Trail cameras stand over conventional cameras with their stealth and low-light performance. Trail cameras for night pictures, in particular, will give you full images in total darkness and are great for wildlife observation, surveillance, and security. However, as all products are not built equal, we sift out the rest and save only the best for you to make the right choice.
Best Trail Cameras for Night Pictures
To help you save some shopping time, we have compiled a list of our top five trail cameras for night pictures to help you make the right choice quickly.
1. Bushnell Trophy Cam Trail Camera
The Bushnell Trophy Cam comes a powerful 20 MP camera, a super-fast 0.2-second trigger time, and 0.5 seconds of recovery. Backing its camera are no-glow black LEDs that will illuminate any movement within 100ft. of its sensors without a visible flash that may spook them. It features a highly durable, low-profile design, and comes with a 32 GB SD card to get you started right away.
- Excellent image quality, trigger time, and recovery.
- Infrared illumination for clear night pictures and stealth.
- Durable design with SD card included.
2. CreativeXP LTE 4G Cellular Trail Camera
The CreativeXP Cellular Trail Camera is another top-rated gadget and comes with a 4G LTE service for convenient and flexible image transmission. Its powerful 12 MP camera is backed by no-glow IR LEDs for the best images even in the dark at an impressive 65 ft. range, while its durable casing is both waterproof and snow proof. It also boasts of great controls and customizable settings for a wide range of applications.
- Infrared illumination for night performance and wireless image transmission.
- Durable, weatherproof design and easy controls.
- Excellent image quality and detection range.
3. Victure 20MP Wildlife Trap Camera
This top-rated night vision trail camera from Victure comes with a powerful 20 MP camera for great image resolution and boasts of great day/night functionality. It sports a durable, waterproof casing, and is highly adaptable to both wildlife and surveillance applications. It comes with a high-speed 0.3-second trigger speed, automatic detection, and IR illumination LEDs for stealth and the best images even at night.
- Superb image quality with excellent day/night performance.
- Durable, waterproof design with IR illumination.
- Affordable and cost-efficient.
4. Meidase Waterproof Wildlife Deer Hunting Cam
The Meidase night vision hunting cam boasts of excellent image quality, good range, and low-light performance. Its no-glow IR LEDs work hand-in-hand with an impressive 65 ft. detection range to ensure no movement escapes your eyes, even in total darkness without giving out the camera’s presence. It sports a great interface, 0.2-second high trigger speed, and will stand the test of time and weather with its durable, fully waterproof housing.
- Excellent image quality and detection range.
- Low-light, stealth performance with high trigger speed.
- Durable, waterproof design.
5. APEMAN Trail Camera 20MP 1080P Wildlife Camera
The APEMAN trail camera boasts of a powerful 20 MP camera for the best images and combines a rugged design and excellent controls with great affordability. It comes with an impressive detection range, quick recovery time, and will perform excellently in total darkness with its no-glow illumination. It is highly waterproof and dustproof and comes with user-friendly controls for superb convenience.
- Very high image resolution and detection range.
- Durable design, great affordability, and low-light performance.
- Waterproof and dustproof, easy to use.
Trail Cameras for Night Pictures Buying Guide
Trail cameras for night pictures are the ideal optical companions for the wildlife observer and property owner. Whether you want animals or watch out for possible intruders, the ideal trail camera will give you full pictures and videos of its viewing field even in complete darkness, without giving out the camera’s presence.
Scouting for a trail camera for night pictures can be daunting with so many options on the market. At the same time, you want a gadget that will bring great value for money with excellent performance.
Our buying guide reviews the best trail cameras for night pictures selected based on their specified features and customer feedback, while also outlining the key factors you should consider before you make a purchase.
Illumination and Light-sensor
Trail cameras for night pictures must yield excellent image quality even in total darkness. To achieve this, an illumination source is needed. Depending on the intended purpose, this could a visible or infrared flash. However, most trail cameras utilize infrared illumination for night images when observing animals or for security and surveillance. As no visible flash is seen, the target – an animal or intruder, is unaware of the camera’s presence and will likely remain in view for a clear, full picture.
A light sensor is a necessary quality to look out for. These trail cameras will automatically switch from visible LEDs for daytime photos to the infrared illumination as soon as the sun goes down.
Camera Logistics
All the factors that constitute the image detection and capture should be considered. Factors like the image resolution, trigger speed, illumination, and recovery time are some to consider. The higher the image resolution measured in Mega Pixels, the better the image quality and clarity. The camera should also have a quick trigger speed and recovery time to ensure as many images are captured in a short time frame.
Image Transmission
The ideal trail camera should sport seamless image transmission to a device you have easy access to like a mobile device or computer. In general, trail cameras come as either USB connected or wireless models, the latter being the more preferred.
With USB models, you will have to physically connect to the trail camera to download the captured images. Wireless models that run on Wi-Fi or cellular models save you the hassle and boast of high-speed transfers that are far more convenient.