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2011 Old Boys Little Acorn LTL-5210A 12MP 24
count IR lo glow Camera Review
We had thought of running this review and have it merge with the
standard 12 MP A series red flash camera. Because of the
big change in flash we have decided to just go ahead and
separate it as far as function. The internal platform is
the same and only the led array is different. This is a
factory application and not an aftermarket modification.
Around here we just refer to these cameras as being the
corn cam red and corn cam black. Even though it is not a
total black flash camera it is very near. The flash is
still visible out to about 5 feet, but beyond that it
would be very hard to see. Being it is using the 940
array hooked to the same platform we know that it would
be impossible for the flash range to come close to the
red flash camera. They advertize it as being 30 feet and
our first tests seem to show that it will do that. The
flash function in all cases depends on reflection back
so in the deep woods where there are trees around to
provide more feed back to the camera so the flash will
function better. In an open field where the only feed
back is only the triggering animal and some ground
reflection, this camera will not do as well. Those who
use computer enhancement on their photos will find that
a slight brightness adjustment will go a long way on
enhancing this cameras pictures.
When asked about just how this camera will stack up against the UWAY
camera we would have to say that the degree of
sophistication in the 50B camera is apparent and
designed from the bottom up to work at that light
frequency so that comparison would be unfair. Plus the
50B has a much larger array that uses true black flash
technology.
We will say that so far that this simple modification has shown during
our initial tests to work well as long as the user knows
that the flash range is shorter and applies this to the
setup, we feel that most would be happy with the results
of having to deal with a much shorter flash distance. If
you think you need a little more flash range then maybe
one of the Uway XtendIR units would be a logical
choice.
The switch from day to night so far has not allowed us to hear any
filter noise so the camera seems to be quiet so that
should not be a concern because of the shorter operating
requirements. Trigger speed is still the same as the
corn cam red so that has not been changed in this
application either. We do not know if they jacked up the
current to the array to get this range but if that has
taken place then we should see the battery life go down
a little. We do know that most of the BF cameras do
better with the LI cells over the alkaline because of
the recovery rate.
Trigger testing will not be done and now that flash/sensing has been
done we will stick it on a real time feeder and check
the results with some big brown fuzzy critters.
Specs:
03-01-2011 update: I really got a kick in
the eyeballs when the first group of flash pictures came
up on the monitor. These are not too bad for a simple
conversion. There is some pretty good reflective
surfaces along with the ground being covered with new
leaves but it appears they do get the thirty feet that
they advertized the flash would do. Day color is sharp
and clear so it is my opinion that they have a winner so
far with this little camera. This is in the photo mode
and the distance will probably go down somewhat when the
video mode is selected because of the additional load on
the power. I will say that this camera likes to hang on
to that day color prior to switching so the last few
evening pictures are pretty dark but there have been no
white out pictures so far. Take a close look at the
sample pictures and I feel you will agree.
03-11-2011update: One of our next phases
was inserted because we had some reports that the 940
would not work with the Uway XtendIR black flash in the
video mode. We did a quick setup and as you can see by
the test video that it does work fine so those who want
a little more black flash range, take your XtendIR-B
down off the shelf and hook it up to your new 5210A-940
and you will be in business.
03-13-2011 update: Moving on to the video
mode without the help of the XtendIR showed that video
mode is not this cameras strong strong mode. It does
work but the range is suppressed somewhat and deployment
needs to be much closer to the target area. View the
sample videos to analyze this for yourself.
04-16-2011 update: Completed the battery life and
we had over 3700 pictures and 507 ten second videos
which is very good lasting about 45 days. We have been
very happy with all the cameras coming from Ltl. Acorn.
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Flash Range
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5210A 940 video samples (camera only)
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5210A 940
with Uway XtendIR-B connected as a black flash
conversion in Video Mode
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