cameras.

Hope I cleared that up...shew....

Bee Busy Outdoors · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:23 pm

[/quote]Holy molee!!!
Joe, are you sure? :shock:

That's way more than I deserve. I have certainly enjoyed testing it. It almost feels like stealing.
I will certainly run some more test and display any results good or bad.[/quote]

Ofcourse im sure. You did a great job and sure you will keep us posted on other tests you do. Enjoy :mrgreen:

Joe
BBO

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:31 pm

catman wrote:

I would also be very interested in your data on the Acorn vs. SG550 as this is the camera I have the most of and I am looking to buy 10 more cameras of some type in the next month or so.

Catman, I dont want to get this all jumbled up with the HC600 stuff, but I will tell you this, the SG550 was dismal. I believe the batteries were low, still it was pretty sad for 2 bars.

Total count - 12 pics.
I consider that to be invalid as I believe the batteries were too low. I only placed it next to it for the heck of it.
I will load it up with fresh batteries and see what is goin on. That is why I dont have a SG550 VS Reconyx thread. It aint fair to start out with bad batteries.

I dont know how Anthony and crew do this, it is time consuming as heck and you really have to make sure nothing from fresh batteries to height to angle placement is right.
It's tough.

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:41 pm

Joe,
Your too kind. I mean that really.
Thanks a bunch, it truly is Christmas come early.

I told my wife about what you did for me, she says I should go ahead and keep toting the corn, cameras, and Hienekins up that hill....LOL

So, who else wants me to test a new camera.................... :mrgreen:

shenriver_man · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 9:42 pm

I wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do this test and I think you did a good job. Its definatley not as simple as strapping 2 cams to the same tree and seeing how many pictures they take compared to one another. When I did the 570 vs. Ltl Acorn shootout I spent about 4 hrs reviewing pics and writing notes. I did it in an hourly format and wrote down the number of pics that each cam took in the same time frame. I know this isnt an easy thing to do thats why I have hesitated to do any more tests as of late. You have to cover all the bases and make sure that you have enough data to cover any question someone may have about the results you saw.

I have some questions about the results and I am not trying to downgrade your test or critique it in any way I want to say that first and foremost. Now the questions:

With that large of a pic count difference and both cams being on a 1min delay how did the Ltl. Acorn not miss any game or fail to trigger when there were deer in front of it?

How many pics did the Reconyx take that were not useable such as noses or butts in the pic? Same for Ltl. Acorn.

Were there any time frames that the Reconyx took pics and the Ltl. Acorn didnt?

Were there any scenarios that the Reconyx took a pic ot an animal and the Ltl. Acorn failed to? And vice-versa?

Thanks

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:25 pm

shenriver_man wrote:

I wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do this test and I think you did a good job. Its definatley not as simple as strapping 2 cams to the same tree and seeing how many pictures they take compared to one another. When I did the 570 vs. Ltl Acorn shootout I spent about 4 hrs reviewing pics and writing notes. I did it in an hourly format and wrote down the number of pics that each cam took in the same time frame. I know this isnt an easy thing to do thats why I have hesitated to do any more tests as of late. You have to cover all the bases and make sure that you have enough data to cover any question someone may have about the results you saw.

I have some questions about the results and I am not trying to downgrade your test or critique it in any way I want to say that first and foremost. Now the questions:
Trust me, I wont look upon any criticism as being negative

With that large of a pic count difference and both cams being on a 1min delay how did the Ltl. Acorn not miss any game or fail to trigger when there were deer in front of it?
A preliminarily recview makes it appear that the only deer missed were far off to one side or the other and even farther out that only the HC600 picked up. I did not pour over the results for hours taking notes. I guess I will be more diligent on the later trail test

How many pics did the Reconyx take that were not useable such as noses or butts in the pic? Same for Ltl. Acorn.
HC600 - 26
Ltl Acorn - 3

Were there any time frames that the Reconyx took pics and the Ltl. Acorn didnt?
Yes, obviously but I have not gone into it in that depth. It's a real overload to sift through. I am going to do a trail test, that will be much easier to decipher...a valid question for sure. I wish I had time, but 12 hour night shifts and ice fishing really cuts into my time...LOL

Were there any scenarios that the Reconyx took a pic ot an animal and the Ltl. Acorn failed to? And vice-versa?
That would be directly tied to my answer above.

There really is a lot to ponder when testing. I for sure will be doing a trail test now, though the picture count will be dramatically lower. I will probably set them both for 2 pics every 10 seconds? Does that sound good?

tomp · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:32 pm

So if we subtract 26 from the total HC600 picture count and 3 from the Lil-Acorn, it looks like the Acorn cam got it's butt kicked pretty bad in the Sensing Department (considering both were set at the exact same settings).

I agree though, that the real test will be on a trail

shenriver_man · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:39 pm

slay wrote:

shenriver_man wrote:

I wanted to say thanks for taking the time to do this test and I think you did a good job. Its definatley not as simple as strapping 2 cams to the same tree and seeing how many pictures they take compared to one another. When I did the 570 vs. Ltl Acorn shootout I spent about 4 hrs reviewing pics and writing notes. I did it in an hourly format and wrote down the number of pics that each cam took in the same time frame. I know this isnt an easy thing to do thats why I have hesitated to do any more tests as of late. You have to cover all the bases and make sure that you have enough data to cover any question someone may have about the results you saw.

I have some questions about the results and I am not trying to downgrade your test or critique it in any way I want to say that first and foremost. Now the questions:
Trust me, I wont look upon any criticism as being negative

With that large of a pic count difference and both cams being on a 1min delay how did the Ltl. Acorn not miss any game or fail to trigger when there were deer in front of it?
A preliminarily recview makes it appear that the only deer missed were far off to one side or the other and even farther out that only the HC600 picked up. I did not pour over the results for hours taking notes. I guess I will be more diligent on the later trail test

How many pics did the Reconyx take that were not useable such as noses or butts in the pic? Same for Ltl. Acorn.
HC600 - 26
Ltl Acorn - 3

Were there any time frames that the Reconyx took pics and the Ltl. Acorn didnt?
Yes, obviously but I have not gone into it in that depth. It's a real overload to sift through. I am going to do a trail test, that will be much easier to decipher...a valid question for sure. I wish I had time, but 12 hour night shifts and ice fishing really cuts into my time...LOL

Were there any scenarios that the Reconyx took a pic ot an animal and the Ltl. Acorn failed to? And vice-versa?
That would be directly tied to my answer above.

There really is a lot to ponder when testing. I for sure will be doing a trail test now, though the picture count will be dramatically lower. I will probably set them both for 2 pics every 10 seconds? Does that sound good?

Sounds great to me Slay!! Thanks for the response and I am excited to put on of my my HC600's up against a homebrew or two!

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 10:46 pm

Here's the problem with feeders.
Set on the same tree trying to place the sensors just right is tough. I ended up with 5 cameras on top of each other. Not really the ideal situation. The HC600 and the Ltl acorn were aligned the closest together. Take a look at the other picture counts to get an idea of how subjective this is: *this count is before subtracting pics of me setting up the cams and replenishing the corn*

SG550 23 pics
Ltl Acorn 177
NT50B 276 pics
HC600 726 pics
RC60HO 952

Does this really mean my old Reconyx is better than the HC600? Maybe, it is hard to say over a pile of corn.
I have never used bait to get pictures until this test, so I'm skeptical. I'm a trail watcher. That's where it counts as far as trail cameras are concerned with me. Stand around in a small circle long enough and a shutter will trigger. I want to catch an animal on the move, that's how I hunt them.

Jake · **Joined:** Thu Dec 27, 2007 9:19 pm **Posts:** 1515

Good stuff from all you guys

keep us updated.

JKapfer · **Joined:** Sat Aug 07, 2010 12:09 am **Posts:** 399

Good work Slay.....

As it stands now...I'm thinking the bottom line will be: if you absolutely have to get a pic of everything that passes in front of your camera...and you want some assurances you got it....... go with Reconyx.

But, if you don't want to spend Reconyx money on a camera, then buy an Acorn. There really seems to be no comparison with other cameras in its price range (Bushnell, Scoutguard, Moultrie, Primos, WGI, etc.). I have Bushnells, an SG560 (I really like my Scoutguard), a Primos T46, and an WGI IR4, but I almost wish I had Lil' Acorns to replace them all! However, I just recently got some Reconyx...and I don't think I'd trade those for anything (even though I've only had them for a week).

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:40 pm

JKapfer wrote:

Good work Slay.....

As it stands now...I'm thinking the bottom line will be: if you absolutely have to get a pic of everything that passes in front of your camera...and you want some assurances you got it....... go with Reconyx.

But, if you don't want to spend Reconyx money on a camera, then buy an Acorn. There really seems to be no comparison with other cameras in its price range (Bushnell, Scoutguard, Moultrie, WGI, etc.). I have Bushnells, an SG560 (I really like my Scoutguard), and an WGI IR4, but I almost wish I had Lil' Acorns to replace them all! But, I just recently got some Reconyx...and I don't think I'd trade those for anything (even though I've only had them for a week).

Bottom line, you have to pay for the performance you want.
I think the Ltl Acorn is excellent for it's price range. It is probably only a stepping stone (or 2) away from a reconyx.
What it lacks in sensor range, it makes up for in crispness and clarity.

slay · **Posted:** Sun Feb 13, 2011 11:49 pm

One last note. Remember it was brutal cold, (-11 degrees with lord knows what wind chill) so the SG550 may have went into self preservation mode....LOL
OK, no more about the other cameras. This thread would get too messy.

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MY RESULTS: Ltl Acorn VS HC600

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