Spypoint nature cameras can provide fascinating insight into wildlife: the new 2011 Spypoint range
A Wildlife Camera or Trail Camera can provide fascinating insight into Wildlife’s nocturnal habits
Wildlife cameras have grown in popularity of late as the cost of technology has come down and its use in TV shows such as BBC Countryfile, Springwatch and the fantastic Lost Land of the Tigers show, where researchers used a Bushnell Trophy Camera to capture images capture the elusive Bhutanese tiger.
How does a Wildlife Camera work and why Spypoint?
A wildlife camera is essentially a digital camera in a secure, waterproof housing with infrared LEDs to illuminate wildlife at night, and a motion detection system.
Spypoint has a range of wildlife cameras, from the IR-5 to the market-leading Pro X Plus. Unlike many other camera manufacturers, Spypoint cameras use a double detection method.
The cameras have a motion detection system that also searches for a heat signature of an object. The idea here is that when a deer walks into the detection area, the camera sees movement AND a heat signature, so know it’s a living object that has triggered the camera and it needs to take a photo or video.
With some cameras, tree branches, blowing grass, etc. will cause a false trigger, resulting in blank images of the background scene.
Another common cause of only background images is a slow unresponsive camera with a slow activation time, for example a deer runs past the camera and takes a while to respond, turn on and then take a photo, the deer is often already out of the zone, or the camera will catch the deer’s tail as it leaves the area.
The latest cameras feature an innovative Instant Trigger feature (when powered by an external power supply) that constantly actively monitors the area, and when motion is detected, it immediately captures a photo or video of the subject.
The Pro X Plus is Spypoint’s flagship camera, delivering 12 Megapixels of image quality along with high-quality SD video. The Pro X Plus has an industry-leading response time and operates in Instant Trigger mode when powered by an external power supply. A built-in playback screen allows you to review captured images, and the easy-to-use control panel makes setup a breeze.
With consistent results, sound recording and variable infrared, the Spypoint Pro X Plus is the best trail camera on the market in our opinion, which is why it is widely used by wildlife experts, researchers and professionals around the world.
New innovations in trail camera technology for remote viewing
Wildlife cameras and trail cameras have one limitation that has been impossible to solve until now.
Since these cameras record images to an SD card, you will need to go back to the camera to unpack the images to view them at home. This is normally done by removing and reinserting the SD card and then downloading the images to your PC or laptop at home.
With this type of withdrawal facility, there are some drawbacks
- If you place the camera in a remote area, such as a tree nest, or over a ravine, it will be difficult to get to the camera to view images and change memory cards.
- If your camera is stolen, you not only lose an expensive camera, but you also lose weeks of data.
- If a camera is in an area that is home to elusive species, you wouldn’t want to return to the location very often and disrupt the area, with human odors, footprints and noise potentially scaring off species. This was a problem that the Lost Land of the Tiger researchers had to deal with.
- If the camera is in a remote area, you may need to travel long distances to view the images.
Spypoint has the answer!
In 2011, a series of new innovative Spypoint wildlife cameras will be introduced , with the Tiny W and Live offering remote viewing solutions.
Spypoint Tiny W draadloze trailcamera
The new TINY W is a wireless trail camera that allows you to stream photos and video to a bin receiver that can be safely hidden or stored, where you can access the footage more easily.
Ideal as a wireless camera for wildlife research where disturbance of breeding grounds must be kept to a minimum. Simply position the camera in the desired location using the slide mount and you can access recorded images without having to return to the camera.
The footage is sent up to 15 meters away to the wireless receiver, which stores the footage in its internal memory so you can access and download it at any time.
The Spypoint TINY Wireless Camera System wirelessly transmits images and video to the storage bin and using 38 IR LEDs it takes photos or videos in complete darkness with infrared invisible to wildlife. If your camera is stolen, your footage is safe and you have taken pictures of the person stealing your camera.
The 8 Megapixel camera delivers sharp quality images in color during the day and in black and white at night. Easy-to-use controls are accessible via the touchpad display on the back. With an instant trigger function, the Spypoint Tiny will trigger the moment it detects movement.
Great for birds of prey nesting sites where you can place the camera (joined with a solar battery pack) in the canopy of the tree and view the footage daily in the Blackbox bin at the base of the tree.
The Tiny W has a new sensor system where three detection sensors give 7 detection zones, allowing the camera to cover a much wider detection angle, ensuring that the camera is awake and ready to take a picture of video instantly.
Combined with an Instant Trigger mode, this ensures that the Tiny captures more of the action than any other wildlife camera.
Spypoint LIVE wildlife camera
The Spypoint LIVE is an infrared camera that records images on the Spypoint Live website, allowing you to view captured videos or images from home or office without going back to the camera site.
Just set the Spypoint LIVE camera to the trail and it will record color during the day and black and white at night, in still or video format.
Ideal for monitoring game movements or for wildlife research, the Spypoint LIVE works like no other trail camera by wirelessly transmitting data to the Internet.
Normally, to get footage from your camera, you need to visit the camera site and remove the SD card to extract the captured footage, with Spypoint LIVE you simply login to Spypoint Live website and check your footage!