I was in the market for a game camera and found the Wildview Xtreme II to be the lowest-priced option (under $100). It seems to be a well-built unit, and a reasonably good deal for the money; however, it has two significant shortcomings, and one minor one, that are not explicitly spelled out in any of the online literature.
First, the unit loses all internal data--date/time setting, data stored on the internal SDRAM--when the batteries are removed. It really ought to have either a secondary battery or a short-term capacitive circuit that would maintain the data during a battery change. One workaround might be to carry a battery pack to the field and use the external power jack to power the unit while changing the internal batteries (Wildview sells a $60 external battery kit as well), though I have not tested the unit's ability to switch between power sources without losing data. The external jack purports to be for a 12V DC power source, but I used a 9V DC and it worked fine.
Second, the unit is not Mac-compatible. The camera is a SunPlus SPCA533 unit, which is one of the very few digital cameras not supported by iPhoto. Wildview had to work pretty hard to find a camera that wouldn't work with the Mac, so this shortcoming really makes no sense--especially given the fact that the Mac is such a fantastic platform for digital photography. Surely Wildview could have found a more mainstream, yet still inexpensive, camera to use in this product. Sadly, this same shortcoming affects most of the higher-priced game cameras as well. These game-camera guys might be able to catch game, but apparently they can't catch a clue.
It is worth noting that iPhoto does recognize the camera, and will upload photos from it, but it cannot properly read the proprietary SunPlus JPEG format. Most of the photo is viewable, but the lower section containing the date/timestamp is garbled. So close, and yet so far.
A third issue, annoying but not significant, is the lack of technical information in the user's manual. For example, the manual notes that the external power jack is designed for a 12V input, and states emphatically that hooking up the batteries with reversed polarity will damage the unit, but does not give the polarity of the external jack. No mention is made of the make & model of the internal camera; I had to hook it up to a Mac in order to obtain that information. An "information infusion" would make the user's manual much more useful.
Posted by jon at April 28, 2006 05:05 PM