08 January 2015, 02:13
williebTrail cameras
Want to purchase a reliable one. Many have good reviews but say they are not Mac compatible.
Must be Mac compatible for me. Any suggestions?
15 January 2016, 07:37
nhoroI'll qualify my recommendation by saying my current camera is 7 yrs old and things have surely changed significantly since then.
In 2006 I converted my property to wildlife management, which requires several activities to qualify for favorable tax consideration. One is supplemental feed, another is census counts. I set up a 2,000 lb protein feeder for the former, and I use a game camera at the protein feeder for the latter. My first camera was a Bushnell - cheap and simple. After a few months of only 80-90 pics per month, despite 2,000 lbs of feed disappearing in 20-25 days, I tried a Moultrie. The difference was amazing. The photos overloaded the disk and I had to set a 5 min delay after a picture was taken to avoid running out of space. The picture quality was great, and I was capturing several thousand pics per month. After 2 yrs, however, the LCD display went out. I purchased another, but it was slightly different - the brass knobs for accessing the internals were now plastic, and after 2 months the LCD display went out. The store where I purchased it gave me another, and it only lasted 1 month.
I gave up on Moultrie and tried Cuddeback. The model I tried was simple and straightforward, but picture quality sucked and it didn't capture nearly as many photos as the Moultrie.
Then I bought the most expensive camera offered at the time - Reconyx. At the beginning of 2009, they wanted almost $600 for it. Figured I see if you really do get what you pay for. Long story made slightly shorter - I'm still using that same camera today - 7 years later. I've run it continuously, literally, since I purchased it. It averages 3,200 - 3,500 pics per month - so its approaching 270,000 - 300,000 pictures so far. Runs on 6 C batteries, and these will last almost 2 months at the rate pictures are taken at the protein feeder. The thermometer (shows the temp on the pics) started getting way off about 2 yrs ago, but the rest has been flawless. IR pic distance is great at night, and hopefully the new models are even better 7 yrs later.
Not sure about "Mac Compatibility" given the age of my camera, but the age of my camera should speak volumes about its reliability.
17 January 2016, 02:13
ledvmThey record pics on a card. Usually an SD card. Macs will read SD cards like any other computer. The card is just storage of jpeg format images.