The first question is, which trailcam?
Most will auto set according to the light and when the light levels drop then the infrared kicks in to illuminate the area. Most trailcam IR will only cover a short range, typically 20mtrs, but some will be less.
Using a tripod or some suitable supporting structure, position the trailcam to cover that distance.
Points to consider in no particular order
Batteries or mains power, a lot depends on your budget and environmental desires.
With mains power, you will be restricted on locating the trailcam depending on mains power sources, extension leads very importantly, weatherproof connections.Whereas battery powered is very portable and the batteries will be within a watertight box.
Rechargeable batteries are good for the environment, but don't necessarily handle the cold or heat extremes too well. Single use alkaline batteries are ok, but in winter, often don't handle the cold, plus, a lot of nighttime use they don't last long.
I use single use lithium batteries, they are very durable during the winter months, and also seem to cope well with the extra power required to power the infrared illumination.
Penny for penny, they are slightly better value over alkaline, even though they are more expensive.
I've not had the same success with lithium rechargeable batteries.
The next point to consider, video or still photos.
I opt for video, and the next question from there, is how long a duration for videos.
I started with 60 seconds, editing down as required, but that became very time consuming and made for a lot of video to search through, with no action, just in case there was some action, so I've opted for 10 sec video lengths. If there's nothing there, you move on to the next video, and to be honest, 10 secs is plenty long enough without people getting bored.
Another point to consider, is how large a memory card. That will depend on video/photo size and quantity versus how often you will download the images captured.
Typically, a 32GB should be adequate, though for my recent Cornwall holiday, due to the high level of day and nighttime activity, one trailcam required a 256GB card to cover 14 days away. It was close to full on my return home, the other, 64GB was plenty adequate. I could have managed with the 32GB card easily.
Mike
Flickr: Peak Rambler
It’s a Wosada Trail Cam. I can’t find my manual to answer your questions but I found an online one so It has the details in the manual here. For the batterys though they are Lithium batterys. cdn.shopify.com/.../G200_LY-123_Trail_Camera_User_Manual.pdf
It's pretty standard spec and comparable to my two.
Both are on a tripod each, one is to monitor the feeding station and fully extended, while the other is to monitor ground activity and set at its shortest, around 38 cms.
It's personal choice, but I've set my trailcams for max resolution and video length 10 sec, to get the clearest images and not have to search through long video clips just on the off chance of something being there.
The battery standby is the same as mine, but that is standby, no activity. The more activity, the quicker the batteries will need replacing.
If you set the trailcam up on a tripod, it doesn't need to be more than a couple of feet above the ground, angled down to a point around 10-15 mtrs away, you should capture whatever visits the garden day or night.
Searching through the menu should be a straightforward task and self explanatory. My advice, would be not to adjust the infrared field settings for now, until you've got the right location in the garden. Mine are still as set at the factory.
You might be able to set a timer to program the trailcam to switch on at nighttime only, which would then help reduce the activity recorded during the day and help the batteries last a little longer.
Ok. Thanks. Putting it up was difficult when I had put it up cause of the way the tree is . Is this far and angle and everything ok for getting photos of Wildlife or do you think it could do with being changed or adjusted? I’ve taken a photo of the trail cam.
The angle will depend on what you want to capture.
The lashing straps are good.
It does seem to be looking more skyward, so perhaps something behind the trailcam at the top to angle it down a bit.
Probably the best way to try it, is activate the trailcam, walk in front of it for around 5-10 secs, power off, and download the image(s) captured to the computer/laptop. That way you'll have a good idea what the cam is seeing.
From there, you can adjust the angle until you get the right, or closest position. A wooden wedge might be the best form of getting the right angle.
I use a tripod, because they are easy to get the angle required, and more mobile.
It might be a bit fiddly, but give it a try.
Below are a couple of photos of my two trailcams, both placed on budget tripods.
The ground positioned trailcam, complete with weed that had grown whilst I was in Cornwall. Its since been removed....
and the feeder trailcam, on a fully extended tripod
Apologies for late reply.
Looking at the camera's spec, I'm afraid to say that its Trigger time is very, very, very slow. You really need a trail cam with a trigger time of 0.2 seconds or lower. Though you can get away with 0.3 seconds.
The trigger time is the time taken for the trail cam to realise it has to do something. Animals can move quite a distance in 0.8 seconds.
Time to photo and Time to video.
Once triggered, a fast trail cam will take roughly 0.2 seconds to take a photo. Slower trail cams can take a second or more.
Similarly, a fast trail cam will take rough a second to start videoing. A slower trail cam can take up to 3 seconds to start videoing!
My strategy is to get the camera to
1) Take three photos
2) Then take a 10 second video
3) Then have a short interval of 5 or 10 seconds before scanning for movement again.
You take the three photos first, because the trail cam responds quicker after it is triggered. You take the video after the photos, as it takes so long for a trail cam to start videoing.
When I first started with trail cams, I got the things to only take video. Virtually all videos missed getting any wildlife. It took me a while to realise that it took a trail cam a fair bit of time to strat videoing.
You only need a 10 second video, as most action is over and done with. Yes, you do get slow moving (i.e. eating) animals, but you soon get fed up of many minutes of Roe Deer or Wood pigeon sauntering around eating. Plus long videos will clog up your SD card and computer disk.
A short interval time means that if an exciting animal (e.g. badger) does hang around, then you stand a good chance of the trail cam triggering again to start photographing and videoing it. Though I do have lots of videos of Roe deer eating as they slowly walk across the trail cams field of view. And as for Wood pigeons just going round in circles in front of camera for many minutes...I would like to shoot them - plus they gorge on the food I put out for other birds.
Most animals in the wild move fast, either hunting for food and/or avoiding becoming food. Badgers in particular move fast all the time. Only when they stop to either investigate or eat something do they slow down sufficiently to the trail cam to photograph or video them. I have so many shots of a part of a badger (normally hind leg) as it whistles across or even towards a slowish trail cam (0.3 second trigger time); and this is the first of the three photos. The remaining two shots the trail cam takes are devoid of animal, and the video is equally empty.
Misc advice: Get a fast SD card. You don't need a huge one. I have an 8GB card which can do well i.e. not fill up. But rely on 32GB or 64GB cards these days.
If possible, clear vegetation in front of the trail cam. Moving vegetation (e.g. long grass) will trigger a trail cam, especially in wind or when it is hot. Insects can also trigger the cam.
I don't use a tripod. I tend to attach trail cam to tree (as you did) with strap. I frequently rest a trail cam on a house brick, when I deploy it in our garden; brilliant for hedgehogs. If you don't raise it off the ground a bit, you'll get glare when the LEDs fire. I also have a couple of thick (say 3 to 4 inch diameter), straight branches, about 2 1/2 feet long, on which I mount trail cams; screw on the metal mounts provided with the camera. I hack a point into the bottom of the branch; which effectively gives me a long stake. It is a simple matter to bash the contraption into the ground with a mallet, then screw on the trail cam. It works when I deploy my trail cams in the wild.
Finally, deploy your trail cam over several nights, and in several locations. You need to understand how wildlife uses your garden. Deploying in the wild is even more fun, requiring you to learn some field craft e.g. looking out for trails and prints for terrestrial animals. or observing bird movement for avian animals.
90% luck, 5% field craft, 5% camera skills.