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ZEISS DTI thermal imaging cameras. For more discoveries at night, and during the day.

Bushnell "Aggressor" no-glow Trail Camera (1 Viewer)

Torchepot

Well-known member
United Kingdom
Good to see a new Forum for Trail Cameras - it's been pretty quiet on that front for a while here.

I'm no expert but I've got the bug now and I'm really enjoying finding out what's visiting our garden after dark - it can be quite addictive!

I've recently bought the rather poetically named "Aggressor" as it gets good reviews from several suppliers and is one of the best selling no-glow cameras (and as I couldn't find one called "the bunny hugger";)).

I bought my camera from Naturespy and their customer service has really impressed me.

I won't repeat what has been said elsewhere already - Naturespy and Trailcampro have both done really detailed reviews.

Generally I agree with much of what's been written and the camera can produce impressive results, but I have found a couple of shortcomings.

I am only really interested in using the camera for night-time video and in this mode the camera eats batteries - if you have foxes or other wildlife triggering the camera many times a night you'll be spending a lot on batteries. This also means that the camera can't be left in the field for extended periods in video mode. Lithium cells last longest but they are more expensive and aren't rechargeable (I'm not happy throwing batteries away regularly).

The obvious solution is to use an external DC power supply, most Trail Cameras I've seen have this option. You just plug a big old SLA battery into the DC socket and the camera may well fill the SD card before it flattens the battery.

This is where this camera falls down - it does have an external DC socket but it's a non-standard plug and even if you can get one (or hack one) it doesn't appear to be compatible with most DC supplies. Bushnell are trying to force people to buy their dedicated solar panel which has the right plug but doesn't have much power reserve. There are also situations where you wouldn't want to use a solar panel anyway - like under the canopy or where you don't want to attract attention to the camera's location. Bushnell do not make an external DC supply for this camera (other than the solar panel).

The other option is to run a pair of wires from a DC supply to the internal battery compartment contacts.

This works OK but means that either a couple of holes have to be made in the casing (voiding the warranty) or the wires have to be shut in the door which means it's no longer weatherproof, neither of which are ideal!

The other shortcoming that is an issue with videos is the trigger speed, this is somewhere around two to three seconds so a fast moving animal will be long gone by the time the camera starts up. The trigger speed for stills however is one of the very fastest and there is a "hybrid" mode where the camera will take up to three stills followed by a video. This is a particularly power hungry mode though so until I can sort out the DC supply I've only used it a few times.

Summing up I feel that if your main interest is stills then it's hard to beat this camera, however for video there may be better options eg. the Browning Spec Ops Platinum which has a very fast video trigger, produces excellent videos and has a standard 12 DC supply jack.
 
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Interesting report, Torchepot, thanks. We find much the same as you with a recent Bushnell purchase for the garden ( to replace old Acorns that aren't reliable any more). We'd started using an external battery, and bought a lead to fit from http://www.wildlifeservices.co.uk/index.html The price seems a bit steep, but no-one else does them. However, o/h has now got some plugs and spade connectors, so when he gets round to getting some wire, he'll make his own!
Agree about the trigger time, but they all seem to be the same. Also, we find temperature affects what will trigger them at different times. Sometimes a frog/mouse will set them off, other times not. Have got some good Hedgehog films! They're not always cute & cuddly! https://www.flickr.com/photos/mairis-wildlife/28298822114
 
Hi Mary

You've got one (some?) stroppy hog there! Thanks for the link to your flickr page - some really nice stuff :t: A couple of questions, if you don't mind, which Bushnell camera are you using? and what software are you editing your videos with?

I managed to make an external DC battery work with my camera but not through the socket. I had to hack a connection through the battery compartment so now I've got a couple of wires jammed in the door!

I'm learning a lot - both about the cameras and about the critters I'm trying to video. The one thing that almost every review omits is the video trigger speed. It turns out that, for me at least, this is probably the most important feature. The trigger speed quoted by most manufacturers is for stills and is usually much quicker. Trail Cameras seem to be getting faster but getting a lightning fast video trigger speed appears to be quite challenging (or not a priority).
 
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Slow video triggers

It does seem that fast trigger speeds for videos are not a priority for trail camera manufacturers, but it should be remembered that these are not 'high tech' bits of kit like a DSLR.

They're fairly basic multi-functional cameras that 'do the job', unless you're happy paying much more for something like a Reconyx.

Thanks for ordering your power lead from us, Mary, but as you say: nobody else supplies them. I'm sorry you feel they're expensive, but they're a special item that costs us several pounds, so when you add the cost of postage there's not much profit in there for us.

We have our own forum if anyone here is interested.

I also offer camera trapping trips to south east Poland where there are wolf, lynx, wild boar and beaver as well as pine marten and wildcat.

If you have any questions about Acorn, Bushnell or Spypoint cameras I'll try to answer them for you.

Warm Regards,

Martin.
 
Hi Mary

You've got one (some?) stroppy hog there! Thanks for the link to your flickr page - some really nice stuff :t: A couple of questions, if you don't mind, which Bushnell camera are you using? and what software are you editing your videos with?

I managed to make an external DC battery work with my camera but not through the socket. I had to hack a connection through the battery compartment so now I've got a couple of wires jammed in the door!

I'm learning a lot - both about the cameras and about the critters I'm trying to video. The one thing that almost every review omits is the video trigger speed. It turns out that, for me at least, this is probably the most important feature. The trigger speed quoted by most manufacturers is for stills and is usually much quicker. Trail Cameras seem to be getting faster but getting a lightning fast video trigger speed appears to be quite challenging (or not a priority).
Sorry for the delay in replying!
I'm using the Essential 119736, along with an Aldi cam from their latest batch (ok so far!), both courtesy of Santa for the next couple of years!
I use Windows Movie Maker, which is quite basic, I think, but does what I want and is easy to use. As it's not part of Windows 10, it has to be downloaded from their site.
I'm going to try the 'timelapse' tonight, pointed at the Nicotianas to try and see if any moths are feeding from them! All good fun!
 
It does seem that fast trigger speeds for videos are not a priority for trail camera manufacturers, but it should be remembered that these are not 'high tech' bits of kit like a DSLR.

They're fairly basic multi-functional cameras that 'do the job', unless you're happy paying much more for something like a Reconyx.

Thanks for ordering your power lead from us, Mary, but as you say: nobody else supplies them. I'm sorry you feel they're expensive, but they're a special item that costs us several pounds, so when you add the cost of postage there's not much profit in there for us.

We have our own forum if anyone here is interested.

I also offer camera trapping trips to south east Poland where there are wolf, lynx, wild boar and beaver as well as pine marten and wildcat.

If you have any questions about Acorn, Bushnell or Spypoint cameras I'll try to answer them for you.

Warm Regards,

Martin.
Hi, Martin

I can quite understand the lead cost; you've got to make a living! I can't understand why the trailcam makers can't add it as an accessory to their ranges; they go to the trouble of adding the socket underneath. I wish Panasonic would jump on board, bet they could produce a trailcam, though probably a bit pricey!
 
Interesting report, Torchepot, thanks. We find much the same as you with a recent Bushnell purchase for the garden ( to replace old Acorns that aren't reliable any more). We'd started using an external battery, and bought a lead to fit from http://www.wildlifeservices.co.uk/index.html The price seems a bit steep, but no-one else does them. However, o/h has now got some plugs and spade connectors, so when he gets round to getting some wire, he'll make his own!
Agree about the trigger time, but they all seem to be the same. Also, we find temperature affects what will trigger them at different times. Sometimes a frog/mouse will set them off, other times not. Have got some good Hedgehog films! They're not always cute & cuddly! https://www.flickr.com/photos/mairis-wildlife/28298822114

Hi Mary

I am thinking of purchasing this lead for my Bushnell Agressor low glow. Have you actually used it on your Busnhnell as i was wondering if the polarity was the same?I have spoken to Martin from Wild life services and was not too sure about the polarity of the plugs.

Regards
Pete
 
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Hi Mary

I am thinking of purchasing this lead for my Bushnell Agressor low glow. Have you actually used it on your Busnhnell as i was wondering if the polarity was the same?I have spoken to Martin from Wild life services and was not too sure about the polarity of the plugs.

Regards
Pete

Hi Pete. I was intending to add to my last post, so pleased you have reminded me.

Yes, we've found that the lead from Martin does work with our Bushnell. It's a different model to yours ( Trophy cam essential). However, from what I've seen of some of the other models, if they can be used with the solar panel gismo, I don't think they have a socket to take an external battery. Does yours have a socket underneath?

Another point I was going to add was re the Aldi (Maginon) cams. We had assumed that they were working ok with the 6v batteries, but it became apparent that the AA batteries were not lasting as long as they should. On checking, I found that the lead we'd been using has the wrong dimensions at the plug end! Although it fitted, it didn't work and the cam was still operating on the AAs! ( Trying the cam with the AA batts taken out proved this). So, we managed to get some new plugs the right size; o/h taught me to solder; and we were able to make some that now work! I tried to contact Maginon about leads but they didn't reply.
 
Hi Mary

Thanks for your reply. Yes my model does have a socket so I will be ordering a lead from Martin.

Regards
Pete
 
Hi Pete

I bought a lead from Trailcampro to fit my Bushnell Aggressor (no glow) thinking that I could use it to provide power from an external 6volt battery. There is some kind of circuitry in the camera which doesn't like this, the LEDs will only fire on medium and low (not on high) with this input. I'm not sure if the same thing happens with your no-glow camera?

If you want to use the lead with the Bushnell solar panel it should work fine (but not sure if the panel's battery will keep the camera going during a busy night of video) also if you don't need the high LED setting you should be OK. It may be that a more powerful battery (9.6v?) would fire up all the LEDs using the lead but I didn't want to pay for one (and charger) to find out.

I've hacked my Aggressor with connections to the internal battery terminals and and run it from a 6v 7.2Ah SLA battery which means I can leave it out in the field for ages. I can send you details if you're interested.

Several other people are having trouble trying to use the external DC input on the Aggressor and there is some discussion on Naturespy's site (takes a bit of digging to find it).

How are you getting on with your camera?

All the best

Phil
 
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Interesting discussion here; worth a bump, I think. My experience with the Aggressors is it's kind of a toss up as to whether the internal batteries run out first or a 32GB SD card fills first. This holds for both 8MP images and 1080x720 video. Depends on the mix of daytime versus nighttime triggers, temperatures, and video duration. In some sets video it's clear video's going to exhaust the batteries first and it would certainly be nice to simply plug in an external power bank for a boost. Browning makes an 8AA pack for their cameras but I haven't found anything which plays nicely with Bushnell's 7.5V input.

Regarding the comments about video trigger speed, Trailcampro's trigger/recovery tests are worth a look. I'm curious about the Spypoints but generally need better infrared illumination, so haven't evaluated one. Maybe their next model generation.
 
Hi twest, I never did find any way to use the external DC input on my Agressor with a six volt battery, and I was afraid to use a more powerful one in case I fried it. My hacked solution was left out for four months in a secluded part of our garden this winter and we came back to 293 videos and still running (the last ones were on the night before we got back).

My main objective was to check for intruders (none to our relief) but did discover that we are getting regular visits from at least four different foxes and a badger. Most interestingly​ we had a pine marten caught on camera at night - which could very clearly see the "no-glow" LEDs and was spooked by them. In the right light conditions I can just about see them myself and my wife can see them more easily. I don't know if any of the other "no-glow" cameras are any different?
 
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