GardePro Wildlife Cameras - Are they any good?

 

This winter’s heavy rain and inevitable flooding have proved costly to my wallet and my camera-trapping project. The once-in-a-25-year flooding took out 3 of my good trail cameras. Cameras I believed would never be touched succumbed to the deluge, the one in the mostela actually floated off and into some undergrowth.

In all my years I have been camera trapping I have always invested in Bushnell Cameras, which I have found to be the most reliable for long-term studies. They are not overly battery-hungry and have great resolution. The electronics work well, and they have few malfunctions. As a backup, I have trusted Browning, which are solid and reliable and within the same price bracket as the Bushnell’s. I have experimented with LTL Acorns, which are on the lower end of the price range but found them not worth the price. Their electronics were temperamental, and the image quality was not as good as the Bushnell’s or Browning’s.

Replacing my damaged cameras was going to prove costly and unfortunately, repair was not an option. River water damage by direct immersion is not great for circuit board survival and the repair shop I sent it to was unable to save either of the two I sent.

Eventually, I decided to go against my instincts and have a look at some of the low-end mass-market models from less well-known manufacturers. After a bit of searching on Amazon I landed on a make called GardePro and in particular the A3S model. This camera costs as little as £80. It was a gamble, surely something so cheap couldn’t match the Bushnell’s.

The A3S model takes 32-megapixel images and 1296p video, with up to 100 foot no glow Night vision and 0.1s motion detection. In comparison the Bushnell’s I normally use take 30-megapixel images and 1080P at 60 fps with 80-foot no glow night vision and 0.2s motion detection. Both operate on 8 AA batteries and take standard SDHC memory cards.

So, after 2 weeks in the field, how does this model hold up?

Not bad. I am quietly impressed so far by this brand. The boxing is simple and functional, and the instructions are on par with what is usually shipped these days. On first impression, the build quality does feel cheap, something about the feel of the plastic and its strength. The buttons are large and the feel of the interface again seems cheap however one cannot fault its performance so far.

What makes GardePro better than Bushnell is the inclusion of a playback function on the screen, this enables me to check in the field very easily the operation and placement of the camera. I would not say that the battery life is much different from the other models and the image quality is excellent, as is its detection abilities.

You can see from the footage here that the images are crisp and the videos clear.

Daytime:

Night Time:

I am very impressed by this new manufacturer, it's early days as to their long use, but GardePro has certainly got me out of a hole and allowed my project to continue with minimal financial impact. This is a brand to watch.

GardePro - Website

Buy from Amazon