A friend sent me a message the other day and I have decided to share it and the advice I gave to them here on BBR. Yes, it is slightly off-topic, but I think many people who are interested in binoculars will also be a little like me and thus also be interested in wildlife in general and being able to capture what is out there when you are not around:
Question:
I know this is not necessarily your area of expertise, but I’d like to get a camera for outdoors that has good night vision. My parents have a lot of wildlife that visits during the night (my mum thinks it’s their feral cat that eats the cat biscuits and drinks the half a pint of milk she leaves out every night by the door but last night I saw the big, elderly fox sauntering up, enjoying his evening meal 
). Any ideas or recommendations?
What you are looking for is known as a Wildlife Camera, also sometimes called a Trail Camera.
I actually used to test and review them ( I used to run a safari guide website) and always had and took one with me on my trips into the bush and have captured many very interesting things that I would never have seen otherwise. One of my Trail cams was eaten by hyenas – the DTC 1000 pictured below is the actual one! True story!
So as an example, below is a very old video (from 2013) that I made using footage captured with the Minox DTC 600 Wildlife Camera:
Motion Activated
Almost all Wildlife Trail cameras are motion-activated and have night vision (but also work during the day), so they catch all the action without any bright lights to spook the animals or people – in fact, they won’t even know they are being filmed.
Night Vision
Most have infrared lights, which enable them to work in very low-light or even pitch-black situations, and they capture both photos and video. Look for ones with built-in Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, which lets you receive and view the captured footage without having to take the card out every time.
Connectivity
Wildlife cameras also often come with a slot for a SIM card. These can then use a mobile network to send photos and videos straight to your phone or email in near real-time when they detect movement instead of you going and looking at the SD card. This can be handy if you want to keep an eye on things remotely without having to go to the camera itself to check the memory card, but you will need another mobile network.
Power
Wildlife cameras come in both battery-powered and solar-rechargeable versions, each with pros and cons. If your parents’ place gets decent sun exposure, a solar-powered camera might work well, especially for continuous, hassle-free use. Otherwise, I would suggest getting good-quality rechargeable batteries – as they tend to use them up fast.
Recommendations
For some recommendations, I am not sure of your budget, but I would stay clear of the very cheapest options, so below are some “mid-range” ones that look good to me:
- Minox DTC 395 – Approximately €90-€135. I had a couple of their higher-level versions of this camera (DTC 600 and DTC 1000), both were great and I would highly recommend the more modern versions of them which will record better quality images and video now. Before being devoured by hyenas the DTC 1000 survived rainy nights, hippos and even elephants sniffing about it with no worries!
- Bushnell Core DS No Glow – Approximately €140-€185.
- Wildguarder Watcher1 – Around €95-€125. This model is affordable and includes a SIM card option – they are ok and will do the job, but definitely more budget-friendly than quality
Where to Buy
Wildlife Trail Cams can be found where you also find binoculars: Camera stores, Amazon, eBay and camera shops etc.
Decathlon also has a selection of wildlife cameras that are budget-friendly and user-friendly. Their in-house brand is Solognac and they have a number of different models with varying features – I don’t know much about them however.
Hope this helps.
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