SD198
Well-Known Member
Hi all - thought I would stick up a short post about these cameras in case it helps anyone else who, like me recently, is considering getting one. I basically wanted a camera that I could leave on my local permission up the road so it would notify me as soon as deer were present - so I could either go straight up or take a note in order to identify any patterns; with a view to making my stalking more efficient. Where I wanted to put it had no wifi signal so I knew I needed a cellular camera. I read some reviews talking about how you could get stung with monthly rates on some cellular cameras - so the 100 free pics per month on the Spypoint Link Micro appealed (you can upgrade if you want, which I am told is between £4-9 per month depending on how many extra pics you want). I was put off any of the cheaper Chinese equivalents by the lack of positive reviews on them generally. I had a v useful chat to a forum member here (thanks Steyer 6.5!) which convinced me the Spypoint would fit my needs.
I bought mine from Amazon for £189, which includes the 100 free pics per month. It arrived the next day. The set up process linking your camera to the Spypoint app took about 10mins (after I'd formatted the memory card and downloaded the up to date firmware from Spypoint) and I was good to go. You get free unlimited pics for the first month - which I have been using to experiment. The app is spot on in terms of complexity - just enough options. For me the most useful function is that you can tell the camera what time of day you want it to start and stop "searching" for targets to send you a pic of (although only one on and one off time per day). By using that function I an expecting that I will not need to buy extra pics for my needs. You can also set how much delay between shots, to ensure you don't get the same target over and over again.
I had read some reviews saying a problem was that the lens covers with condensation a lot - and I did find that to be the case on sunny mornings after cold (ie minus numbers C) nights. I tried cleaning the lens with anti-fog stuff, which reduced it by 50%. I then made a polystyrene box to put the camera in to keep it warm, which seems to have helped a bit more.
Anyway, the camera has been "out in the field" for a week now, with the settings telling it to send me pics as and when taken and between the hours of 6am and 7pm (ie anything other than pitch black). I had heard people complain about it taking pics of blades of grass moving - but I have had the sensitivity set to "high" and have been getting about 4 or 5 pics a day; of which 1 or 2 have been "blanks" ie showing nothing I could make out as an animal. The rest have all been pics of either deer or fox - and one rabbit (they have sadly become v v rare on my permission for the past few years). The pics all appear on my phone within a few minutes of being taken. It seems to trigger, as the ads say, at ranges up to about 30m in my experience.
Overall whilst it is early days I am v impressed so far and it the camera has been a great help. Hope this is of assistance to people - any questions please ask.
I bought mine from Amazon for £189, which includes the 100 free pics per month. It arrived the next day. The set up process linking your camera to the Spypoint app took about 10mins (after I'd formatted the memory card and downloaded the up to date firmware from Spypoint) and I was good to go. You get free unlimited pics for the first month - which I have been using to experiment. The app is spot on in terms of complexity - just enough options. For me the most useful function is that you can tell the camera what time of day you want it to start and stop "searching" for targets to send you a pic of (although only one on and one off time per day). By using that function I an expecting that I will not need to buy extra pics for my needs. You can also set how much delay between shots, to ensure you don't get the same target over and over again.
I had read some reviews saying a problem was that the lens covers with condensation a lot - and I did find that to be the case on sunny mornings after cold (ie minus numbers C) nights. I tried cleaning the lens with anti-fog stuff, which reduced it by 50%. I then made a polystyrene box to put the camera in to keep it warm, which seems to have helped a bit more.
Anyway, the camera has been "out in the field" for a week now, with the settings telling it to send me pics as and when taken and between the hours of 6am and 7pm (ie anything other than pitch black). I had heard people complain about it taking pics of blades of grass moving - but I have had the sensitivity set to "high" and have been getting about 4 or 5 pics a day; of which 1 or 2 have been "blanks" ie showing nothing I could make out as an animal. The rest have all been pics of either deer or fox - and one rabbit (they have sadly become v v rare on my permission for the past few years). The pics all appear on my phone within a few minutes of being taken. It seems to trigger, as the ads say, at ranges up to about 30m in my experience.
Overall whilst it is early days I am v impressed so far and it the camera has been a great help. Hope this is of assistance to people - any questions please ask.
