Camcorder or Camera

[wiiawiwb]

MIB...and that yours is a perfectly good reason and where I would be were I you.  I am convinced I saw one at night based on red eyeshine trying to elude my flamethrower of a flashlight.  It was too far away to see the body but I am convinced otherwise after narrowing down what else it could have been.

 

Also had two separate wood knocks come from two sides of a pond and an area a buddy of mine had been a few hours earlier. There area is inaccessible except from our direction.  No doubt there was at least one there.

 

In the end, I will not settle until I have a visible, full-body encounter. It can be by daylight (preferred) or by FLIR.

 

 

[bipedalist]

17 hours ago, bipedalist said:

In regard to the lightweight camcorders.   Michael Greene IIRC used a thermal unit tied into a dvr with motion detection in the back of a minivan in his "Squeaky' video of putative BF from the Uwharrie mtn range area of NC..  

 

His setup could be duplicated (with wiring and a lightweight camera bag) using an Aiptek HD handheld unit of very light weight with DVR capabillity.  I believe there is also a movement activation setting that can be programmed with it.   It is the ultimate "fake camp" setup device.  I tested one with a handheld MX-1 thermal unit and the only disadvantage is that your visible video output does not allow you to use the viewfinder of the thermal it videos out to the dvr lcd.   It was at least near 1080p on one setting and advertised as such but not sure on the fps setting to get there.  

 

A former mod on this forum used such a setup in Norcal as I remember and spoke highly of the portability.  In these days of FLIR memory devices it is a little primitive though.   Very portable though. 

 

bumping this post up over the page turn, so it can be seen by a few before becoming archival 

 

Also to add, many of these portables have the ability to make pictures and to record video so it isn't a matter of one or the other anymore just can't switch between them quickly with the main menu and all. 

Edited September 10, 2017 by bipedalist

[TritonTr196]

If you want a thermal, just get the regular flir scout ( about $500 when I bought them) that came out last year. I preordered five of them when they were announced and it took months before I got them. They are great for up too a hundred yards and you can clearly with out a doubt see a human figure at that distance and know exactly what you are looking at. It takes pictures and records video. Only four buttons on it and it's so easy to turn on and take pictures and videos. It's so easy to hit picture or video buttons it's not even funny. The only thing is it doesn't use batteries. You have to charge it on a computer or usb charging device. But we've used them solid and they last for four or five hours if you don't turn it off. We only turn them on if we think we have a visitor or to scan an area before we walk in.. Not as high resolution as the more expensive models but even though I have a very expensive flir model I always use the scout as it's small, weightless and just wear it around you neck.

[Incorrigible1]

Any decent DSLR camera, these days, captures video. Therein lies the answer to the thread question.

[7.62]

 

My humble opinion thermal is pretty much mandatory if you want to be serious about researching and documenting evidence .

This is of course if you plan to do any night time research . I bought an inexpensive ATN thermal monocular for under $2000.

for the sole  purpose of just pinpointing spots to look at  after in the daytime if I was to capture an image at night.

Sure it also records but no thermal recording will ever prove much .

As to your question of camera or camcorder I went with a HD camcorder with a 57x zoom mounted on a monopod I carry with me.

It's a lot easier to use and hold mounted this than trying to film holding on to the strap.

[MIB]

2 hours ago, 7.62 said:

My humble opinion thermal is pretty much mandatory if you want to be serious about researching and documenting evidence .

 

Sure it also records but no thermal recording will ever prove much .

 

You lost me.   What is the point of "being serious" in research if you pre-admit your choice of method won't constitute proof?    How do you reconcile the contradictions between your two statements?

 

MIB

Edited September 13, 2017 by MIB

[7.62]

5 hours ago, MIB said:

 

You lost me.   What is the point of "being serious" in research if you pre-admit your choice of method won't constitute proof?    How do you reconcile the contradictions between your two statements?

 

MIB

 

I'm not following you?

[MIB]

Yeah, I guess not.   Why would a therm be necessary to qualify you as a serious researcher if a therm can't provide proof?

 

MIB

[7.62]

Just now, MIB said:

Yeah, I guess not.   Why would a therm be necessary to qualify you as a serious researcher if a therm can't provide proof?

 

MIB

Perhaps I shouldn't have used the term serious . From most reports I have read daytime sightings are as rare as hen's teeth  and some who spent years pursuing them have never

even had a daytime sighting .You can film them but as I said that won't provide proof but what the the thermal  does do

is give you an exact location to go and inspect during daylight hours for perhaps a hair  sample  that might have rubbed off on some bark .

Maybe even a saliva sample depending if it was feeding off of  some types of foods that might be left behind . I'm sure they raid apple orchards just like whitetails and bears do.

 

Like I said perhaps I shouldn't say you can't research without a thermal but now you limit yourself greatly to only daytime sightings which is rare from an already elusive creature 

who by all accounts moves more at night . 

[wiiawiwb]

I never really looked into a thermal imager because some years ago a fleeting view of the FLIR website, and the cost of their units, meant they were not in the cards for me.  It's only recently that I have pleasantly surprised at the more affordable cost of the FLIR Scout series.

 

With that in mind, a thermal imager sure is a good tool to have in the tool box. Is it absolutely, positively a must have? No, but I will get one before I upgrade my camera or get a camcorder.

[7.62]

 It was the first time I had ever used one and they are pretty cool . I do a lot of searching at night along rivers

and remote lakes from a small boat . I can't say I've seen anything that resembled a bigfoot but I've seen plenty of deer and bears walking along the shorelines.

I guess I'm just hoping to get that lucky sighting one night and then search the area during the day casting some foot prints and hopefully maybe some hair samples .

 

Walking in the woods during the day with my camcorder is such a shot in the dark (pardon the pun) that I figured going with a thermal was my best bet .

If you do decide to go with a camcorder like I did just make sure you  also go with a monopod to carry it  . It's makes a steadier picture through the view finder .

 

I just wanted to add it's amazing the amount of animals you will see visit rivers and lakes under the cover of darkness during the summer and I imagine during the fall.

 

Edited September 13, 2017 by 7.62

[wiiawiwb]

I am also looking at the Leopold LTO Thermal Tracker.  Comparing it to the FLIR Scout TK:

 

Detector - Flir 160 x 120; Leopold 206 x 156

Frame Rate - Flir <9mz; Lepold 30mz

Battery life - Flir 3 hrs; Leopold 10 hrs

Battery - Flir rechargeable; Leopold CR123

Recording - Flir  video and still picture; Leopold none

Field of vision- FLIR 20 x 16 degrees; Leopold 21 degree round

MSRP - FLIR $599; Leopold $699

 

The inability to record for the Leopold would be a non-starter but In my case recording is of lesser importance. It would be nice to have but not a deal killer.

 

Any thoughts about how these two compare and which one you would recommend?

 

Edited September 14, 2017 by wiiawiwb

[7.62]

This seems like a pretty honest review of the Leupold 

I can't recommend one over the other because I've never used either .

The only thing I can tell you about is Leupolds customer service having owned a few scopes from them.

I had a problem once on   one of their high end models and they took care of it quickly . No problem at all.

 

https://youtu.be/JXI4dR1lY3E

 

 

[wiiawiwb]

Does anyone have experience with Pulsar thermal units?

 

They seem to get rave reviews from the hunting crowd. Not a household name like FLIR but the Pulsar XQ23V or HD19a have a germanium glass lens, a 384x288 microbolometer resolution, and 30-50mz refresh rate.  Pretty impressive specs for a unit that retails for ~$1500.

 

 

[gigantor]

I'm gonna start wearing my GoPro with a chest harness. It's small, records up to 2 hours of HD video and can be activated/deactivated by the push of one button.

 

You don't have to worry about aiming either, as long as you're facing the target. That's the idea anyway, we'll see how it works in the field...