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2011
Stealth Cam STC-Q8X (Cabelas Delta 8) 46 count red flash IR Camera
Review
When the catalogs came out and there was some people commenting on
different things and one things that I read was “this is
just one ugly camera”. I have often thought about that
being said and I wondered why. Built on the Unit/Archers
Choice sized case, this camera has a little different
look because of the array and camouflage. The array has
a little bit of that old Leaf River look but fits well
on the front of the camera. The array count is 48 so
there should be more than enough light going down range.
The camouflage is that military digital type and is very
good and should hide well. The advertizing as being very
easy to use and feature filled. Well it does pictures
and videos, but it does have adjustable flash,
selectable delay down to 20 seconds, three resolutions
from 1.3 at the bottom and 3 and 8 at the top, 3 burst
settings 1, 3, 6 and two video lengths 15/30 seconds
(720 HD). Strange, but this camera has a lot of the
features that were to be part of the little JS Sniper
cam that did not make production but was in the early
brochures.
All the settings are switch controlled like the Wildview cameras and the
date time for the information bar on the photos is
programmed on the LCD with the use of a three button
up/down/select setup. These time/date settings are lost
when you change batteriew so it must be re entered each
time new batteries are installed. Inside the tank it
takes 8 AA batteries and the instructions just say use
good alkaline batteries, so you do not have to dig down
deep for any of those high dollar lithium cells that
some of these cameras need. There is a LCD that shows
through the front door to give picture count without
opening the camera. If this camera even comes close to
the Archers Choice camera I think we are going to like
it even if it is considered as being very basic.
Close examination of all the seals and water tests worked out well and
we found no leaks. The drop tests did not cause any mal
function and the batteries remained in place. I checked
and it will be able to use up to 16 gig SD cards (this
camera will not except high speed cards like
ultra, optima, micro,
platinum, store and shoot) use a FAT format
for under 2 gig and FAT 32 for all above 4 gig and up.
Do not insert card or remove card with camera in the on
position.
In the test mode there is a walk test green indicator on the front of
the camera so aim can be adjusted. There is also a red
low battery indicator when flashing battery is low. You
cannot go from test directly to on position because the
camera will not work. You must pause on the off until
the LCD shuts down and then move the switch to on.
The PIR and camera FOV is pretty well matched at about 50 degrees. This
is always good news for us because we definitely have
had problems with narrow sensing. There is the usual 12
volt external power port and they recommend their
optional power pack. Security is non existent so a good
after market box that uses a chain of cable should
probably be thought about if deployed in those areas
where it could be taken.
The price is pretty well fixed at what ever Cabelas sets it at. There
will be no other sources so right now they have it at
about $140 but they do have coupon programs sometimes
where you can maybe get a few dollars off. This is not
the lowest price for cameras but it is on the low end so
performance and value may just come in this little
package. We are getting ready to figure that out. The
documentation is well written except the specification
chart which is a little lacking.
Here is what is listed as specifications:
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IR Emitter Range – 50ft
-
4 digits LCD Image counter
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Battery Low indicator
-
Green Test LED indicator
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Focusing: 5 ft to infinity
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High precision multi-layer glass lens with coating
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Effective viewing Angle: 50 degrees
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PIR detection angle: 48 degrees
-
Low power consumption:
Ø
Standby current: < 6mA
Ø
Capture current: <280mA
-
Interface type: USB 1.1
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Power: “AA” size alkaline Batteries x 8
-
Image format: Images - Standard JPEG / Videos –
Standard AVI
The thing that caught my eye was the camouflage pattern at first I was
not sure but after playing around I think this may be a
winner. It is the first camera that we have tested with
this pattern and so far it seems to fit very well. The
light colored Array can still be picked out so if by
chance they may go with some black LED’s on the next
version this camera it would just about disappear on the
tree. That would be near black flash also. Well Stealth
management what do you think about that idea??
Being there have been some sneaky warranty data published in some
company instruction manuals, we are now starting to pay
a little more attention to this. We can say that this
company has a plain old limited one year warranty with
no tricks. They also have a program where if your camera
fails after the warranty period is over they will sell a
refurbished recondition camera for half price or less of
that product.
When you start to install the AA batteries in this camera keep an eye on
the little springs on the negative side. They have a
tendency to fold over if you are not careful. The
programming the time/date is an adventure with the
buttons on one side and the LCD on the other side. Once
you learn the button position it is easy otherwise you
are forever switching back and forth getting this small
task done.
A
short spell in the lab and my estimate of trigger time
will probably be in the just under 2 second category.
The sample dark room pictures were respectable and then
I went outside and caught a few in the middle resolution
and they did not disappoint either. This is a very basic
switch programmed small camera with a new camouflage
pattern that takes decent pictures with a sub 2 second
trigger selling for $140. I think we just might find a
few that prefer this style rather than the elaborate
electronic on screen programming that is pretty much
commonplace with today’s cameras. This camera is headed
for the trigger time table then gets to spend some time
on the hill getting flash range and sensing data. Then
some sample pictures and videos.
I had a full morning doing research on this camera
because we were trying to see if there was sound in the
video mode. I do not physically have the camera with me
because after I finished this morning, it is now on its
way over to Anthony to do some more work on the review.
There is a hole next to the array that appears to be a
microphone port. I checked all the documentation and
could find no mention of the video having sound. I then
picked up the phone and within about 10 seconds I had
customer service which was a very pleasant surprise. I
asked the question as to what the small hole was next to
the array and she immediately told me that it was the
microphone for sound on the video. I then ask her if she
was sure and she said yes. I then explained that the
documentation did not state anything about this camera
having sound. She then put me on hold and a few minutes
later returned and stated that she could not find out
and that being it was new they had not seen the camera.
I ask her if she had ever visited our site and she said
no and was not able to at work. I said then just take a
peak once she got home. She told me that she did not
have time or interest to do that because of her 5 kids
in school. I tried to explain about the specification
chart in this cameras manual and ask her maybe to view
those on some of the other companies reviews on our site
to see what I was talking about so that she could move
that data up through the chain. She became very short
with me and the friendliness went away. I guess she just
did not want to find out. I will just have to physically
have to test the camera it’s self to find out or give
Anthony a call and have him do a 2 minute test.
06-14-2011 update: We have been told that this
camera’s look is not due to color. I guess this is a
difference of opinion. The entire outside of this camera
is flat OD green. The camouflage is achieved by texture
that creates shadows and thus kills definition of shape.
This is the same basic idea behind the bark texture of
some cameras. This is the digital (pixilated) squares
that cause this effect. I will say that it does a good
job of it also. The only thing about most well
camouflaged cameras is the bright array gives it away no
matter the color or texture of the outside of the
camera.
06-14-2011 update #2: All that research and
effort and the call to someone who just did not have the
interest was answered by a simple request to the person
who has the camera. Anthony just stuck a card in it and
selected video and way it ran. The camera does have
sound with video which is a big plus. I would think that
the ads and manual should have reflected this because it
is a big selling factor. Maybe someone will be kind
enough to send her a not to enlighten her. This makes me
like this camera even better.
06-18-2011 update: The trigger bench finally
got open and we managed to get this camera through that
test. It definitely is not the advertized 1
second but more close to two seconds. The tests came in
at between 1.84 and 1.86 seconds for both day and night
tests. Next was the day range and night range pictures
and they did not disappoint. Please view those samples
for your personal opinion. The sensing distance was not
tested.
06-19-2011
update: Deployed on the hill and a little corn
brought the crew out to model in front of this camera.
The first series of pictures are on the 8MP setting and
are sure to please about everyone. Please view the
sample pictures for your own evaluation. It is very
strange that this camera with very good sound on the
video and decent picture quality has not peaked the
interest of more than a few. We have yet to have anyone
even mention this camera or make comment. We are running
the camera with all the array LEDS on this first set and we now have it
turned down to the 36 count for another night of
pictures.
06-23-2011 update: The ambient temperatures
has sure kept the sensing ability down to a low level.
We are still getting pictures but the info strip on the
bottom of the picture says 98 degrees. This is some hard
times to give any decent evaluation in the sensing
department. All I can say at this time is this camera
will work but has a hard time doing it at these
temperatures. The reduced emitter count test selected on
the flash still shows that we are getting good light
down range. Sample pictures are respectable at that
setting also.
06-25-2011
update: We thought that this camera had
presented itself rather well for the price until we
tried the video mode. This raised the bar somewhat as
far as its value in our book. It just seemed to do very
well and I was very pleased with the results. Please
view the sample and when the rain starts the sound is
very clear and it also picks up a lot of the rambling
around noises and doe bleets. This may cause a few to
pay a bit more attention to this little camera.
06-30-2011 update: Well we ran this camera
in the medium resolution setting in photo mode. The
medium setting also has some pretty good pictures both
day and night. Please view the sample pictures to make
your own evaluation. Next is the low setting and we will
be able to close this camera review out hopefully by the
middle of July.
07-02-2011 update: We have completed all
the three resolution sample pictures, Please view the
samples pictures. We have been very pleased with the
function of this camera and we are going to close this
review now. At some time later we will report on battery
life as that data is found.
07-18-2011
update: This little camera worked hard for a
full month and captured 2225 pictures and 70 videos and
the cells finally gave out 6-18 through 7-17.
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