Well today was the big day, I finally purchased a new Reconyx RC60 covert infra-red game camera. First thing I noticed upon pulling the unit out of the package was this unit feels and looks as though it is very well built, this was to be expected though with the price of these units. The front cover that allows access to the batteries, controls, and compact flash card is very easy to access and has a very tight seal, much better than the Moultries, Cuddebacks, Stealth Cams, and Trail Macs that I am used to. I was suprised just how tight it locks down and it is nice to see a company building a unit with moisture in mind. I have had the nice suprise of opening my Trail Mac digital in the past and pouring out a few cups of water from the case, I believe that would be impossible with this unit. The batteries are very easy to load into this unit, and they are very easily accessed. A very nice feature is the placement of the memory card slot. There is no need to carry tweezers (Moultrie I40 and Moultire I60) or have a special tool to help remove the card (Cuddeback C3000). It is as easy as pulling it out with your fingers, a very small feature that makes using the unit much more pleasent. After getting my batteries and Compact Flash card installed it was now time to set-up the unit and much to my suprise, it was pretty simple to set-up. I fumbled through it without reading the directions and had no problems at all. If some are worried about this, the unit comes with a very nice 26 page color manual that has detailed instructions step by step on how to opperate the camera. With all the settings ready to go, my best-friend showed up and wanted to see the unit. He is currently running a Swamp Ghost digital and a Trail Mac digital, and he was excited to see the Reconyx. He was very pleased as I was with the unit and the quality/ease of use. As we walked out the door and headed into the woods to find a spot to set the unit up my budde Matt grabbed his new Pentax K200 D digital SLR camera to get some photos of the woods and the camera set-up. My game face was on as we looked for a good area to set the unit up. It was a beautiful cold start to 2009 with a bright blue partly cloudy sky. Not long after entering the woods we found some fresh deer sign and found a good spot for the camera. I got the unit set-up in funnel between a open section of woods and a thicket of crab apples. The funnel was a swampy section of open ground that lead from the west (picked corn field) to the east (2 year old timbered section of woods the deer bed in). I got my unit attached to the tree and decided to test it out. I had it set at one picture per trigger with no delay. I don't plan on the deer standing around in this area so I set the unit accordingly. I decided to test it and I walked through the cameras detection zone and back as a deer would and checked the unit to find that it had snapped 6 photos, 3 each way. I am so excited about this unit and how it peformed in testing. This company is definetly for real and if they could lower their price by around $150-$200 they would take over the market. Being that the unit is pricey it is a must to buy a good lock for the unit, I purchased a Python cable lock for it and it works well as it also prevents anybody from opening the unit as well. I do have to get new memory cards for the unit as the only Compact Flash cards that I have are 256 MB. I will be picking up my new cards next week and will be setting the unit up on a different property for two weeks to see how it performs. I will be sure to add photos and any updates on the unit. The only complaint that I really have for the unit is that it takes Compact Flash cards instead of Secure Digital cards. T
That Python lock is a great unit. We lost the key on my old Leaf River, and 5 hack saw blades later we finally found the key for the python. Even after all that sawing, I barely put a dent into the thing........ Congrats on the camera!
Very nice review, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised with the camera's performance. Todd and I went out to his farm tonight and pulled a bunch of his Reconyx cameras. One had been out for well over a month with over 1,300 images and it was still taking pictures when we walked up on it. I've already made up my mind - my next until will be an RC55. I have 3 Captures and an I40 that I will use to cover ground close to home and the Recoynx will be locked to a tree at our lease where I don't have the opportunity to check it and change batteries all the time.
Matt, my buddy has a Python lock for his camera and won't put his camera in the woods without it. I have never had a problem with anything getting stolen on my properties (never even locked up my past game cameras) but with the price of this unit it was a must and I figured that I would go with the best lock out there. Justin, I read Todds reviews on the cold weather test and watched the videos as well, they were another thing that pushed me towards the Reconyx instead of the Cuddebacks. I am gonna check my camera on Monday when my new memory cards get here and I can't wait to see how it performed. On a side note, I was going to get the RC55 but the RC60 was the only Reconyx that was left.
I know Justin, I talked to Todd about that. I had two Moultries that I got from Cabelas that crapped out in less than a week after opening them and I returned them and used that towards this unit as well as a giftcard that I got for x-mas. I only had to put $38 towards the Reconyx with the Python lock. This spring I am probablly gonna get a couple Cuddeback Captures or another Reconyx and will be placing the order with you guys.
Its not your screen Scott, the IR pictures are pretty dark for the unit. It has a "covert" IR flash which means that there is no visible red glow from the IR but it also cuts down on the night flash range. Another thing is that I have the camera set for the highest quality photos which cuts down on the night IR range as well. My new memory cards will be in tomorrow and I will be moving the unit to a new area so I am going to turn the picture quality back down to default to see how much brighter it is.
