This will be an intial review on my recently acquired Leaf River IR7SS. I am exicited about this camera because I believe the addition of sound will add a whole nother dimension to scouting cameras. This is the direction I think all camera companies will go in the future. Right now, I believe there are only two companies offering video with sound. The first being Leaf River and I think Stealthcam has just this year released a cam that offers HD video with sound. The first thing I noticed about this cam as I opened the package was the very sturdy case and the provided built-in security. The security is accomplished by the camera being joined with a metal bracket that allows for a python cable to be inserted, securing it to a tree. Thus, no reason for a separate security box. It also has a locking brackett that would keep anyone from opening the camera while it is mounted to the tree. The only problem I saw with this locking bracket is it would take a very small padlock to fit throught the holes. The camera uses two types of batteries and I'm really not sure why. It states in the instructions, one set of batteries for the camera and the other set for the sensor. Anyway, it takes 4 d cell and 3 c cells.
After I inserted the batteries, the fun began. Now I would consider myself a veteran of trailcams. Afterall, I have been messing with the things for over twenty years now and have owned probably 10-15 different brands. I'm here to tell you, after about 45min reading the instructions and trying to program the cam, I had to give up and call the company. I will say that they were very helpful and had me up and running in about 15min. Having said that, I really do not see a reason that something should be that difficult to program. Anyway, I got it going and did a few test videos inside the house. The vids were sharp and clear and the audio picked up every little sound. This will be a big advantage when it is placed in the field to be able to hear the natural sounds that animals make. I might add right here that I will probably never use this camera to take still pics, since I already have so many that do this, but will use this camera exclusively for videos. Besides the programming being very difficult, the sd card was impossible to remove without a pair of tweezers. This particular camera sells most places for $359-$379 but my wife caught it on sale for $229.00 so this is by no means an inexpensive camera. I have placed the unit in the field and hope to have some examples of what it can do in the next few weeks. Below are some pictures of the unit. I almost forgot, this unit also has a built in 2 1/2in viewing screen.
Blessings.....Pastorjim
Leaf River IR7SS review
