“I have used a lot of different trail camera makes and models. The Browning Recon Force Elite HP4 is now my preferred choice because of the combination of quality and value for money. I mostly use stills because of (a) less viewing time (b) less storage needed. I have mainly used Energizer 2300mAh rechargeable batteries which seem to work fine, but I have not done a side-to-side comparison with a second camera fitted with Eneloop Pro batteries (hint to NatureSpy -this would be a useful test). I have used these cameras for survey of squirrels, Mink & Otter, and for Pine Marten in the UK, and they have proven to be very reliable. The picture quality is good although the JPEG file size is less than you would expect for a camera set to take pictures at high res. The camera is well-built and comes with probably the best strap on the market - the strap will go round a tree bigger than my arm reach which is 1.8m. The camera offers a good range of settings, the menus are fairly easy to navigate and it has a preview screen which is very helpful when setting up. In general this is a very good tool for survey work.”
“I need a camera primarily for night time videos and this one delivers sharp black and white images. The HP5 is credited with enhanced night videos but the HP4 is equally good in my opinion and currently about £50 cheaper than the HP5 from NatureSpy.”
