This post, scheduled for today, didn’t have a topic until late last night. Circumstances postponed my purchase of a home video surveillance system discussed in this category last August. I’m trying to figure out some things the cats are doing, so I conducted a search on Amazon earlier this week for a basic camera that might meet my needs, and game cameras came up in the search results.

What is a game camera? They are used by hunters and people who want to track animal activity in a given area — maybe count deer at a feeder, monitor a bird feeder or a feral cat colony. These cameras are ruggedized for the outdoors, can be locked to a tree with a cable lock, and are designed for long battery life and unattended operation. There’s even a wireless model with a data plan.

The one that caught my eye was a Bushnell 8MP Trophy Cam HD. I shopped several brands at Academy Sports and Outdoors while I was in Temple and Harker Heights yesterday, and after researching in the store, this model was the best available in this price range (it cost a little more at Academy than at Amazon). Another manufacturer made one that looked good, but it’s shutter speed was listed as “under a second.” Bushnell isn’t afraid to say theirs is .6 seconds. I quickly checked reviews on the phone, and the other brand was rated very good for the price, but the slower shutter speed was something I wasn’t interested in.

Once I figure out what I need to know for the cats, I plan to use this camera at the ranch in efforts to document some of the wildlife we have out there. This camera has several features I like. It can handle up to a 32G SD card. I happened to pick up a couple on sale a few weeks ago that I didn’t really have a purpose for. I do now.

I can customize a a number of things from the resolution of the camera to the size of the photo to the length of the videos. This one only does 720p video, so it’s on the lower end of HD quality, but the reviews said it was still excellent, and I would agree. I like the hybrid mode for this camera. It detects motion, takes from one to three photos (you configure it the way you want it), then it begins recording for a pre-selected amount of time. Default is ten seconds, but I have it set for 30 seconds at the highest resolution now. I had it at ten seconds, and I got about ten ten second clips of Tarzan grooming himself on the kitchen table this morning. Yeah. Ick. But nice to know. After I reset it to thirty seconds and tried the camera at a different level, Tarzan must have decided to test it, because the camera captured him standing on the front of the kitchen sink like a statue. Ajax was in the morning picture, too, but he was not anywhere he doesn’t belong. Also good to know. In fact, I think I saw him telling Tarzan, “Dude! You’re going to get in trouble for being up there.” Tarzan ignored him.

The night vision LEDs and infrared flash keep the animals from noticing they are being photographed. This version does have a red glow about it when it’s recording — a better quality one would have those more blacked out (useful if you’re going to be recording any human activity on your property, for instance, because a human would figure that out pretty quickly).

One thing many people find disappointing is the inability to view the images in the camera. Again, this is a higher end feature, but few game cameras I looked at have this capability. I saw a viewer at Academy for $70, so I figure that’s about what that capability would add to the price of the camera. I suspect dedicated game camera users just swap SD cards periodically and analyze the images at home (This camera can be named, making it easy to tell the difference between data gathered at each camera. GPS coordinated can also be entered manually). We have a friend who makes extensive use of a game camera, so I’ll need to ask him about it next time we see him.

This camera can be plugged into a computer via a USB port, a television via the external input jacks, or, the most common method, I suspect, pull the SD card and insert it into an SD card reader slot.

Still images are in the .jpg format and were easily read by my Mac. Videos were in .avi format, and the Mac’s Quick Time player couldn’t read them. A quick search revealed there is a free program (they’d really like some donations, though) called VideoLan Media Player. It plays much more than .avi files, it installed easily, and it’s been easy to use. If you’re a mac user looking for an iTunes alternative or a way to play non-Mac video files, this may be worth a look.

I have a few cat-related uses for this camera, then I hope to find a good place to put the camera out at the ranch. This may be something I discuss with the Parks and Wildlife guy when we meet at the end of the month.

The cats are helping me adjust the length of the videos. Frequently, I’ve found ten seconds of video to be more than enough. Not so much when a cat is exploring something on the kitchen sink. Delta or Ruby was the first cat to be captured, minutes after I went upstairs to bed last night. We don’t usually find them on the counter, so that was an interesting revelation. I’ll have to look more closely at the image to make sure which one it is. I thought it was Delta, but Ruby is walking by me now, and it could have been her.

In addition to video length, the cat research is helping me gain a solid understanding of the field of view, range, and practical operating parameters for the camera. I am on my third location test. The first location was counter height directly opposite the kitchen sink. This gives me a field of view from the middle of the stove to the right side of the sink, including the kitchen table. It captured Mr. L eating breakfast this morning beautifully. At least, I’m sure it would have been if I’d looked at the imagery. Once I saw what it was, I deleted it. I’m not interested in the human household resident goings on. The second location was a shelf about three feet above the counter height. This provided the same breadth of view but the bottom of the imagery was at counter level. Fine, but too much of the image was out of cat range, so less interesting to me. The third location I’m trying is strapped to the railing of the back stairs. I can get a field of view from the middle of the stove to the right side of the sink, but the kitchen table is out of range. This means Mr. L can snack and watch TV without triggering the camera. We’ll still trigger it doing various other kitchen tasks, and at some point, I may want to focus on what the cats are doing on this kitchen table. For right now, I’m interested in counter top activities.

I want to be very comfortable with the camera. It will be unattended for days or more at a time when I decide to take it to the ranch, so I want to have the best settings for what I’m planning to catch.

Might a game camera be right for an application in or around your home?