Wildgame Innovations IR4 initial impression

[doit]

Ok, first I would like to thank you, everyone for your tolerance of my inability to properly express myself.
I know that my writing and command of the English language suck. Hopefully they will improve over time.
I apologize for past and any future occurrences. I'll warn you know that my attempts at humor can me a little raw.
I am serious about my Bow hunting but try to have fun With everything I do. That the way I, doit.

SHKYBoonie, thanks for the tip on the stealth cam I will check them out.

[fr0sty]

Update to attach a couple videos. The batter indicator was at 3 bars today. It's been running 11 days and has taken 3 videos (one day, one night) and about 50 photos. Looks like the IR spotlight is still an issue out in the field.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lR-OF-dt1D8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9PZHcppdFw

[SHKYBoonie]

ORIGINAL: fr0sty

Update to attach a couple videos. The batter indicator was at 3 bars today. It's been running 11 days and has taken 3 videos (one day, one night) and about 50 photos. Looks like the IR spotlight is still an issue out in the field.

Yep, the video was dark except for where the deer was, although it might be a little better than you think because the IR light that is transmitted has to have a subject to reflect off of. I really couldn't tell if it was pointed out into a field or in the woods. If a deer walks into the frame a little further out, it may still reflect off of it. The battery life on the other hand is looking much like the same as the IR4s I had. If it is showing battery drain already with only 3 videos and 50 pics, that means it has used a 1/4 of it's battery on what it has taken. That should give you about the equivalent of 250 pics on a set of batteries, which is about what I got with the IR4s I had. Bad thing is, when the battery level gets down to the last part, it may take day time pics ok but it will only have dark pics for the night time because it will not have enough power to light the IRs correctly. I hate knowing I have to go back to my cams and check the batteries every week or so. Yes, you will get pics of deer even if you are constantly going in to service your cams, but a mature buck will feel the intrusion and pressure. He most likely will not stay around or he will start going nocturnal. This means that even though you got some pics of him and know he's in the area, you have educated him to the point that you may not see him all season unless he just gets stupid over the girls during the rut. I love the rut but I don't put all my eggs in that basket. Most of the bucks I have tagged were either early because I patterned them or late because they were on a pattern again. The point is, the less you go into an area known to house a buck you want to hunt, the better your chances are of catching him off guard. If you use cameras to help find these deer, battery life is a big consideration. It's not the only feature that the cam needs to have but it is at the top of the list.

ORIGINAL: doit

Ok, first I would like to thank you, everyone for your tolerance of my inability to properly express myself.
I know that my writing and command of the English language suck. Hopefully they will improve over time.
I apologize for past and any future occurrences. I'll warn you know that my attempts at humor can me a little raw.
I am serious about my Bow hunting but try to have fun With everything I do. That the way I, doit.

doit, you'll be a good addition to the forum in my book. I get a kick out of the ones that like to shake things up a little. Heck, read some of WoodsWalker's post! I've got to give it to him on the witty part. Stirring the pot helps get things going sometimes on a thread, but like Woods, there is a respectful way of doing that. I have gotten into heated discussions on this forum before and have had to edit post I made because I had gotten a little bent. It happens!

[fr0sty]

What I am hoping to get out of this camera is 3+ months of still images.  I place my camera at my hunting land and let it set until the next time we get up to visit family.  I don't use my cameras to pattern deer.  We will be hunting our same stands and don't really decide from trail cam pics where to place new ones.

For me, cam pics are like buying a pack or 10 of football cards.  I like to see what deer show up.  I don't need to image every deer that's on my land. Like I said, my hunting doesn't really get influenced by t-cam pics.  The pictures are a separate hobby that is related to my deer hunting.

I can see why someone like Marc buys a different camera based on his needs.  I wasn't even really planing on buying a new cam this year.  The one I wanted was one of the new scoutguards, but don't feel like spending $200  for one.  I saw the sale on midway usa for the IR4, and did a little research on chasingame.com  I saw the 09's weren't too good on battery, but that the '10's were getting 3+ month.

Hopefully, once I get my cam set up at the hunting land, I will be able to get 3 or more months of fun from it per battery load  

[doit]

Right on.

[fr0sty]

Just checked the IR4 today.  6 more days with only two more videos and no false triggers.  Both were night time and the deer was just out of IR range.  I can see their eyes glow, but can't make out much else. 

[edit to add videos.  I used adobe premiere to brighten them]
http://www.eyesinthewoods.com/videos/581/wgi-ir4-video-%28brightened-#1%29
http://www.eyesinthewoods.com/videos/582/wgi-ir4-video-%28brightened-#2%29

I am going to muck around with some screen shots to see if I can enhance the images a little better.  Battery indicator still said 3 bars.  I think that makes it 17 days in the field.

I moved the camera again and set it back it still images.

[SHKYBoonie]

frOsty,
I really don't like being the one to be a critic of someone elses test most of the time, but this test you are doing with the IR4 has no bearing on real hunting situations at all. Batteries have a shelf life of several years, meaning you can put them in a device and as long as you don't use that device, the batteries will last a very long time. You got 2 videos in 6 days, where I hunt you would get 2 videos in the first hour! At night you would get at least 15 videos unless you just pointed the camera into the woods somewhere with little regard to deer trails and food sources. I need to know, as well as most of the other hunters that use trail cams, how many pics/videos a cam will take before the batteries give up. On a regular basis I get 600 to 700 pics a week on my cams set at 2 pics every 3 minutes. That means 300 to 350 single pics. If a camera can't do this, then it is completely useless to me. I leave my cams out a month at a time until it gets close to hunting season and then I will check the cameras when I go to that stand to hunt or I am passing close to it going to another area. I do not want to be changing the batteries everything I change the card and only have the first 4 days or so worth of pics. I want to know what was in the area right before I checked the camera. So, unless you start over with new batteries and find an area that at least has a moderate deer population where you get a normal amount of pics per day, I still hold my first opinion of the WGI IR4. It is junk

[fr0sty]

SHKYBoonie, this isn't a test of the IR4.  Just messing around with it until I can place it up on my hunting land.  I try to be matter of fact with my experience with it.  That way people can decide weather or not it meets their needs.   I don't even know if will meet mine, since I haven't placed it at my hunting land yet.
 
I can tell you I only expect to get between 100 and 300 pictures per month on the trails I put my cameras on, so what you need out of a trail camera is very different then what I need. 

[fr0sty]

I was getting poor IR distance with the old walgreens batteries I had, even though the indicator said 3/4 batter life.

I put in a fresh set of rayovacs and threw down some corn to get more pictures.  I had it out a week and got 175 photos.  Battery life was still showing full battery life.  Most of the pics were night photos. 

I did get 4 black out photo. There were another 5 or so dark images during the transition time.