How Do I Set My Bushnell Trophy Cam Back to Default Settings

Review: Bushnell NatureView
Trail camera settings and specifications

The Bushnell NatureView trail camera is a remote wildlife camera or camera trap and is used to monitor wildlife. It's a decent camera with some additional features (close-up lenses) for monitoring smaller animals. The great advantage of camera traps is the ability to set it up and collect data for a long period of time with a limited human time investment. Check out more about the basics of camera trapping here.

This article reviews the Bushnell NatureView trail camera and goes over the specifications and settings. You will learn more about the feature of this specific camera trap and the settings available on the Bushnell NatureView. By the end of this article, you will know everything you need to know about it.

– This article uses affiliate links, which means if you order through the links I provide, I get a small commission without additional costs for you. At the bottom of this article, I give some recommendations if you are interested in buying this camera.

Bushnell NatureView HD
(Model 119440 – newer models have even better specs)
KEY FEATURES

  • Up to 8MP still photos
  • HD (1080p) video clips with Audio
  • Trigger speed of 0.7s
  • Consumes little power
    • up to 6 months in standby mode with AA alkaline batteries
    • up to 13 months using lithium AA batteries
  • No-Glow "black" IR LEDs
  • Close focus
    (close-up lenses (250mm/460mm))
  • Field Scan 2x option (see later)
  • Hybrid Capture Mode – both still photos and videos

Check at the bottom of this article for a comparison between different NatureView models

PARTS of the NatureView Cam

What's in the box? Additional to the parts on the picture, there is also a nice manual included. Most of the parts are quite obvious.

Bushnell NatureView box

Close-up lenses
This trail camera comes with 2 lenses to change minimum focus distance: 460mm (46cm) and 250mm (25cm). Without the add-on lenses, the normal focus is from about 1.5m to infinity. The 460mm lens is more for a range between 50 cm and 1.50m, whereas the 250mm lens is for a focus area between 25 cm and 50 cm. With the close-up lenses, the camera will not focus on objects at a normal long distance. I haven't played with them too much. But when using them, remember to set the "LED Control" to "low" (see further).

I performed a little test with the close-up lenses. In the set-up, the dogs (left) are at 25 cm from the camera, the horse and the bull (right) are at 50 cm, the bull and the ponies at 100 cm (1m) (left), and finally, the horses are at 150 cm or 1.5m.

Battery and SD card slots

When you unlock the latches on the side, you can open the camera and you will see the battery slots, the LCD screen and some buttons. Depending on the model, Bushnell NatureView trail cameras are coming with 12 or 8 battery slots. In both cases, the camera also works with only 4 batteries in the first 2 slots (starting from the left). On a side note, just make sure to put the batteries in the correct direction, as for example in the 12 battery slots, row 4 and 5 have both minus at the top. It is also possible to connect an external battery with 6V output, which can be plugged in at the bottom of the camera trap. The camera has also a low battery indicator. In case of low battery, the LED on the right side of the lens will flash blue/purple.

The Bushnell NatureView camera trap has an internal memory of 32MB (which is about 20 pictures). So, it's definitely advisable to insert an SD card in the camera to save your photos and videos. SD cards are supported both SD and SDHC with a capacity up to 32GB. For the best performance, it's advised to use high-speed SD cards, definitely if video settings are set to a high resolution. Personally, I use Scandisk® Ultra 16GB, but also a 32GB is available.

Inserting the SD card

  • ! Make sure the SD card write-protect switch on the side of the card is off, so not in the "Lock" position.
  • Make sure the camera is turned off before you insert the SD card.
  • Double check if the SD card icon is showing on the device display.

Camera trap open

OFF, SETUP, & ON mode

The Bushnell NatureView camera has a switch which indicates OFF, SETUP, and ON mode. When this switch is set to OFF, the camera is off, and ON is to turn it on (quite obvious). When turning on, the LED on the right of the lens will blink for 10 seconds before being active. This gives you the time to close the camera, lock it, and leave. When the camera is ON, you need to switch it to OFF before you go to change setting in the SETUP menu.

When the switch is in the middle, on the SETUP mode, you are able to change the camera trap settings. There is a difference in look between the Color Viewer and the Standard Display models, but the options are the same.

Some models come with additional remote, which you need to chance camera trap settings.

There are already a couple of settings which can be changed from the SETUP menu. These shortcut-keys/ functions are listed below (all available before pressing the MENU key):

  • UP key: switch to video mode
  • DOWN key: switch to still photo mode
  • RIGHT key: manually trigger (either a picture or a video, depending on your settings)
  • OK: Replay, review or playback of collected footage (only for Color Viewer or a connected to LCD monitor)

While pressing the different buttons, a photo or video symbol is shown on the screen. Later on, you will see other symbols appearing as well, like resolution, time stamp, field scan and video sound.

There is also an icon for the SD card and the battery life. Depending on the settings are set to video or photo, there is an indication of how many pictures or video time is left. Make some time to get yourself familiar with these shortcut-keys.

Different Bushnell Displays

Menu settings

After pressing the MENU button on the Bushnell trail camera, there are more parameters to choose from (play around with them while going over the descriptions below, as you can always set them back to 'Default Set').

Mode: Camera (= photos), Video, Hybrid (= for each trigger, it first takes a picture, followed by recording a video).
Image Size: Only affects still photos (camera or hybrid mode). Depending on SD card, but I suggest take the highest resolution if you have a decent capacity on your SD card.
Image Format: Only affects still photos. Full Screen: 4:3 aspect ratio, Wide Screen: 16:9 ratio. I usually take Full Screen.
Capture Number: Only affects still photos. Between 1-3 pictures can be taken in sequence after each trigger. This setting affects photos taken in Field Scan mode as well. Increasing the number of pictures per trigger can increase your chance of identifying the species.
LED Control: Low, Medium, High. This relates to the intensity of the IR (Infrared) flash. First rule: always set to "low" when using close-up lenses. This means only 8 LEDs will fire. For general use is advised using "High" when your targeting spot is more than 9 m away from the camera (30 ft.), "Medium" for subjects between 9 m and 4.5 m (30 ft. – 15 ft.), and "low" for less than 4.5m. Although it depends on the situation. I usually put it on high, as there is nothing more frustrating seeing something vague in the distance, but there is a higher chance of getting overexposed photos from animals close to the camera.
Camera Name: Customise the name of your camera.
Video Size: Obviously, only affects video and hybrid mode. Same as with the photo quality, it depends on what you need and how large your SD card is. If you check regularly, going for the highest resolution is advised. Consider getting a large, high-speed SD card (Scandisk® Ultra® or Extreme®).
Video Length: 10s is the default setting, but it can be set to anything between 5s and 60s (1min). Again, this needs to be taking in consideration for SD card capacity, what you want to investigate, etc. Usually, I go for 20s or 30s, this might give you some nice videos.
Interval: This is the time between the ending of the previous video and the time the camera will be active again for receiving triggers. This is a measurement for not filling up your SD card with one animal or a group of animals moving around the camera trap. This parameter can be set anywhere between 1s and 60m (minutes).
Sensor Level: Low, Normal, High, Auto. This indicates the sensitivity of the PIR sensor (Passive Infrared). It's a combination of detecting heat differences and motion. In warm areas, "high" is advised as it makes it harder for the sensor to detect animals with a body temperature similar to outdoor temperature). I usually put it to "Auto". This also covers when putting the camera out for a longer period of time with changing weather conditions.
NV (Night Vision) Shutter: High, Medium, Low. This is a trade-off between brighter photos and a better ability to freeze motion. "High" will be better the capture sharp photos from fast-moving animals, but will be darker. "Low" shutter speed will produce brighter photos, but there is a higher risk of blurry photos. "Medium" might be a good compromise.
Camera Mode: 24 Hrs, Day, Night. Allows limiting operations to only day or night if needed. Good to know is that this setting takes priority over any Field Scan settings. I'm always using the 24 Hrs setting, as you don't want to miss anything.
Format: This function deletes all files and prepares it for reuse. Make sure to download all the images before executing this. It's advised to format an SD card on the camera trap itself.
TV Out: NTSC, PAL. Video standard/format used for the A/V Out output jack. NTSC is more for United States, Canada, Mexico, Asia and South America. PAL is primarily used in Europe.
Time Stamp: Turn this ON if you want the date and time to be imprinted on every photo/video. This will also imprint the current temperature, moon phase, and camera name.
Set Clock: Probably one of the more important settings. Set the Time and the Date right. It's in a 24-hr format with 00=midnight and 12=midday). The date is in the format year-month-date. An important measurement here is dealing with 'summertime' and 'wintertime' if your time zone is using this. Consider animals don't have a watch and are mostly related to the time the sun sets or rises.

  • ! Make sure to Set Clock, definitely important if you choose to turn Time Stamp ON.

Field Scan: ON/OFF. A time-lapse function you can use in 2 pre-set time frames (A and B). Make sure there is no overlap between the 2. No trigger is needed. This function takes a photo/video automatically at your choice of the interval during 1 or 2 specific periods of each day (A and B). For example, dawn and dusk. Good option if you are looking over a field and want to check further than the range of the camera. The parameter 'Capture number' will affect the number of photos taken per interval.
If an animal enters the PIR (passive infrared) sensor range, there will still be a photo or video taken, depending on your normal settings.
Reminder: make sure the "Camera Mode" is set to 24 Hrs if you want to use the field scan day and night.
Coordinate Input: Obvious setting, enter manually to coordinates of the camera trap. I haven't used it as I usually save a waypoint in my GPS and connect the data later. But it should be compatible with Google Earth, Picasa, and other geotag software.
Video Sound: It's all in the name, just a reminder this will make the file sizes larger. I turn it on, you never know what you can expect.
Default Set: Ideal for those who have been playing around with the settings with all my above tips and think I was talking bullshit and want to go back to the factory settings.

After SETUP mode, I always first turn the camera off before turning on. According to the manual, it's not necessary, but better be safe than sorry. After turning it ON, you have to turn it OFF first, before getting into the SETUP mode.

Now it's time to test your camera. Switch the Mode to ON and close the camera. Put it somewhere stable and walk in front of it. After a while, open the camera and turn the camera off. Eject the SD card and insert it into your computer. Have a look at the pictures and think about which settings you want to change.

The next step is to go out in the field and set the Bushnell NatureView camera trap up and working for a couple of days.

Article about how to set up a camera trap – COMING SOON

Recommended Camera Trap Package

In case of interest, I put some products together which you might want in addition to the Bushnell NatureView. If you have additional questions or some comments, don't hesitate to comment below or get in contact. Or if you are from a different part of the world and would like to get other links in order to support this website.

– This article uses affiliate links, which means if you order through the links I provided, I get a small commission without additional costs for you.

Overview of different Bushnell NatureView Models (The model I used for this review is the 119440):

– This article uses affiliate links, which means if you order through the links I provided, I get a small commission without additional costs for you.

Hiking to the peak

Wildlife Impulse

Wildlife Impulse started as a blog to share experiences in the world of nature awareness and wildlife conservation.

Wildlife Impulse want to inform you about wildlife in different ways. Explore our website to learn more about it.

How Do I Set My Bushnell Trophy Cam Back to Default Settings

Source: https://wildlifeimpulse.com/review-bushnell-natureview/

Belum ada Komentar untuk "How Do I Set My Bushnell Trophy Cam Back to Default Settings"

Posting Komentar

Iklan Atas Artikel

Iklan Tengah Artikel 1

Iklan Tengah Artikel 2

Iklan Bawah Artikel