GardePro A3S Wildlife Camera (2022), 32MP 1296p, Trail
GardePro A3S Wildlife Camera (2022), 32MP 1296p, Trail Camera with H.264 Video, Next-Gen Imaging Technology, 100ft No Glow Night Vision, 0.1s Trigger Speed Motion Activated, Camera Traps for Garde
I use this to monitor garden wildlife but it has a secondary use as a well camouflaged security camera. Of course, it’s not a real time camera but better than nothing. Images are sharp, battery life is good (using rechargeable batteries). Recommended.
I cannot sing the praises of this camera enough. The quality of the picture is absolutely fantastic, the sound quality is exceptional as well. I have over the years tried several cameras (I own three) to watch the hedgehogs in my garden, and I can quite honestly say that I am seriously thinking of ditching the other two cameras and replacing them with one of these. Unlike most other wildlife cameras on the market the microphone is near the lens instead on underneath the camera so as long as you turn the volume up when watching the video’s you get clarity of sound and the picture like I’ve said is superb. Just buy one of these cameras an see for yourself.
This camera was bought to capture footage for our YouTube channel The Fox & The Badger we found it filmed them in thermal they were just too white maybe at a distance it would be good but close range didn’t look good, the sound on this camera is brilliant. My advice buy it if you’re filming at a bit of distance
Purchased for my husband as an upgrade to his mini version. Very easy to use. Just added a 360 degree investable tripod to his collection and camera had standard screw fixing.
I will do a more detailed review when I have used it more, but be careful about choosing a camera that gives you a sharp focus on what you need. I found my close-up pictures (I use it to film hedgehogs) blurred. I queried it and it turns out that you get a sharo focus at 3 metres (10 feet) on this model, so closer and there wil be blurring. I was advised the E5 model produes a sharp image at 1.5 meters (5 feet). I either misssed this in the product description or it is not there. I will continue to use it but for a different purpose – so far I am happy with the product.
A local campaign group wanted to record the wildlife living in an apple orchard, as a
way to raise awareness of it and help stop its destruction. All of us being technology challenged it was thankfully easy to set-up and got some cracking shots straight out the box
I didn’t have high hopes for this budget trail camera at a fraction of the branded manufacturers prices but it’s turned out to be really good! Night time performance in sub zero temperatures (-4) was very good; movement detection works very well on the standard setting, no-light camera performance is good with HD video clips. Daylight camera is very good, crisp and good colour.
I now know where Ronnie & Roland live, pesky critters
Great camera but didn’t realise it hadn’t got a Bluetooth connection so it was returned. No problem with Amazon for doing so, they have the best online customer service we know. Thanks Amazon.
Ordered same day arrived same day and not only that I used it to catch a video of exactly what I bought this for and it nailed it out of the box…see video of sneaky rat sniffing about. Thanks for such an awesome product, very easy to use and setup and working well with a 64GB SDXC Extreme Pro card.
This camera is fantastic. I was initially worried that the photo quality might be lacking, but I can confidently say now that this camera produces breathtaking results.
I installed this camera on the rainiest, stormiest, windiest weeks in months, and yet it has held up solidly, and shows no signs of water ingress.
Video quality is high, and the highly customisable settings allow you to optimise your experience depending on what you’re looking for. Make sure to read the manual prior to use to understand the full range of settings.
Animals appear to pay it no mind, in both day and night, and I’ve already had fantastic results.
Battery life is good. So far been going for two weeks with no issues.
Brilliant, easy to set up camera. I’ve never written an Amazon review before, but I felt like this camera deserved it! Highly recommend.
This camera is an absolute gem…..
It takes incredibly video .I’ve had cameras costing 3 .And they were unable to match this camera.
For video and picture quality …
Purchased this to supplement an older trail camera. Better night performance due to larger IR array and thankfully records in MP4 format which is compatible with my TV and DVD so I can easily review footage on a big screen rather than on the device itself. The microphone is pretty sensitive. Image quality is reasonable for the price. Battery life seems better than my old one but I have moved to lithium rechargeable ones as standard single-use lithium cells are expensive. Don’t aim to use Ni-mh cells as these are only 1.2v and 8 of them only produces 9.6v instead of 12v. The 12v jack socket allows an alternative power input such as a car battery or mains transformer but it is stupidly designed so you have to disconnect it to open the camera. This was noted by another user who modified the case but I won’t bother for now. Very silly design flaw though. Overall I am happy with the performance so far.
This camera uses a full sized SD card and works very well.
It has a proper silicone seal around the door
Some of the cheap cameras let water into the battery compartment due to water ingress when it rains
The image is crisp and clear and adjusts to different lighting conditions
The menu structure is quick and easy to use.
It worked out of the box once the SD card and batteries were fitted.
Like: Simple to set up. Easy to understand the instruction booklet written in perfect English. Easy to navigate through options
No complicated options or double presses etc
Dislike: Nothing.
I bought what I paid for. It came on time and was set up to what I wanted in 5 minutes. Clear concise instructions and it worked with no issues.
I’ve bought one which was over 200 and this is ten times better.
I am a 70yr old lady with a wildlife garden. This is the 2nd trail camera I have bought. I gave up with the first one because it was too complicated.
I decided to try again because I thought I had a badger! This camera is easy to use and takes excellent pictures and videos.
Not seen a badger but lots of small mammals, it picks up their eyes clearly in the dark, foxes , birds and local cats.
Downloads easily on apple and analogue, sound quality is also excellent.
I would recommend.
A very easy camera to set up and use, picture quality is good especially at night, video is nice and clear. Two main problems with the design:
(1) The battery compartment takes 8 AA batteries but the +ve end goes into a small depression which makes it VERY hard to get the batteries out unless you pull from the -ve end, which catches on the spring and risks damaging the contacts.
(2) The tripod attachment is on the battery compartment side not the lens side. The camera opens like a book, so once the camera is on the tripod you can’t open it to see exactly what the camera is seeing as the lens part swings away. You have to guess at the positioning, do a test photo, open it and check the photo, then rinse and repeat until you get it right. If the tripod attachment point was on the CAMERA half, you could swing the back open and set the camera up so much more easily.
Apart from that, it’s got decent battery life (one set of normal duracell AA’s lasted two weeks of motion detection video capture for 8 hours every night).
Works well. Have changed the batteries once or twice in 7 months, so ignore that grumblers about that – just make sure they’re decent quality. Pictures have been great. Could always be better, but hey, it’s quite cheap and it’s easy to use. I’m not broadcasting on Springwatch or anything. Very happy with it. Would recommend a tripod rather than the silly strap thing that they show it being attached to a tree with. Will blow over in a wind though.
I bought one of these cameras around 3 months ago and was fairly impressed with both the image and sound quality of the recordings. We regularly feed hedgehogs and foxes and have been successfully treating some foxes with Mange. The cameras enable us to see if the foxes are eating the prepared food and the state of them. None of the foxes are approachable and we only get them visiting in the early house so any other form of treatment is unrealistic.
The 2nd camera was bought to cover a separate area of the garden which was previously out of camera shot. I set the camera up just prior to a period of 4 weeks away overseas with work. Was very disappointed to return to all the video imagery pretty unwatchable, with loud distortion on the audio. Returning the camera for a refund so top marks for Amazon customer service as I’m out of the 30 day return window. Now considering buying the same type again and hope I was just unlucky, or throw the dice on another type. A shame because if I was rating the first one, it would have been 5 stars.
Please excuse the pile of crap at the top of the images. Currently building a garage and getting ready for a tip run.
I’ve had a couple of this type of camera before, so I can tell that the performance of this GardePro A3 is much better than the others I’ve had. In addition, being able to select when it switches on and off is really useful.
However, I’d like to ask the numpty who designed the case why he made it so that you’ve got to unplug the 12v power input to be able to open the case to retrieve the SD card? Oh, and when you unplug it you lose all the user settings. Also, why use a 4mm power socket when many easily available 12v power supplies use the more common 5.5mm plug?
I used one of my many redundant internet router power supplies I have to power it, which I’ve fitted with a 4mm plug (easily obtainable from a well-known auction site). Also, I’ve had to fit some rechargeable batteries to back up the settings every time I unplug the power lead to remove the SD card, thanks to the lack of thought at the design stage. How easy it would have been for the designers to allow the power supply to recharge the batteries, but no, that was too hard apparently.
Despite these glaring design errors, the camera produces excellent quality stills and video which still makes it worth 4 stars. Edit – I’ve now cut a slot in the case (see photo) which allows me to open the case without having to unplug the power cable. It works great.
An excellent camera let down by poor design choices
We have hedgehogs in our garden and we love to get the camera in in the morning to see what they’ve been up to it’s a great night vision camera good camera quality I just wished it carried on if they’re still there! Like once the 50 second (which is maximum time clip) finishes it doesn’t start again so you miss stuff and have to wait until next lot come along. But all in all this camera does a great job very easy to attach literally anywhere and we’re thinking about getting another one for the other side of the garde
I own 6 of these GardePro A3 trail cameras & I have found them to be very reliable. For security, I left two of my GardePro A3 cameras unattended at my holiday home in Brittany, France. They were left there over winter & were still working when I returned 7 months later. They had recorded lots of wildlife & a few trespassers too! My other GardePro A3 cameras I use for garden wildlife & home security & they have also worked very well.
The video & picture quality is very good &, just as importantly, the sound. I own several other brands of trail camera & most of them are not very reliable if left unattended for more than a few months. They tend to suffer from water ingress (which can drain the batteries), loss of time/date & very low sound levels. My GardePro A3 cameras do not seem to suffer from these problems.
I upload all of the videos & pictures from my trail cameras to YouTube & I have a playlists for my GardePro A3 cameras & other brands.
That camera overall seems good. The item was suppose to come with a USB cable but it didn’t so haven’t been able to explore this, just a booklet which is good.
Bought this camera to replace a failing unit from a competitor. Was a little apprehensive after some of the reviews, but very pleased. The failing unit tended to burn out in the centre of the picture and fall off rapidly towards the edges. This has a very good spread of light as can be seen on the attached video. Daytime quality is also very good. The camera is silent in operation unlike the unit it replaced which recorded the shutter operating sound. I am using rechargeable batteries which have now been in the camera for about 10 days with a recording schedule from 21:45 through to 05:30 and capturing between 30 and 80 clips per night. 3 PIR sensors allow the camera to prepare for the object before it gets to centre picture and a quick recovery time means you don’t miss much action. Very happy with it.
I left it in the woods about month and I set it up on the Standard settings, it took over 4,600 pictures in that time. There probably ways to set it up to reduced number but if you want to just set it and get it out there then fair enough.
I would say that the screen inside the camera is small (it has to be) so when you bring it back my advice would be to put it on your main computer and go through it. So you can see in more detail.
I’ve only tried it once out there hoping to do it again soon. Just Gotta be lucky where you put the camera.
A very easy to use camera for a first time user. Clear easy to use instructions. Batteries last a long while (if they are not cheap ones).
SD card easy to format.
Strap is a little shorter than expected but still good enough for tying to a post or smaller tree trunk.
Picture is clear although if subject is being nosey (like the birds in my garden) and gets within a foot of the camera, the picture is a little out of focus.
Sensors pick up movement from a good distance. Works well from a window as no distortion caused by window pane.
Easy to download from SD card.
If you’ve had a trail camera before then this is possibly not for you. The view is only 60deg, it does not have auto focus or Wi-Fi access.
Excellent video recordings made in pitch darkness to capture animal visits in the night behind our garden shed. Captured badger and fox activity we didn’t know about. Very clear and quite detailed images. Very pleased with how easy it was to set up the camera and set up times to record.
This wildlife camera really works well. Good quality images and videos. I’m using rechargeable batteries with 10 sec videos and 3 burst images with operating hours 8pm to 8am and I check it every 3 days – plenty of battery life every time.
What could be improved? Not that much. Perhaps two strap attachment positions instead of one, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity would possibly make it easier, but it does exactly what it says it will.
This is one of the most user friendly pieces of technical equipment I’ve come across in terms of setting up and operating. Used for discovering wildlife after dark in the garden it certainly performs very well indeed.
I have five cameras that are a bit dated now as they record in .AVI format. I decided to upgrade to MP4 format and chose this camera as it seemed good value for money and did just that. I was pleasantly surprised at the improvement in the clarity and quality of the video recording both day and night mode.
Buy with confidence.
I am using the camera primarily to record bird life In my garden. I have had it only a short time so can’t comment on long-term use. I have tried it minimally and had some good images and the instructions seem straightforward. As for battery life, this is yet to be tested so have scored 3, really to indicate a neutral score. Looking forward to trying it out more extensively.
Excellent daytime still images and video footage. Night video and still images quality is poor.
Good battery life. Sadly dissapointed the item was returned.
Bought to set up in the garden .I am very impressed with results , both still and video
I am using EBL 2800ma rechargeable batteries, and sand disc sd card , all work fine
Set it up a week ago , using both video and still image capture . Temperatures have been as low as minus 4
And reviewed after a week after importing onto iPad. So far so very good
I will review again in a few months with any useful comments
This is a very good, value for money, garden video camera. It is easy to operate and gives a good nighttime picture.
One very important point is the after-sales service. I had this camera for about six months when it let water in. Within a week of contacting the company I had received a replacement camera. This to me is very good service and reassuring that if anything goes wrong, someone is listening.
I bought two of these to track wildlife on my partner’s farm. Easy to set up. Clear instructions included. Day and night videos are clear. It has detected creatures ranging from deer to mouse. Very good battery life-two weeks near continuous working and battery indicator still reads full.
I’m so pleased with this camera. Friends had a similar one so were able to guide me through the set-up. Not being great at tech, once I applied myself it was pretty straightforward in most respects. We’ve now discovered that we had badgers coming to our garden which is worth the money in itself! In the daylight, obviously, the results are even better. I set it up to come on at 7 pm and go off at 7 am so was able to see quite a few birds about in the morning with excellent clear results. I would happily recommend this camera.
I wanted to find out who or what was emptying a bird feeder each night, and thanks to this I have some very clear pics of a badger. The minimum focus is about 3metres which is fine for large animals but not so good for small ones. (closeup lens are available and work well). Battery life can be extended by using an external battery. The camera has the ability to go up to 32mp so a good sized sd card is advised I got over 30 minutes of video on a 32gig card at 16mp. Remember to reset the time and date after you change the batteries as it goes to a default setting. Update, I set the camera up to record 30 second video clips using a motorcycle battery as power source, I got 957 video clips for a total of 29.7gb so about 7/8 hours recording on a 32 gig card.
I was super impressed at first and got some lovely videos of my resident hedgehogs. One thing to note is that you need to double check the time before you set the switch to on, as I have had a few times when I have found the date and time has reverted to the original setting. (It was my fault, but you do need to set the time and then each time you replace batteries, you need to reset the menu. (I used rechargeable batteries and to be honest Im very impressed considering the camera was very cold. They have not needed charging after a week’s use.)
I did have an issue in my second week when it rained and then it was freezing cold. the camera leaked in water and the lens and sensors were fogged up and so I had to return it as this shouldn’t have happened. I liked the camera though and found it easy to use, so i have risked a second purchase (sadly 11 more than my original purchase though) So far so good.
Im very pleased with it , even though i had the water issue and fingers crossed that i continue to love it. Seeing my resident hogs each morning is a joy.
I bought this camera for security to cover my driveway and garage. I’ve had the camera in operation for 4 days now and after a few positioning and settings tweaks I’m very impressed with the camera. It’s relatively easy to set up and the night and day photos and videos are good quality. I am currently using Duracell batteries and after 4 days of 24/7 operation the battery indicator shows them as still on full.
Decent images though not up to the quality of my Browning camera. If you are going to use rechargeable batteries, which by the way are not recommended I have found that Panasonic eneloop pro batteries last a few nights taking about 10 videos at 1080 resolution. For the money, you can’t really go wrong with this purchase.
This is my first time setting up a trail cam and I’m not a “techie” person, so for me to say it’s easy to use means anyone can do it! The set up menu is straightforward and the quality of the night vision video is excellent! The enclosed flexible strap is a great help, I attach mine securely to a tree trunk in our garden and now I finally have lots of footage of the hedgehogs visiting my garden every night (& eating/drinking at their ‘cafe’) I’ve also enjoyed seeing coverage of a cheeky field mouse nipping into the cafe for a snack/drink as well as neighbourhood cats wandering by! I use rechargable batteries and they’re lasting about 3/4 days before I recharge them. I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone
I use these cameras for videoing wildlife in my garden, mainly in the dark of foxes and hedgehogs. This camera does an adequate job, although the sounds leaves a lot to be desired – as it is on a lot of these cameras (sadly).
I have tried quite a lot of these cameras and had to send most of them back due to the simple fact they did not work properly. This one however, does a good job and I am happy with it.
We’ve been feeding hedgehogs with proper hedgehog food and discovered they had set up home in our shed. We made some little rooms for them out of boxes and left the camera overnight. The next day we saw lots of activity, comings and goings and hedgehogs eating the food we’d provided and entering and exiting the little box houses. As hedgehogs are in danger of extinction, this is lovely to see.
This is a great nature camera, well made, easy to set up and take great photos and videos
I have been using nature cameras just in our garden for a while now and it is surprising what sort of animals and creatures you have visit’s through out the night,
We live on a main road right next too a round about, with heavy lorries going past through out the night, but still get a mixture of animals
The main one is a couple of cats that seem too be out all night
Then we have a lovely looking female fox, but unfortunately haven’t captured it on this camera yet , a little bit shy at the moment
The thing I am mostly trying too capture again is the quite large Otter that paid us a visit late one evening
but have only captured it on our other camera and I can’t submit a second video
This is a must, go and put a camera in your garden and you will be surprised what visitors you have popping round at night
First class product, in fact I am going to order another one too replace my older one , then I can have one in the front and one in the back
This is an update of our garden visitors, having been very impressed with the A3 camera I have invested in an other one as I was very impressed with the shutter speed
The motion detector is very sensitive and quickly takes a photo after being activated and if you have the settings set for camera and video like we have the camera then take’s a video straight away for the length of time you have set it for ( 30/60 sec ) or more,
We set the new camera up in our front garden and on the first night our little elusive fox appeared, and it looked like she was not alone as could just see another pair of eyes in the bushes, so could be a mate or cub will have to wait and see ( quite exciting) living on a main road,
We all so have a pond in our back garden and have had a regular visit from a heron so I’m going to set the other A3 camera up to get him on this video, haven’t seen him this year yet but he will appear at some time as he likes our goldfish
I find putting camera’s out in the garden very interesting and think you should all have one
This is a great garden camera, it’s substantial and feels robust, easy to set up.
If I am being picky I would like a battery life indicator on the strap line across the bottom of the pictures and videos, the information here tells me everything else I need to know, time of day, temperature, but not how much life there is left in the batteries.
Otherwise, so far, all is good. Picture quality in daylight is superb, haven’t had time to assess night time use.
I’m still playing around with the settings to increase the amount of wildlife captured rather than grasses and branches moving…
All in all, a good camera.
There’s plenty of other decent quality reviews here, so I won’t repeat them. I’ve been using this for a few days, and here’s the things I’ve noted:
– battery life is good (Amazon basics rechargeable)
– I had to use one Eneloops battery in the bottom-most position, since the Amazon basics “button” end was too low profile to reliably make a connection
– menus are straightforward
– waterproofing is good, and the case is strong
– I used a 64Gb integral ultima SDXC card without problems
– focusing is set at infinity. This unfortunately means that objects closer than about 2m blur. So this camera is not good for close-up work (see in my video where I was trying to get birds at a feeder close by: you can see the pigeons are crystal clear, there’s a touch of blurring on the central feeder about 1.8m away, and leaves are really blurry)
– image and video quality is okay: like a modest camera phone rather than a dSLR
– IR is powerful at night for quite a distance
Bought to monitor a rescue owl after its release back into its own environment. However have never captured the owl collecting its food. Sent an e-Mail to the supplier, as it suggests in the information with the camera, asking for help or tips regarding this, but have never received any reply. So rather disappointed in that regard.
Can only guess that the owl is too fast to be captured by this camera. Not a problem I had expected.
It took me ages to choose this device amongst all the choice, especially with fake reviews in evidence all over the place. The booklet is in good English and the on screen options are very clear and well laid out. It’s a robust construction and the pictures are super quality. Note the 24mp option quality is way above several cameras which are twice the price. Expect night time to be typical of night time- you don’t get glorious technicolour with any night vision camera but this one is much better quality and clearer pics than my previous model – the difference is stark and it has shown up our hedgehog visitor very well in both still and video. I did struggle to get it going properly to start off with. The two key things to do are to firstly ensure you format the SD card in the camera, not on your PC. Secondly make sure the time segment for operation covers the hours you want to record, in my case 0800 to 0600. I’ve got a camera that is well built and works properly. I’d buy the same again without doubt.
I’ve had this for a little over two weeks now to photograph the wildlife in my garden and am certainly pleased with it.
Sadly the wildlife in my garden appears to be limited to a couple of squabbling hedgehogs and a cat’s bum (it seems to delight on mooning my camera), and I’m stull hoping for a fox (aren’t we all) but it has been a pleasant insight into nocturnal wildlife activities in suburbia.
Technically it is sensitive enough and the video (especially the night footage in IR) is clear and of good quality. The camera is easily dazzled by motion sensitive security lights though, so if possible site the camera away from them (or expect a few shots that look like fog), but that is a fault of modern gardens and not the camera.
Overall I’m certainly glad that I purchased it and recommend it for anyone looking to do a bit of amateur Springwatch (other nature programmes are available……but they are seldom as good 😉 ).
Pros – solid build, strong locking clips, decent colour screen and intuitive interface, good qulaity sound and picture
Cons
night film length limited to 30 seconds. This is NOT mentioned in the spec on the product page, so take note. I complained to Amazon, as limiting night film to 30 seconds is not something I would expect. Day film can be 5 mins length.
Batteries cannot be removed without a screwdriver or similar – once they are in place, you can’t get them out with fingers alone.
Cannot use rechargables – even a fully charged set of Amazon rechargable batteries will not even power the camera up. So expect to rip thorugh the alkaine bateries OR buy an external 12v power supply.
We have used this device now for a couple of weeks and obtained some excellent results both day and night.
However there are some shortfalls in its overall design, usability and performance you might want to consider.
We consider this camera as its relatively simple to operate, gets good results, that we are able to live with its faults and it is good enough for the ad-hoc surveillance that we require.
We are quoting performance from our ‘in the field’ actual results.
We were using a new camera, a new set of rechargable batteries and a new 32Gb class 10 SD card. We set up for instant (0 seconds) motion high sensitivity detection with 5 minute recording of 1080p MP4 video with audio and side motion sensors on.
We know rechargeables are not recommended by the seller but they have worked well so far and, considering the performance of them so far, we are glad we decided to use them on estimated cost alone. We think that non-rechargables even with better performance would have a cost/benefit we would not like.
We estimate that a fully charged set of new ‘Energizer’ rechargable batteries last only about 7 maybe 8 hours continuous recording based on results below.
Performance:
In high traffic areas such as bird feeders the camera needs daily recharges to continue working.
A 75% discharge of the battery set occured after 6:40 minutes worth of video (80 movie files of 5 Minutes) of our bird feeder area. External power would be an obvious choice for operations here but there are issues with that, see below. this consumed 15Gb of SD card space.
In low traffic areas the batteries lasted about 4 days at 50% battery discharge with little video recorded (30 minutes in day and night modes).
The dection delay was set to 0 seconds, but there is a definate delay in starting after motion detection well after start/setup delay has expired. Maybe 0 does not mean instant.
At ~ 2 am an animal set it off and just appeared at the movie start well within the camera center view, this was a slow moving aniimal and we estimate that it could not have traversed the detection zone distance to center of view in less than 5 seconds but may heve been longer.
We think that no other factors could have been the cause of the delay, as there was an empty class 10 video card and a fresh set of recharged batteries.
Night vision is really much better than we had expected. The IR is quite bright and you can see about 60 yards quite clearly.
Motion detection sensitivity was very good as it detected (daytime) a squirel climbing a tree 40 yards away.
Water resistance is very good, we are in a very cold and wet location. The camera handles these well. the movie is not badly affected by water drops on the lens either. We cannot comment on heat and UV over time, the case plastic used leaves questions unanswered on that score, but I have no information on which to make a judgement but in this respect all cameras of this type will probably fare about the same.
The side motion detection sensors are also good and picked up a fox close to the camera coming into view low from the left, and later a squirel in the hedgerow to the near right.
Usability:
Taking out the batteries resets the internal clock and you must reset date and time each time you reload batteries (if you intend to time stamp the video). Other non-dynamic settings such as camera name do not get lost. UPDATE: Changing batterries quickly with a pre-charged sest avoids losing clock time!
The provided strap works well and is enough to go around most trees, but forget large trunks like ancient oaks unless you have something else at hand.
You need to open the door to start the camera and then close and seal it.
Having to switch on and off whilst the camera door is open is a nuisance.
Please see about external power below.
Design:
Overall a pretty good solid and reliable device. Hving thought about it so far we think the following;
The external power port is accessed through the bottom of the case and into a socket in the door section that swings open. Any power plug inserted will prevent the door opening, or closing if fitted whilst open.
So starting up whilst under external power ONLY (without batteries) is not possible.
The size of the socket is an (to us) odd size and an adapter was needed to use it. Luckily we have one.
To power it externally at all, you need usable batteries loaded and ready, Switch to ON, then close the door, then fit the external power plug. The reverse actions are needed to stop the camera. We have not tried this in the field yet and dont know for sure if it powers from external rather than battery.
It would have been a better design decision to place the power socket in the battery section instead of the door and feed power though a common or duel set of wires to the camera section in the door. Thus allowing the door to open and close without disconnection of external power.
The location of the external power socket is too near the camera mounting point of our tripod mount to allow both to be used. So in our case its either, use the mount and battery only, or, use strap and external power or battery.
A lack of battery backup for the clock is a nuisance as it means every time you charge the batteries you have to take longer and longer to set the clock from its default of 2020-01-01 00:00. We think you may be able to save having to do this by connecting external power when the door is opened and before removing the batteries for replacement/recharge.
I have been feeding & filming foxes in my garden since June 2018 & have tried various makes of trail cameras. I am now familiar & happy with the Zopu SL122 camera but was excited to try this A3 with an even better lens as well as sound. As my Nikon View NX does not use MP4 I was sent firmwares to be able to record in MOV & also to be able to record 5 minutes at a time (which gives me more choice in editing). The camera view is closer than the SL122 which took time to adjust the positions correctly but the detailed focus is excellent as shown in some of the enlarged still shots. The sound really adds effect to the videos in that you can hear bones being crunched & even licking noises or footsteps. However it amplifies everything else too so traffic passing seems louder than in reality & an inaudible to the human ear humming from a freezer inside a shed was picked up too (problem solved by repositioning the camera). The video I’ve chosen to show is a combination of a recent night of fox visitations, including a new cub, with crunching bone sounds & dramatic screamings that are not filmed plus an early morning clip of a woodpigeon in the bowl & background birdsong. The stills include the cub attempting to suckle from the vixen plus magnified shots showing a black thing falling down the wall which turned out to be a baby magpie that the fox crunched up. I am really enjoying the A3 camera & all the wonderful support from the Zopu team! ‘
Camera worked ok for 4 days, then it failed totally. Wont take pictures or videos, tried all the normal stuff ( reset to factory defaults, new batteries, different SD card etc etc) Waiting to hear from manufacturer for replacement or refund. I used quality Duracell batteries and Sandisk SD cards. When it worked it was brilliant but after a few days it just stopped recording anything, even though it all powers up ok and you think it’s working, when you go to review the footage either on the screen or through a PC you get the message ‘ No photo or video available’.
UDATED REVIEW FEB 13TH
After trying another camera with similar results, the sender constantly emailed me with suggestions to resolve the problem. They were replying to emails around every 6-8 hrs which was impressive, they issued a firmware upgrade to 1.0.8 (FROM 1.0.1) which they emailed to me and everything was solved, it will also do video, pictures, video and pictures, time lapse video and pictures, sound, varying operation times etc etc. If I could give the seller 10 stars they would get it as they were determined to resolve the issue, I have never had such a response from a company on Amazon as good as this one. If you wish to upgrade the firmware, just email the seller and I’m sure you will get it in less than 24hrs. Would certainly buy from this seller again. The camera is great for indoor or outdoor use as its fully weather proof ( I’ve tried it). The firmware upgrade is easy to install and comes with full instructions.
I use this to monitor garden wildlife but it has a secondary use as a well camouflaged security camera. Of course, it’s not a real time camera but better than nothing. Images are sharp, battery life is good (using rechargeable batteries). Recommended.
Not a bad camera for the money. I don’t think the video quality is as good as my Browning but 1/4 of the cos
This camera was bought to capture footage for our YouTube channel The Fox & The Badger we found it filmed them in thermal they were just too white maybe at a distance it would be good but close range didn’t look good, the sound on this camera is brilliant. My advice buy it if you’re filming at a bit of distance
Purchased for my husband as an upgrade to his mini version. Very easy to use. Just added a 360 degree investable tripod to his collection and camera had standard screw fixing.
A local campaign group wanted to record the wildlife living in an apple orchard, as a
way to raise awareness of it and help stop its destruction. All of us being technology challenged it was thankfully easy to set-up and got some cracking shots straight out the box
Rugged design and easy to move around. It has produced good footage of local badgers, and what our cats get up to at night!
I didn’t have high hopes for this budget trail camera at a fraction of the branded manufacturers prices but it’s turned out to be really good! Night time performance in sub zero temperatures (-4) was very good; movement detection works very well on the standard setting, no-light camera performance is good with HD video clips. Daylight camera is very good, crisp and good colour.
I now know where Ronnie & Roland live, pesky critters
Great camera but didn’t realise it hadn’t got a Bluetooth connection so it was returned. No problem with Amazon for doing so, they have the best online customer service we know. Thanks Amazon.
Camera used for monitoring garden intruders. Does the job well and is easy to use.
Ordered same day arrived same day and not only that I used it to catch a video of exactly what I bought this for and it nailed it out of the box…see video of sneaky rat sniffing about. Thanks for such an awesome product, very easy to use and setup and working well with a 64GB SDXC Extreme Pro card.
This camera is fantastic. I was initially worried that the photo quality might be lacking, but I can confidently say now that this camera produces breathtaking results.
I installed this camera on the rainiest, stormiest, windiest weeks in months, and yet it has held up solidly, and shows no signs of water ingress.
Video quality is high, and the highly customisable settings allow you to optimise your experience depending on what you’re looking for. Make sure to read the manual prior to use to understand the full range of settings.
Animals appear to pay it no mind, in both day and night, and I’ve already had fantastic results.
Battery life is good. So far been going for two weeks with no issues.
Brilliant, easy to set up camera. I’ve never written an Amazon review before, but I felt like this camera deserved it! Highly recommend.
This camera is an absolute gem…..
It takes incredibly video .I’ve had cameras costing 3 .And they were unable to match this camera.
For video and picture quality …
This camera uses a full sized SD card and works very well.
It has a proper silicone seal around the door
Some of the cheap cameras let water into the battery compartment due to water ingress when it rains
The image is crisp and clear and adjusts to different lighting conditions
The menu structure is quick and easy to use.
It worked out of the box once the SD card and batteries were fitted.
No complicated options or double presses etc
Dislike: Nothing.
I bought what I paid for. It came on time and was set up to what I wanted in 5 minutes. Clear concise instructions and it worked with no issues.
I’ve bought one which was over 200 and this is ten times better.
I decided to try again because I thought I had a badger! This camera is easy to use and takes excellent pictures and videos.
Not seen a badger but lots of small mammals, it picks up their eyes clearly in the dark, foxes , birds and local cats.
Downloads easily on apple and analogue, sound quality is also excellent.
I would recommend.
(1) The battery compartment takes 8 AA batteries but the +ve end goes into a small depression which makes it VERY hard to get the batteries out unless you pull from the -ve end, which catches on the spring and risks damaging the contacts.
(2) The tripod attachment is on the battery compartment side not the lens side. The camera opens like a book, so once the camera is on the tripod you can’t open it to see exactly what the camera is seeing as the lens part swings away. You have to guess at the positioning, do a test photo, open it and check the photo, then rinse and repeat until you get it right. If the tripod attachment point was on the CAMERA half, you could swing the back open and set the camera up so much more easily.
Apart from that, it’s got decent battery life (one set of normal duracell AA’s lasted two weeks of motion detection video capture for 8 hours every night).
Works well. Have changed the batteries once or twice in 7 months, so ignore that grumblers about that – just make sure they’re decent quality. Pictures have been great. Could always be better, but hey, it’s quite cheap and it’s easy to use. I’m not broadcasting on Springwatch or anything. Very happy with it. Would recommend a tripod rather than the silly strap thing that they show it being attached to a tree with. Will blow over in a wind though.
I bought one of these cameras around 3 months ago and was fairly impressed with both the image and sound quality of the recordings. We regularly feed hedgehogs and foxes and have been successfully treating some foxes with Mange. The cameras enable us to see if the foxes are eating the prepared food and the state of them. None of the foxes are approachable and we only get them visiting in the early house so any other form of treatment is unrealistic.
The 2nd camera was bought to cover a separate area of the garden which was previously out of camera shot. I set the camera up just prior to a period of 4 weeks away overseas with work. Was very disappointed to return to all the video imagery pretty unwatchable, with loud distortion on the audio. Returning the camera for a refund so top marks for Amazon customer service as I’m out of the 30 day return window. Now considering buying the same type again and hope I was just unlucky, or throw the dice on another type. A shame because if I was rating the first one, it would have been 5 stars.
Please excuse the pile of crap at the top of the images. Currently building a garage and getting ready for a tip run.
However, I’d like to ask the numpty who designed the case why he made it so that you’ve got to unplug the 12v power input to be able to open the case to retrieve the SD card? Oh, and when you unplug it you lose all the user settings. Also, why use a 4mm power socket when many easily available 12v power supplies use the more common 5.5mm plug?
I used one of my many redundant internet router power supplies I have to power it, which I’ve fitted with a 4mm plug (easily obtainable from a well-known auction site). Also, I’ve had to fit some rechargeable batteries to back up the settings every time I unplug the power lead to remove the SD card, thanks to the lack of thought at the design stage. How easy it would have been for the designers to allow the power supply to recharge the batteries, but no, that was too hard apparently.
Despite these glaring design errors, the camera produces excellent quality stills and video which still makes it worth 4 stars. Edit – I’ve now cut a slot in the case (see photo) which allows me to open the case without having to unplug the power cable. It works great.
The video & picture quality is very good &, just as importantly, the sound. I own several other brands of trail camera & most of them are not very reliable if left unattended for more than a few months. They tend to suffer from water ingress (which can drain the batteries), loss of time/date & very low sound levels. My GardePro A3 cameras do not seem to suffer from these problems.
I upload all of the videos & pictures from my trail cameras to YouTube & I have a playlists for my GardePro A3 cameras & other brands.
Mike Fairma
Great camera for the price, we’re really enjoying capturing visiting wildlife. Video and picture quality is good.
That camera overall seems good. The item was suppose to come with a USB cable but it didn’t so haven’t been able to explore this, just a booklet which is good.
Regards amg
This works really well.
It’s been really good fun watching the animals on it with the kids.
Quality videos and stills on max.settings very impressed.
Batteries should be Lithium for longer life. 8x AA
THERE is a socket in the base for a 12vDC 1Amp power supply
Great picture! Amazing to see what goes on at night in the garde
Nothing to dislike as stated easy to use when you get used to it.
Bought this camera to replace a failing unit from a competitor. Was a little apprehensive after some of the reviews, but very pleased. The failing unit tended to burn out in the centre of the picture and fall off rapidly towards the edges. This has a very good spread of light as can be seen on the attached video. Daytime quality is also very good. The camera is silent in operation unlike the unit it replaced which recorded the shutter operating sound. I am using rechargeable batteries which have now been in the camera for about 10 days with a recording schedule from 21:45 through to 05:30 and capturing between 30 and 80 clips per night. 3 PIR sensors allow the camera to prepare for the object before it gets to centre picture and a quick recovery time means you don’t miss much action. Very happy with it.
I use this in the garden at night to watch my hedgehogs and foxes feeding.
I left it in the woods about month and I set it up on the Standard settings, it took over 4,600 pictures in that time. There probably ways to set it up to reduced number but if you want to just set it and get it out there then fair enough.
I would say that the screen inside the camera is small (it has to be) so when you bring it back my advice would be to put it on your main computer and go through it. So you can see in more detail.
I’ve only tried it once out there hoping to do it again soon. Just Gotta be lucky where you put the camera.
A very easy to use camera for a first time user. Clear easy to use instructions. Batteries last a long while (if they are not cheap ones).
SD card easy to format.
Strap is a little shorter than expected but still good enough for tying to a post or smaller tree trunk.
Picture is clear although if subject is being nosey (like the birds in my garden) and gets within a foot of the camera, the picture is a little out of focus.
Sensors pick up movement from a good distance. Works well from a window as no distortion caused by window pane.
Easy to download from SD card.
If you’ve had a trail camera before then this is possibly not for you. The view is only 60deg, it does not have auto focus or Wi-Fi access.
I look after and care for sick or injured hedgehogs which I release in the garden when back to full health,I use the camera to monitor their progress.
Excellent video recordings made in pitch darkness to capture animal visits in the night behind our garden shed. Captured badger and fox activity we didn’t know about. Very clear and quite detailed images. Very pleased with how easy it was to set up the camera and set up times to record.
For the money it’s pretty good really. You’d have to spend alot more money before any really noticeable improvements with other makes.
This wildlife camera really works well. Good quality images and videos. I’m using rechargeable batteries with 10 sec videos and 3 burst images with operating hours 8pm to 8am and I check it every 3 days – plenty of battery life every time.
What could be improved? Not that much. Perhaps two strap attachment positions instead of one, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth connectivity would possibly make it easier, but it does exactly what it says it will.
This is one of the most user friendly pieces of technical equipment I’ve come across in terms of setting up and operating. Used for discovering wildlife after dark in the garden it certainly performs very well indeed.
I have five cameras that are a bit dated now as they record in .AVI format. I decided to upgrade to MP4 format and chose this camera as it seemed good value for money and did just that. I was pleasantly surprised at the improvement in the clarity and quality of the video recording both day and night mode.
Buy with confidence.
I am using the camera primarily to record bird life In my garden. I have had it only a short time so can’t comment on long-term use. I have tried it minimally and had some good images and the instructions seem straightforward. As for battery life, this is yet to be tested so have scored 3, really to indicate a neutral score. Looking forward to trying it out more extensively.
Excellent daytime still images and video footage. Night video and still images quality is poor.
Good battery life. Sadly dissapointed the item was returned.
Took time to out how to get a good quality picture
Bought to set up in the garden .I am very impressed with results , both still and video
I am using EBL 2800ma rechargeable batteries, and sand disc sd card , all work fine
Set it up a week ago , using both video and still image capture . Temperatures have been as low as minus 4
And reviewed after a week after importing onto iPad. So far so very good
I will review again in a few months with any useful comments
This is a very good, value for money, garden video camera. It is easy to operate and gives a good nighttime picture.
One very important point is the after-sales service. I had this camera for about six months when it let water in. Within a week of contacting the company I had received a replacement camera. This to me is very good service and reassuring that if anything goes wrong, someone is listening.
I bought two of these to track wildlife on my partner’s farm. Easy to set up. Clear instructions included. Day and night videos are clear. It has detected creatures ranging from deer to mouse. Very good battery life-two weeks near continuous working and battery indicator still reads full.
I’m so pleased with this camera. Friends had a similar one so were able to guide me through the set-up. Not being great at tech, once I applied myself it was pretty straightforward in most respects. We’ve now discovered that we had badgers coming to our garden which is worth the money in itself! In the daylight, obviously, the results are even better. I set it up to come on at 7 pm and go off at 7 am so was able to see quite a few birds about in the morning with excellent clear results. I would happily recommend this camera.
I wanted to find out who or what was emptying a bird feeder each night, and thanks to this I have some very clear pics of a badger. The minimum focus is about 3metres which is fine for large animals but not so good for small ones. (closeup lens are available and work well). Battery life can be extended by using an external battery. The camera has the ability to go up to 32mp so a good sized sd card is advised I got over 30 minutes of video on a 32gig card at 16mp. Remember to reset the time and date after you change the batteries as it goes to a default setting. Update, I set the camera up to record 30 second video clips using a motorcycle battery as power source, I got 957 video clips for a total of 29.7gb so about 7/8 hours recording on a 32 gig card.
I was super impressed at first and got some lovely videos of my resident hedgehogs. One thing to note is that you need to double check the time before you set the switch to on, as I have had a few times when I have found the date and time has reverted to the original setting. (It was my fault, but you do need to set the time and then each time you replace batteries, you need to reset the menu. (I used rechargeable batteries and to be honest Im very impressed considering the camera was very cold. They have not needed charging after a week’s use.)
I did have an issue in my second week when it rained and then it was freezing cold. the camera leaked in water and the lens and sensors were fogged up and so I had to return it as this shouldn’t have happened. I liked the camera though and found it easy to use, so i have risked a second purchase (sadly 11 more than my original purchase though) So far so good.
Im very pleased with it , even though i had the water issue and fingers crossed that i continue to love it. Seeing my resident hogs each morning is a joy.
Decent images though not up to the quality of my Browning camera. If you are going to use rechargeable batteries, which by the way are not recommended I have found that Panasonic eneloop pro batteries last a few nights taking about 10 videos at 1080 resolution. For the money, you can’t really go wrong with this purchase.
This is my first time setting up a trail cam and I’m not a “techie” person, so for me to say it’s easy to use means anyone can do it! The set up menu is straightforward and the quality of the night vision video is excellent! The enclosed flexible strap is a great help, I attach mine securely to a tree trunk in our garden and now I finally have lots of footage of the hedgehogs visiting my garden every night (& eating/drinking at their ‘cafe’) I’ve also enjoyed seeing coverage of a cheeky field mouse nipping into the cafe for a snack/drink as well as neighbourhood cats wandering by! I use rechargable batteries and they’re lasting about 3/4 days before I recharge them. I would definitely recommend this camera to anyone
I use these cameras for videoing wildlife in my garden, mainly in the dark of foxes and hedgehogs. This camera does an adequate job, although the sounds leaves a lot to be desired – as it is on a lot of these cameras (sadly).
I have tried quite a lot of these cameras and had to send most of them back due to the simple fact they did not work properly. This one however, does a good job and I am happy with it.
This is a great nature camera, well made, easy to set up and take great photos and videos
I have been using nature cameras just in our garden for a while now and it is surprising what sort of animals and creatures you have visit’s through out the night,
We live on a main road right next too a round about, with heavy lorries going past through out the night, but still get a mixture of animals
The main one is a couple of cats that seem too be out all night
Then we have a lovely looking female fox, but unfortunately haven’t captured it on this camera yet , a little bit shy at the moment
The thing I am mostly trying too capture again is the quite large Otter that paid us a visit late one evening
but have only captured it on our other camera and I can’t submit a second video
This is a must, go and put a camera in your garden and you will be surprised what visitors you have popping round at night
First class product, in fact I am going to order another one too replace my older one , then I can have one in the front and one in the back
This is an update of our garden visitors, having been very impressed with the A3 camera I have invested in an other one as I was very impressed with the shutter speed
The motion detector is very sensitive and quickly takes a photo after being activated and if you have the settings set for camera and video like we have the camera then take’s a video straight away for the length of time you have set it for ( 30/60 sec ) or more,
We set the new camera up in our front garden and on the first night our little elusive fox appeared, and it looked like she was not alone as could just see another pair of eyes in the bushes, so could be a mate or cub will have to wait and see ( quite exciting) living on a main road,
We all so have a pond in our back garden and have had a regular visit from a heron so I’m going to set the other A3 camera up to get him on this video, haven’t seen him this year yet but he will appear at some time as he likes our goldfish
I find putting camera’s out in the garden very interesting and think you should all have one
I hope you found this review helpful
This is a great garden camera, it’s substantial and feels robust, easy to set up.
If I am being picky I would like a battery life indicator on the strap line across the bottom of the pictures and videos, the information here tells me everything else I need to know, time of day, temperature, but not how much life there is left in the batteries.
Otherwise, so far, all is good. Picture quality in daylight is superb, haven’t had time to assess night time use.
I’m still playing around with the settings to increase the amount of wildlife captured rather than grasses and branches moving…
All in all, a good camera.
There’s plenty of other decent quality reviews here, so I won’t repeat them. I’ve been using this for a few days, and here’s the things I’ve noted:
– battery life is good (Amazon basics rechargeable)
– I had to use one Eneloops battery in the bottom-most position, since the Amazon basics “button” end was too low profile to reliably make a connection
– menus are straightforward
– waterproofing is good, and the case is strong
– I used a 64Gb integral ultima SDXC card without problems
– focusing is set at infinity. This unfortunately means that objects closer than about 2m blur. So this camera is not good for close-up work (see in my video where I was trying to get birds at a feeder close by: you can see the pigeons are crystal clear, there’s a touch of blurring on the central feeder about 1.8m away, and leaves are really blurry)
– image and video quality is okay: like a modest camera phone rather than a dSLR
– IR is powerful at night for quite a distance
Can only guess that the owl is too fast to be captured by this camera. Not a problem I had expected.
Sadly the wildlife in my garden appears to be limited to a couple of squabbling hedgehogs and a cat’s bum (it seems to delight on mooning my camera), and I’m stull hoping for a fox (aren’t we all) but it has been a pleasant insight into nocturnal wildlife activities in suburbia.
Technically it is sensitive enough and the video (especially the night footage in IR) is clear and of good quality. The camera is easily dazzled by motion sensitive security lights though, so if possible site the camera away from them (or expect a few shots that look like fog), but that is a fault of modern gardens and not the camera.
Overall I’m certainly glad that I purchased it and recommend it for anyone looking to do a bit of amateur Springwatch (other nature programmes are available……but they are seldom as good 😉 ).
Cons
night film length limited to 30 seconds. This is NOT mentioned in the spec on the product page, so take note. I complained to Amazon, as limiting night film to 30 seconds is not something I would expect. Day film can be 5 mins length.
Batteries cannot be removed without a screwdriver or similar – once they are in place, you can’t get them out with fingers alone.
Cannot use rechargables – even a fully charged set of Amazon rechargable batteries will not even power the camera up. So expect to rip thorugh the alkaine bateries OR buy an external 12v power supply.
However there are some shortfalls in its overall design, usability and performance you might want to consider.
We consider this camera as its relatively simple to operate, gets good results, that we are able to live with its faults and it is good enough for the ad-hoc surveillance that we require.
We are quoting performance from our ‘in the field’ actual results.
We were using a new camera, a new set of rechargable batteries and a new 32Gb class 10 SD card. We set up for instant (0 seconds) motion high sensitivity detection with 5 minute recording of 1080p MP4 video with audio and side motion sensors on.
We know rechargeables are not recommended by the seller but they have worked well so far and, considering the performance of them so far, we are glad we decided to use them on estimated cost alone. We think that non-rechargables even with better performance would have a cost/benefit we would not like.
We estimate that a fully charged set of new ‘Energizer’ rechargable batteries last only about 7 maybe 8 hours continuous recording based on results below.
Performance:
In high traffic areas such as bird feeders the camera needs daily recharges to continue working.
A 75% discharge of the battery set occured after 6:40 minutes worth of video (80 movie files of 5 Minutes) of our bird feeder area. External power would be an obvious choice for operations here but there are issues with that, see below. this consumed 15Gb of SD card space.
In low traffic areas the batteries lasted about 4 days at 50% battery discharge with little video recorded (30 minutes in day and night modes).
The dection delay was set to 0 seconds, but there is a definate delay in starting after motion detection well after start/setup delay has expired. Maybe 0 does not mean instant.
At ~ 2 am an animal set it off and just appeared at the movie start well within the camera center view, this was a slow moving aniimal and we estimate that it could not have traversed the detection zone distance to center of view in less than 5 seconds but may heve been longer.
We think that no other factors could have been the cause of the delay, as there was an empty class 10 video card and a fresh set of recharged batteries.
Night vision is really much better than we had expected. The IR is quite bright and you can see about 60 yards quite clearly.
Motion detection sensitivity was very good as it detected (daytime) a squirel climbing a tree 40 yards away.
Water resistance is very good, we are in a very cold and wet location. The camera handles these well. the movie is not badly affected by water drops on the lens either. We cannot comment on heat and UV over time, the case plastic used leaves questions unanswered on that score, but I have no information on which to make a judgement but in this respect all cameras of this type will probably fare about the same.
The side motion detection sensors are also good and picked up a fox close to the camera coming into view low from the left, and later a squirel in the hedgerow to the near right.
Usability:
Taking out the batteries resets the internal clock and you must reset date and time each time you reload batteries (if you intend to time stamp the video). Other non-dynamic settings such as camera name do not get lost. UPDATE: Changing batterries quickly with a pre-charged sest avoids losing clock time!
The provided strap works well and is enough to go around most trees, but forget large trunks like ancient oaks unless you have something else at hand.
You need to open the door to start the camera and then close and seal it.
Having to switch on and off whilst the camera door is open is a nuisance.
Please see about external power below.
Design:
Overall a pretty good solid and reliable device. Hving thought about it so far we think the following;
The external power port is accessed through the bottom of the case and into a socket in the door section that swings open. Any power plug inserted will prevent the door opening, or closing if fitted whilst open.
So starting up whilst under external power ONLY (without batteries) is not possible.
The size of the socket is an (to us) odd size and an adapter was needed to use it. Luckily we have one.
To power it externally at all, you need usable batteries loaded and ready, Switch to ON, then close the door, then fit the external power plug. The reverse actions are needed to stop the camera. We have not tried this in the field yet and dont know for sure if it powers from external rather than battery.
It would have been a better design decision to place the power socket in the battery section instead of the door and feed power though a common or duel set of wires to the camera section in the door. Thus allowing the door to open and close without disconnection of external power.
The location of the external power socket is too near the camera mounting point of our tripod mount to allow both to be used. So in our case its either, use the mount and battery only, or, use strap and external power or battery.
A lack of battery backup for the clock is a nuisance as it means every time you charge the batteries you have to take longer and longer to set the clock from its default of 2020-01-01 00:00. We think you may be able to save having to do this by connecting external power when the door is opened and before removing the batteries for replacement/recharge.
UDATED REVIEW FEB 13TH
After trying another camera with similar results, the sender constantly emailed me with suggestions to resolve the problem. They were replying to emails around every 6-8 hrs which was impressive, they issued a firmware upgrade to 1.0.8 (FROM 1.0.1) which they emailed to me and everything was solved, it will also do video, pictures, video and pictures, time lapse video and pictures, sound, varying operation times etc etc. If I could give the seller 10 stars they would get it as they were determined to resolve the issue, I have never had such a response from a company on Amazon as good as this one. If you wish to upgrade the firmware, just email the seller and I’m sure you will get it in less than 24hrs. Would certainly buy from this seller again. The camera is great for indoor or outdoor use as its fully weather proof ( I’ve tried it). The firmware upgrade is easy to install and comes with full instructions.