Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012 - 57

trating experience for someone unfamiliar with digital photography or with photography in general. Terms such as megapixel, passive infrared, media card or USB cable can be confusing terminology for some, so before investing in a trail camera, be sure to understand what these terms mean, or ask the sales person to explain. First generation trail cameras used 35mm film to record the images they captured, but today digital photography is the norm. In fact, digital cameras in general have made film cameras obsolete. Digital images mean there is no expensive film to buy and develop. Digital images written to a media card can be checked as frequently, or as infrequently as the owner wishes. When it comes to resolution, the current trend by manufacturers seems to be toward cameras with higher resolution, which means more megapixels. Resolution is a measurement of the output quality of an image, usually in terms of samples, pixels, dots or lines per inch. The terminology varies according to the intended output device. Often, images are referred to as high resolution (hi-res) or low resolution (lo-res). High resolution would be desirable for an image intended for print, generally having 300 DPI or more per inch, while low resolution is acceptable for those images intended only for screen display, generally having 100 or less DPI per inch. The more megapixels a camera offers the better the resolution. For example, a seven megapixel camera allows photos to be enlarged to poster size or, more importantly, they can be cropped without losing much quality. However, for the hunter who just wants to view his photos or to e-mail them to friends, just about any resolution will suffice. On the other hand, a camera with a resolution of three megapixels is capable of producing high quality photos up to 8x10 inches or even a little higher, without the loss of photo quality. It should be noted that the higher the resolution the fewer number of photos that can be stored in the camera’s built-in memory or on the
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media card. Conversely, the lower the camera’s resolution, the greater the number of photos that can be stored on the card. Media cards holding 1 or 2 gigabytes (GB) usually provide all the storage capacity most users are likely to need, but it’s likely a camera bought today will be able to use a media card of 4 GB or higher. The reason is that some cameras offer video capability, and can record a video clip that can be viewed on a home computer. In my experience, a trail camera offering high resolution, five megapixels or higher, can be an invaluable tool in assessing some images. Many times the camera will be tripped by a deer, fox, raccoon or some other nocturnal animal. If a deer trips the camera, the photo will be in focus, but many times there will be other deer at the edge of camera range. If the photo was taken by a camera with high resolution, the image can be zoomed to better view the animals in the background. My advice would be to buy a camera offering high resolution, because it can provide the added advantage of seeing a clearer picture at high magnification. Some trail cameras can run off an external 6-volt power source, but all trail camera models work on batteries, and the number of batteries required varies by manufacturer. I have one camera model that works with four D-cell batteries, while another uses either four or eight AA batteries. The problem with this is that it is somewhat of a nuisance, because I have to stock two different battery types to be sure I have the batteries I need. As a matter of convenience, when running multiple cameras, I prefer those using the same type of battery. The good news, though, is that the latest cameras can operate up to a year with a single set of batteries. Trail cameras usually wait in a “sleep” mode when nothing is happening. This is done to save battery energy, but if an animal is in the area, they go to full power before taking the photo. Before buying a new trail camera ask about trigger time,
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Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Pennsylvania Game News - February 2012