Trail Cameras
For some time, I have been thinking about getting a trail camera. It always seemed to me that a great way to make iNaturalist submissions would be to hide a trail camera somewhere, then move it every two weeks or so while submitting whatever it happens to see. This would give me a decent chance of finding interesting mammals like bobcats, or mountain lions and if I position it right maybe even smaller mammals and birds.
Unfortunately the market is so crowded, I am having trouble making a decision what I want.
First, there are the cheap cameras. At $50-75 it won't break the budget, and I won't feel so bad when it inevitably gets stolen. The Wildgame Innovations Rage 4 MP Digital Trail Camera , Moultrie Game Spy A-5 Gen 2 Low Glow 5.0 MP Camera, and Stealth Cam STC-P12 6.0 Megapixel Digital Scouting Camera all are reasonable choices. Each has somewhat underwhelming image quality, but for such a cheap entry point all seem like amazing deals.
The mid range, $75-$150 is absurdly crowded. Just to name a few of the options, there is: Primos 12MP Proof Cam 02 HD Trail Camera, Browning Strike Force HD Camera, Browning Strike Force Sub Micro 10MP Game Camera, Amcrest ATC-1201 12MP Digital Game Cam Trail Camera , Moultrie Game Spy M-990i Gen 2 10.0 MP Camera, Stealth Cam G42 No-Glo Trail Game Camera , Crenova® 12MP 1080P HD Infrared Trail Camera
More expensive than $150 for something I am placing in a random location that I do not own seems a poor choice to me. So I did less research, however, I did see a few options such as the Bushnell 14MP Trophy Cam HD Aggressor No Glow Trail Camera, Acorn Pro HD 6210, and Wingscapes WCB-00116 BirdCam Pro
Right now, I am leaning towards a Primos 12MP Proof Cam 02 HD Trail Camera. This seems like a fairly high quality camera, but not so high quality that I will feel too bad if this scheme fails. It will probably be a couple months before I get around to buying it though so I will likely change my mind a few times first.
Anyone have experience with these? Ideally I would get one with high enough image quality and sensitivity to get both birds and mammals.
