Trail cam / Camera Trap

altojack

After feeding hedgehogs in my garden for years I'm wanting to buy a Trail Camera / Camera Trap but it's such a minefield out there.
Can anyone recommend a good buy, not too expensive but that works well please?

I have seen some that work with SD card and batteries are these any good?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

baxie

Have you thought of using a Raspberry Pi with a Pi cam?

Here are a couple of links to see what can be done -

http://nestboxtech.blogspot.co.uk/

http://captainbodgit.blogspot.co.uk/

The forum at https://www.raspberrypi.org/ has a lot of threads about this sort of thing, but it may take a little searching.

altojack

Thanks baxie for the information, plenty to read and take in. I'm not sure though if Raspberry Pi will be beyond my capabilities as I'm no techie, I wish I was. A mere female with little knowledge, that's me :rotfl:

Mr_Toad

baxie wrote: »

Have you thought of using a Raspberry Pi with a Pi cam?

Here are a couple of links to see what can be done -

http://nestboxtech.blogspot.co.uk/

http://captainbodgit.blogspot.co.uk/

The forum at https://www.raspberrypi.org/ has a lot of threads about this sort of thing, but it may take a little searching.

You beat me to it.

A friend of mine built a wildlife camera last year. He used an old digital camera, in a box to protect it from the weather, and built a shutter trigger from the movement sensor on an outside light.

Once the concept was proved OK he found a slightly better, infra red capable, camera and used an infra red light with motion sensor to both light the subject and trigger the camera at night.

Not pretty but it works.

The old Mk1 is now sited on a post by the bird feeders, he's had some interesting pictures from both.

altojack

Mr_Toad wrote: »

You beat me to it.

A friend of mine built a wildlife camera last year. He used an old digital camera, in a box to protect it from the weather, and built a shutter trigger from the movement sensor on an outside light.

Once the concept was proved OK he found a slightly better, infra red capable, camera and used an infra red light with motion sensor to both light the subject and trigger the camera at night.

Not pretty but it works.

The old Mk1 is now sited on a post by the bird feeders, he's had some interesting pictures from both.

That sounds great, but being a mere girlie I don't want/ can't do DIY :eek: rather buy ready to go :T sorry Mr_Toad

kwikbreaks

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

It would seem that the price of £195 on that site is way over the odds compared to other sellers of apparently the same camera.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=shop&q=Acorn+5210A&hl=en&gws_rd=ssl

altojack

kwikbreaks wrote: »

(Text removed by MSE Forum Team)

It would seem that the price of £195 on that site is way over the odds compared to other sellers of apparently the same camera.

https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=shop&q=Acorn+5210A&hl=en&gws_rd=ssl

I did look on fleabay and thought they were very good prices. However when I read the feed back on a couple of the sellers pages was shocked to find that if things go wrong the camera has to be sent to China or wherever at a cost to me of about £13+. Haven't had a chance to check out all sellers though.

Maybe I need to consider a cheaper Trail Cam? And there lays my problem of not knowing what to look for in a camera, which performs the best for what my needs are.

kwikbreaks

There are other options than eBay

https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=shop&q=Acorn+5210A&hl=en&gws_rd=ssl#newwindow=1&hl=en&tbm=shop&q=Acorn+5210A+-inurl:ebay

Not the right board and not 100% sure but I think SOGA would ensure you would not have to pay any return costs and there would be some limit on how long you'd need to wait for a replacement.

Mr_Toad

kwikbreaks wrote: »

There are other options than eBay

https://www.google.co.uk/search?tbm=shop&q=Acorn+5210A&hl=en&gws_rd=ssl#newwindow=1&hl=en&tbm=shop&q=Acorn+5210A+-inurl:ebay

Not the right board and not 100% sure but I think SOGA would ensure you would not have to pay any return costs and there would be some limit on how long you'd need to wait for a replacement.

A very interesting point about the SOGA.

As the seller is not UK does it even apply and if it does how would it be enforced as UK law has no jurisdiction in China. Does eBay have any responsibility under SOGA as the intermediary between buyer and seller?

kwikbreaks

It wouldn't apply to Chinese sellers but there are UK sellers selling Chinese imports and it would apply to them.

If the products are known to be iffy then I wouldn't buy them anywhere and certainly not on ebay. Amazon are good on returns and often competitive.

altojack

The sellers I looked at on ebay were selling from UK but it seems from feedback any faulty goods had to be sent to China for replacement. Maybe better with Amazon but still need help in being pointed in the right direction of which cheapish camera I should be considering.