Trigger Speed Tests - Bushnell/Acorn Review - Part 6

Test Cameras

Trail Camera users have varying attribute preferences when selecting the right camera for the work they are carrying out; but the one thing that every one agrees on is the need for a fast trigger speed.

The trigger speed is the time it takes for a given camera to wake up and take a shot after something has triggered its IR sensor.

Animals can be moving fast when they pass a camera and blank images and tips of tails are a common result when the camera is set at 90 degrees to the trail. For this test the cameras shown left were set vertically to ensure each one was looking at exactly the same trigger and all were tested at the same time. The extra 6210 was present for a different test. Who says men can't multi-task?

The Bushnell has a single sensor window while the Ltl Acorn cameras have additional twin side sensors (unique among trail cameras, I believe) which are intended to speed up it's response time. This is actually a single sensor detecting through both side windows at the same time.


The combined field of view (FOV) of the Acorns two side sensors and the main sensor is a 100 to 120° angle of detection. When a heat source first crosses the PIR area of the side sensor, the camera is activated and ready to shoot after 1 second. If the heat source continues into the PIR area of the main sensor, the camera takes pictures immediately, therefore catching the whole body of an animal (in theory). This split-second process could be as short as 0.2 second.

The tests were conducted by me walking across the front of the cameras at 90 degrees to them and at a distance of 5 metres. All the cameras were set on their high sensitivity setting and programmed to take a single image on each trigger event.

I conducted many tests and these four results are consistently representative. With a faster trigger the figure is walking into the picture and the slower the trigger, the further the figure has progressed across the image.
In test #3 the 6210 was so fast that I almost didn't appear whereas the 5210 caught me about midway, and the Bushnell only just caught me.

I don't know why the 5210 had slower trigger times in tests 3 and 4. I intend to repeat this test when I have the new 6210 upgrade with the faster 0.8 second trigger time.

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