Trail Camera Shootout Archive

Many people think the Trail Camera Shootout is the cumulative ranking for everything a camera has to offer.  This couldn't be further from the truth.  The Shootout is a great way of identifying a cameras "real-life" detection circuit.  How well does the detection zone synch up with the camera's lens?  Does a particular camera have a detection zone so wide it snaps the picture before the subject has walked into the field of view?  How fast is the trigger? The Shootout is designed to test all the cameras under the same conditions to determine how the detection circuits rank.

The Shootout does not take into account battery life, ease of operation, picture quality and many other factors.

How it works:
Cameras are attached to the trailer at a height range equivalent to the core vertical range of the human torso.  This gives all cameras an equal chance of detecting motion created by an adult human.  Cameras are then individually tested and adjusted for exact perpendicular alignment to the mounting surface of the trailer.  Once all cameras are aligned and aiming along the exact same plane, the trailer is adjusted for perfect alignment parallel to the lay of the land at the testing location.

While there are different schools of thought regarding how a trail camera should function, we believe a camera should come as close as possible to replacing a human in the field.  Specifically, we look for cameras to monitor as large an area as possible and capture as many photos of anything which enters that area as fast as possible.  With this in mind, we developed the original Trail Camera Shootout.

The shootout tests the combined abilities of a camera’s trigger speed, detection width & detection range.  The test area is established by setting cones at 10’ intervals from 10 to 100 feet from the cameras.  A human test subject walks in front of the cameras twice at each distance- once from the right and once from the left.  This process averages out any inconsistencies created when detection sensors are mounted incorrectly.

Photos are judged and awarded points based on how quickly each camera detects motion and ultimately captures a photo of the test subject. Photos are divided into 8 vertical zones.  If the test subject appears in the first zone of the leading edge of the walk path, a camera receives the maximum score of 8 points. Cameras which record an image of the test subject just as he is about to exit the picture are given a low score of just 1 point.  If no photo is captured, a camera receives 0 points.

An extremely valuable test criteria which doesn’t factor into the scoring for the Shootout, but is readily apparent during the test is Recovery time.  Recovery time defined is the amount of time which elapses between triggered photos.  Some cameras are able to snap photos one after another with virtually no lag time between pictures.  Other cameras are incapable of capturing photos any faster than 1 a minute.  Cameras with quick recovery times captured multiple photos of the test subject as he made his way across the test area.  Where applicable, we document all cameras which captured multiple photos.

As the ambient temperature approaches the body temperature of the target species, most cameras become less effective at detecting motion.  You can expect many of the cameras in this test to perform better in the colder temperatures during most hunting seasons.

2014 Spring Trail Camera Shootout

2013 Fall Trail Camera Shootout

2013 Spring Trail Camera Shootout