I recently got an opportunity to pick up one of the new Primos TruthCam 35 trail cameras. I had read several reviews of the camera and wanted to try one for my self. Right off the bat I was impressed with this camera. The camera boasts a lot of features for its $99 price tag.

Features include:

• 3.0 MP daylight/1.3 MP IR
• Supports up to a 8 GB SD card
• Take still photos and videos
• Will take 1, 3, or 5 picture bursts
• Take video of 10, 30 and 60 seconds
• Takes 4 D cell battery with a port to hook up an external battery
• Super easy setup
• 35 LED bank for night time picture out to 40 ft.
• 1.5 second trigger speed (0.3 second when camera is not in sleep mode)
• Image Stamp which includes moon phase, temperature, date and time
• Ability to format SD card while in camera
  

The features list looks pretty impressive, but the real test of its worthiness will be in how it performs in the field.

Getting familiar with the Camera

The case for the Primos TruthCam 35, is not unlike most trail camera on the market today. The camera in encased in a 6" x 9" plastic case. The case can be attached to a tree or post using the nylon strap provided, which is long enough to get around some good sized trees. Looking at the front of the camera you can see the bank of 35 IR LED's through the flash window, that allows for night time pictures and videos out to 40 feet. Below the IR flash is the lens window, which protects the 3 megapixel camera (1.3 megapixel IR night) lens. Below the lens windows is a window for the LCD status screen, that allows you to easily check the camera battery life and picture count.The bottom half of the camera front is a hinged door, which latches on the right hand side of the camera. Opening this door exposes the camera controls and settings, as well as the LCD screen and the battery compartments. With the door open you also have access to the SD card slot on the bottom of the camera.

Looking at the Primos TruthCam 35 camera setting switches, you can see how easy this camera is to setup. You simply have to slide the switches to the desired setting, insert an SD card, and turn the camera on to be ready to take picture of wildlife on your property.

• Status Switch - This allows you to turn the camera off, to photograph mode, or to video mode.
• Video Switch - This switch's setting is only acknowledged when the camera's Status switch is in the Video mode. The Video switch allows you to select the length of the video you wish to take. You can choose from 10, 30, or 60 seconds.
• Delay Switch - The Delay switch allows you to set the delay that the camera should wait between photographs or videos. The settings are 10 seconds, 1 minute, or 30 minutes.
• Muli-Shot Switch - This switch's setting is only acknowledged when the camera's Status switch is in the photo mode.This switch allows you to choose how many pictures should be taken when the camera is triggered. You can choose between 1, 3, or 5 picture multi-shots.
• Sensor Switch - The Sensor switch allows you to adjust how sensitive the trigger is. For most users the Normal setting will work just fine. If you find that you have lots of empty pictures, you may want to try the low setting. This switch can be set for Hi, Normal, or Low.

There are also 3 buttons located right below the setting switches. The button allows for the camera date and time to be set, as well as checking the picture count and battery life. On either side of the switches, there are compartments which hold 2 D cell batteries (4 D cell total), for long battery life. On the bottom of the camera you will find 2 slots. On the left is the SD card slot which will take up to an 8 GB SD memory card. The SD slot is not only protected by the camera door, but it also has a rubber boot which covers the slot to help prevent moisture and dirt from getting into the slot. On the right is a plug-in for an external 6 volt power source. This allows a 6 volt battery to be hooked to the camera for even more battery life.

Trigger Speed

Now that we have gone through all the features of the camera, lets get down to business and see what it can do. To get an idea of the trigger speed, I set up a series of distance markers for 10, 20 , 30 ,40, and 50 feet. This allowed me to test the trigger speed, and later the IR flash at different distances and wider fields of view. In each of the tests, I had the camera in photo mode, with the single picture multi-shot mode, normal sensitivity, and a 10 second delay between pictures. The first test I did was a simple walk-by test, where I walked normally past the camera at different distances. As you can see from the pictures that were taken, the camera did a good job of capturing me pretty close to the center of view for the camera.

The next test I did was a jog through test, where I jogged past the camera at each distance. As you can see from this test the camera trigger was just not fast enough to catch me crossing its field of view. I was not surprised by the results at 10 and even 20 feet, but I was a little surprised that the camera didn't catch more of me at the farther fields of view. From the results of this test, this camera may be better setup facing down a trail and food plot, and not in a location where you would expect quick crossing shots.

IR Flash

The next series of tests I conducted was to test the IR flash. According to the camera specifications, the Primos TruthCam 35 should be capable of taking night time pictures out to 40 feet. Using the same camera setting and distance markers used in the above tests, I did a series of walk-by test at each distance. While the picture quality at night for these tests were not the best, you can make the picture out, and see pretty well, even out to the 50 foot marker (10 feet past the camera designed working distance).

Picture Quality

The picture quality for the Primos TruthCam 35's 3 megapixel day time images is very good and has good detail. The images are very clear and sharp, and the color is realistic. The shutter speed is good, but images moving across the screen quickly, such as flying birds or running animals may be blurry. The image quality is more than adequate for what is needed in a trail camera.

The 1.3 mega-pixel night time picture quality is also very good. While the night time pictures are black and white, the pictures are clear and sharp. While the Primos TruthCam 35 has the smallest number of IR emitters of all the Primos TruthCam cameras, the picture quality out to 30 and 40 feet is very adequate for catching and identifying deer at night.

The status information displayed at the bottom of each image is also a very useful feature of the Primos TruthCam 35. It gives the user very useful information such as the moon phase, temperature, datae and time. These are important factors when trying to pattern Whitetail deer.

Video Quality

While the support of video is a nice feature in a trail camera, to me it is not a must have feature. Videos greatly reduce the battery life of the camera as well. On the Primos TruthCam 35, I find the video decent, but most definitely not the same quality as the still pictures. The video seems to be a little more grainy and not as clear. I also found that I could usually only get several dozen videos on a set of batteries.

Battery Life

The Primos TruthCam 35 takes four D cell batteries which allow for a good number of pictures in photo mode. While the exact number of photos will vary on how many are taken in daylight versus night, you can easily get  well up in to the hundreds of pictures on a set of batteries. Having the camera in video mode seems to dramatically reduce the battery life. Especially if most of the video is taken at night, which requires the LED emitter to light up. The Primos TruthCam 35 also has a port on the bottom of the camera that allows the user to plug in an external 6 volt power supply. This feature coupled with a 4 or 8 gigabyte SD card would allow for the camera to run unattended for many weeks, reducing the need to check your camera constantly.

Summary

Overall, I really like the Primos TruthCam 35. At $99 the cost to feature ratio is very good, giving the buyer a lot of bang for their buck. The picture quality is very good, and the night time IR flash is not bad. The ability to hook up an external battery source, and to load the camera with a 8 gigabyte SD card makes this a great choice for hunters who want to monitor they wildlife during the spring and summer without having to constantly place unneeded pressure on their hunting spots to check their cameras. The moon phase, temperature, and date/time data also give hunters useful tools to help pattern Whitetail deer movement during different weather and lunar conditions. Trail cameras are an important part of managing a property for Whitetail deer, and the Primos TruthCam 35 is an great choice for that purpose.

By Denny Chambers

TalkHunting Pro Staff Director, Denny "Bugfixer" Chambers, of Summerdale, Alabama, was introduced to hunting at age six by his father. He began hunting small game and gradually moved up to whitetail deer and turkeys.

Denny has many years of experience hunting whitetail in the thick woods of Alabama, Florida, and Georgia. He just recently started chasing the elusive Eastern Turkey that Alabama is known for, and he harvested his first gobbler during the 2009 spring season. Denny is currently working on becoming an accomplished turkey caller.

Denny is currently the camp leader for Scotland Ridge Hunting Club - East Camp, located in Tunnel Springs, Alabama. Denny along with other club members manage a 1340 acre hunting lease, maintaining 17 food plots for deer and 9 food plots for turkeys.

Outside of hunting, Denny is an Army veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm. Denny also has a Computer Engineering degree from Auburn University, and currently works as a software engineer. Denny has been married to his wife Samantha for over 10 years, and is a father of 4 children, three girls and boy, who all share in his love of hunting, fishing and the outdoors.

Comments(4):

1. How well did it work in the rain or colder conditons any setbacks?

   Friday, September 03, 2010 Nathan

2. I haven't had a chance to test it in cold weather conditions, since I just got the camera this past June. I do plan to keep it in the field through out the winter, so I will try to update the comments with my findings. As far as the rain, we had a good amount this summer in South Alabama, and I did not have any problems with the camera because of it. I never saw any moisture inside the door after a good rain. You might get a blurred picture or two right after a good rain due to rain drops on the lens window, but once those drops we gone, it was back to normal. The SD card slot is on the very bottom of the unit, and the card mounts up into the case, so gravity helps to keep water out of that opening. It is also protected by a rubber cover. The cover would hold some moisture around the outside, and this would get your fingers wet while pulling the rubber cover back. I always made sure to dry my fingers off before handling the SD card to prevent any problems there.

   Friday, September 03, 2010 Denny

3. Good Job

   Thanks, one of the best camera reviews I have read. Jay

   Sunday, September 05, 2010 Jay

4. May Have Helped Me Decide...

   I've been looking at getting another trail camera soon. I tried a different brand I thought would be good and it arrived DOA. I wondered about the Primos cameras but am a little gunshy since the other brand came dead. After reading your review I am feeling more confident in trying the Truth Cams. Good info and great read. Thanks Denny!

   Thursday, October 28, 2010 Duane