Low glow vs no glow trail camera

sacad

FNG
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Jan 10, 2021
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I have been wondering why there are some saying to stay away from no glow cameras is it that there is a big difference in pic and video quality?

i am a different kind of hunter than most here. I am in the process of inventing a resetting electronic mouse trap to help keep populations down in any environment be it a farm, home, cabin, or even in a tree stand hut and need to film them in action.

Im afraid that if i use a low glow cam it will spook them as the proximity is close when in video mode.

looking at the browning dark ops vs strike force.

does anyone have any recommendations for me in my search for what I should use for this project?
 
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Dec 30, 2014
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Keep in mind, each manufacturer's classification of no-glow vs Low-glow / red-glow is different. Browning dark-ops cams are really more of a low-glow cam. You can see the glow at night still. In addition, some no glow cams take pretty good night pictures and a lot of them are pretty mediocre.

My no-glow stealth cams seem to be a bit darker than my dark ops cams but also take worse night pics. I also have a ridgetec lookout cam that is very dark and takes great night pictures.
 
OP
S

sacad

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Jan 10, 2021
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Thank you as I really thought that the browning dark ops was not visible.

therefore the strike force must be really visible and possibly spook the mice i will be trying to film since I will be placing it close to the traps that im developing.

I still cannot find any info online to find out if mice get spooked by low glow cameras
 

Jstcynske

FNG
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Jan 10, 2021
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24
The low glow (red light) in my experience gives better results in picture quality. It doesn't bother deer and other game, can't say what a mouse would do.
 

Tilley

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Jan 14, 2021
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I have a piggyback question to this, I am wanting to put a camera at the gate that has cellular so that I can see who is there. Do the ones that advertise as the flash not being able to be see truly not able to be seen by the human eye, also will they illuminate a car to be able to get a license plate and a person to see the face?
 

Jstcynske

FNG
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Jan 10, 2021
Messages
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I have a piggyback question to this, I am wanting to put a camera at the gate that has cellular so that I can see who is there. Do the ones that advertise as the flash not being able to be see truly not able to be seen by the human eye, also will they illuminate a car to be able to get a license plate and a person to see the face?
You want something that is invisible infrared, if it says low glow or something of that nature, a little red flash will be seen. If they are close enough, you should be able to see a license plate and face. If they are moving at all, it may be too blurry to see. Night is tough to do, especially if you want invisible infrared, picture quality will go down.
 

Ace531

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Jul 9, 2019
Messages
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Location
WI
I have a piggyback question to this, I am wanting to put a camera at the gate that has cellular so that I can see who is there. Do the ones that advertise as the flash not being able to be see truly not able to be seen by the human eye, also will they illuminate a car to be able to get a license plate and a person to see the face?

The only cellular cam I know of that is designed for license plate capture is made by Reconyx


Their non-cellular version claims license plate captures up to 50mph

 

Ace531

FNG
Joined
Jul 9, 2019
Messages
51
Location
WI
Thank you as I really thought that the browning dark ops was not visible.

therefore the strike force must be really visible and possibly spook the mice i will be trying to film since I will be placing it close to the traps that im developing.

I still cannot find any info online to find out if mice get spooked by low glow cameras

No idea how mice will react to a red light camera, but I usually run them and most critters don't seem to get spooked by them with the exception of canines. Coyotes and to a lesser extent, foxes, will spook on the glow of the camera's LED's, but otherwise anything else doesn't seem to bother them. Perhaps coyotes see a different spectrum of light? If anything, get a good low glow camera, and if it doesn't work the way you would like them to, then send it back for a different camera. Trail Cam Pro is good for accepting camera returns for this, perhaps check with them.
 
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Tested many in our back yard. Animals definitely notice those with red lights. Our main concern is two legged animals stealing them, so no glow is what we use.
 
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Even some cams billed as no glow are easily visible to the human eye. Trailcampros.com classifies some “no glow” cams as low glow so it is a helpful reference. I’ve got “no glow” cams from 4 different manufacturers and only one of them I don’t see the flash. Others I would be hard pressed to see if I weren’t looking for it. Some are quite obvious.
 
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sacad

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Jan 10, 2021
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Wind gypsy
Can you provide more details on the models that you have tested
 

wytx

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Feb 2, 2017
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Wyoming
Reconyx is what we have and it has no glow and takes great pics with a very fast trigger time.
HC600
I have walked past it looking right at the cam and you can not tell when it takes a pic. Have a tons of elk pics with just an eye or nose right at the cam. Not sure if they see something or just hear it go off.
 
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I generally set my Cameras up higher in trees where they will not be as easily seen. When I set them up lower I can tell a lot of the wildlife are looking at the camera on night pics . Not sure if it is because they hear the shutter or see the red glow.
 

Paridgerunner

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SWPA
I have the brownings, some mature buck don't like the glow. I hang mine high on a screw in ball swivel camera mount. I don't stress on how clear night picks are because I can't shoot em if he's traveling through there at night anyway. Goin cellular this yr and have no idea what brand to buy. Ridgetec seems like a good one, I need one with the repeater to put on the mtn as I have no signal in the bottom. Cuddie? Anyone?
 

Rokwiia

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Nov 12, 2016
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In the mountains
I've been considering covering the IR emitters and only having the trailcam take daytime pictures/videos. It avoids the problem and would make the the trailcam more difficult to detect by a human.
 
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I have the brownings, some mature buck don't like the glow. I hang mine high on a screw in ball swivel camera mount. I don't stress on how clear night picks are because I can't shoot em if he's traveling through there at night anyway. Goin cellular this yr and have no idea what brand to buy. Ridgetec seems like a good one, I need one with the repeater to put on the mtn as I have no signal in the bottom. Cuddie? Anyone?

Ridgetec are the best cell cam I've tried. We have the following:

(3) ridgetec lookout - Very faint IR flash if it is on max flash and you're looking at it perfect. Best night pics, settings adjustability, and video options.
(1) Browning Defender - Been a good cam, night pics are mediocre. I haven't inspected for detectable flash
(1) Browning Defender pro-scout (low glow) been a good cam, but too much flash for my liking
(6) Browning Defender Ridgeline - New this year and have been terrible. reception, picture quality is inconsistent/garbage and they are prone to just shutting down and losing connection to the batteries.
(1) Spypoint Link dark - have a faintly detectable glow, fantastic detection circuit. Has been a good cam
(1) Spypoint Link s Dark - just shipped, haven't set up yet.
 
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Wind gypsy
Can you provide more details on the models that you have tested

Sorry i missed this way back when. Most of the "no-glow" models i have from browning, spypoint, ridgetec, etc have had a detectable flash if it's dark, turned on max flash, and you look at it just right. The ridgetecs and brownings aren't detectable every time but I have also seen them where the flash is unmistakable.

I have some cheap (junk) no glow stealth cams i bought off camofire that I haven't seen a detectable flash on but I'd also never recommend whichever models I have (3 or 4 different ones) just for general reliability and detection circuit shortcomings.
 
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