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I have several nestboxes in my garden and yesterday a Great Tit pair started to spend some time in the nestbox with a camera. Good news but I know they may yet not build a nest and lay eggs - I have my fingers and toes crossed.
My problem is that I have connected the nestbox camera via an EZCAP video grabber in order to watch and capture images but the images are B&W on my PC rather than in colour. Other than that, it all seems to be working well. I am using the free Yawcam software which has motion detection and so only captures images when the birds come and go.
Do others connect their cameras to computers (rather than just a TV) and if so, what do you use to connect and get images on your PC? I have already tried every alternative setting I can find in the software to try and get colour pictures. Thanks for any advice.
Arrival at 7:36 with first bit of nesting material...
Leaving at 15:58 after nine separate visits. Most of the day seems to have been spent testing the box out - this involved lots of circling and flapping and very loud pecking! Today, only two short visits but it has been raining.
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Hi Dave , I don't know for sure but I suspect it's a limitation of these inexpensive capture devices themselves rather than the software. I had the same experience with EasyCap and a similar one from another manufacturer. I tried also using Debut capture software instead of the supplied version to no avail. Fortunately for me I was given a secondhand Samsung SHR 5042 DVR which records directly from the same cameras in colour.
Take a look here http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20120104021523AAyxYCs
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Checkout the forums' Community HOMEPAGE for lots of interesting posts from other members.
I use Arcsoft Showbiz, which was supplied with the box. It used to do colour but seems to have given this up as a bad job.
Anyway, those black and whites are superb, and it looks like you may be lucky with a nest. My bluetits have brought mounds of moss to my box but no signs of nesting.
Cheers, Linda.
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Thanks Galatas and Linda. Yes Alan, I am really chuffed to have any pictures - nothing wrong with B&W. Will post some more images if things progress.
Hi - I wonder if this might be due to the relatively low light level inside the box. At low light levels most of these small cameras will switch to B&W I believe.
Ive got one and I experimented by making some windows in the sides to get the camera to work in colour. I made two holes about 2 inches square and covered them in clear perspex which I had sanded to give an obscured effect - so that birds can't see out and predators can't see in.
It worked well for me.
Good luck. Richard.