Trail Camera for surveillance?

[EJSG19]

I'm asking for a friend, but also out of personal curiosity for a similar situation if it ever arose. What camera would you, the DIYer, purchase and use if you suspected vandalism at your property that you do not live at or visit very often?

I know when you look at Trail Cam's you can spend a ford pinto budget or you can spend a rolls royce budget.

Criteria I see:
1. Need respectable video/photo clarity so you can identify things like faces, license plates, etc easily.
2. Good memory capacity. Friend wants 48 hours continuous or similar, video preferable to photo.
3. Able to be mounted and secured inconspicuously for obvious reasons.
4. Other than that, buy one that is highly rated vs others.

So for you guys who have probably been through a few camera's and have experience with this stuff, what would you do? Obviously... short of hiring security, or installing many thousands of dollars worth of security equipment. Picture yourself trying to outsmart a highschool kid without escalating the situation unreasonably, for example.

[Thunder71]

I don't trust people, so any method you feel is necessary and works - go for it. I've often thought about doing something similar...

I'd probably get one that was 'good', and better than average for night use, also I'd recommend not aiming it toward sunlight, or all you will see is a silhouette.

[rugersol]

IIRC, westberg had an issue where some stuff was stolen ... including a trail cam 'er two ... but one 'er two they missed, got their plate#?!

At which, a couple things come to mind ...

1. good nighttime photo quality ... w/o a flash!

2. I believe the DIY stuff, the camera, itself, has no recording capability ... and ya need a "receiver" to record the video ... but that needs 110v ... it'd be nice if they made a trail cam that'd stream over wi-fi, and have a "receiver" act as the the wi-fi router, and DVR ... but also run on like 18v DC ... maybe even hook up a solar panel?! ... point being, while the cameras might be discovered somewhat easily ... the "receiver" could be hidden nearly anywhere!

... interested to see what the experts have to say on this, myself!

ETA: re: #2 (above) ... if the "receiver", like most any other wi-fi router had a http interface, ya could browse yer photos/video with yer phone, so long as yer "in range"!

[Mn01r6]

Probably not perfect for your situation, but I have these and they work great around my house.

Obviously they require power and a wireless or wired network, but they would only require internet access if you wanted to monitor them from a different location. There are many iphone/android apps that will turn your phone into a DVR and record continuous video on. Night mode has a relatively short field of view unless you buy an external IR blaster.

[Seismic Sam]

Actually, I have another use for trail cams from the other end of the game. Occasionally I find one on my property placed there by a hunter who has no permission to hunt on my property, so I make sure it gets a good view from all angles of a guy in camo with a 50 caliber AR cruising the woods and looking for poachers....

[ree]

I've been using a Bushnell Trophy Cam Max HD. It's a bit pricey, but more affordable than the Reconyx brand cameras which are good too. At night, you don't see anything, but it get's surprisingly clear pictures and videos inside 30 feet.

It uses SD cards. You buy as big as you want. Then you can play with the photo and video resolutions, the detection delays and recovery times and if you're using video, the video lengths to control how fast the memory cards fill up. In my use, 8GB cards is be sufficient for a month of monitoring if you choose the right settings. I'm still on the first set of batteries after 5 months.

[chopper]

I know someone who has had damage on their property he installed the video cameras inside bird houses on the trees and have a continous loop recorder inside.

[yukonjasper]

my $.02
you are asking that a trail camera do something it wasn't designed for. if you want surveillance then get a surveilance system. Some cameras are designed to be hidden - trail cameras are designed to fool wildlife, but can be pretty obvious to humans. There are options with trail cameras that include a cell phone link so you can be notified, with pictures, within a short time of the proximity sensor being triggered. That could enable you to call authorities while the person was on premises and catch them in the act. Those units are on the expensive side and require you to "add a line" to your cell phone plan.

If the end game is to stop the vandalism, I would assume it would be better to make it obvious that the person was going to be recorded so they wouldn't attempt to vandalize the property. If so, the largest wall mounted box camera you can find with some signs announcing they are being recorded would be the ticket.

Good luck, I've had things stolen from a recreation property and it sucks. The Police/Sherriff can't do much after the fact without something to go on, which I assume you already know.

Good luck.

[Anokamnman]

I used my StealthCam trail camera to get photos of people breaking into cars. it takes very clear pictures and video. Batteries last a long time in this cam. As opposed to other brands I have used.

[yukonjasper]

I've been using a Bushnell Trophy Cam Max HD. It's a bit pricey, but more affordable than the Reconyx brand cameras which are good too. At night, you don't see anything, but it get's surprisingly clear pictures and videos inside 30 feet.

It uses SD cards. You buy as big as you want. Then you can play with the photo and video resolutions, the detection delays and recovery times and if you're using video, the video lengths to control how fast the memory cards fill up. In my use, 8GB cards is be sufficient for a month of monitoring if you choose the right settings. I'm still on the first set of batteries after 5 months.

$204 on amazon -
http://www.amazon.com/Bushnell-Trophy-Black-Camera-Vision/dp/B006U0Z676

[JJ]

Actually, I have another use for trail cams from the other end of the game. Occasionally I find one on my property placed there by a hunter who has no permission to hunt on my property, so I make sure it gets a good view from all angles of a guy in camo with a 50 caliber AR cruising the woods and looking for poachers....

If i found someone elses trail cam on my property:

A) First time it would be with a couple good pics of my "twig and berries"
B) Second time it would be mine.

[AdamZ82]

http://www.harborfreight.com/general-me ... 68332.html

We use a similar system to monitor various things at my work, and it works well. The cameras have decent picture quality in daylight, and have a somewhat grainy black & white picture in the dark. This way you have 4 cameras and it records to a DVR. It might be a better option than a trail cam depending on your budget.

Good luck- either way let us know what "your friend" went with and if he caught anything

[tman]

A) First time it would be with a couple good pics of my "twig and berries"
B) Second time it would be mine.

It seems to me that it would make more sense to do "B" first.

[JJ]

A) First time it would be with a couple good pics of my "twig and berries"
B) Second time it would be mine.

It seems to me that it would make more sense to do "B" first.

But A) is so much more fun when they scroll thru the pics

[xd ED]

'B' then 'A'....that would just be wrong.