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Ski - GardePro cameras

My thoughts on the GardePro A60 4K used in video mode (1440 resolution):

In this test, I hung the GardePro in the same location where a Browning Spec Ops Elite HP5 camera had been hanging. Clarity is sharper on the GardePro than the Browning. Color is better and truer on the Browning. The microphone on the GardePro (in video mode) is incredibly sensitive, almost to the point of overloading the sound. Night illumination on the GardePro is FAR superior to the Browning, which has some of the longest illumination of any video-mode trail-camera.

I found a few little glitchy things about the GardePro, but nothing that was a real bother. I have no idea about the longevity of the GardePro, while I know the Brownings last and last without problems. But at the price point of the GardePro at $117 versus the $190 for the Browning, I think the GardePro is worth investing in.
 
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Some daytime comparison video. The first two videos are the GardePro. I wanted to include the doe being chased by the yearling buck just so everyone can hear how sensitive the microphone is. The microphone makes her sound like a tank crashing through the woods. The second video is the yearling buck that was chasing her. Clarity is exceptional. The third video is the same buck captured on the Browning. Much better color.
 

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BSK said:
I have no idea about the longevity of the GardePro, while I know the Brownings last and last without problems. But at the price point of the GardePro at $117 versus the $190 for the Browning, I think the GardePro is worth investing in.
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Thanks for sharing your analysis, BSK.

Free enterprise, fair competition, and honest evaluations are what make our system of capitalism sizzle and most rewarding to the end consumer.

Only time will tell about the lasting value of GardePro, but they are for sure putting some serious competition on other brands on the front end.

Every time a new brand comes out, and some users rave about them, I typically take their initial feedback with a huge dose of salt, as often they do not have long-term experience with other brands, and sometimes overlook such things as trigger times, recovery times between triggerings, battery life, and general quality & longevity.

Are you noticing any significant difference in trigger times?
Slow triggers have been one of my main complaints against some other brands.

I'm eager to see the technical reviews of this particular model when TrailCamPro completes it. They should hire you as a truly scientific unbiased 4th-party field tester :cool:
 
TheLBLman,

Advertised trigger times are similar to the Browning (except not quite as fast by one or two tenths of a second). I did not noticed any major delay in trigger time with the GardePro in video mode. I DID have the side PIR sensors turned on. The side sensors - when triggered - power up the main PIR sensor so it can trigger the camera faster when the target finally walks in front of the main sensor.
 
It certainly is appearing that the GardePros are a good overall value in trail cams.

Trigger speed is how fast the cam will "take a pic" when something walks (or runs) past it.

There is also the issue of "Recovery" time, which is how long the cam will not take a pic, if somethng walks behind whatever triggered that 1st triggering event.

Below is from Trail Cam Pro's testing:

Browning Spec Ops Elite HP5
Trigger Speed = 0.20 seconds (Pics) --- = 0.38 seconds (Video mode)
Recovery Time = 0.90 seconds (Pics) --- = 0.80 seconds (Video mode)

GardePro T5CF (NOTE: This is NOT the newer model BSK just tested!)
Trigger Speed = 0.55 seconds (Pics) --- = 1.90 seconds (Video mode)
Recovery Time = 2.00 seconds (Pics) --- = 2.00 seconds (Video mode)

One thing I've notices is that, generally speaking, lower priced trail cams
tend to have slower trigger times and longer recovery times.
Slower triggers & longer recoveries are not necessarily a problem over salt licks & scrapes.

But slow triggers (with long recovery times in between) can cause you to completely miss seeing a target buck following another buck, or a buck chasing a doe.

Based on what I've heard & what BSK just said above the newest GardePros appear to have trigger speeds comparable to Brownings (which have been among the fastest of the brands).

Never mind that trigger speeds & recovery times are just a couple of factors you might want to consider. Others include battery life, sd card capacity, and general useful life of the cam model. Don't focus solely on the up front purchase cost, as it's just a part of what you're paying. You can easily spend more on batteries in 3 or 4 years than you paid up front to buy a cam.

Hardest thing to "price" may be the cost of pics you miss due to lower performing cams.
 
TheLBLman,

Here are the advertised (not independently tested) trigger/recovery times for the A60 4K:

Trigger: 0.1 seconds
Recovery: 0.5 seconds

But again, this is with the side sensors turned on.

No idea about battery life. Max card SIZE 512 GB. No idea about durability.

And I agree, there is far more to the value of a camera than the purchase price.
 
BSK said:
Max card SIZE 512 GB.
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That's a very big deal for me.

Most of the cheaper made cams won't take anything larger than a 32gb SD card, which is way too small for video, and for me, too small for high resolution pics with 3 or more pics per triggering event.

This GardePro is not a cell cam, but I'm not buying any more cell cams that won't accept at least a 64 mb card. That requirement rules out most.
 
TheLBLman said:
That's a very big deal for me.

Most of the cheaper made cams won't take anything larger than a 32gb SD card, which is way too small for video, and for me, too small for high resolution pics with 3 or more pics per triggering event.

This GardePro is not a cell cam, but I'm not buying any more cell cams that won't accept at least a 64 mb card. That requirement rules out most.
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Correct, the A60 4K is non-cellular, although they do make cellular cams. However, the A60 is their "latest, greatest" with all the bells and whistles. But because it's their newest cam, you won't find any in stock on Amazon or other places, so they have to be shipped from China, which takes about 9-10 days.
 
TheLBLman said:
That's a very big deal for me.

Most of the cheaper made cams won't take anything larger than a 32gb SD card, which is way too small for video, and for me, too small for high resolution pics with 3 or more pics per triggering event.
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Hmm…I tried putting 128gb and 64gb cards in my 4 new A60 4k's and they wouldn't work. All the 32gb cards I put in worked just fine.
 
BSK said:
Night time illumination: The first video is the Browning. The second video the GardePro. FAR superior illumination with the GardePro.
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I used to run some Browning cameras several years ago. I liked them all except, their night time illumination was never great imo. Nice review. Thank you!
 
BSK said:
My SanDisk 128 GB worked fine. GardePro recommends SanDisk.
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That's the brand I have for the 128's and 64's and 32's. Shouldn't have to worry anyways, because the cameras still showed it would take over 2500 ten second videos. Should be covered. Just thought that was odd. I loaded all of our HP5's with 128's.
 
DMD said:
I used to run some Browning cameras several years ago. I liked them all except, their night time illumination was never great imo. Nice review. Thank you!
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The HP5 has the longest black-flash illumination on the market, at over 90 feet. The GardePro has to be 120, but I won't know until I put one on a very wide food plot.
 

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