Swift Enduro

Long Way to Go – Most people buy trail cameras for one of two primary purposes - security in areas where power isn’t available ... or covert game or feral animal observation. Both of these activities could reasonably be expected to occur most frequently at night. So one would hope that cameras designed for the purpose would be effective in that role ... right? In our application we have 3 Swift Enduro stand alone cameras, and one of their 4G models deployed at various parts of our property. And these have been in place now for around 2 years. It is very useful in our application that we also have 6 Ring, and 3 Arlo Wifi type cameras deployed ... since comparison between the technologies is inevitable.

The Swift cams - sold by Outdoor Cameras in QLD - are also marketed by other retailers under their own badge, being known as the Bravo by one other large national retailer.

The cams accept 12 AA batteries, with lithium being the obvious choice, but high capacity rechargeable are good too. In our case we use Eneloop Pro rechargeables. We check the cams quarterly and they still show at least 3/4 charge ... so these batteries are a sound choice. The retailer also sells a very useful 12 battery recharger - so the whole set can be charged at once. Get this .... I’ve not seen them anywhere else!

The cameras themselves are reasonably robust and intuitive to use. The body is plastic camo, however they’ve faded a bit in the semi shaded positions we have them in. No real problem ... they’re still hard to see unless you know where to look. They deploy two sets of invisible infra lights (you can choose no/low/or high Infrared enhancement) to enhance night shots, and movement/light sensors.

They unclip and open to the left exposing the battery compartment, in two rows of six on the right, with the control panel, colour screen ... and slot for SD card on the left. There’s also a USB outlet here to link with a computer. There is a slot at the lower right of the unit’s exterior for the case to be padlocked shut, and different loops at the back to allow straps or security cabling to secure the cam to trees or posts. There’s also a standard sized brass threaded slot to accept easily procurable mounts to allow more robust attachment to the surface you intend using. The bodies are waterproofed.

Scrolling through the options, the cam can be set to capture photos and/or video at varying quality levels and time lengths. The movement detection sensitivity can be adjusted, passwords set (up to 6 digit), and individual names assigned to the cameras. Shots can be date/time stamped if preferred, and moon phases/current temperature (in Fahrenheit) are displayed too. You can also customise delays and assign times for activity as well. I really like that the date can be displayed in something OTHER than that annoying US format!!

If you want the ultimate in standalone, an external solar panel/internal battery is available for these units. These power the unit via a hard wire, recharging their own internal battery then drawing on it at night. The cam’s own batteries only fire up if the solar unit’s have completely exhausted. The solar panel cannot charge the cam’s batteries.

SD card capacity can vary up to 35GB, and the cam can be programmed to over-write old images as it fills, or simply stop recording when it reaches that point. Ours are 16GB, and still have room when we check them/delete images quarterly. You’ll have to be able to access the camera to replace the batteries and get at the SD card. Easy to insert SD card to computer to view, save and erase images.

Let’s cut to the chase ... because this is the important bit. These cams suck at night recording. See paragraph one why this is a shame. There is pronounced ghosting of the image, it can only be shown in black and white, and for all intents is basically useless - no matter what quality setting the night time images are set at. Unless the subject is standing still, looking at the camera, and is close. Effective range is said to be 20 metres, but seriously, all you will see at this range, especially if the subject’s moving, will be a ghostly blur, which you could perhaps identify to the level of human/cow/horse. We’ve had several which could have been either hares, cats, foxes or dogs .... it was simply impossible to tell.

To be fair though, night time performance of most trail cams on the market, in my experience, is only just better than useless.

Daytime is better. The colour is rich and true, and number plates easily visible at sensible ranges. But the number of false activations, even at the lowest possible sensitivity is still disturbing. It is not at all uncommon to find 2 or 3 thousand shots each quarter, of which I’d estimate half - two thirds are of nothing in particular. Despite using the lowest possible sensitivity setting, and avoiding long grass and branches that could trigger the sensor when it’s windy.

The lag between movement and activation is most definitely NOT the 0.35 of a second advertised. I have recorded many many images of the back end of a vehicle in the very first frame as it moves (slowly!!) across the target zone. Followed by the 4 other frames (I set a 5 shot burst) showing nothing in particular. There is simply no way that the vehicle could have been moving at such a speed that an activation trigger of less than half a second couldn’t capture it.

For optimum results the setup must be such that the target must move directly across the zone. If it’s approaching/departing from left or right but in an even slightly front or rear end onwards orientation you will have little chance of capturing anything other than a bit of tail light or piece of a panel .... or perhaps just a cloud of dust as we’ve recorded several times. If you experiment very carefully, and be a little cunning, such as placing the cam where a vehicle has to stop, such as near a gate you may have a little more luck.

In comparison, I have an old ... probably 13 years ... Lil Acorn trailcam which I bought off e’bay, that takes as good daytime photos as these current models. Its LED’s have seized up due to a lot of hard use, so I can’t compare the night time images.

In summary. If you have access to power and internet, these are NOT for you. Deploy an Arlo or Ring type wifi. They are so much more interactive, and some have ability to deploy a light and/or siren. Images, especially at night, are wayyyyy better. BUT they can’t be secured as easily, and the trail cams are likely to outlast the wifi models in battery life.

I can say that the 4G Enduro model is better, but only slightly, and it’s very expensive. I’ll review it separately.

The retailer however is terrific with their sales and service/correspondence, and are also happy to help with setup. Simply can’t fault them ... and they have other similar products in their line that may or may not be better than this particular model.

So ... if you have burglars that only come during the day; or if they move very slowly, or preferably stand still a lot, if like most burglars they come at night; and if you deploy your camera where their getaway vehicle is approaching or departing exactly perpendicularly to the cam, slowly, and you have it set up close to a gate or obstacle ..... then you MAY have a chance of capturing something usable at court. If not .... best you wait for the next generation!!!