Full Review: Wingscapes BirdCam

If you've been keeping track of my recent posts, you've seen several posts with the tests of my newly acquired BirdCam manufactured by WingScapes (retail price: $250). As promised, here is a full review of the device:

Initial Observations
The box is very appealing including pictures of birds and a nice fold-out cover. The contents include a USB cable for connection to your PC, a detailed manual, a remote control, and a pair of bungee cords for hanging the BirdCam on a tree or other large pole. A mounting arm for hanging on smaller feeder poles is sold separately. From an environmental standpoint, I would prefer the use of cardboard vs. plastic packaging.



The BirdCam itself has a front door that opens to reveal the controls inside. The controls include a small display screen for changing settings, menu buttons, a focus setting wheel, a button to turn on the laser aiming, and an on-off switch. There is also a slot for an optional SD memory card (not included) and a place to plug in a DC adapter if you have one. The door snaps shut with two latches. A thin rubber gasket around the perimeter of the device makes it weather-resistant. The back of the device is dominated by the battery door which holds four "D" batteries (not included). The top of the device has an eye hole that can be used to hang it from a hook.

Setup
The BirdCam is usable "out of the box." A few simple instructions written on the inside cover of the device will have you taking photos in minutes using the default settings. You need batteries of course. The laser aiming device is an excellent feature and makes it a snap to point the camera at your target.

Customizing settings is done through the simple menu system. The key settings are the sensitivity of the motion sensor (high, medium, low) , the time interval for activating the sensor (the sensor goes into a sleep mode after it takes photos/videos), and the number of photos/videos to take per activation of the sensor. You can also set the size of the photos (up to 3.1 MegaPixels) and videos (up to 640 x 480). A large dial sets the focus distance for the camera. There are four intervals of settings from 8 inches up to infinity.

A "manual mode" allows you to take photos/videos through the push of a button on the front of the device or via the included remote control. Actually, the remote control can be used at any time to trigger a picture and the device will automatically return to whatever mode it was set in.

As mentioned, it does not include a memory card, but has 32 MB of internal memory which will hold a bit, but not a day's worth of photos. I've been using a 512 MB card (pretty cheap these days) which is sufficient for several day's worth of photos or a day's worth of videos, depending on your settings.

One complaint I have about the setup is the use of the laser aiming device. The laser aiming is extremely useful, but it can only be used when the door is open. This can be problematic depending on where you are placing the camera. For example, I had placed the camera in a flower pot, but the lip of the flower pot forced me to have to lift up the camera to close the door, thus messing up my aiming. (Note from Wingscapes: This is actually a safety feature common to all game cameras (that I know of). There are many regulations concerning laser usage and we try to prevent the user from turning it on or leaving it on unintentionally.)

Results

Click here to see samples of photos and videos.

Although it might take some trial and error to get the ideal placement, lighting, focus distance, and sensitivity for your yard, the photo and video results are excellent. You're obviously not going to get SLR-quality photos from this specialized device, but the quality is very good. Objects within the focus range are very clear and colors appear accurate. The camera uses a variable exposure speed that is supposed to allow the capture of birds in flight. I have not had much success with this yet. The few flight photos I have managed to take have had some blur in them.

Some have complained that the BirdCam does not take pictures well when placed in a shadowed area facing a lit area. I'm no expert photographer, but I think this is true for any camera that doesn't use a flash. The "blank" pictures that the camera takes can be annoying. These are usually the result of a bird flying by too fast for the camera to react or from some other object (a branch or leaf) falling too close to the camera. The falling objects have to be pretty close to set the camera off it seems. This is a minor inconvenience and can usually be resolved through the sensitivity setting.

The video picture quality is sufficient enough to know what you're seeing and quite good in clarity, but the frame rate is low causing the video to look choppy. It's still great fun to watch videos of the goings-on in your yard.

On a typical day, you're probably going to only get 15-20 usable photos or 5-10 usable videos. Let's face it, birds and other creatures are very mobile. Many times you will get photos of tails, heads, wings, SQUIRRELS, or nothing at all. This is no fault of the BirdCam itself. It's simply the reality of using this type of device.

The battery life seems excellent. A battery meter shows the percentage of battery life remaining. After taking approximately 150 photos and 40 videos, I still have 98% battery life. A light sensor will put the device into "night mode" to reduce unnecessary battery use when it is too dark to photograph. If I could have one wish for this device, it would be for it to be able to take photos at night. I understand that this would take a big change in technology and is probably outside the designated purpose, but it would be an excellent feature.

Conclusions
At a cost of $250, the BirdCam may be a bit out of price range for many. I feel that the technology and the quality of the results warrants the cost, but may prohibit casual backyard birders from buying it. To me, the real appeal of this device is the thought of capturing something new in your yard or observing some interesting behavior. You're not likely to be entering these photos into a photo contest any time soon, but the results are more than sufficient to share with others, stick on your refrigerator, or post on your blog. If you want to see what's lurking under your bushes, who is visiting your feeders while at work, or who has been stealing your mail, give the BirdCam a try. It would also make an excellent gift for any backyard bird lover.