[Ol Arky]

I had a contact that questioned our findings because they had also seen tests on the Trail Cam Pro site that showed the one second trigger times (using the "triggernator") and asked why the difference. All we could say is we feel that those tests may have been done on the original cameras and not this week as ours have been done. Their tests have no date so it might be a good question for those customers to ask if they are contemplating a purchase of one of the BTC cameras from them. Our trigger times have been confirmed from 5 different sources at this point and we are performing more to verify that it is not just a "bad cam".

Ya don't think ya got one a those less that 1% do ya Anthony???????

[Anthony]

Anthony, thanks a ton for your hard work on this issue! Sorry you are getting browbeat for keeping your finger on the pulse!! I am hopeful my 2010 replacement will function as J.M.A.N.'s has. Where is their quality control? I feel bad for their CS people actually answering the phones! Seeing BMC's instant response to minor issues or adjustments, great CS and allowing frimware updates gets my vote, hands down! Just wish they didn't insist on the remote!!

Pic,

I am glad I am not the only one who can see value in quick response, firmware updates, etc from a manufacturer. I get accused of being biased towards BMC or Uway, but if you have half a brain you can see the benefits that you have mentioned. Its what they call a no brainer or just plain common sense. I am looking at this from a buyer's stand point. Remember that because I do not sell any cameras as other review sites do

You might also post a link to the revisit on some other forums so those buyers will know what is going on.

[Anthony]

Request for all 2010 BTC owners:

While researching cameras for the recent interest in Time Lapse, we were going through making a list of all cameras that support this feature. all the documentation, including brochures and website specs indicate that the 2010 TrophyCam cameras support time lapse. We can not find these options in our menus on any of the 10 BTC cameras we now have purchased.

Can you please study your cameras and see if they have Time Lapse and report back here?

[skyhunter]

Seeing BMC's instant response to minor issues or adjustments, great CS and allowing frimware updates gets my vote, hands down! Just wish they didn't insist on the remote!!

Kinda spoils it for me as well. Anyone that has been doing this for a while knows that mistakes and "forgot to bring this or that's happen".

I hate the idea of the remote and one more thing to forget or lose.

[skyhunter]

Request for all 2010 BTC owners:

While researching cameras for the recent interest in Time Lapse, we were going through making a list of all cameras that support this feature. all the documentation, including brochures and website specs indicate that the 2010 TrophyCam cameras support time lapse. We can not find these options in our menus on any of the 10 BTC cameras we now have purchased.

Can you please study your cameras and see if they have Time Lapse and report back here?

Saw nothing of time lapse in my manual or camera menu. ( 2010 LCD / text model 119435 )

[Anthony]

From Cabelas, a bit of "Revolutionary Marketting" : (does Michael Waddel know about this??)





From the Bushnell website:

[camel24hrs]

I had a contact that questioned our findings because they had also seen tests on the Trail Cam Pro site that showed the one second trigger times (using the "triggernator") and asked why the difference. All we could say is we feel that those tests may have been done on the original cameras and not this week as ours have been done. Their tests have no date so it might be a good question for those customers to ask if they are contemplating a purchase of one of the BTC cameras from them. Our trigger times have been confirmed from 5 different sources at this point and we are performing more to verify that it is not just a "bad cam".

Antony I believe I looked at Trail cams review quite some time ago. So I believe this to be from the first cams that came out this year.

I am planning on going ahead and calling Busnell in the morning and cancel waiting on the viewer model and getting the BC which they have in stock at the moment. Hopefully it will be out of the same batch that Joel got his from last week. When I get it I will do any kind of testing on it you want if you just give me the critreia to set it up. I am a senior electronic and instrumentation specailist by trade so I am sure I can carry it out what ever you want me to do as far as testing goes.

Leon

[Ol Arky]

From Cabelas, a bit of "Revolutionary Marketting" :

Is this one of those duck things....

"if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's most likey a duck????"

I would also think if it has a time lapse mode it should be in the menu somewhere....

[Anthony]

Leon,

Have you read some recent threads here where they were using a laptop on barstool and a wireless mouse to activate an online stopwatch timer as they triggered the camera ? In any case this would be a cheap and easy way to test trigger times if have this set up.

Any computer for that matter with a wireless mouse and a way to position the camera 3 feet or so away from the monitor. position the mouse cursor over the "start" button on the online timer, then pick up the mouse and as you swipe down in front of the pir sensor on the camera also click the mouse button to start the timer.

I set the delay at 10 seconds, then wait 20 seconds between tests just to be safe. So you can do 3 tests per minute approx. In just a few minutes you can do 10 easily, then check your results. You can cover the array and turn off the lights but you may have to turn down the brightness on your monitor to test them at night which you should do as you get different times at night.

I appreciate the interest and help.

[T-post]

Coincidently, I was just trying to test the trigger speed on my 2010 BTC, and documenting the process.

Here's a link to the best on-line stopwatch:
http://stopwatch.onlineclock.net/
Be sure to click on "extra large" in the upper left corner of the screen.

Here's some pics of my set up:








I would post my trigger time results, but all 15 of my test pics looked like this:



In all fairness, it's very possible that my test pics are "whited out" due to a glare from my netbook screen, so I'll reposition the netbook screen and retest.

[Anthony]

Our analysis of the video shows that there are only 7.5 frames per second in the high quality mode. Even thought they state higher frame rates in the documentation/specs, the camera actually interpolates frames in order to achieve the higher number.

Here is a video analysis I made using a 1 second (exactly 1 second) clip. As it starts the first frame is already there (partial frame) and you can count 8 changes. What this tells us is that in 1 second of video there are actually around 7.5 frames, not 20. This means a lot of motion blur will take place as a result from our analysis. I slowed the video down to show the frame changes more clearly.

The reason KT will do this is to brighten up the videos. They are going for eye candy but in this case it creates another issue and that is motion blur.

What I have done here is easy to do in Windows Movie Maker and other video software.

(click to watch the video)

[Anthony]

Just curious, has anyone seen this info pop up on any of the other major forums yet? If not we should probably go ahead and post the link for the Revisit there to assist consumers who may be on the verge of buying one.

[Anthony]

Coincidently, I was just trying to test the trigger speed on my 2010 BTC, and documenting the process.

Here's a link to the best on-line stopwatch:
http://stopwatch.onlineclock.net/
Be sure to click on "extra large" in the upper left corner of the screen.

I would post my trigger time results, but all 15 of my test pics looked like this:

In all fairness, it's very possible that my test pics are "whited out" due to a glare from my netbook screen, so I'll reposition the netbook screen and retest.

T-Post,

Now you see some of the issue we run into What is going on here is that there is not enough light in the room for the camera to switch to color so the IR array is flashing creating the white out. Try putting more light like a lamp nearby (shine onto the face of the camera) to push more light into the camera and try again. Keep in mind the day and night times are different.

To test night time keep your current set up and put black tape over the array.

Your problem could also be that you use USPS box when you should have use UPS

[T-post]

I retested my 2010 BTC trigger speed with my netbook screen tilted at different angles; got "white out" on every shot, but was able to barely read the test results when the screen was angled forward.

The good news: Average trigger speed was 1.2 seconds on my early production 2010 BTC.





Being a scientific type of guy; I removed the netbook to see if it was the source of my "white out" condition.



Still had the "white out". My setup is inside my house with only natural light...perhaps the white stone wall background was causing the "white out'? I took the camera outside for a natural mid-day photo..."white out" still there.



Conclusion:

My early production 2010 BTC has a fast trigger speed of 1.2 seconds, but it's worthless during the day

[T-post]

Now you see some of the issue we run into What is going on here is that there is not enough light in the room for the camera to switch to color so the IR array is flashing creating the white out. Try putting more light like a lamp nearby (shine onto the face of the camera) to push more light into the camera and try again. Keep in mind the day and night times are different.

Dang, you are correct Anthony! I didn't realize that my test pics were all black and white indicating that the IR was active. I'll add some light and retest after I eat lunch.

As you can see by my outdoor pic, I've come to expect the "white out"