I was going to save my money this winter for a reconyx however I am have second thoughts. I have read a lot of positive things about homebrew and think that it would be fun to build one this winter. What parts would it take to build a homebrew that would compair to a reconyx. Would I be able to get the same trigger speed and senistivity. What would the batter life be like.
www.camtrapper.com there's an awesome place to start. basiccally like anything the quality depends on what you get and how you do you build. I have 6 store bought cams and only 1 homebrew so far. I like my homebrew the best!
Great topic to consider. I have both cameras mentioned so I will try to offer a bit of insight on the subject. First of all I think it's really hard to compare any commercial cam with a homebrew. They really are two completely different animals. I didn't build a homebrew because I thought it would be better or cheaper, for me it was just the next step in this hobby. You can build a really great homebrew for under $150.00 depending on the price you pay for the camera. I will attempt to compare a few categories of a homebrew and a Reconyx. Picture Quality...Homebrew. This is the area where a homebrew wins every time. Price...Homebrew obviously because the Reconyx is so expensive. Reliability...Hard to say because you can repair your own homebrew but Reconyx' customer service is second to none. Ease of use...Reconyx hands down. A homebrew can be rather finiky until you get used to them. Battery life...Reconyx hands down. A homebrew at best, will give you about three weeks of battery life. Features...You just can't build all the features into a hombrew that the commercial makers do, so the winner is Reconyx. Trigger speed...If you were comparing a homebrew with almost any other commercial cam, the homebrew would fair pretty well and win out most of the time. But when it comes to comparing it's trigger speed and recovery time with a Reconyx, there is no comparison, the Reconyx is the run-away winner. So what would I do? I'd probably build another homebrew. There's nothing that compares with the satisfaction of building something with your own hands and then seeing it work. I love my Reconyx and I get great satisfaction from my homebrew. Wouldn't want to give either one of them up. Here's a couple of pics for comparison Blessings.....Pastorjim
My thoughts mirror pretty much what Jim mentioned. Although, my experiences with battery life are better than 3 weeks (much depends on the cam settings, battery choice, and of course what you wire up for externals). For example, I have just two AA externals (Alkaline), and two good quality NiMH Eneloops in the cam for my S40, and I can get about a month of use in cold weather (teens at night, 20s and 30s in the day). A little longer during the summer months. Reconyx will get much more length of time out of the batteries, however, and I love that they only run on AAs. If you wanted a year round cam with one or two checks, you could do it with a homebrew (that's the beauty of them) with good C or D externals. For me, I like the price advantage of homebrews for what you get in comparison to Reconyx. I think as a whole, Reconyx is the better cam, but at a fraction of the cost, you can have VERY solid, reliable, and high quality homebrew.
I have no experience with homebrews but would love to try making one some day for the satisfaction. It is hard to believe anyone would be satisfied with a month or less of batterylife. While Reconyx cameras offer so much more then great picture quality, quick recovery time, and the best batterylife in the industry I can understand the satisfaction with building your own. I will say I was amazed after checking my new Reconyx HC500 this morning and finding the batterylife to be at 37% and it still was taking night time pictures which were as clear as using new batteries. But that is just one element of a Reconyx camera that no one can duplicate.
Remember, Reconyx cameras run on anywhere from 6AA to 12AA, with the latter being the setup claiming one year of constant usage. My 1 month estimate is running essentially 4 AA, only two of which are not rechargeable nor constant draining. Adding more AA batteries to the system in parallel will essentially add mAh, and thus increase the timeframe between recharges. If you built a homebrew with 12 AAs, and compared it to a Reconyx running 12AAs, I still don't think the homebrew would last as long, however.
The 12 battery theory is very true however find a camera that will run much less take night time pictures on 37% batterylife. Good luck.....
Checked my S40 last Saturday to find my batteries were dead (checked around 1PM), there was a shot that morning at 9AM, and several before that from 12AM to 9AM. Again, I'm not bashing Reconyx. Heck, I believe them to be a superior cam to most homebrews from a statistical point of view. You just have to weigh what is most important to you.
As most know on here I don't believe there's a better trail camera out there then Reconyx. In saying what I just said though this winter I'll more then likely be building an IR homebrew with the best features available to best simulate the Reconyx. I'm kinda excited about doing this build.
reconyx may be the top of the line,but for 500.00 i can buy five of a cam that works well for me. And when someone swipes it from the woods it wont hurt near as much.
A lot of good it does to steal a Reconyx if the owner is using the codeloc anti-theft code you are able to use on a Reconyx. By using the codeloc and then sending a registration card or registering the camera online if someone steals the camera and calls Reconyx they can trace the serial number to the rightful owner. No dice for the thief......that is probably my favorite part of Reconyx, well next to ease of use, awesome batterylife, great pictures, compact size, durability, and customer service is #1. YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!!!!
Thats a lot of if's and the cam will still be gone. My bushnell has a code but you can get online and reset the deal. for the money you would think reconyx would have gps tracking
Has anyone or have you heard of anyone using this kit from this company? You add your own camera. http://www.snapshotsniper.com/HomeBrewProducts.htm
