|
LEAF RIVER
http://www.vibrashine.com
http://www.myleafriver.com
Digital Model
DC-1BU & DC-2BU
|
(purchased from American Sportsman)
Note: The original review of this camera
is first. The second review
(on a newer model) follows this one as an
update.
(original review)
This camera was one of the more difficult cameras to
understand its programming. Once programmed and set up it was a good performer.
The trigger time is around 4.5 seconds and the flash is good. Close night time
pictures were very readable
but somewhat grainy. Distant night time pictures required enhancement to read.
Put looking up or down a trail or on a game feeder it would work very well
because the user can control the distance to the area where the game would move
by selecting the camera mounting spot. Battery life is one month plus.
Using the 4 MP resolution with software
interpolation is not recommended. Stay with the 2.1 or 1.3 MP setting and
everything seems to work much better and the pictures appear to be better. This
camera has a quick start feature to eliminate the programming hassle. To do the
quick start just install the batteries, set the time date, install the CF card
and turn it on after hanging it on your selected tree. A feature of this camera
that has been greatly appreciated is the external power switch. You do not have
to open the case to access it. The instructions that came in the
box with this camera were just not very good. After several hours of trying we
were unsuccessful using these instructions. A trip to their website showed
a PDF download for this camera and in a short time proved to be a better set of
instructions but we still had to use both sets of instructions to effectively
program this camera. The Leaf River folks need a lot of help with their
documentation.
This is an 8-31-05
update:
Over 50 pictures this week, some were
sensed in excess of 50 feet. Having this camera on a corn feeder (feeder had
to be taken up this week due to archery season coming in) and the animals
feeding for prolonged periods of time. This camera with its very slow
trigger time is in the right place.
(updated review)
09-15-06
Update: Our first DC-2BU was one of the very early production
models. It came in a plain white box with some sheets of paper stapled
together as instructions. Well here it is well into 06 and after a long
conversation with the folks at Leaf River, it was explained that one of
our favorite old cams was a dinosaur and it was time to re do the review
in order to bring folks up to date. Many
advancements have been made to this camera and we will be going
through a complete updated review. It is still a 2.1 with the option to
select down to 1.3 MP or up to an interpolated 4.0 MP. Things that are
noticeable on the front of the cam are the different flash (improved)
and a new rain guard for the main lens. Delay remains the same 1 to 90
minuets and will take a 3 to 90 second daytime video. Different type of
sensing from our old 2BU which is the new 5 zone detection which is
basically spreading the detection zone out so that it sees a wider area.
This new sensor design when incorporated with the new Quick shot mode
the camera will take a picture and if motion is still present it will
take two more pictures without entering the delay period this should
catch that buck following the doe. Internal memory is 16 MB and the
compact flash card to 1 gig is external memory. Having a case that is
water tight, camouflaged, strong, and that incorporates a degree of
security is certainly a big plus. The outside on/off switch and
the at a glance battery condition indicators
really aid in setup and maintenance of this cam. Adjustable sensitivity
by programming is the normal method used by many cams but just a turn of
a small dial on this cam makes it quick and nice. The instructions and
DVD are first class and a real aid in understanding the operation of
this camera. This late 06 camera proved that the folks at Leaf River did
some home work and both the daylight and with flash trigger times were
in the 2 second time period. This is a full 2.5 seconds faster than our
original 2 BU. The trend with most of the manufactures has been to make
the improvements and do the testing to make sure that these products are
as advertised before releasing the new products. The only company this
year that seems to have failed this method is Cudde
with the rush to get their new cams to market. Stealth cam, Bushnell,
Recon, Moultrie and Leaf River all had short periods where things just
had to be fixed. Leaf River and Stealth cam both held advertised new
models back because their quality control folks felt some changes needed
to be made before the public got hold of their product. This attention
to business is why Leaf River has gained their deserved share of the
scouting camera market whit their quality product. Off to the field
tests.
10/26/2005 update: We are nearing the end of October and this
camera has kept us very busy because of trying to evaluate all the
things we can do with the extended IR flash. Now the cool weather is
here and I have not allowed any hunting on our property, things should
remain pretty good for further testing. We have had a lot of fun playing
with this camera and because of the extended flash it has become very
versatile. The extended flash battery life is on the short side (2 weeks
500 pics). Even though when tested the array will light up, when the
batteries are down the illumination becomes weak. Fresh batteries will
perk it up for another run. I would like to keep it close to home and
keep on playing with it but this stepchild has to be weaned. This
concludes the initial review.
10-30-06 Update:
More than a month
has gone by and we have been able to collect hundreds of pictures
with this camera. We were somewhat successful getting some quick
shot pictures where this camera took 3 pictures within 45 seconds.
This feature is a real pain to test because we could not get the
animals to line up in order to show a sequence. Finally we stuck it
on a feeder where the deer came in from behind the camera and we did
get some pictures. This is absolutely a top shelf cam and a in our
book falls in the desired MP range for scouting cameras. I
personally prefer to use the 2.1 MP setting for all of my scouting.
This company’s customer service must again be raved about. They go
way out of their way to please. This concludes this review.
All trigger times are based on "fast
mode" setting.
Note
to all Leaf River users:
When the camera is first turned on and placed in the fast mode
it is actually still in the battery save mode (slow trigger)
until the camera has been triggered one time then it will remain
in the fast mode until the operator chooses to turn the camera
off. For those who wish to have their camera in the fast mode
for that first actual trigger, they must force a first trigger
prior to leaving the camera. What this means when placing the
cam in the field the operator must stay the interim period then
cause the camera to trigger at least one time prior to leaving
then the camera will remain in the fast mode.
|
Leaf
River IR 3BU
http://www.vibrashine.com
http://www.myleafriver.com
|
(purchased from American Sportsman)
Note: The original review of this
camera is first. The second review (on a newer model) follows this
one as an update.
(original review)
September 19, 2005:
We began the in shop testing of this
camera and the first thing that we noticed is that the instructions
were the same as the standard flash camera. The big difference with
this camera is that it came with DVD instructions disk to take you
through the setup. The disk was produced for the two previous
digital models and does not include the new IR flash model. Because
the setup is about the same with the exception of an additional
switch to control the trigger time, the disk seemed to work
satisfactorily.
Once fully programmed we immediately started the trigger time tests.
With the switch in the battery save position the time was around 1
second+ and with the switch in the up (fast trigger) position the
time was about the same. The sensing range at 75 degrees was about
35 feet and the flash range was out past 45 feet. Knowing the setup
procedure by previously having Leaf River cameras the programming
was easy for us. (PLEASE READ BELOW FOR TRIGGER TIME
UPDATES)
Having the DVD instructions to go along with the written
instructions will be a great aid to new buyers. Be advised that you
must proceed through the steps very carefully to fully
program this camera (it is not easy). A simple call to the 1 866
775-5351 number included in the box will get you to speak with a
very knowledgeable technician. I just spent 50 minutes on the phone with
them and they
assured me that he can make an expert out of most folks from most
states in about 7 minutes. If you have a problem with the setup give
them a call they are glad to help. We discussed the turn around time
for repair and I was assured that one to two days was average with
the exception if they receive the camera on a Friday afternoon, then
the return would be the first part of the following week.
Our initial analysis leads us to believe that the new models are
greatly improved and will be a pleasure to work with. During our
first tests we were just setting the cam on its base on a small
shelf. By doing this we continually moved the main switch to the off
position. A small shroud to protect this switch would be nice. We
will be putting this camera in the woods this next Saturday.
(updated review)
09-15-06
Update: As with the DC-2BU, The IR-3BU has been upgraded
in some areas since our last purchase. Even though our 05
3-BUs are considered current and are functioning great,
there have been some recent changes that are not reflected
in the current catalogs and will not be seen until next
year. We have one of the new late 06 cameras and the first
thing you will notice is the new port on the bottom to
accept the new IR-X extension IR slave light plug (wired).
This will enable the user to arrange this new extension
array so the exact area that they wish to illuminate is
covered. It will enhance the IR illumination area not
covered by the array on the front of the camera. This device
which we will test in conjunction with this camera uses
standard barrel plugs and jacks, so an extension cable could
be easily be manufactured from parts found in the local
Radio Shack. All the features being almost identical as the
2BU, I will not have to elaborate as to the features of this
camera because they are written above in the 2-BU review and
both of the new reviews will be done at the same time. I
went right to work on trigger times and found that with the
IR flash it ran a pretty solid 3 seconds and with out flash
in daylight the trigger times were a respectable 2 seconds.
This 68 degree morning showed that this camera would
continuously sense me at 45 feet with ease. The flash range
tests were next and we had a chance to see how much help the
new IRX external flash would help. I played with this until
I ran out of darkness and daylight made me stop.
Basically what I found was
that this external flash is much more directional that most
IR arrays. My tests this morning had the IRX mounted to the
length of its cord (5 feet) above the camera and pointed
down range past what I felt was the fading area of the
regular cameras IR flash. After several adjustments using my
laser aim devise I could see a good degree of flash
enhancement in the area around 40 feet. With this cameras
sensing ability which we proved this morning to be past 40
feet on a 68 degree morning tells me that it would sense at
60+ feet on a colder morning and out run the flash. With
this in mind I am going to build an extension cable out of
parts available from radio shack and see if I can illuminate
that area on out past 50 feet. We really have a great IR cam
now with this addition of the extendable flash. It is proven
that the amount of IR light that is down range directly
effects the degree of picture
quality. If we were to select the 4 MP rez setting and punch some IR illumination into that
50+ foot range we will probably be getting some pretty
awesome pictures. This will hopefully be proven during our
field tests. The greater the distance from the camera to the
target animal also gives the camera a greater period of time
to look at the animal due to the PIR cone being much wider
at that distance. I purchased a package from Radio Shack
#274-1567 of two of size M barrel plugs and then proceeded
to my local Home Depot where I purchased 40 feet of two
conductor 22 gage wire (gray) on the outside with a red and
black stranded conductors on the inside. A few minuets on
the work bench with a magnifying glass and my soldering iron
I produced a 40 foot extension cable. With all this in tow
it was off to the field to get some pictures.
All trigger times are based on "fast
mode" setting.
Note to all
Leaf River users: When the camera is
first turned on and placed in the fast mode it is actually still in
the battery save mode (slow trigger) until the camera has been
triggered one time then it will remain in the fast mode until the
operator chooses to turn the camera off. For those who wish to have
their camera in the fast mode for that first actual trigger, they
must force a first trigger prior to leaving the camera. What this
means when placing the cam in the field the operator must stay the
interim period then cause the camera to trigger at least one time
prior to leaving then the camera will remain in the fast mode.
Infra
Red Camera visual comparison
Pictorial Page
|
Leaf
River IR-X
http://www.myleafriver.com
 |
IR Booster: 10-05-06 The new IR booster
developed by Leaf River, is an outstanding new product. We will probably
see some copy cat productions of this from some of the competition in
the near future. The home brew folks have been playing with this feature
in a wireless form for some time now. This is a wired extension IR
booster designed to work only with the new 3-BU IR cam that has the
necessary port on the bottom of the cam for this unit to plug into. Out
of the box it comes with a 5 foot cable that allows the user to double
the amount of IR light and have the option to direct the extra light to
any given area that they feel the need to illuminate. Our tests proved
this extra help works best where the target animal is back away from the
camera. The new 3-BU IR camera from Leaf River will easily sense past 40
feet so this extra help allows the camera to see those distant animals.
When we first announced this new product we immediately received lots of
questions as to a method of securing this little $50 item from getting
stolen. I worked on this for about a week and was unable to design a
real good way to secure this item other than a cage which would
interfere with its operation. The problem is that the head on this light
has to be able to adjust to your desired point, so mounting something to
the head just would not work. I then just took a $ 1.28 U bolt and
welded a couple washers on it to go around the neck and be secured to
the tree by a Python cable. (see side bar)
This is not by any means a perfect solution but the person stealing it
would have to break it to get it or cut down the tree. If they want it
bad enough, no measure would prevent it from being stolen. As stated in
the new 3-BU review I chose to extend the iR-X
out to 40 feet by fabricating a cable using a couple of the “M” barrel
plugs and some 22 gage wire. This allowed us to do some experimenting
where the light was coming from above as well as from different
directions. This has been fun and proved that this little device really
works. It operates off two D cells so the amount of illumination is
limited but the results proved it is worth while. The next phase of
testing will be where we block the IR light from the cam and just see
what light is being produced by this device. The results should be
interesting. On the bottom of this booster are two jacks that are for
the M sized barrel plugs. One is for the input from the camera and the
other can be used to add other iR-X
extensions (up to 4 units) in a daisy chain. By coming out with this
device it has kind of put Leaf River out
front in the IR camera market in this price range. |
Leaf
River DC 6SS
http://www.vibrashine.com
http://www.myleafriver.com
 |
Note: The original review of this
camera is first. The
second review (on another unit) follows this
one as an update.
08/19/2006:
Advertised as a 6.3 MP camera, this should really make a few folks
happy. I am more in tune with the lower rated cameras because of the
file size. Leaf River cams have always impressed us with there sound
cases and good security. Every camera leading up to this one has
just blown us away as far as how good the sensors have been. Our
oldest 2BU is still working hard and watches a feeder from about 25
feet and regularly senses deer out past the feeder during these hot
summer days. This camera has what they call “5 detection zone”
sensing. If this camera outperforms all our older Leaf River cameras
in sensing, it will be hard to beat. Nice tight latches and when
opened up you see that there is a little different arrangement on
the way the switches are arranged and of course,
the big new feature, a 2.4 inch view
screen. This is nice for those folks who like to set
in the field and use up battery life to view their pictures. The
only reason I was impressed with it is my tired old eyes don’t have
to squint to do the programming. If we choose to view pictures in
the field, we do it just before the battery change so that when we
make our setup the batteries are fresh and not drained by the view
screen. All the LR cams have been pretty good on battery life so as
long as you go easy on the screen you should not have a problem. I
still rather swap cards than hang around in a hot deer area viewing
pictures. Some folks who are not set up with lap tops and such, so
the view screen is a nice idea and a selling feature to those who
need it. We have to give this company some good recognition for
their top shelf solid camouflaged case design that is very water
tight and incorporates some good security features. At $329 (Cabelas)
this camera is in the middle price range of most of the cams and
this being the top of the line LR puts a lot of quality out there
for less than the Some of the higher priced cameras who this year
have some case design issues. We are a little confused by the term
used in the LR advertising “enhanced long range flash”. Is it just a
really good flash or does this mean that they are going to digitally
do something to make that appearance? Also we want to find out if
the 6.3 MP rating is true, or is a portion of that gained through
interpolation? Our early days we were impressed by the
Cudde trigger times. The fast trigger is
a highly desired feature by most folks but we proved that a fast
trigger is pretty useless if the sensor is weak and does not see the
animal. The new Trail Sentry cams by Bushnell have been blessed by
both features. The new Cuddes have a
very narrow sensing cone and will not see the animals a little off
center. Leaf River has taken the same route as Stealth Cam and has a
wide sensing zone so that even with a three second trigger time the
camera can see the animals approaching in the peripheral and have
the camera ready for the picture in time. The up front sensing dial
is also a nice feature on this camera. A short query to
Vibrashine and I could not find out if
this camera has any interpolation and they say that “enhanced flash
means just a really strong flash”.
We will
prove or disprove these features once we put this camera through our
field tests.
Both the Stealth Cams and this cam
have a large sensor lens that is exposed to easy damage. Much care
should be taken when handling and transporting these cameras to
prevent bumping or scratching this lens, which would downgrade the
sensing. Compact Flash is still the card of choice for LR and up to
1 gig. They state that the trigger time should still be 3 seconds on
the fast setting, which also will be looked at during out trigger
time testing procedure. Even this camera having a good security
features it is also a pain. The design has the strap for mounting
just above where the locking bar goes through the holes. This
arrangement makes it difficult to get a lock at the proper angle to
fit through the bar. We found if we just run the provided strap
through the space between the metal back bracket and the camera just
behind where the top latch is located it works great and is out of
the way. See side bar for pics.
Also using a Python lock in place of the bar is also much easier
than using the locking bar, and when it is time to access the cam,
just loosen the Python and slip it down and open the cam. The cost
of two locks is about the same as a Python locking cable and the
cable would provide a greater degree of security. Delay is the
normal 1 to 90 minuets and when set to the one minuet and the quick
shot option is selected, this cam is suppose to be able to take up
to three pictures in that one second delay time. This is to catch
that old buck trailing the doe. This would fill up a memory card
real quick using the 6.3 MP setting.
A real
pleasant surprise was the addition of a couple of little plastic
humps behind the on/off switch. In our previous reviews of Leaf
River cams we complained about how easy it was to bump the
switch off if you wish to just set the cam on the table to do
some testing. They listened and made a change. We also found a
minor troubling thing that deals with the battery holder. All of
our other LR cams hold the batteries pretty firm but this cam,
when placed in the upright position and bumped a little with the
door open will cause the D cells to fall out. When making the
card change with the door open take care not to jolt the camera
or you will be doing the old cuddeback battery shuffle and
picking them up off the ground. I usually hold the batteries
with my left hand and reach over with my right hand and remove
the card.
Trigger times were done many times because I started to see a
variable times come up. Most of the time the camera would
trigger at just over 4 seconds and once and a while it would be
near 5 seconds. This test was done in the fast setting. The
minimum delay is suppose to be 1 minute but I could never get
it that low. It continually took an additional 15 to 20 seconds,
so the delay time is more like just under 1.5 minutes.
I double checked the camera
in preparation for the flash range tests that I normally do
around 4 AM. This morning I could not get the camera to
operate in order to do the flash range tests. I had to leave
at 5:30 for work and when I returned I found that the camera
had for some reason ate a set of batteries over night. I put
a new set of duracells in the camera (just the Ds) the Cs
were still good. The LCD battery indicator would only read
half full. I changed the batteries again and still would not
read full, so I assume this is a defect of some kind. I have
camera ready with new batteries for tomorrow morning test
again and will see if the same thing happens. If it does
this camera will suffer the same fate as the 06 Cuddes and
get returned with a recommendation of prospective buyers not
to purchase.
This
morning the battery indicator showed half full, so I
proceeded with the flash range test. When LR states that the
6SS has an enhanced flash, this means that this flash kicks
butt. The expert Cudde advertises as having a 60 ft flash
and that proved to be a real stretch. This camera just says
enhanced and is a real 60 foot flash. All the tests
were done on the Bright ISO setting. Now comes the big
disappointment, I can put up with the 4+ trigger time but
the sensing proved to be a disappointment. This morning (70
degrees) I was also testing a Bushnell 119700 and it would
pick me up at 25 feet most every time. The LR 6SS would only
see me around 15 feet. Several attempts at walking very slow
strait at the camera from 60 feet waving my arms failed to
flash until I was past the camera. The sensor was set to max
during my walk tests. My plans were to do the field testing
using all 4 of the rez settings but being this camera seems
to not work very well, we are going to just run the the
field tests in the 6.3 setting and call it quits so I can
get this thing boxed up and returned to the supplier. I am
going to stick an old WD1 beside this camera during the
field tests.
08-26-06
We completed the field tests and our old control camera a
Stealth WD-1 took 78 pictures both day and night and the
Leaf River only took 27 but did not record any night time
pictures even though it would flash when we went in front of
it. All these findings are based on this individual camera
and we also have seen similar findings that have been
reported on some of the outdoor forums.
This
concludes this review and even though we had very high hopes
for this camera it has failed badly when it comes to sensing
and we feel that because of the high MP rating and the long
write time that the battery life will also be an issue. Our
E mails to Leaf River still to date have not been answered.
We wanted this High MP camera for a particular purpose but
because of its issues it will be returned and not replaced.
We were
unable to email a single image produced by this cam in the
high res setting. All photos were 3 to 4 MegaBytes in
size. for this same reason the following samples were
reduce in size by 2/3 of the original (they are still 450K
each). At this size you would have to have a really
large card if you hoped to get many photos on it!
09-15-06
Update: After we
spent a couple hours on the phone talking with the folks
at Leaf River it was decided that the returned camera
had multiple issues. Because of this we are now in
possession of a late 06 DC-6SS. And I have gone back
through the trigger time tests and found that both the
daylight and flash times were a pretty solid 3 seconds.
All the flash range test remain the same, an extremely
good 50+ feet that is pretty over powering at close
range. Next we did the sensing
tests, which also confirms that the previously
tested 6 SS had some problems. This morning was a 65 to
68 degree morning depending on which thermometer I was
looking at. All three of the Leaf River cams being
tested this morning would sense me at 45 feet
consistently. They seemed to like the crossing of the
PIR cone better than approaching strait in.
Though in both cases I was sensed
past 40 feet. This camera makes some little
chirps when sensing and I am going to try to find out if
this can be turned off. These noises are also made when
hitting a button during programming. We have been
assured by the folks at Leaf River that out thoughts on
battery life were not correct and this camera should
produce the same battery life as the other camera from
this company. Most folks are getting weeks not days of
battery life. Testing this is somewhat inconclusive due
to the fact that the variables such as how many pictures
are taken, how many are flash pictures, what
rez settings are selected,
and of course the temperature that the cam is operating
under. At this point we are very impressed by all three
of these new cameras and
do like
them very much. Off to the field testing area to get
pictures day and night in all three
rez settings. The highest 6.3 setting is gained
through about 3 MPs of interpolation. We did not see the
derogation of picture quality that we experienced with
the early 2 BU when we selected the interpolated
setting. We have tried to develop a trail that is
leading to and from our feeders so that we would have a
means to test the quick shot feature of cameras. With
luck we will be able to effectively report on this
feature. The battery level indicators worked as they are
suppose to on this cam and after three days of playing
it still showed full and is on its way to the field. The
only down thing we have seen so far is those chirps when
the sensor goes off. Monday I will try to find out if we
can turn that feature off.
I
received an E mail from the boss man at Leaf River
and he explained the chirp was due to a missing
strap that is used during pre shipping inspections.
Some how it must have fallen off during shipment but
it is no big deal because the straps are common on
all of the Leaf River cams and I will just swap them
out until I get my hands on a replacement. The chirp
is very small but I am afraid that a wary old buck
might just pay it some attention.
09-26-06 Update: The good folks at Leaf
River made it a point to tell me that the strap
is removed during a pre shipping evaluation that
they do on their cameras. They say that some how
on this particular camera they failed to re
install this strap (jumper) prior to it going
into the system. This kind of attention in their
quality control and the fact they made it a
point to have me make this correction says a lot
in my book as to the intent of this company to
put out a quality product.
10-26-06 Update: Our final part of
this review has been with battery life. We
installed a new set of Duracells and put it on a
feeder with one of the lower rez settings. So
far it has lasted 11 days for 84 pics. We also
tried to prove the Quick shot feature but we had
a problem getting the deer to line up single
file on a trail. We ended up putting a new 2BU
on a feeder and we had some does come in from
behind the camera and the camera took 3 pictures
within 45 seconds. This feature is the same on
both cameras so we will use the results from toe
2 BU to show that it functions as advertised.
Now we will be putting this camera in the field
on a long term evaluation. This concludes our
initial review.
11-08-06 Update: Our final part
of this review has been with battery life.
We installed a new set of Duracells and put
it on a feeder with one of the lower rez
settings. The camera battery tests results
are as follows. The camera lasted for
approximately 3 weeks and took 106 photos
mostly night. We also tried to prove
the Quick shot feature but we had a problem
getting the deer to line up single file on a
trail. We ended up putting a new 2BU on a
feeder and we had some does come in from
behind the camera and the camera took 3
pictures within 45 seconds. This feature is
the same on both cameras so we will use the
results from toe 2 BU to show that it
functions as advertised. Now we will be
putting this camera in the field on a long
term evaluation. This concludes our initial
review.
All trigger times are based on "fast mode" setting.
Note to all
Leaf River users: When the camera is
first turned on and placed in the fast mode it is actually still in
the battery save mode (slow trigger) until the camera has been
triggered one time then it will remain in the fast mode until the
operator chooses to turn the camera off. For those who wish to have
their camera in the fast mode for that first actual trigger, they
must force a first trigger prior to leaving the camera. What this
means when placing the cam in the field the operator must stay the
interim period then cause the camera to trigger at least one time
prior to leaving then the camera will remain in the fast mode.
|
Leaf
River
IR-5 5.0MP
http://www.vibrashine.com
http://www.myleafriver.com
    |
Leaf River IR-5
5.0 MP IR Scouting camera review
06-06-2008
The new color for this year is Mossy Oak
Treestand camouflage color. The case is the same very solid tight
closing design that has been used on previous models. Gone is the circular
IR array and now there rectangular 36 IR array at the top hinge side of the
camera. 24 are the long range and 12 appear to be the wide angle. It has the
same locking bar that requires two small padlocks or that can be removed and
the python cable can take its place. The bottom center of the case front is
the wide angle PIR sensor.
The same as the previous models, the metal back plate is still there which
makes this one of the best cams for security when a good cable lock is used.
The factory note sent to me tells us that we can expect around a one second
trigger in the fast mode and a little slower in the battery save mode. The
video with sound is also new for this year. Supposedly the delay period has
been moved down to nil. Only the write time to the card will be required
prior to being ready for the next picture. The quick shot mode will take the
first picture and if motion is still present will take the next up to a
total of three pictures then enter delay and will repeat again if
motion is still present. This will help in cases like the buck chasing a doe
and a three picture string based on movement is sure to catch him.
These specs are like going to the candy store
and getting all the best stuff off the top shelf all in one small bag. We
still have all the Leaf River models from
day one and they are still out there working and producing. Inside there is
a small view screen and the normal set of buttons. The battery setup is a
little different and the way that they are installed has been changed. Some
programming changes are incorporated but previous LR users should have no
problem. All things discussed will be gone into one at a time during the
review. This is going to be a great adventure if all the above claims prove
to be accurate. There will not be many cams that can duplicate the features.
With the exception of our first LR cam these folks now put out very good and
easy to follow instructions and their CS representatives are top shelf and
easy to contact if you do not understand what is written.
06-10-2008 Update: Forty seven tools and a hacksaw was
required to open the bubble pack that the cam came in. I have heard of
child proof but this thing was old man proof. Finally out of the box I
began to survey just what had changed in appearance from all the
previous models. The selection of camo is just great. I took it out and
hung it on several different trees from pine to oak and the blend for
this time of year was very good. The front of the cam has a few
different humps and bumps along with the new IR array and its location.
At the bottom front is a tiny Pontiac grill looking hole that is the
port for the sound to migrate into the cam for the audio recording. The
over all measurements remains the same as before and that is about 6 ¼
inches wide-7 ½ inches tall-5 ½ inches thick. This being a
red
flash cam the IR array glow can be seen by
both human and animals when triggered. This in some cases has spooked
the animals when placed at or near eye level. The actual flash cannot
be seen by the animals just the glow from the array. With the door open
there is two sections. The cam and detector section is on the left and
the battery compartment on the right. The left side is divided into two
sections. At the bottom is the motion detector section and at the top is
the cam portion. There is two ports to the left which are the TV out and
the other is the USB port. On the right side is the SD/MMC slot. The
four main buttons are the work button which controls the camera
operation times like day only, night only and 24 hours. The quick shot
button controls a 1,2,or 3 shot without delay, then the cam must take a
delay to write to the card which is about 20 seconds. If motion is still
present then the cam will go through the sequence again. Once your
choice is selected the OK/DEL button must be pushed to enter that
function. The next button is the Pause button which can give you a delay
period of between write time and 60 minutes. When you select zero delay
the cam still must have time to write that picture to the card and that
has proved to be between 14 and 20 seconds depending on the file size
(day/night/amount of color and such). Again once you have made your
decision as to which delay period you wish then push the OK/DEL button
to record that mode. The CAM/PW switch is the camera power switch which
must be pushed to turn the camera on when programming is being done and
must be turned off when finished with the programming. Once pushed there
is a tiny led just above the SD card slot that will com on and once it
goes out the programming of the camera can be done by hitting the
preview button then the up/down/right/left buttons become active once
the center mode button has made a selection. This area works like most
every digital cameras. Above is a speaker and mike with a sound button
which is selected if you wish to record notes on the DVR about location
or situation prior to the pictures or movie that will be taken once set
out. All of the camera programming will be displayed on the view screen
which is just to the left of the buttons. Way down at the bottom is the
PIR sensitivity dial which for this time of year we must keep it on max.
Once I began to try the programming of this cam without the use of the
instructions, proved to be basically like all the previous LR cams we
have tested. Things like having to hold the pause button for three
seconds to enter the video mode and using the same button to set the
length desired length of each clip from 3 to 90 seconds. Way down on the
outside bottom is a small port labeled IR booster. This is not an
external power source port. It is for the optional IR extension
illuminator if needed.
Now that I finally made it through the programming I
did a quick setup to get the feel of the camera. Judging from when the
array came on it looked like the trigger time was pretty quick. I got
fooled by this one time before because the array came on and then much
latter the picture was shuttered. We can only tell the trigger time buy
putting the cam on the test bench with its clock. I quickly went to
check the pictures on the card. There was not any, so what now, I
selected another card and did the test over and still no pictures
recorded to the card. I then took a new card and inserted into the slot
and worked it in and out a number of times because we have found that
some of these card slots need to be kinda broke in. This worked and now
I am getting pictures. I set up for the flash range and sensing distance
tests last night and this morning about 4 AM when the temperatures were
the coolest (74 degrees) I did the tests. Anthony was not real happy
with the flash pictures so I will re do them again in the morning. The
sensing range proved to be around 35 feet for this very warm morning.
This will be long review because we have been hit with several cams to
be reviewed in a matter of the last two days. Small things like the
internal flash button and such are described very well in the booklet
that came inside the old man proof box. I took my light magnifier and
went around the red rubber seal that is in the cam lid to see if there
were any areas that might possibly leak. I found none. I do not know if
the little sound port would leak if submerged but the way it is designed
you would have to have a hell of a lot of high water to find that out.
The next process is to re do the flash range tests and get ready for the
trigger time test. My old clock isn’t set up like our official clock but
it gives me pretty constant findings and allows me to pre announce the
approximate trigger time. Out of over twenty attempts with flash on and
in the fast mode I saw a pattern of 1.5 seconds trigger time. This is
pretty respectable and will most definitely do in most every situation
that you need to use a trail camera for.
06-12-2008 Update: Well folks LR has
crossed the line into fast cams. The daytime without flash is at the one
second level and the night time with flash is at the 1.5 level and we
now in the process of finding what the battery saver times will be. Just
got the with out flash and the battery saver mode comes in at 2.5 and
with flash is 3.0This has raised the bar of performance of Leaf River
for this year. Even having under a three second time is more than enough
to qualify this cam for most applications except were the animals are in
an extreme hurry. With a movie mode with sound will bring this cam to a
level above a lot of the competition. We have always liked these cams
but now we will probably really like this cam. What it does now on the
tree is the next test and as of now that is where it is at. On the down
side is that we wish the documentation was a little better because we
are finding some holes in some of the way that the operations is handled
in writing. We have no problems though in the actual programming.
07-14-2008 update: This review
has been put off for now and when the replacement arrives it will
now have to get in line with those reviews previously scheduled.
07-23-2008 update: Things got put on hold for a few
days while the folks at the factory let us know that they wanted to
have the cam back for a couple of days to perform some tests and
install a read only program in one of the hardware devices. Now that
this has been accomplished the cam has been returned and the review
will continue. There has been a lot of interest generated and this
delay has resulted in a lot of questions being asked. None of which
we had answers to but soon we will have this thing cooking up on the
hill gathering some test pictures and the following week we will
stick it out in the wild for the remainder of the test. Well, the
hold off amounted to a number of weeks not days but we are back on
track now. Being this cam has gone through a needed upgrade we will
have to take a look at all functions again. If we see any difference
we will just report those changes. We did a re-visit to the Moultrie
I-60 which is their top of the line camera. The 08 version of this
cam came in with a near 4 second trigger time. That is about a 2
second difference from last year. This company decided to do it
right. They went the other direction and improved their time
by more than two seconds over last years models. This is all about
QC and we are beginning to see just which companies are somewhat
weak in this area, Leaf River is not one of those.
07-24-2008 update: We are presently into about six
reviews that are in progress at this time. With all IR cameras we
have to have a big degree of separation so that we do not have a lot
of IR illumination crossing each test area. This means that we will
be a little slow get in getting some sample pictures. Most of the
cameras in review right now are of the IR version both black flash
and red flash. I started back through this camera and was going to
set up for long 60 second videos. The reason for this is that this
is one of two cameras that are on the market this year with the
ability to record sound during the video mode. My first attempt was
very short, so I began to dig into the documentation for the
adjustment procedure. On page 5 under the pause button directive
there is the method of setting the delay time and toward the bottom
is the method to select the video mode and according to this only
adjust the length of the daytime video’s from 3 to 60
seconds. We were wanting to use this on a twenty four hour setting
so we also needed more than three seconds of night time recording. A
quick email to the folks at LR got us the answer and basically the
documentation should read both day and night video length
adjustments. I set up for a 60 second video and put it on the clock
and five tests in a row it came out just over 60 seconds which is
great. The frame rate is such that things are fluid and not jerky.
Soon as we get a hole in our testing area we will have this thing
back on the hill and taking pictures. Flash range and sensing
distance along with trigger time did not seem to be affected anyway
by the upgrade. By all the fuss with the QC that this company has
made we feel that this camera will be one of the better cameras
available this year. The field tests hopefully will prove this to be
true.
07-31-2008 update: We had to pull one of
our IR cams in progress which opened up a hole on the hill so we can go
ahead with this review. Hopefully we can wrap this review up by the time
that the pulled cam comes back from the factory with a new piece of
glass. Sample pictures should be rolling in very soon.
08-01-2008 update: We saved a few pictures from this camera
that were taken prior to its trip back to the big guy with the
screwdriver at the factory. Once back it got stuck on the hill in the
space that was being occupied by one of the Buckeye cams that had to be
returned for a new lens. All I can say by my first glance at today’s
pictures is wow. I think we have our hands on one he__ of a camera. We
are going to give it another day and post both day night pictures.
09-12-2008 update: We had a lot of fun
with this great camera getting all the sample pictures in all the rez
settings, then we gathered some quick videos. Being we have so many IR
cams in progress we have put things on hold but three weeks ago we set
up to take this cam down south and put it out in a trail configuration
near a swamp. We made our way to the back corner of the property and
pulled the cam out stuffed with fresh batteries and then we opened up
our memory card box looking for a 2 gig CF card to put in the cam
because we were needing to gather some movies and get some of the swamp
sounds with the pictures. Well we did not have anything except a small
256 and that would not due for a two week stay so we were forced to
bring the cam back to the shop. We searched found that somehow our set
of CF cards has somehow got misplaced so we could not find any. Now we
were forced to order new 2 gig cards and this took another week to come
in. This ate up another week but we finally made our way to the back
corner and proceeded to setup and deploy the cam. I opened up the cam
and checked the program and then grabbed a new CF card and that’s when
we found that we had suffered another aggravating senior moment. We now
remember that Leaf River had changed to SD cards this year. We now have
a good supply of un used CF cards. We did have several 2 gig SD’s with
us and the cam got put out. With the storm coming into the gulf we may
not be able to get back to the property this next Saturday to gather the
long anticipated videos. Fact is this cam is certainly working better
than my old brain.
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LEAF RIVER
IR-7SS
http://www.vibrashine.com
http://www.myleafriver.com
 
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Leaf River IR-7SS red flash digital camera review 09-12-2008
We have had some mail with the folks over
there at Leaf River country and they said that their stuff was so good that
we could only test the IR-5 for a few months so we could build up our
stamina to the point where they could spoil us with their premium model. We
were so satisfied with the IR-5 that we really did not think things could be
better. The hard work to get their cameras to a sub 2 second trigger time
and near zero delay time has put these cameras out front of most of the
competition and then they went and added sound to their video mode which is
icing on the cake. We are still working on the IR-5 and it is deployed along
a swamp on the back of our property in a trail situation. That area has a
lot of very verbal critters poking around and we hope to catch a lot of that
in movie form. This camera is every thing the same as the IR-5 with the
exception of the higher MP rating and the IR-5 has a 1.6 inch view screen
and this cam has a 2.4 inch view screen. Everything written above in the
IR-5 review applies to this cam except the specifications are different on
this camera. The outside of the cam is has not changed so we are only going
to talk about the changes that you see when you open the door. The first
thing you will notice is the large screen in the top left of the door.
Because of the view screen size, the rest of the layout
of the buttons have had to be changed from what we seen on the IR-5.
The buttons are the same but their location has been re arranged and the
function is the same. The speaker is larger and some of the buttons have a
different shape. The cam lamp is now a larger indicator. The only cam that
is near the price with similar function is the Predator
Xtinction and from the reports we are seeing from the field the
Predator is not much competition to any camera and this camera is $50
cheaper. They both have excellent video function but this cam has sound with
their movies. Predator has a little better trigger time, but its sensing
zone is like a pencil. So if the cam does not see the animal it won’t
shutter the picture. The rush of reports from the field about the IR-7SS and
all the pictures that I have seen on the forum threads is second to none. We
will now find out first hand and we will post the pictures. A quick look at
the samples that we gathered with the IR-5 will tell you that its big
brother should be something to see. I am definitely not a fan of the large
MP cameras because of the file size and the difficulty in handling those
files. I would be very happy to just idle along with the 3 MP setting and
the smaller file sizes if the picture quality is up to par. There are four
choices from 1.3 on the bottom and 2, 3, and 7MP on the top, which is a nice
big spread. At $ 380 this is a very full featured camera and we can
definitely testify that if you have a problem their customer service is top
notch. I just pulled a quick a trigger time test (unofficial) and it looks
like this cam with flash is right at two seconds. This is a half second
slower than the IR-5. This is still respectable. If the weather permits I
will get the flash and sensing range done in the morning.
09-13-2008
update,---Flash range is well past 40 feet and
the sensing was every time at 50 feet for this 72 degree morning. The
sensing surprised me and I spent some extra time trying to see why it was
this good. I could step out from behind the building at 50 feet and just
wave my hand and it would catch me. I might have the sensitivity set a
little high but I had no false triggers during testing. We will see how this
works in the field.
09-19-2008 update: Had
this cam on the hill and as the folks over in Leafriverville said you are
going to be spoiled. Well yes that is true but this cam hit our turf at the
same time as three of the Reconyx cameras and a couple Buckeye cams. Talk
about being spoiled we are having a war around here to see who gets what to
hang on the tree. They all shine like a brand new dollar. After the flop of
some of the Moultrie and Stealth cams we have plenty of things to shoot at
on our hundred yard target mound. Believe me this cam will not even make it
into the same area as the range. Very good sensing, very good pictures, and
a very good flash are things that have gained our respect so far. If I were
to pick an area that I felt was weak it would have to be in the amount of
noise in the IR pictures and movies. We noticed a degree of lightness on the
right hand side of the IR pictures as if we were getting a small amount of
external bleed over from the flash. Everything picture wise has been in the
3 MP setting so far. Last night we did some low rez pictures and have put it
back out in movie mode this morning. We are going to tone down the quality
setting in 3 MP soon and see if that will take out some of the noise. We are
also getting a small amount of blur in the pictures when the deer are
moving. I have not yet seen the low rez pictures and expect we will get to
that card shortly. Spoiled yes and with me looking at what is on the way in
(Predator) after this batch of cameras they will have to shine to stay off
the mound. From what I have seen so far I might have to dig out another self
adhesive bulls eye for what’s coming up next.
09-24-2008 update: White out and black out and all those
conditions that happen when you place a camera under a heavy canopy and
they have to operate in these conditions. Now let’s look at what this
camera has done with this situation. We experienced no indications of
these problems but because of this we have a tradeoff which causes a
degree of blur when the animal is moving. In most cases as far as we see
it this has not been a problem because we have seen this with literally
all IR cameras. I would much rather have a cam that takes a picture
during this critical moving time and it have a little blur than have the
picture taken with the black out or white out issue. Low light
conditions means that the aperture will remain open longer and thus a
degree of blur.
The
pictures in full color are exceptional but in our testing area we can
still pick out some that have a blurred ear or head. We had no empty
pictures and throughout its resolution settings it produced very good
pictures but the night IR pictures have that fuzzy look as seen in many
of the IR cameras. The price on this camera should put it near the top
of the list of potential camera buyers. We so far have been real happy
with this camera.
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