[akwe-xavante]

Bought, then returned, a Browning Spec Ops Advantage from Naturespy.org in the UK. Their website says that you can use Panasonic eneloop pro rechargeable batteries. I bought a new Panasonic eneloop charger and a set of new eneloop pro 2500mAH batteries for the camera when i ordered the camera. I had all sorts of issues with the camera. Naturespy said that it was the batteries that were at faulty, but again they say it's compatible with eneloop pro rechargeables.

Even indoors at room temperature with fully charged batteries, i had problems. Count down would freeze but i could still see my ugly mush moving around on the screen, the mode button was unresponsive. I could do nothing with it, even sliding the on/off switch to off wouldn't switch it off and i'd have to open the battery bay to turn it off.

When it did appear to set itself up correcting on turning it on It recorded very few videos even though there was a great deal of activity in front of it and 30% of the files that it did record were bad. Video was jerky, stops and starts. A bird (Wood pigeon) for example would suddenly jump 2ft across the screen. Some videos were badly pixelated with horizontal lines.

Tried lower quality video, tried extending the delay between triggers, adjusted the sensitivity, tried shortening the length of videos etc. Nothing seemed to solve the issues

Naturespy have suggested that i buy a Browning Recon Force Elite HP4 because it has been designed to be more rechargeable battery compatible.

If you are using a Browning Recon Force Elite HP4, are you using rechargeable batteries?

[Anthony]

When you insert Alkaline or Lithium what happens? Does the camera function normally ?

Is there a battery type setting?

The reason I ask is that if the camera battery level (based on voltage) is preset for Energizer Lithium then the only problem I can imagine would be an error on the screen like "LOW BATTERY" but lower voltage batteries should not cause the unit to malfunction.

That is strange.

Our Ridgetec Lookout supports Nimh, Alkaline and Lithium for AA battery types. This enables the camera to set the proper battery discharge curve and correctly report the current battery level and shutdown prior to crash (battery amps = 0).

[Anthony]

Try the recommended batteries. If the camera continues to malfunction then try a different SD card. Camera malfunction is normally more related to SD card compatibility rather than battery type.

[akwe-xavante]

Thank you for replies thus far.

Unfortunately, the camera has been returned to Naturespy at their request. I don't have any Alkaline or Lithium batteries to try. The SD card was supplied with the camera by Naturespy, it was a SanDisk 32GB SDXC card.

There were two battery type settings, Alkaline or Lithium, i tried both. Lithium gave the batteries a lower level of charge. Charge level using the Lithium option never dropped below 62% and never dropped below 76% set to Alkaline. Naturespy do recommend using Panasonic eneloop pro rechargeable batteries with this camera. I never had a "Low Battery" warning. Batteries were new.

I'm keen to try another camera, one that will work seamlessly without issues all year round in all weathers using rechargeable batteries.

Any suggestions please? (Available in the UK)

[reaperman]

There is always the option to use an external battery if the rechargeable option doesn’t work out. The external cable jack fitting is a generic size plug widely used on many devices. Perhaps you have one lying around your house. It wouldn’t take much of a 12 volt battery to power the camera. I have a few old car, lawn mower, and motorcycle batteries I’m using on some of my cameras. It works great.

[akwe-xavante]

Thank you reaperman,

This could be a genuinely good idea, i'll have to have a word with my brother about this (Auto Electrician) wouldn't want to damage the camera.

A new 12v Car battery and charger is actually only £11 more expensive than the rechargeable eneloop pro batteries and charger cost me!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GRrrrrrr

For now, i need to buy another camera first thing in the new year.

I'm convinced the first camera was faulty and or NOT compatible with rechargeable batteries as described by the seller.

[reaperman]

Believe it or not, the batteries Im using would no longer start my vehicles . But keep my cell cameras powered for almost a year without charging . Even throughout the cold Minnesota winters. And cell cams use more power than a non cell for obvious reasons. This fall my first car battery finally died after 3 years of trail camera use and that’s after it was useless in a vehicle.