Trail camera colour balance, sharpness and dynamic range

Fig 1. Acorn full frame

Fig 2. Acorn centre frame

All these images are shot at the same time so conditions for each camera are identical.

I deliberately included a fair amount of sky in the frame to push the dynamic range.
Click an image to open in a new window.

Fig 3. Bushnell full frame

Fig 4. Bushnell centre frame

Colour balance.

The Bushnell is warmer than natural, while the Acorn is slightly cool and the Prostalk much cooler than natural.

Fig 5. Prostalk full frame

Fig 6. Prostalk centre frame

Dynamic range.

The Bushnell dynamic range is by far the best but darker than I would prefer.
The Acorn looses some sky detail and the Prostalk performs poorly with noticeable blue fringing.

Sharpness and clarity.

The Bushnell again performs best while the Acorn is soft in the centre frame image (fig 2). The Prostalk looks sharp in the full frame image (fig 5) but shows the pixels significantly breaking down in the centre frame image (fig 6).

Overall performance.


1 Bushnell   2 Acorn   3 Prostalk

Cameras under test are
 Acorn 5210A 940nm, Bushnell Trophy Cam 2010 model 119445 and Hawke ProStalk PC2000

Trail Camera Reviews

I've been intending to review the trail cameras that I've been using and while I'm without transport seemed like a good time to start. These cameras are, left to right an Acorn 5210A 940nm, a Bushnell Trophy Cam 2010 model 119445 and a Hawke ProStalk PC2000.

Ltl Acorn 5210 940nm

The Acorn is what they call a lo glow version; and means that it's IR diodes emit at a wavelength of 940 nano metres which is invisible to humans and wildlife.

Shown left with the back removed to access the colour viewing screen (48 x 35.69mm / 2.36"), key pad and additional battery compartment, this design is a departure from the more usual "peli" style cases used by Bushnell et.c

Bushnell Trophy Cam 2010 model 119445


The IR diodes emit a visible glow but they also have  2011 Black LED models 119466 and 467


This model has a black and white (24 x 32mm/ 1.5") display which can be used for camera set up but not for viewing what's on the card. You have to carry a separate viewer for this or wait until you have access to a PC.

The 2011 Black LED model 119467 does have a (32 x 42mm / 2") colour viewing screen.

Hawke ProStalk PC200


This camera is the smallest and lightest of the trio and again its IR Diodes produce a visible glow.

The black and white LCD display screen allows set up of all the cameras functions, but no viewing of images or video.

It is an extremely compact, functional and easy to use design.



There will be more about these cameras over the next few weeks, together with comparison tests and plenty of examples of field results in all modes and conditions.

All of this will be added to the trail camera page along with specification sheets and analysis.

Using a ProStalk PC2000 Trail Camera indoors

More on using the ProStalk at close quarters without over exposure.

I'm still experimenting with this and have found that battery charge state exacerbates this issue so that a filter/diffuser that works OK when the batteries are fully charged will progressively reduce the light too much as they are discharged.

It works for a while though.
See this link for another users solution.
Making the Net Work....: Using a Trail Camera indoors

More from the snowy north

Weather turned again on the weekend and went from no snow to over 30cm by Sunday morning. I think we must have had about 60cm overall but with the ground warmer it was thawing all the time.

Still snow on the ground today but it's going fast.

I moved the trail camera from the Badger Sett on Friday night and set it up on a Deer trail where it stayed until Sunday. The camera was over where the trail crossed a stream in a steep sided ravine and being about half way down, I had to struggle a bit to retrieve it. Didn't capture any Deer but the clip below shows an interesting transition back into winter.

I've been doing some more tests with the Prostalk PC2000 in preparation for writing a review which should appear in a couple of days or so, and tomorrow it returns to the Badger Sett to continue monitoring their activity patterns. We're fast approaching another full moon and with the nights getting shorter I'm interested to see if their evening emergence is getting any closer to dusk.

Problem with ProStalk PC2000 trail camera

I've had this camera out on a site for nearly two weeks and it's worked well shooting jpeg's  during the recent sub zero conditions.

Three days ago I decided to switch to video and shorten the delay time to it's minimum of 5 seconds.

I left it for two days and when I checked yesterday I found that the card was full of empty videos so I brought it back to do some tests.

I discovered that when set to the 5 second delay the camera was shooting a video every 10 seconds without being triggered and the same when shooting stills.

After a bit of experimentation I found that above a delay time of 15 seconds it seemed to be working normally, while in between about 10 and 15 seconds it would occassionally fire without being triggered.

This would seem to be an electronic component tolerance problem which has developed over time as it performed ok from new until now; and my guess is that it may have been brought about by the sub zero temperatures which have been down to -14C.

If anyone reading this has experienced similar problems with this or any other model or make of trailcam, I would be interested to hear what they have found.

I'm going to set the camera out on a deer trail today and see how it perfoms with a 15 second delay time.