HCO 30
IR Scouting Camera
www.huntingcamonline.com
P.O.Box 258
Gadsden, SC 29052
Tel:1-803-223-9710
Fax:1-803-334-4505
Size comparison to Wildview:
Dealers Wanted for these cameras.
Authorized Dealer:
www.beebusyoutdoors.com
Replacement batteries are just under $30 for this camera. |
HCO 30
IR camera review 02-14-2008
Well, we did not think we were going to see a new camera
that is somewhat smaller than the
Wildview cams but this one is about an inch shorter
than our Wildview cameras.
Roughly 6 ½ inch tall and 2 ¼
inches deep with a width of a little less than 5 inches.
This is another cam in the door design and makes it lose its
positioning in the field when the battery laden door swings
open to check the card. I complain about this with most but
it isn’t really a big problem. The door has a full rubber
seal all the way around the door and there is no weep holes
in the bottom so this cam would remain water tight even when
submerged. The case has a nice camo
appearance and centered at the top is the IR array with the
test and low battery indicator included in this setup. Below
the array is the PIR sensor and camera lens. The loops on
the rear of the cam align with the IR array so the Stealth
type locking bar would cause the Python cable to cross the
array. These folks have informed me that they are working on
a new case for future cams that will incorporate some type
of security feature. The case, hinges and latches seem to be
well designed and lock up very tight. About 2.5 hours on the
supplied lithium ion battery got me a green light and the
battery was ready to install. The dimensions of the battery
compartment is very tight so the battery fits in very
snuggly which in the case with this cam made it difficult to
properly seat the battery and install the cover, but firm
pressure seemed to work just fine. The company recommends
that when first doing your programming that you place the
card in the camera and hook up the USB cable to your
computer and do a format of the card. As with many other
cams this cam will not recognize some cards. I took a couple
of old cards that were on the bench from one of my Bushnell
cams and they worked just fine without formatting plus they
were some off brand name. Documentation is a little rough
but I was able to do the programming with ease. The mode is
accomplished by pressing the mode wheel and then rotating
that same wheel to give you the up down feature. Programming
is done in the test mode. Once programmed the switch is
moved to the on position and the red indicator on the front
of the camera starts to flash for a while and when it stops
the camera is armed and ready to take pictures. The slide
switch will adjust how far the camera will sense. The OK
button is the enter feature. Once programmed, I took it to
the field and did the flash range tests and the array did a
good job out to 40 feet. The sensing range set on maximum
for this 28 degree morning was only out to 30 feet. The
picture quality for the night time IR pictures looked to be
about the same as most cameras and had a little degree of
fuzzy. Rough trigger time is somewhere between 2 and 3
seconds. This will be put on the clock as soon as I get it
out to Anthony for the official time. A very nice 12 volt
port is also located on the bottom of the cam with a rubber
seal to keep the bugs and moisture out when not in use. We
now need to put this cam to work and see how it performs in
the field.
02-19-2008 update: We
had a little bit of difficulties with one of our cameras
and it is going back to be looked at. We put this cam on
the table for some trigger time tests and were a bit
disappointed. The times came out around 4 seconds for
many tests. This means that those who choose this little
cam for their mission to the woods must pay close
attention how you do your setup. This cam would do well
for security because of its size and also it is IR. Best
application would be on a feeder or lick application.
This being the first year for this cam the folks are
taking many notes and we will probably see some pretty
fantastic improvements in future models. For those who
have been happy with the Wildview IR, you would also
like this camera. The picture quality that we have seen
from the test pictures (trigger/flash range) are lacking
in contrast but clear enough for many applications. We
have it on a tree and it is looking hard for some good
field test pictures which we will post in a couple of
days. I am still in the thought process on making a
security bracket for this camera.
02-24-2008 update:
Surgery things to my old body have began to exit and
maybe I will survive to continue this review. I will
start with the pictures in general. This cam has
what appears to be about a 2X zoom built in. Our
test pictures are from about 18 feet out from the
target area yet the deer appear to be on top of the
camera. This feature is not a negative but should be
a consideration when placing the camera in the
field. The next thing is the actual IR illumination.
It looks like all the emitters are all the same
(long range) and they have not incorporated any wide
angle or medium range emitters to the array. This
produces a very narrow band directly in front of the
camera. This setup leaves the peripheral without any
illumination. Our setup is on a feeder so we have
the animals captured in a small area and with this
type of situation this camera worked very well. The
IR picture quality is much better than more
expensive cameras like the Predator. The daytime
color pictures are a little washed and are not
vibrant in color but nice and clear but still
lacking in contrast. There seems to be a green hue
to all the color pictures. Everything that we have
asked this camera to do so far has been done very
well with the exception of the relatively slow
trigger. The factory folks are in the process of
evaluating their tests which are faster than ours
and are going to let us know their findings. We have
two of the HCO 30 cams and today #2 will be taken to
the table for a side by side test to see if both
rate the same on trigger time. I did a setup on the
ground where the squirrels hang out and we made a
short move using this cam. The normal procedure is
to put out the clip and check to see folks reaction
to the clips and see if their impressions are the
same as ours. Most folks really liked this cam when
used in the movie mode. This was our impression
also. When we make these short clips Anthony adds
some sound to the video clips and some of the folks
thought it would be nice to have the sound feature
built into the movie mode. Though the picture
quality showed a little bit of pixel distortion, the
over all quality was pretty good. Every one should
watch this company because they are going to stay on
top of things and even with this cam presenting its
debut as very positive, there will be better things
to come. Over a weeks of use the battery indicator
still shows full, which is good news as long as the
indicator is accurate. We have #1 on a tree in the
movie mode to get some of the action at the feeder,
which we will post when available. For you dealers
that may venture into our reviews, this company is
very much open to hear from you and get you setup as
one of their vendors. Starting in this business can
be rough times until the word gets out about their
products. Our brief dealings with this company’s
support system have proven to be very positive. When
the original #2 displayed a problem just out of the
box a simple E mail was quickly answered and a
replacement unit was here in a couple days. I think
that even with the trigger time thing this cam is
going to prove to be a very good little cam.
02-26-2008 update:
Spent a number of hours doing the side by side
trigger tests using both #1 and #2 and the results
were that both has a 4+ trigger time. The company
rep stated that this fact is outside the reported
specifications and the factory folks are busy trying
to figure just what the problem is. Both the 30 and
50 use the same sensing components so the trigger
times should be the same but the 30 is about 3
seconds slower. With out a doubt they will have this
answered very shortly. We seen this same situation
with the Stealth cam folks where their pre
production cams had very good specs but what was
delivered as the final product had a much slower
trigger time than pre production cams. Even with the
shortcomings these cams still perform well.
04-11-2008 update: This HCO camera does not
have any of the problem areas of its two big brothers.
We have them deployed in the field in situations where
the 4 second trigger is not a problem. We were able to
capture tom turkeys in full strut and we also got a
first look at a piebald deer that we did not know we had
on the property. The small size and easy concealment is
a big plus. This being the first year for these cams the
factory folks are working hard to make sure that the
noted deficiencies are corrected. We hope to get a
chance to travel down country this afternoon so we
should have more news on this cam in a couple of days.
04-19-2008 update: The two HCO 30’s we have
out were dead and required recharged batteries. This is
the 4th week and one of the cameras is taking
over a thousand pictures a week and the last set of
pictures was dated yesterday. The other cam is in a much
slower area but still took a number of pictures. In the
field it looks like 3 to 4 weeks battery life will
probably be the average. We had some very sharp and
clear IR pictures but the day color was a little washed
but still had good contrast. With new batteries today we
will start round two and see if we see a repeat of the
performance again.
04-28-2008 update: Both
cams were still on the full mark for the battery
level and one of the cams had 20-0 pictures and the
other only had about 50 and still going strong. This
is a really nice little cam and so far has worked
well.
05-03-2008 update:
Both cams are still going strong and are taking a
multitude of pictures. We have been favorably
impressed these past few weeks as to just how many
pictures this cam takes and still have pretty good
battery life.
|
HCO 50 IR Scouting Camera
www.huntingcamonline.com
P.O.Box 258
Gadsden, SC 29052
Tel:1-803-223-9710
Fax:1-803-334-4505
Dealers Wanted for these cameras.
Authorized Dealer:
www.beebusyoutdoors.com
Replacement batteries are just under $30 for this camera. |
HCO 50 IR camera review
02-16-2008
I have been having a good time going through these small cameras. I like the
small size and the ability to hide it from those unwanted eyes. These small
packages are not short in desirable features. So far we found that its
little brother the HCO 30 had done everything that it is suppose to do. This
cam has the same physical dimensions and case features. Very much like the
leaf river cams this camera has a view screen and
on screen programming. Switch to the test location on the on/off switch and
then press the menu button and by use of a small joy stick, you can toggle
through the different settings. These are capture mode, resolution, video
time, IR (flash) led on/off, delay time, TV out,
resolution (2-3-5 MP), language, and date/time. Once selected just push the
center of the joy stick to select (enter). Video length is adjustable from
15, 30, 60, and 120 seconds which is a nice feature that others do not have.
Delay time is from 30 seconds to 30 minutes. You can view the pictures on
the screen and delete all/some selected pictures if you wish. As with many
of the cameras that are on the market today, a portion of the MP ratings are
gained through interpolation. We always like the 1.3 to 3 MP settings
because of the ease of file size handling. With most reviews I try to go
ahead and learn the camera and its programming with out having to view the
instructions. With both of these cameras I was able to complete all the
programming prior to reading the instructions. I am just a day out from
having surgery and I am not in the best of shape due to some pain but
setting around and having to think about what needs to be done is not fun. I
will dig a little deeper into these cameras in a few days when things are a
little easier.
02-24-2008 update: With me setting back with a cushion under
everything trying to get comfortable so I can get more of this review
done. Being the surgery thing had taken place the flash range tests will
have come later. We did the trigger times and found them to be a very
respectable 1.5 seconds on repeated tests. A quick look at the trigger
time pictures will show you that we are going to have much better
picture quality than we did with the less expensive 30 model. One and a
half days of hanging on a tree gave us an idea of what we will be
getting once we get the final setup done for our test pictures. This
camera also has that zoom built in so our first pictures look like we
are 3 or 4 feet from the animals. The night pictures have a lot of IR
burn and this told us we must back the camera off another 10 feet from
the target area. This camera has the same narrow focus with the IR light
that fails to illuminate the peripheral. By moving back we hope that
this will help put more of the approaching animals in the lighted area.
We are starting off with the lowest rez setting and will show sample
pictures for each rez setting as we come to it. Last we will do the
movie samples. We have gained great respect for this little cam and if
the picture quality proves itself out, I would probably not have any
problem recommending this camera to anyone. The posted sample pictures
are just temporary and once we get some more from our final setup we
will post them.
02-29-2008 update: In the process of getting the sample
pictures we began to experience a lot of IR burn in the night time
pictures. The first distance was around 12 feet then we moved back to 18
feet and still had considerable amount of burn. We then moved back to
25+ feet and the pictures began to take on a good degree of detail,
without burn. This is somewhat defeating because when the warm weather
hits the PIR sensor will probably start to have a problem seeing the
animals. At the last distance the IR array pattern is somewhat wider and
gives a little more illumination to the coverage area. This is still
very narrow and needs to be much wider to be effective. So far this
camera is still performing as advertised and we will continue through
the different rez settings and get some multi (burst) shot pictures
also.
03-02-2008 update: We did our run to achieve good night
pictures without IR burn by moving back to 25+ feet. Once this was
accomplished we switched to the movie mode and found that the IR
illumination in the movie mode drops considerably. The movies at
that distance, come out very weak and pixilated. Once we finish
getting the test pictures in all the rez settings we will go back to
the movie mode and keep moving the distance in until we see that the
illumination is sufficient to produce good pictures and report on
that. The battery life on this cam started on 2-16 and on 3-1 it
finally died. To total pictures was 150 and it also took 142 thirty
second movies. Replacement
batteries are just under $30 for this camera.
This is very acceptable battery life and speaks well
for the LI type as their choice of batteries. The charge time was
just over 2 hours and the cam is back out to the testing area for
the rest of the test.
03-27-2008 update: We had some questions about the
function of this camera and after discussing the indications with
the folks at HCO they wanted the cam back and sent us a replacement.
As soon as the cam came in I set up for the next mornings flash
range and sensing range tests. This morning I performed these tests
and found that the flash on this particular camera is very good to
40 feet. The sensing range is also 40 feet for this 43 degree
morning. By accident I had bumped the switch to movie and I got a
movie with flash clip and it is somewhat weaker than with the still
pictures. It will be back out for some more field testing.
03-28-2008 update: We discovered that the view screen
zoom feature when used in the test mode and then switched directly
to “on” position will remain in the last zoom setting and the
pictures taken will be zoomed. If the zoom feature is used and then
the camera is switched to the off position then to on the zoom is
set back to zero and the pictures will be without zoom. This may be
of interest to those folks that want to set up to determine what is
happening in a small area and need a closer look. With the improved
flash I have a mission on a particular trail for this camera, but it
will be this weekend before we can take it to our wild area for a
better look at its function.
04-07-2008 update: The trip to the big woods has pretty
well allowed us to get a handle on what has been happening with the
50/80 series cameras. The folks at HCO have concluded through the
inquiries with their factory folks that the problem where things
stop working and only the battery indicator will come on and buttons
don’t work is an SD card problem. If you experience this indication
it should be corrected by only changing to a compatible card. The
other problem where we went through a day-night-then back to day and
the camera would start to fail. We initially figured this was a
programming issue because we could easily repeat the failure. What
we didn’t realize was that the battery would fail on the third day
and the cam would start to fail and the flash would not go off that
night. This was found by carefully measuring available voltage
during different stages of operation. The factory folks are jumping
on this and we should have an answer very quickly. The strange thing
is that the HCO 30 cams using the same setup do not have this
problem. We had some very good field pictures by both the 50 and 80
cams while the battery was still up.
Trigger Time
1.5 seconds |
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Photo
  
Movie
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Samples 1600x1200 (lowest res) |
 
(fog on the lense this morning)
  
(approx 18 feet from feeder)
  
  
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Samples 2048x1536 (next larger res)
Approx. 25 feet from feeder |
  
  
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Samples 2592x1944 (highest res)
Approx. 15 feet from feeder |
  
  
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Movie Samples
Approx. 25 feet from feeder |
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HCO 80 IR Scouting Camera
www.huntingcamonline.com
P.O.Box 258
Gadsden, SC 29052
Tel:1-803-223-9710
Fax:1-803-334-4505
Dealers Wanted for these cameras. |
HCO-80 7 MP IR camera review 03-26-2008
We are presently in the middle of reviews on both the 50 and 30 series from
this company. We now have their top of the line 70/80 camera. There is a
little confusion about the nomenclature but lets just say that this cam will
go all the way to 3272x2304 pixels at the top. This is 3 MP’s over the
HCO-50 and is gained through interpolation. The camera description is the
same as all the predecessors but has the view screen that is not part of the
HCO-30. The accessories also included the mounting strap that was not in the
HCO-30 box. This very small and highly functional camera will hopefully have
a trigger time in that 1+ second range as we found on the 50 series. I have
spent some sleepless nights trying to build in my mind a security bracket
for this small camera. The problem is the location of the strap slots on the
back of the camera. If they were located a little lower a simple locking
plate like Stealth would work just fine. Then the cable could cross between
the Array and the PIR sensor. This new LI battery pack is just great and
seems to work just fine on all the previous models we have tested. We will
definitely see this copied by the competition because of how well it works.
This company has started to gain vendors so availability is not a problem.
The list is posted on the HCO web site. One area that was not previously
discussed was warranty. They stand firm on the fact that the camera must be
purchased from an authorized dealer and will be for a period of one year.
They say they will repair or replace as the problem deems necessary. View
the reviews on both the 30 and 50 series for all the basic specs and
function as they are the same with the exception of the additional
programming for the higher MP ratings and of course the 30 does not have the
view screen. I am off to the back to get set up for the flash range tests
which should be the same as the others because the array is the same.
03-27-2008
update: Well after testing the flash range on the HCO-50 this
morning I set up and began the same test on this camera. I was somewhat
disappointed in the results. The HCO- 50 really pumped out the light but
this cam was pretty weak at 40 feet. I wanted to make sure that it was not a
fluke so I fired up our second HCO-80 for the same test. The results were
the same and so was the 35 ft. sensing range at 43 degrees. I got the
impression of the trigger time to be something less than 2 seconds during
these tests. This will be determined once we put it on the test stand. At
this point I am very curious about how good the daytime pictures are. I will
stick it out the first thing this morning once the sun comes up and try to
catch one of the tree rats playing with the bird seed under my feeder. Then
it will take a trip to the hill and be put on one of the feeders.
03-28-2008 update: We discovered that
the view screen zoom feature when used in the test mode and then switched
directly to “on” position will remain in the last zoom setting and the
pictures taken will be zoomed. If the zoom feature is used and then the
camera is switched to the off position then to on the zoom is set back to
zero and the pictures will be without zoom. This may be of interest to those
folks that want to set up to determine what is happening in a small area and
need a closer look. This is also the same on the 50 series cams. We have got
to get more of these cams in the woods and off the feeders where they should
be very happy. With the 1.5 trigger they can be used in most every
situation. Just remember that the flash aim is critical with these cameras.
04-05-2008 update: We have been real busy trying to run this
cam thru its paces. We have a pair of these cams so we took one to the
big woods for some wild shots away from the feeders and the other we
kept local to gather the test shots. Both the HCO 50 and 80 have been
problematic for us. Both the HCO folks and I have been busy trying to
figure just what is happening. Two different things happen and both
problems have been corrected by removing the battery and rebooting the
cam.
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The first problem is where we see only a battery indicator on the
LCD when turned on and buttons and menu will not work.
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The other problem is where the cam will take day time pictures when
first put out and will transition to flash at night. When the
daylight again hits this camera it will again take day pictures but
from then on we see whiteouts in the day and the flash will not turn
back on unless rebooted and then again the cam will cycle through
this same scenario.
The
camera is on our big test area and we will not see it until tomorrow to
see if it also does the same thing. It is like the day night sensor gets
stuck after the second day. We have not experienced these issues with
the HCO-30 so far. The support for these cameras has been exceptional
and the manufactures are very busy to come up with solutions as problems
are identified.
04-07-2008 update: The trip to the big woods has pretty
well allowed us to get a handle on what has been happening with the
50/80 series cameras. The folks at HCO have concluded through the
inquiries with their factory folks that the problem where things
stop working and only the battery indicator will come on and buttons
don’t work is an SD card problem. If you experience this indication
it should be corrected by only changing to a compatible card. The
other problem where we went through a day-night-then back to day and
the camera would start to fail. We initially figured this was a
programming issue because we could easily repeat the failure. What
we didn’t realize was that the battery would fail on the third day
and the cam would start to fail and the flash would not go off that
night. This was found by carefully measuring available voltage
during different stages of operation. The factory folks are jumping
on this and we should have an answer very quickly. The strange thing
is that the HCO 30 cams using the same setup do not have this
problem. We had some very good field pictures by both the 50 and 80
cams while the battery was still up.
Trigger Time
2 seconds |
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Samples |
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Samples |
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Movie Samples
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