Well I have had enough with this camera. I know that they are good cams but I seem to have received the bad one. Its been acting odd for a few days Software is trying to jam 4 pics together at once. The other pics I can't even copy here as they are so screwed up. Pixels started for a few lines and then stopped . My card reader will not even down load to the computer as the pics are corrupted. I can see them by the trail cam but that defeats the purpose of having a trail cam here and not in the woods. This cam also on 3 Meg pics takes all pics around 1 meg and all pics on 5 meg setting is around 2 megs.

An comments???

So like I said cam is being return for another.

That is to bad, sorry man

Not giving up on the 550 . Doing an exchange for a new one.

This is the first serious problem I've seen with these cameras. Wil at HCO will take care of you quickly. Of all the cams I've sold, only one has had to go back for warranty and it was replaced in about 1 week. Good luck and let us know how the return goes. Once you get a good one, you're gonna love it!

I am Canadian so It was not from HCO. I will post how my return goes.

No one likes to go through this but unfortunately all cams will develop something over time. But I have to admit, these cams have a minimal return rate. Out of several hundred units, I have only had 2 sg550 returned for replacements and only 1 for the HCO-50. Great track record in anyones book!

Joe
BBO

you are right, i bought the MOULTRIE I-40,it took 8 shots and would not take anymore.

it showed a code 003000,which means,IR FLASH DEFECTIVE.

so, i had to pay shipping back for repair, been 2 weeks, no camera back yet.[:@]

I noticed in the U-Tube videos that the outer areas are dark. Does anyone know what the angle of the LEDs is? and nm of the LEDs? Guess I will have to contact Will at HCO for my answer. I need a no glow IR so I went into the camera and cut the wires to the LEDs. Right now I am using an array of 72 950mn 36Degree LEDs with external 12V power supply that stays on all the time. The higher the nm, the less range, so you need more of them(getting great videos at 3 to 8 ft,good at 10, and acceptable at 15). Will try supercharging my next array with smaller value resisters to see if I get more range. Got it set up in the chickenhouse so I can see what is getting the chickens. If its Bigfoot I need a positively no glow. The internal LEDs operate on 3.4 volts and wont work if disconnected so I will either blackout or changeout the LEDs and send the 3.4 volts to a 3 volt relay to operate my 12v LED array with battery (plan to do this week). Love the camera, Have two now and plan to order more. Probably have guessed that my game(for videos) is Bigfoot

I like that set up. As for the NM on the ir not sure. I know the power consumption is 150mA day (+450mA When IR-LED Lighted). To keep the battery life long, they are at their limit. Anything higher would need the set up you talked about. The good news is that in the near future the manufacture will have it solar and external power ready. I wish I new when but it is in the works

I'm new to this site and to trail cams. From what I can tell this SG 550 is the best cam for the price. I'm thinking this is the one to get. I don't want any frustration with hit am miss cams that might or might not work out of the box. ...and IR seems like the way to go. a flash in the woods seems counterintuitive to every other effort I make to be stealthy in the woods.

Anyway, I'm wondering what are the options for viewing pics with this camera. I have a TV at my cabin, should I just bring the cam out of the woods and plug it into the TV? Can I plug it directly into a laptop and download the pics?

Only more thing, do I need a memory card right away to operate this cam or does it come with one?

Thanks for any feedback!