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2010
Scoutguard SG-570V 5MP 24 count Red Flash Camera Review
We are ashamed as to how
long we have had this camera and have not been able to
get to it because of one problem after the other. Our
friends at Boly Media have had a time with this camera
and finally things have settled down and all the molds
and technology is back home they can now proceed with
getting another Scoutguard to market. We hear of some
litigation operations being directed toward some
unsavory critters who may have borrowed some ideas for
their own use. This may stretch all the way to the US as
things materialize. Anyway this is a strong company who
operates here through HCO to get their great products to
market. Our first look at this camera in the pre
production time frame showed a number of problems and
after our reports there has been some real solid
upgrades and testing going on and the end result
hopefully will show in this review. The inherent flaws
of the original camera and thought to have been borrowed
with out permission actually showed up in a clone.
Measures have been taken and the market is being watched
for anyone who chooses to market what is not theirs to
do so. So much for the history lesson on this production
and lets get to the review.
The still on going life
of the SG-550 has enjoyed a degree of popularity
unprecedented in the trail camera industry. The old 550
had its issues by the clone makers also and were also
found out. The 550 platform was advanced for its time
and now that same system that has had a number of years
to be improved upon with the results showing up in the
2010 units offered by Boly Media. Just a handful of
camera (3 X 5 X 1 inches) that has a 4 AA cell
power source so far during our initial testing looks to
be pretty solid. The science of adjusting components and
how they consume power is in the fore front in camera
design. The worry, that a 4 cell system not lasting will
be scrutinized very closely and reported on. We know how
the previous Scoutguards worked on just 4 cells so we
dont really see where it is going to be an issue
knowing the advancements made in power management. Then
there is also the possibility of using an external
battery if needed.
This is a 5 MP sensor
camera so there is no interpolation to reach that level.
The 2560X1920 resolution is more than enough for any
trail camera as long as it pumps any degree of quality
pictures. Through the program you can also select the 3
MP setting if you wish. Video is the standard 640X480
16fps type that is programmable in length and can also
be reduced to 320X240 20fps if needed. The motion sensor
is the multi zone style like the 550. We should see a
trigger times close to the one second timeframe. This is
where these cameras shine, delay time 1 second (not
really due to write time) to 60 minutes. They have
chosen to still use the wired remote for programming
which worked well for us on the old 550. When the
battery gets low there is a LED indicator to tell you
the batteries needs to be changed.
The bottom of the camera
has a trap door (connected) that slides to one side then
opens displaying the battery compartment, TV out, Remote
jack, power switch, and external power receptacle. The
external power jack Goes through the door so all the
programming must be done with power on and the door
closed prior to connecting to the external battery. They
now have a neat little sliding cover instead of the
rubber plug to cover the hole to the power receptacle
when not in use. This is great for those who like to set
the camera on its base and use it that way. There is no
rubber plug sticking out that prevents the camera from
setting strait. The battery cover is a trick to open by
pushing on the outside lip towards the center of the
camera the door will slide and open. Inside the door is
the plus and minus symbols to indicate battery polarity
installation. Once the batteries are installed the cover
must be pushed down and slid back toward the outside lip
to latch. This is not the greatest arrangement and came
must be taken not to dislodge the door during card
change. You have to remember that this camera is about
and inch and a quarter thick so space for all the
required switches and sockets is tight. The SD card slot
is a good example of tight quarters. I used the same
trick with this camera as I had to do with the I-40
Moultrie and put a piece of electrical tape or post it
flag on the card to pull it out. The card and main
switch is tucked in a tight place and old stubby fingers
just cant go there very well. The card goes in with the
card contacts toward the front of the camera. The front
of the camera is very much at a glance a Scoutguard with
some of the same profile with the added security loop at
the top. The security loop may keep some real honest
people honest but would not be much of a deterrent to
determined individual. There is a chefs hat style array
(24 count) at the top and the lens and PIR sensor are in
line down the front of the camera. This is a full
service camera that will do pictures and video with very
minimum delay periods. The chart below has the
specifications listed.
(correction to the
chart below, it should read 4AA batteries)
We did not get
documentation with this camera in its new bubble pack so
I cannot report on that. The programming was easy and
not at all hard to do. It follows the same pattern as
previous cameras from the same company. Security is just
the top loop which is not much so an after market box
would be in order for those using areas where things
disappear un announced. Having a little camera that has
a 5 second delay made the trigger time (un official)
testing go like a snap. I did not get the one second
that I expected but it also did not go close to two. The
remote is also the picture viewer if needed and it does
work well but it is small and detail cannot be seen with
my old eyes.
We will now get this
thing back in line so it can take its turn through the
system. My initial impression is that most people would
probably like this camera because of the amount of
function in relation to cost.
07-22-2010 update:
Having to go back through all the notes to get up to
date on material has slowed this process down a bunch.
We have done all the final updates and done all the
testing on the day range/8 plate plus the flash range
and gathered the sample pictures. Day range pictures
were sharp and clear and the zoom to the 8 was clear at
200%. Flash reached out past the 50 foot range and this
is also the sensing distance. We posted the sample
pictures and had a delay getting something here to talk
about their quality. In the mean time we had plenty of
comments where many people liked the quality, so we will
let the pictures speak for themselves.
08-28-2010 update:
We have kept this cam going and so far it has not let us
down and has given very good results for the price. We
are going to go ahead and close this review.
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Trigger Times
without flash - around 1.5 seconds
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Trigger Times
with Flash - around 1.69 seconds
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Flash Range
Tests
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