Trail cameras with e-mail and MMS sending – the Big Eye G3 model

Among all the trail cameras models with sending of e-mails or MMS we have tested in the field, the Big Eye G3 has proved to be the most reliable. It mounts a standard lens, therefore suitable for medium-range shooting, generally the most advisable solution for various types of use. The Big Eye G3 trail cameras are equipped with IR LED illuminators (invisible light), and also with visible light LEDs which for obvious reasons we do not recommend. The email and MMS parameters setting up is quick and easy.

1) Programmable resolution at 3/5/8/12/16 Megapixel with high quality interpolation.
2) Full HD 1080P 30FPS video with sound.
3) The “Camera + Video” mode allows you to take one or more photos and the video in succession at each shooting.
4) 42 infrared LEDs, with the option of setting 20 in power saving mode; LED wavelength 850nm / 940nm for choice.
5) Very high trigger speed (0.5 seconds). This is a very important parameter in the use of trail cameras.
6) 2.4 “TFT color screen to view images and videos.
7) Blocking of images considered important to avoid deletion.
8) Ability to take up to 6 consecutive photos.
9) The timer allows the camera to operate in a specific time interval.
10) In PIR Sleep mode the trail camera does not shoot the same subject repeatedly.
11) In interval mode, the camera takes photos and videos at a specified interval. This is a very useful feature for shooting a blooming flower or birds building a nest, for example. This function can be used with the timer function.
12) Auto Power Off in 1-10 minutes
13) Date, time, temperature and moon phase can be reported in the image.
14) Support SD card up to 64GB.
15) Low consumption and extremely long battery life (in standby mode, up to 6 months with 8 AA batteries)
16) Password protected camera lock.
17) Automatic shooting of color photos during the day and monochrome photos at night.
18) High-speed image transmission via SMTP / MMS, supports GPRS / 3G networks
19) With SMS alerts and remote control functions.
20) Transmission of the original image or a preview.
21) Possibility to fix the time of image transmission.
22) Possibility to set the parameters comfortably with the personal computer.
23) Sending of status messages (time, battery status, remaining capacity of the SD card).

Trail cameras or camera traps

Trail cameras, also called camera traps, are systems for automatically photographing an animal crossing a track and passing in front of the camera, without any need of the physical presence of the operator. They are widely used for wildlife management (censuses, monitoring, etc.) in natural parks, but camera trapping also has applications in research, in cryptozoology and, obviously, in nature photography.

Fields of use of trai cameras

The specialty of trail cameras is monitoring and controlling the presence of the species in a specific territory, an area in which camera traps can be a valid help to classic detection techniques (sighting, traces search, acoustic calls, etc.) . In recent years, the increase in their quality has also allowed their use to estimate the density of mammalian populations. Other applications of camera traps are census, species recognition, fence and access control, hunting, surveillance.

The quality of trail cameras images and videos

Commercial photographic traps, of course, cannot return an image quality equal to that produced by professionals in the sector who normally use other tools, among other things much more expensive, in addition to their skills and experience, but this does not mean they aren’t able to produce pretty good photographs and interesting videos. Certainly the thrill of “seeing” what happens in a forest when men are far away is always very great.

Trail cameras – the models

We are presenting here models of trail cameras that we tried and tested in the field exclusively, models that we consider particularly advantageous for quality / price ratio and resistance to atmospheric agents. Among the features that, based on our experience, we consider of fundamental importance and that distinguish these models from competing ones  we highlight the low activation time of the camera from stand-by (about 1 sec.), the small size, the high definition, the low absorption that allows a long battery life, the possibility of using cards up to 64 Gb for long monitoring.

Important note: all trail cameras produce color images during the day and black and white images at night, due to the infrared illuminators used.