Dear All We are in the process of documenting some specific animal life using trail cameras in the barren landscape of the Middle Eastern desert. While setting up in two sites, we already encounter few issues that we hope can get resolved with the experience of others. As of now, we are still learning the cameras and may decide to get a set of a different brand if we find it more suitable to the region.
Issues Amcrest camera - over exposed images due to the harsh desert sun light (ISO was set to low). Amcrest camera - capturing thousands of images due to the leaves and grass movement in the wind. Amcrest camera - a pink circle in the middle of the over exposed images. Moultrie camera - not capturing images. Any recommendations, based on experience, for different camera models. Is there a camera that can transmit images from the field via a data network? How to power a trail camera for extended periods of time? Below are the specifics of the environment, our cameras and set up and results. If you could offer some help it will be greatly appreciated. Please email me at [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]> I thank you very much A Dr. Aspa D. Chatziefthimiou Ecologist, ESA Certified Research Scientist / Consultant Tel: 5516 5426 Research Gate <https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Aspassia_Chatziefthimiou> Richer Environments <http://richerenvironments.com/team/> TiDE Network <http://tidenetwork.org/Chatziefthimiou> MetaSUB <http://metasub.org/people/> Area Mostly a rocky desert interspersed with silty depressions. It is extremely exposed with little shade (if at all) and very hot during summer with day temperatures ranging from 38 ˚C - 45 ˚C. In the direct sun that can accumulate on the surface to more than 60 ˚C (in one location topping at 65 ˚C measured at the WP154 camera from 13:47 until 14:53). At night the temperatures range from 27 ˚C - 36 ˚C. Cameras We use two camera models: Amcrest ATC-1201 (12MP camera and 1080 HD video) Moultrie Game Spy 2 Plus (9MP camera and 640x480 video) Camera setup We set the cameras on rock mounds that we collect at the location and complete by covering with stones on the top and sides. That is to achieve two purposes: to provide some minimal shade and to hide the cameras from curious eyes. We did find that we have an issue with the low position of the camera and the limited angle into the burrows. The Amcrest cameras were set to shoot bursts of 3 high-resolution images and then take a 10 second video at each movement detection. The Moultrie camera was set to take bursts of 3 images (the camera can’t do both photo and video at the same time). Results We got some results at both sites but thought we could do better with some experience and different approaches. The Amcrest cameras proved to be durable and kept shooting despite the extreme weather. Although the ISO was set to a low, the images shot during the day were over exposed and lost lots of details in the highlights. It was possible to recover some of the details in a later process in Adobe Lightroom, but with insufficient success. Night shots were good and visible. At some locations, the IR flash would bounce flare back from objects that are close in front of the camera and would “burn” most of the details in the image. Those details were mostly unrecoverable in Adobe Lightroom. We got thousands of images that are triggered by the grass and the leaves movement. The Moultrie camera failed to produce images at one site (WP187) and took only a few pictures during installation but nothing after that, at the other site (WP194).
