Bleached out images

[hickslawns]

I'm going to look this up. Figured a thread would be a decent idea. I cannot be the only one who has this issue on occasion. Been having a ton of "white out" pics or "bleached out". Looks like it is overexposed if you're old enough to remember what camera film used to do. Talked to the guy at Bushnell. He suggested some changes to camera settings. Got to the woods. Couldn't remember which direction to go. I had the Bushnell Trophy Cam Aggressor's on this property. Shutter speed was set to 'auto' mode if I remember correct. Sensitivity was set to 'high'. I switched them to middle settings. They actually got worse. I'm going to do some homework and be forced to make another trip to the woods tomorrow. I'd rather stay out but knowing where they are set. . . .in a day or a month or whenever I change cards again it will be more of the same. Might as well get it right.

So my questions: Do you guys leave them in factory settings? Do you adjust? Have you had similar issues? I've had some random sequences of photos in the past with some white out pics. Now it is 700 pics and 600 of them whited out. That isn't right.

FWIW- Very few color pics after leaving in the middle settings. What pics I did get were washed out and at first or last light. Surprised me the night pics were also darker. Some of the day pics looked like night pics. There also were not as many pics triggered (which I am guessing was due to lower sensitivity setting). That will move back to 'high sensitivity'. Adjusting the 'PIR' and 'shutter speed' seems to be where I need to focus. Another note, I do attempt to place cameras facing north/south more than east/west to minimize these issues. Admittedly, these two cameras are not fully N/S facing. First pic is due east. Second pic is facing ESE. This could be part of the issue.

The guy on the Bushnell staff is on their trail camera test team. He told me he has found having cameras with adjustable settings is important. Amazing. I've run them a long time and am just now starting to have these issues. I will adjust and report back as well as listen to your feedback. Hopefully this thread will assist others too.

For a note of interest, the one buck (second pic) is the one I believe to be the 3.5 legged buck. His rack is looking odd this year as expected. #spencie

 

[Iowa_Buckeye]

I think most cams struggle with the dawn and dusk lighting as they are switching to/from night/LED mode.

 

[jagermeister]

It looks to me like the IR bulbs are activating when they don't need to be. Either your cams are placed in a shadow or the light detection hardware is malfunctioning. Or maybe they need a firmware update. PIR sensitivity shouldn't affect image quality at all... It's got nothing to do with it. The shutter speed does, but it still doesn't change the fact that your infrared bulbs are flashing before 8:00 pm. Something isn't right. I do know my old Bushnell Trophy Cam always had a lot of white out images. Just shitty components and/or firmware would be my guess. It was a good camera though. Finally gave up the ghost last month after running for over 10 years.

 

[hickslawns]

Here are my very detailed notes of the conversation with Bushnell support. So detailed I don't remember what the top one was for? Lol

 

[CJD3]

Quit pointing em at the sun Phil.

 

[BCamp]

On my Bushnell it says if you're having whiteout issues try either setting led to medium or low if medium is still doing it or to put a longer delay, I think maybe 3 seconds, between pictures. I don't remember what model it is but it may help.

 

[hickslawns]

On my Bushnell it says if you're having whiteout issues try either setting led to medium or low if medium is still doing it or to put a longer delay, I think maybe 3 seconds, between pictures. I don't remember what model it is but it may help.

I did go from 1 second to 3 seconds. Good suggestion. The Bushnell guy suggested that as well. Thanks BCamp. Might help others with this issue. Changed to the "medium" setting. Night pictures were darker. Considerably darker. I could go without night pics. Those are the deer you can't shoot anyway but they are also the big boys you are hoping to see during the rut. Nice to know they are around. Here is a night picture of a coyote. Less than 10yds from camera.

 

[jagermeister]

Night pics are always worse when it's a vast open space like that one you just posted, Phil. The IR LEDs are more effective when there's background objects to bounce the light around.

 

[hickslawns]

Here is one from last winter. Camera mounted on same tree. You know, maybe these are camera issues. Why would I need to change settings now if they were fine last winter? lol

 

[jagermeister]

Ahh.... Yea... Big difference there. I agree. I don't think you should have to adjust the settings that much on these cameras. I've got three of the 30 dollar wild game innovations cams that don't have any settings whatsoever, and they take quality pics just fine.

 

[Mike]

I've had the same issue with a Bushnell Trophy cam.

 

[Jackalope]

Cams broke Phil. It's switching to IR mode while there still too much light outside. In the early days of IR cams this was an issue for about 30 minutes in the morning and evening. Today it has been all but eliminated using better light sensors and code to switch at just the right time. If yours just magically started doing this the light sensor is likely going bad.

 

[Big_Holla]

Sounds like the light sensor is f'd up. Make sure you don't have any debris in the opening for it. I had a Covert that was doing this and I re-set to factory settings then selected the lower flash option and the pictures started coming out close to perfect.

 

[Bigbuckslayer]

I agree on the trophy cams. They were great when they first came out but I will never buy another one now. The seals go bad within 2-3 years and moisture gets in the led lights. Bushnell will not sell you a new seal for it. They make you send it in and give you a discount on a new one.