Cheap Trail cam

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   I recently purchased  this trail cam on Temu for $35.
The camera requires 8x AA batteries and a micro SD card or up to 32GB before it can be used. 

Initially I was not too impressed with the performance at night with the out of the box settings. Both videos and still pictures were very grainy and difficult to see much detail.  I did try setting up a solar powered motion detecting spotlight which worked quite well.  However I have  now found that  reducing the resolution on videos or stills to 1280x720 works quite well.  Below is an example of a night picture at this setting.  I don't seem to be able to upload videos but the clarity is very similar.   

Both pictures and videos  in daylight are good at this resolution.  The device has a USB port which makes it simple to download to a PC, tablet or phone.  There is a small LCD screen on the device that enables viewing captured images/pictures directly.

There is a reasonable range of settings for both video and still pictures.   The  manual is  quite basic so I'm still testing some settings to get a full understanding of what these cameras are able to do.

The batteries seem to last 10-14 days using the camera for around 8-10 hours a night.   There are some settings  that may improve this.   With the the maximum 32gb microSD card I would expect you would run out of power before you would run out of storage.    

The camera seams to be reasonably weather proof - it has stood up way better than the solar security light I had which died after the first decent overnight rain.

Overall I am happy with this trail cam, in fact I have now purchased a second one. 

Edited by -Ec - Yesterday at 9:52am

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-Ec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 02 Sep 2025 Location: Matamau Status: Online Posts: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote -Ec Report Post Thanks(1) Quote Reply Topic: Cheap Trail cam Posted: Yesterday at 9:50am
	I recently purchased this trail cam on Temu for $35. The camera requires 8x AA batteries and a micro SD card or up to 32GB before it can be used. Initially I was not too impressed with the performance at night with the out of the box settings. Both videos and still pictures were very grainy and difficult to see much detail. I did try setting up a solar powered motion detecting spotlight which worked quite well. However I have now found that reducing the resolution on videos or stills to 1280x720 works quite well. Below is an example of a night picture at this setting. I don't seem to be able to upload videos but the clarity is very similar. Both pictures and videos in daylight are good at this resolution. The device has a USB port which makes it simple to download to a PC, tablet or phone. There is a small LCD screen on the device that enables viewing captured images/pictures directly. There is a reasonable range of settings for both video and still pictures. The manual is quite basic so I'm still testing some settings to get a full understanding of what these cameras are able to do. The batteries seem to last 10-14 days using the camera for around 8-10 hours a night. There are some settings that may improve this. With the the maximum 32gb microSD card I would expect you would run out of power before you would run out of storage. The camera seams to be reasonably weather proof - it has stood up way better than the solar security light I had which died after the first decent overnight rain. Overall I am happy with this trail cam, in fact I have now purchased a second one. Edited by -Ec - Yesterday at 9:52am
	Regards -Ec

Pauly5 Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Forum Moderator Joined: 11 Mar 2013 Location: Titahi Bay Status: Offline Posts: 1646	Post Options Post Reply Quote Pauly5 Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 3 hours 22 minutes ago at 7:38am
	Thanks Ec, I have often wondered how good the cheaper ones were. I had bought a more expensive one for work a few years ago and I was never very impressed with the battery perfermance and then it just died anyway. So that's quite a reasonable price. I use them to see what's happening in peoples ceilings or under their houses.

-Ec Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Groupie Joined: 02 Sep 2025 Location: Matamau Status: Online Posts: 30	Post Options Post Reply Quote -Ec Report Post Thanks(0) Quote Reply Posted: 2 hours 35 minutes ago at 8:25am
	I got my first one beginning of September and the 2nd around two weeks later - so have not had them long but now that I have the settings sorted I'm pretty happy with them. I'm using some rechargeable AA batteries I already had in the first one. I was using some cheap alkaline batteries in the 2nd but when they needed changing yesterday I went out and got rechargeable for it. I use them for seeing what is moving around the property at night. They come with a strap to attach them to trees/fence posts but as they also have a screw thread on the bottom I have put an old security camera mount on a post in next to the chickens feeder and use a mini tripod for the other so I can use it in different locations. Last night I tried the 2nd in a new location and had a possum come right up to it and knock it over! Really keen to set them both down by stream that runs through the farm next door as I know there are quite a few deer down there.
	Regards -Ec