what exactly is a home brew?
- Thread starter redblood
- Start date
catman529
Well-Known Member
homemade cam. usually with some type of point and shoot digital camera. haven't done any myself but seen a lot of em on here.
Carnage
Well-Known Member
It's a custom made trail camera using (generally) older model point and shoot digital cameras, after market cases and electronics for tiggering and charging. It gives you much higher quality pictures, faster trigger times and more customizations on how to configure when/how a picture is taken. From my standpoint (I only have 1) it seems worlds beyond the entry level off the shelf cameras. I have no information to compare it to the $300+ cameras.
BSK
Well-Known Member
TheRock said:
Homebrews have faster trigger times than some of the cheap cameras, but not the top-end commercial cameras.
Really, the two biggest advantages to a homebrew are better unit quality and far superior pictures than commercial cameras.
The links below should provide some insight on homebrews.
http://robshuntingjournal.blogspot.com/ ... amera.html
http://www.jesseshunting.com/site/homebrew-cams.html
http://robshuntingjournal.blogspot.com/ ... amera.html
http://www.jesseshunting.com/site/homebrew-cams.html
J.M.A.N.
Well-Known Member
BSK said:
plus you can fix them yourself!!!
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
The "far superior pictures" of homebrews is mainly due to their using REAL cameras, whereas most commercial cams are using CHEAP "image processors". This is like the difference between the view seen thru a child's toy binoculars vs. a pair of Swarovski binoculars.
This is why a homebrew using a 4.0 mp Sony camera can produce better pictures than a Bushnell or other low-quality imager advertising 8.0 mp. Of course, there's no contest between the higher quality pictures of a 4.0 mp Sony cam vs. a 3.1 mp lesser quality picture from a Reconyx.
However, camera and imager issues aside, another limiting factor to picture quality is the outer (either clear plastic or glass) "window" of the housing. This is like comparing the difference between looking thru a plastic bag vs. a pair of quality eye glasses, between you and your binoculars.
But moving beyond picture quality, some of the high-end commercial cams (such as Reconyx) do generally have superior triggering systems for WHEN they can take a pic. Most homebrews have been using a "Snapshot Sniper" triggering board which is far superior to most cheap commercial cams and many of the ones in the $300 price range.
All that said, I've found "homebrews" to provide me a much better overall value for their cost, and be extremely reliable, year after year. By contrast, most commercial cams I've used have been very disappointing.
This is why a homebrew using a 4.0 mp Sony camera can produce better pictures than a Bushnell or other low-quality imager advertising 8.0 mp. Of course, there's no contest between the higher quality pictures of a 4.0 mp Sony cam vs. a 3.1 mp lesser quality picture from a Reconyx.
However, camera and imager issues aside, another limiting factor to picture quality is the outer (either clear plastic or glass) "window" of the housing. This is like comparing the difference between looking thru a plastic bag vs. a pair of quality eye glasses, between you and your binoculars.
But moving beyond picture quality, some of the high-end commercial cams (such as Reconyx) do generally have superior triggering systems for WHEN they can take a pic. Most homebrews have been using a "Snapshot Sniper" triggering board which is far superior to most cheap commercial cams and many of the ones in the $300 price range.
All that said, I've found "homebrews" to provide me a much better overall value for their cost, and be extremely reliable, year after year. By contrast, most commercial cams I've used have been very disappointing.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
I saw on another thread where "FiremanJim" was making homebrews using a 14.0 mp Sony camera. In terms of potential picture quality, this just totally blows away anything on the commercial cam market.
Best I can figure, you can buy one of these 14.0 mp Sony cameras brand-spanking-new for around $150. May cost you an additional $200 to $300 to "homebrew" it in a housing (with a triggering board), pushing the total cost up to around $350 to $450.
By comparison, I believe the Reconyx cams are still using 3.1 mp imagers, and will cost you around $500 and up.
Best I can figure, you can buy one of these 14.0 mp Sony cameras brand-spanking-new for around $150. May cost you an additional $200 to $300 to "homebrew" it in a housing (with a triggering board), pushing the total cost up to around $350 to $450.
By comparison, I believe the Reconyx cams are still using 3.1 mp imagers, and will cost you around $500 and up.
BSK
Well-Known Member
J.M.A.N. said:
If you built it, but not if you had someone else build it (unless you know how to build them).
FIREMANJIM
Well-Known Member
The Homebrews I build for people are "CUSTOM UNITS"!! I ask you some questions and figure out what you do and how you use your cameras then I build you a custom unit to suit your needs. I can make them as small as your hand in size! I can do color or IR. I can add a slave flash. I can do food plot cams with huge white flashes for 65' or more of flash range. I can do video units. Color daytime pics and Black and White IR night pics. The limits are only what you can think of really. And my warranty and customer service is better than any commercial camera companies!!! Heck I even fix stuff I did not build !!!
backstraps
Well-Known Member
FIREMANJIM said:
Jim is a stand up guy! I would recommend him to any and everyone! His last sentence is also very true, I know first hand, lol !
Carnage
Well-Known Member
backstraps said:
X2 Much respect for someone who stands behind their product!
