Scoutguard SG560 Camera

Introduction

When the Scoutguard 550 came onto the market a few years ago it soon became a favourite of many that used it. This was largely due to its tiny size and many features for a reasonable price. Now that they have withstood the test of time there is an updated model, the Scoutguard 560...

Features and Benefits

Firstly, this smartly camouflaged unit is just under 12.5 x 8cm (5 ½ x 3 ½”) in size which is very small. For hunters setting trail-cams like this one, the smaller the better as not only do they take up much less room when packing them in but are also much harder to be spotted by others.
With a 5 Megapixel rating the picture clarity in good light is excellent. Clear, sharp and out to a good range.
At night or with low light levels the infra-red takes over and the 24 LED’s push out to about 15 metres for clear black and white pictures.
The SG560, like the earlier 550, comes with a small plug-in adapter with keypad to adjust the settings and set your photo or video preferences. This way they can keep the size and weight of the unit down and, even more importantly, it saves battery power without the extra electronics to run. Set-up is easy, even without reading the instruction manual.

Just a warning here, the plug-in adapter looks the same as the 550 but they do not appear to be compatible so if you have them both, label which one is for which camera. Remember, you won’t be able to change the settings out in the field unless you have your plug-in adapter with you.
You can set the sensitivity of the IR detector to low, medium or high. I like it on high as long as the camera is facing a good, wide, clear field of view out in front.

In the Field

I set my SG560 to take three shots at 20 second intervals. If I am returning within a few months this is usually about right without too many false triggers. Sensitivity is excellent, picking up deer at about 25 metres away with the unit set on high.

It will pick up moving grass or trees occasionally but for some reason it does not appear to continually take false images again and again as some units do. Night shots showed some blur which all trail cams appear to do as their shutter speeds slow right down.
With just four AA Energiser MAX© batteries the SG560 ran for four months, taking over 300 frames and the batteries still tested at 72% which is pretty damn good. You have the option of a full set of eight AA’s that may well run the unit on photo mode for a full year! When the batteries are low a blue LED will light up.One negative I have is the size of the security lock is too small and too easily broken. After saying that, if someone really wanted to flog your camera a larger lock probably wouldn’t save it.

I must also mention that the rubber external power-port bung at the base needs to be unscrewed and plugged in from the inside otherwise an opossum will certainly pull it out and you will get condensation inside your camera. Response time appeared fast (quoted at 1.2 secs) but is a hard thing to measure exactly.

Video of our chickens at home looked sharp and I hope to get some video footage of deer this winter. The SG560 does not record sound. For the price it’s pretty good as the ones that record sound are usually half as much again or more.I’d love to leave the unit for a full year in one spot. However I also like checking them to see what I’ve “caught”.

Conclusion

For me the Scoutguard® cameras have proved themselves to be easy to use, reliable and I consistently get good shots of animals. I would suggest adding some silicon to bung up the external power outlet if you are not going to be using it so opossums don’t pull the rubber bung out. After using six different trail cams for the past two years, the Scoutguard® 560 is currently one of my favourites, and that’s saying something.

Liked
Tiny size
Camouflaged colour
Long battery life on AA’s
Easy to use
Good quality pictures

Disliked
Small locking latch
Rubber bung in base
No sound on video
Small on/off switch
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Size – 5½ x 3½ x 2½ inches
Image Sensor – Micron 5MP CMOS Colour
Pixel Size – 2560x1920 set at 5MB
Lens – F=3.1mm; FOV=55
IR-Flash – 10m
Memory – SD-card up to 8GB
Video Resolution – 640x480 at 16 fps
Motion Sensor – PIR with 3 sensitivity levels
Response Time – 1.2 seconds
Camera Delays – 1 sec. – 60 min.
Programmable
Video Length – 1 – 60 seconds
Power Supply – 4xAA or up to 8AA batteries for longer life
Low Battery – Led indicator
Standby Current – <0.3mA
User Interface – Wired LCD remote with keyboard
Power Consumption – 150mA standby, +450mA when IR lit
Weight – 500 grams with batteries
Ports – TV out; USB; SD card; 6V DC external
Accessories – Mounting strap, TV plug in cord, USB cord
Warranty – 1 year

RRP – NZ$549.

Distributed by AJ Productions
email: a.j.productions@actrix.co.nz