Customer Reviews

5MP Trophy Cam Bone Collector RTAP Night Vision

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I didn't need a deer camera...I needed to find out what animals were tearing up our lawn and eating our flowers in the garden. The camera worked out great for closeup surveillance (4 feet) as well as at its advertised distance out to 50 feet.

I opted for the Bushnell 119445 model because the reviews on the models with the color viewing screen said that the screen was difficult to see and not worth the extra money. My model 119445 has a B&W LCD display that you use to program the unit and it works just fine...pretty easy to program...and the camera has an adequate range of parameters (like motion-sensor sensitivity and time between pictures) for what I needed. I just used the camera's default values (single picture per trip, normal sensitivity, and 20s lockout time). I like that you can increment parameters (like time of day and date) both forward and reverse...eases setting these values. One minor issue is that the memory is volatile...if you replace the batteries you have to reset everything.

A big question for me was whether the unit would work close up (say five feet) and be triggered by animals as small as a rat, squirrel, raccoon, possum, etc at night. The answer is yes, it is easily triggered by rats eating our snapdragons at night four feet away and we found that we could also watch the snails as they attacked.

Another question was the image quality...I'm using the camera's 5Mpixel default setting (it can also be set at 3 MP or 8 MP) and the daylight color images are very sharp and easily viewed...comparable to a good point'n'shoot digital camera; each 5MP jpeg is about 630KB in size. When the light drops off at night the camera automatically switches over and starts taking 5Mpixel B&W images using the IR LEDs as the light source (the B&W images are the same memory size - 630KB - as the daylight color images). These B&W images are quite easily viewed...sort of like the military night-vision scenes you see on TV.

Did the IR LEDs scare the animals...didn't seem to. On the second night surveying the snapdragons I ended up with 50 pictures of rats eating snaps between midnight and 4:30 in the morning.

Some Lessons Learned:

1) I got around 100 images each night. I found that the easiest way to view the pictures was to pull the SD card out and slip it into a one-card reader that plugs into my computer's USB port. Looking at each image individually, the animals were a bit hard to spot and the slide-viewing process was very slow. Looking at the thumbnails on the computer, it was very difficult to see the animals. What worked very well is to view the images as a full-screen slide show using software such as "Windows Picture and Fax Viewer." When viewed as a slide show in rapid succession, the animals in each image jump out as something new in an otherwise identical scene...this makes the images quick to review and the animals quick to spot. For a show for friends I integrated the images into a slide show with a 1-second hold between slides...makes a great movie of our garden being devoured by rats and snails.

2) If trying to view the images at a remote location away from a computer, one option is to load the Bushnell's SD card into your digital camera and use the camera's viewer to examine the images. One reviewer said in disgust that this didn't work with his camera because of compatibility problems...it worked just fine using my Pentax K-7 digital SLR camera, which has a very good 3" 920,000 pixel display. In fact I didn't reformat the SD card for the Bushnell, I just pulled a 1GB SD card out of my Pentax and loaded it into the Bushnell...worked perfect and even used the Pentax file structure. However, this may not work with cards for other cameras (Canon, etc). I also tried using my little Pentax Optio W10 point'n'shoot...it was totally capable of viewing the Bushnell images, but the lower quality 2.5" 115,000 pixel display made spotting the small animals problematic. For animals that more fully fill the frame, the W10 should be OK. With respect to the video clips, the Bushnell uses a ASF file type, whereas the Pentax uses an AVI...thus, no viewing of the videos on the Pentaxes.

3) How about batteries: My application was a short one, so I just loaded four Alkaline AA batteries in the top four battery slots per the directions (the camera will accept 8 AAs for a longer life). CAUTION: the battery polarity is NOT marked in the battery compartment...only in the instruction book (a bad manufacturer error). So I marked the polarity in the battery compartment with a silver felt pen. After three days of shooting 300 pictures...99% at night using the IR LEDs...I measured the battery voltage. The batteries had dropped from 1.61 volts to 1.43 volts...indicating they still had a good charge, but were definitely discharging. Not sure at what lower voltage the camera stops working.

4) What's the case like? It seems very solid with a gasket seal and suitcase style latches...very similar to a Pelican waterproof case. I didn't test its waterproofness...but was generally impressed with the design. I mounted the camera on my camera tripod using the units 1/4-20 threaded mount.

5) For those technically oriented, the individual Bushnell images do come with embedded EXIF data...but it's very simplistic (f/2.8 lens, no shutter speed data, 100ASA film speed). However, the EXIF data contain the date and time of the picture if you failed to turn that function on and want that data later.

Would I recommend it to a friend?...definitely! Would I buy it again...YES, probably the same model...don't think the color viewer would have helped much for me...but might be worth having if you want to check out any videos while in the field. At 640x480, the videos are much lower resolution.

Just got the camera from Amazon. First impressions, cheap wire coming from battery compartment to the processor. Not as easy to set up as the Cuddebacks. Poor quality night pictures, too dark day pictures. Then on day 3 it started taking pictures on its own without anything triggering it every 2-5 minutes. Have over 800 pictures of nothing. Thankfully Amazon will take it back. Not sure if any camera is consistently good without spending over 400 bucks. I wouldn't recommend this one based on my experiences.Will try another from Amazon; it looks like their customer service is good.

I have four of these critter cams .......I like the fact they are compact, have super long batter life and take reasonably good photos day and night. My needs are a bit different than perhaps most that buy this product in that in addition large wildlife such as deer, hog etc., I also like to have them photograph the smaller wildlife as well....To this end comes my complaint. I have 4 units set up 3 feet or so from various small water features where this horrendous Texas drought has brought in every sort of wildlife imaginable...However there are HUGE inconsistencies even between the sensitivity in each of the units of the same model despite all are set on "high"...All four as instructed are facing north and all four are mostly shaded from direct sun..But in a test, based on settings set at images 10 seconds apart, on high sensitivity using single shots the number of photos captured in a 24 hour period varies wildly. I have one unit that collected 512 images of birds,even wasps, lizards, even snakes coming to water, another that captured 222 on the same target..... another that captured only 87 of the same target and a real disappointing fourth that capture only 11 (dogs mostly)!!!....I reloaded ALL units with brand new batteries at the same time (not cheap) to make sure that was a real issue (it is), and double checked the settings....I think it is a luck of the draw on these things....When they are good, they are really good, when bad really bad, but until you have had a few of them and enough time to experiment with them you don't know if you have a cull or not. I have been using these for about 11 months

i picked up a couple of these cameras for scouting purposes. I have had a couple Moultrie I40's for a few years and the digital displays on the front of the camera were starting to fail. To compare the two cameras is easy.
trigger speed on the Bushnell is pretty fast, faster than moultries
the moultrie does a better job of taking pictures at dusk and dawn and switches to ir mode at better times
the picture quality is better with the moultrie and it is only 4 mega pixels. obviously there is something more to picture quality than just mega pixels
set up is easier with busnell, though not to say it is difficult with moultrie
the range, especially ir range is better with moultrie
battery life is still in question, as i have not owned the bushnell long enough, but i do know the battery life on the moulties is exceptional
i have not dealt with customer service with either brand, but my hunting partner has told me that the moultrie customer service is not good at all
bottom line-cool looking small camera that is at least $50 over priced and does a decent job taking pictures
would have been better off getting twice the number of cameras for the same money with a different brand

I am more than pleased with this product. It works perfectly and was delivered promptly. I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a trail camera

This camera took about 5 minutes to figure out, very easy to program. The picture quality is awesome and it even took a clear shot of a house cat under a shrub a 3am!! You can not view the pictures from unit itself which is the only drawback. My solution is to use a micro SD chip in the bigger SD adapter which allows me in the field to take the chip and insert it in my phone for viewing. Great camera for the price

We have used multiple cameras over the years and when Bushnell intoduced the Trophy Cam, they finally got it right. For under $200, this is handsdown the only camera I will buy again (we currently have three of these on our property). They are small and blend in to their surroundings very well. This is also the first camera I have owned where the bears are not constantly messing with it. Battery life is great; I had plenty of juice left after running the cameras in the woods from May through December last year (this includes functioning very well in some frigid temperatures late in the year). No risk, if you ever tried another camera, you will not be disappointed!

I purchased this one after having one destroyed by a 200 lb. black bear last year. these are great cameras, the battery life is awesome if you put 8 of the good energizer lithium battery's in them. The pictures are great, I have two of them up now in my unit that I got drawn for for archery bull elk this year.One of the best parts about them are how small and light they are.

I have four of the bushnell cameras, the last was nothing more than junk!
And the return/refund process was NOT customer friendly!
I would still recommend these cameras but there does seem to be some quality control issues that are yet resolved.

This is the 2nd Trophy Cam I've purchased. The first was excellent and has been used with great results. This one however, did not function... at least, the screen does not function, so basically, the set-up features could not be executed! Sent it back today, replacement Trophy Cam is on it's way. Expected here Nov 15th... too late cause that's opening day of firearm season :oP

Wanted to set-up the second one in another area in advance of opening day!! Hope the replacement works...