Like I always have on this blog and will continue to do so, I will share experiences with you all. Today's experience deals with a freebie I received from a company late last year. I have been pleased with the product and it is rather inexpensive so I thought I'd share it with you today now that it has been more than one year. I was not asked to publicize this product or to do anything else. The product came to me free of strings so I post of my own freewill-as always:) I guess it was waaaay back in 2009 sometime I was asked if I'd be interested in a plant cam. Actually, the email asked where she should send it to. I replied, "Free? Send it on then." No strings were attached to this plant cam. As promised the UPS man brought my plant cam. I could not wait to set it up and put it into action. It was so exciting for me!
The plant cam is weatherproof and pretty much fool proof. It came with a great mounting bracket so I could mount it in the garden if I wished-and of course I wished. You can see how it was mounted in the garden in the first photo. I was anxious to catch pictures of birds up close at my bird feeding station so I mounted it facing a bird feeder instead of a plant. The company (Wingscapes) actually has a bird cam which is motion activated to take pictures of the birds, but this one worked well even though I had to edit out a lot of pictures. The plant cam is not motion activated but you can set it to take pictures at specified intervals: which enabled me to capture a ton of birds in time lapse mode at my feeder. One other setting that I used extensively was to take a series of three pictures at each interval (in my case I set the interval at five minutes during daylight hours). You can take a series of photos or just one each time the camera snaps a shot if you wish.
The software that comes with the plant cam is very easy to use and user friendly. Hey-even I was able to make a slideshow out of the pictures my plant cam took last November. I wanted to share them with you today. It was such a nice experience to be able to see the birds up close and personal-albeit through pictures and not in real time.
The picture quality was acceptable for the price the cam, but it does take some adjusting to get really good pictures. One thing I found that was not good for the plant cam (any camera actually) was the sun. As the day progressed on the video you will see where the sun was low enough in the sky to shine right into the camera. This was an issue I was able to correct by changing the orientation of the camera. Overall I love my plant cam and am seriously thinking of getting the motion activated camera so I can really capture some critters around here....
in the garden...
Tina, that is so cool. You didn't mention the cost. I am going to look into this camera and the motion activated one. What fun.
ReplyDeleteTina, That is cool! What a great idea to get pictures of the birds at the feeder rather than boring old flowers :)
ReplyDeleteWow that's a neat product! I think your video slide show is hilarious -- with the music, the sun flares, and the rocking of the feeder it looks like they're at a disco. :)
ReplyDeleteWOW!!!! That is a really awesome freebie!!! My parakeets and cockatiels are right nest to my desk so they were looking all over for the birds they could hear.
ReplyDeleteJanet, I think it is like $79. Very reasonable for this type of camera I think.
ReplyDeleteMelanie, It's sure good to shake things up a bit:)
Eliza, That is my thinking exactly! I am not too tech savvy but you have to give me credit for trying-even if the music ran out a bit soon. I liked it fast too. A bird disco-that's what I should've named the video. lol
Mom, Isn't it neat? Glad your birds like it. I should put it downstairs for my poor ole Pippy. Poor gal is lonely. Painting fence panels then will be heading north to Elizabeth's! Nice day today!
Cool camera, and you can't beat that they gave it to you for free. The cost seems reasonable indeed, I would be interested in the motion activated one too. Maybe I could capture that elusive Hummingbird shot I've been missing. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat fun, I think I could waste a lot of time playing with that!
ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteWhat fun you are having. Now you can go to work and the photos will taken themselves while you are at work.
Plant Cam...who would have thunk ?
ReplyDeleteI can see you'll be having fun this winter with the birds.
Very cool! I saw these at a nursery and wondered if they worked. It'll be fun to see which birds you catch at the feeder.
ReplyDeleteHi Tina, that was really fun to have these kind of gadgets. But how much is it? It comes so handy than always being there with a camera which is more time consuming. Your post is so nice it compensates more than enough for its cost. Maybe they should even pay you instead of just the free plantcam. Or maybe after reading this post and plenty of comments, they will give you the 2nd freebie, the birdcam. haha.
ReplyDeleteThat could be a great investment! I noticed that the angle of the camera shifted throughout - is that something that can also be adjusted? I'd probably point it at my birdfeeders, too.
ReplyDeleteRacquel, I think this camera would definitely work for the hummer. It is a neat gadget.
ReplyDeleteHelen, No doubt:)
Randy, My thoughts exactly!
Patsi, It is fun in the winter for sure.
Catherine, it has been very reliable and lasts a long time on the batteries.
Andrea, I hope they see this post but it's been so long I lost the email and contact info! Ha! That's okay. I posted for myself more than anything. The cost is reasonable-about 70-80 dollars I think.
Jen, It may be the wind blew it a bit or I took it down and put it back up. It's been a while but it can be very stable too. Love it pointing at the birds up close. You can really see what goes on when you aren't watching.
These are really great photos, Tina! I've seen the motion-activated one which I was too cheap to buy, but I might look into this plant cam. As Racquel said, this might be the only way I could finally get a decent hummer shot:)
ReplyDeleteThat is too cool Tina! I've never seen one of these...would have been really handy when my goldfish went missing!
ReplyDeleteNice post. I like your blog very much.
ReplyDeleteThat's so neat! Me thinks a few birdies knew the jig is up and they are being watched now!
ReplyDeleteMust be lovely to be wildlife in your yard, snow here today so everything is frozen for my feather friends.
Haven't been around much due to sleepyness, fatique from chemo, not too bad tho.
Hi Tina, that is pretty cool. Hubby has several trail cams -which are very similar to this type of camera. They have digital SD cards that he can change out to see what type of animals are out on the farm. He has some incredibly cool pics of deer, turkey, squirrels etc. And, the trail cams come with the motion sensor so it doesn't waste up lots of space. When a deer or critter walks by it snaps it's photo.
ReplyDeleteHi Jean, Nina, Lola and Skeeter! And a special hug for you Dawn from all of us hoping you feel stronger and ready for the man in the red suit to come:0) I'm sure with that snow it's starting to look alot like Christmas. It's cold down here but thankfully no snow yet:)
Ciao!
What an interesting idea. I have some deer hunting friends who use a critter cam but somehow it never occured to me to apply the concept to birding. Good thinking Tina!
ReplyDeleteI don't think a plant cam is something I'd consider. Isn't it kinda like watching paint dry? (Hee hee!)
ReplyDeleteTina girl this would be a perfect gift for my husband .. he is more of a bird watcher than I am and he would get a kick out of it for sure : )
ReplyDeleteANYTHING free is SO worth a try girl .. LOL .. nothing like that ever happens to me ! wink wink
Joy
Hi Tina wow, these really have come down in price since I last looked at them! I love the idea of a garden cam, perhaps following the antics of the birds nesting in the ivy.
ReplyDeleteWhat a neat gadget! One would be great in our woods to capture all the critters coming and going.
ReplyDeleteI see the Titmouse got his/her fair share at the feeders too...
Ah, time to fill the feeders now...