Ltl Acorn 5210 and 6210 Close Focus Adjustments

Fig 1:   Lens assembly sitting over the image
sensor on the main camera board.

Following on from last month's posts about close focusing, the following shows how to make the adjustments to the lens to achieve various ranges of closer focus with the Ltl Acorn 5210 and 6210 cameras.

Please be aware that if you mark or damage the camera when carrying out the following procedure it may affect or negate your right to claim under warranty; so you do this at your own risk.

To access the lens assembly you will need to remove the six screws from the back of the camera. This will release the camera front which can then be lifted away to expose the lens and IR filter assemblies.

Warning: There is a small sealing washer located internally in the pillar at the back of each case screw. They may become dislodged when the camera case front is removed. Do not lose them and make certain they are relocated before the case front is refitted otherwise water may gain entry past the case screws.

The IR filter assembly is actuated by a servo and can be manually moved back and forth across the lense to position it out of the way; but be careful not to knock or damage it while using the pliers to shift the lens.

Both camera models are basically the same except for the focal length of the lens. The 5210 models

Acorn and Bushnell Trail Camera Night Time Infrared Lighting Comparisons

Fig 1:   Bushnell - High IR Light setting

It's always interesting and useful to make comparisons between different camera brands and models, particularly if you're looking for the right camera for a specific purpose.

All makes and models have their pros and cons and none more so than when it comes to IR night illumination.

Pete from Crowle in Lincolnshire kindly sent these comparisons between the Bushnell 119477 and the Ltl Acorn 6210MC.

These images clearly illustrate the difference in light output between the 28 LED Array of the Acorn and the 40 LED Array of the Bushnell which is

Ltl Acorn Trail Camera Technical Support and Repairs

First of all I would like to apologise to anyone who hasn't received an answer to their email this last week, and promise that I will get back to you over the next few days.

I've recently become overwhelmed with support requests and found it impossible to keep up to date. As a result I'm afraid I've been forced to make decisions about the level of free support that I am able to provide.

I've been so busy sorting out users individual problems that I haven't had enough time to do other work and make posts, or keep the web site updated. As a result I will in future, only be able to offer free technical support to customers of this web site and Wildlife & Countryside Services.

I suppose I have become a victim of my own success and I regret that I'm having to make these restrictions; but from now on I will only be providing free help and technical support within the camera's warranty period to our own customers.

If you have purchased a camera elsewhere you can

Ltl Acorn 6210 and 5210 Trail Cameras News Update

Ltl Acorn 6210MMX and 5210A

In this post:
Trigger Speeds and Reaction Times
MMS Modules
6210 Case Re-design
6210 Software Version update
5210 Software Version update
Future Tests and Reviews
6210 Availability

It looks as if the new updated 6210 is almost available, at long last; but I'm going to qualify that by pointing out that I can only report what I'm told.

Several times it seemed as if the camera would be ready and then the manufacturers have had to make fine adjustments to the case mould. I also know that there is completely updated software for this camera and all these improvements take time to get right.

Post Update 22.10.12: The new 6210 will be here

Ltl Acorn 5210 and 6210 Trail Camera Problem Solving

Fig 1:  Ltl Acorn 6210MMX and 5210A
Trail Cameras

Latest Page Update: 02.05.2016
Troubleshooting Guide at bottom of page.

Like all cameras of this type, the Ltl Acorn models do have their issues and I answer a large number of emails requesting help. Some problems are just mistakes with menu settings, others are issues with memory cards and some are camera faults.

This post is an attempt to collate and illustrate potential problems which, in most cases, can be corrected by users if they have the right information.

Some issues may require some analysis by the user, but most often a simple procedure or a firmware update will correct the problem.

I hope this post will help you keep your camera running without costly returns and time spent trying to explain problems.



If you have a camera problem which is not answered below please email, Skype or phone.
Do not use the post comments to ask for advice.


Real or Fake (cloned) Ltl Acorn (Firmware upgrade issues):

Before I go into specific issues, one thing which is very important is to determine that you have a genuine

Bushnell and Ltl Acorn comparative trigger speed tests

Fig 1:  Cameras
under test.

The new BushnellHD Trophy Camera model 119477 has been waiting for several weeks, for me to start more comparative tests alongside the Acorn 6210.

Because of the recent trigger speed improvements to both these cameras, I've been eager to see how they would compare, fully expecting the Bushnell with its 0.6sec reaction time to outperform the 6210 with its reaction time of 0.8 of a second. As it turned out I was in for a big surprise.

I also decided to test last years Bushnell 119467 and the Acorn 5210 at the same time to give a clear indication of how things had improved. The chart below clearly and graphically shows how these cameras compare. They were all tested at exactly the same time under perfect conditions (full, even overcast) for this test, there being no chance of flashes of sunlight causing anomalous triggers.

Camera settings were identical, as shown on the table below, and all were loaded with a 4GB SanDisk SDHC card.

The tests were conducted by my walking across the field of view, at 90 degrees to

Acorn 5210A exposure tests - Firmware Upgrade - Part 2.

Fig 1: Still image sequence time lines, pre and post upgrade.
Click on image to view full size

Following on from my last post on this subject, the image on the left shows an analysis of the issue, before and after the firmware upgrade.

This post refers specifically to the upgrade for the 5210A; but a bin file is also available for the 5210M, which will increase the size of the file sent by MMS from 320 x 240 pixels up to 640 x 480 pixels, as well as correcting the exposure issue.

These files are not available to download directly because both bin files are named 5210A. If you use the wrong file it will disable the camera; so I

Roe Deer investigating Birch Bracket Fungi

Just over a year ago I came across this Birch log with bracket fungi which were being eaten by animals unknown. At the time all the fruiting bodies had been reduced almost to a stump.

I left a camera over them on the off-chance that I would capture an image of whatever was responsible and although squirrel, badger and pine marten visited the log, none were observed feeding.

Visiting again this year I found many more fruiting bodies but so far, little evidence of feeding.

This time I seem to be ahead of the game so I set up another camera four days ago, in the hope that it will confirm what animal or animals are feeding on these brackets.

I checked the camera today for the first time and discovered that a roe deer had visited and sniffed at the fungi, but without feeding, a little over an hour before I arrived.

The camera is set to shoot a jpg file and then a thirty second video without a trigger delay. Left shows the deer heading to the log and two seconds later the video below shows it nosing at the fungi before moving away again.

Maybe the fungi are not quite right for eating yet or maybe its another animal responsible, but whichever, the camera will stay on site until I have an answer.

Acorn 5210a card full problem

I've just noticed in my site stats that someone had used the search term "acorn 5210a card full problem" and thought I'd better respond because I've just resolved this issue during tests on this camera.

I have used several different SDHC cards in the Ltl Acorn 5210A and had no problems until I tried the Kingston ultimateX 100X shown on the left.

The card would not format on the camera and so after formating with the PC I tried it again. The camera wrote nonsense files to the card and undid the formating. During the process I got the "card full" message on the screen but with no images on the card, so I reformated the card on the PC and tried it in the Bushnell and the Hawke ProStalk. It worked absolutely fine on these cameras so I tried it again in the Acorn, still with no success.

I guessed at this stage that there could be a compatibility problem so I got in touch with Kinston and received this reply:

We regret to inform you that we do not support the Acorn 5210A and therefore we are unable to recommend a SDHC card.

We sincerely apologise that we have been unable to assist you on this occasion. However, should you have further queries do not hesitate to contact us.

So the bottom line is don't buy Kingston cards to work in Ltl Acorn 5210 trail cameras. All the Sandisk and Lexar cards I've tried in the Acorn work OK but I haven't tested every available card.

I do have a Kingston SD 2G card which works in the Acorn so probably it's just their HC cards.

One SDHC card that does work in the Acorn is the Lexar 8GB SDHC 100X.

If anyone has other experiences like this, I would very much like to hear from them.

Trail Camera Special Offers

I've made arrangements with Wildlife and Countryside Services to offer you some of their product range at special discounts. Their normal prices are very competitive anyway and this puts a bit of icing on the cake.

Items include the Ltl Acorn trail camera range,  the ProStalk PC 2000 trail camera, Kepler, Visionary Wetland and Prophecy binoculars, Ciel bat detectors plus Zoom and Roland digital recorders.

Over the next few days I'll be launching a new trail camera page with lots more information, user manuals to download and Ltl Acorn reviews.

Special offer products pages.