AtlantaGreg's Full Review: Wildview 5.0 M.P. Digital Toggle Switch Scouting C...
WHAT IT IS
The Wildview 5 megapixel hunting/scouting camera is a plastic box about the size of a large hardback novel. It's a simple device, with a small camera lens on the front, with a flash, and counter to show how many photos have been taken. When you flip open the front, you expose the battery area, and a few switches to adjust settings. Not much to it and it's not complicated.
It's main purpose is to be used as an image and video capture device in wildlife areas. This company has made various versions of this camera which for the most part are exactly the same in all regard, except they vary in the megapixel output of their images. A friend of mine and I decided to try this one out, being lazy and not wanting to set up camp to take wildlife photos ourselves manually.
WHAT YOU GET
The Wildview Xtreme5 is this incarnation, and at my local Sam's Club was only $88.00, which sounded like a very reasonable price. I wanted to mount the camera onto a window facing my front porch so I could capture animals and wildlife who come up on it during the day and night.
In the cardboard and blisterpack wrap were four "D" batteries to power the device, a 1 gig Secure Digital memory card (only offered in the Sam's package I believe, and an extra cost via retail store versions), the Wildview camera, instructions, USB cable, and a strap (for attaching the device to a pole or tree).
SETTING UP
Setup is simple. Insert the batteries and memory card, set the time and date, and then set the basic settings such as resolution of the images, if you want it to take images in a "burst" of up to 5 images, or, set it for video mode where it will take several seconds of video. Set it up, turn it on, and leave it on the tree (or in my case, a window). Sounds easy as pie. Unfortunately, my pie had ants...
THING GO WRONG
Now, I had the Wildview against a clear, clean, window. Attached flush against the glass so there was no glare or "ghost" images that could interfere with the motion sensor on it or the camera lens. It was a sunny clear day, but no direct sunlight was hitting the window or the device. The camera should therefore not have registered anything in front of it, as I take photos through this particular window with various cameras all the time with no focusing problem.
I walked outside and approached the porch as any person or animal would. I tried this various times with the Wildview set up on still photo settings, burst, non-burst, and video mode. In every case, the Wildview could not detect my movement at all unless I literally got to within one foot of the motion sensor. Note again - one foot - 12 inches. Most animals (or people) will not do this.
So, we try setting it up on a pole outside, aimed at the porch. This time, the motion sensor seems to have a range of about 5 feet, maximum. There was also an extreme case of "shutter lag", meaning that from the time it detected movement until it actually snapped the photo, was nearly 3-4 full seconds. By then whatever triggered it had moved out of the shot and you were lucky to capture an animal's rear end.
When it gets dark enough, the auto flash kicks in. Unfortunately, it doesn't adjust itself based on where the subject is or light conditions, so when the flash is used, everything caught in it looks as though it is in the beginning stages of being in a nuclear explosion. Extremely bright, washed out, and lacking in detail.
CONCLUSION
We tried an earlier version of this device a few years ago (the 2 megapixel version), and it was just as bad as this one. We had hoped at least, that in all this time the Wildview makers would have learned from past mistakes and actually have improved the product in later incarnations.
Unfortunately, this isn't the case. The Wildview Xtreme5 is the exact same device as the years-old version, with the ONLY exception being that a 5 megapixel chip has been placed into the camera device. The device is otherwise just as poorly as the old version, with an unreliable motion sensor, extremely sluggish capture speed (when it captures an image at all), and a nuclear flash device.
Perhaps if you had a wildlife feeding station set up in the woods where animals stay to graze and don't move, and mounted the Wildview on a tree at least 18-22 feet away, you MIGHT get some viewable (loosely said) images - but we doubt even this as while the flash might work at that distance correctly, the motion sensor probably would not. We're afraid if you want to take wildlife shots, you'll need to stick to a camo tent and some cameras with your buddies. We pass on the Wildview.
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