Trail Cams and the Problems

  Obviously with the UK Fox, Wild and Feral Cats as well as EAR work ongoing it reached a stage where what was required was more photographic/video evidence to assess.  There is no funding for such a project and there were other things that needed consideration when purchasing trail cams on a low budget.

I hear from other naturalists and they have had a number of set up cameras stolen. Second cameras as well as talking to locals revealed that badger baiters, poachers and those involved with fox hunt groups were removing such cameras. The reasons why they do this I will leave up to the reader's own mind.  However, it goes on and obviously these cameras can be resold by the thieves.

Spending £70-£120 ($98 -$167) on a single camera to have it stolen and then get it replaced is not something 99% of naturalists could ever afford (police and insurance companies will tell you that if you put something out away from your property then if it gets stolen you can't go crying for help or compensation).

As my budget is very limited despitre the results of the work I have carried out so far I needed a good camera and as there are properties that would require several cameras to be placed I was happy when someone recommended this camera:

MPN:	Does Not Apply	Features:	1080p HD Video Recording
Tripping Time:	1s	Image Sensor:	3MP color CMOS
Type:	Wildlife	Material:	ABS
Video Rresolution:	FHD 1920x1080P 25FPS	Megapixels:	1.2MP

Working Mode:

3Photos + 10sVideo

Model:

PR100

Seemed fair enough and at £25 it was worth a try. I got one and tried it in rain, fog, sleet, clear weather and so on. Worked. Good clear images and video. Therefore I purchased a second one; this one did not work and the seller vanished off Ebay (suprise). I tried everything suggested online and it worked....for a week.

I went to another seller and purchased two since they were recommended and "based in the UK", which I later found out meant a Chinese company with a warehouse in the UK. 

The above photo shows 5 trail cams and an investment of over £100. I bought the first in July 2020, the second in August and the last ones in October 2020. Out of 5 cameras only 2 work and one of those is not that great.

Now, I changed batteries -three different brands and each time a new set. Never worked. I changed the micro SD card (oh, yes, that's another £25 to add to that £100) but nothing.

Complaining after initially pointing out the faults to the seller has resulted in a request for a video from the camera to see what might be wrong -when they were told the camera was not working and if a camera does not work then you CANNOT get a video from it. Then I was told everyone was off on holiday but they 'really' wanted to help.

Not one seller has ever replaced a faulty camera or offered money back. Once I find out what the currentoutcome will be I shall post the names of the sellers so you can avoid them.

Really, if you are a naturalist or areeven thinking of one of these cameras for home security I could not recommend them, especially if the seller just wants your money and there is no after sales service. 

I was looking at a more expensive camera but I'm reliably informed that the camera in qurestion and others are Chinese made and basically not much different.

My eight months of camera trials have not gone well.