Browning Recon Force Elite HP5 - First Footage

[@robertwhitehead5946]

Amazing footage, especially at night. Love the Owl!

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

Thanks Bob!

[@davidgbowntrailcamerasoutd4725]

I'm in love with the 1520p trail camera. Camera 📸

[@fotonaturalistiche8883]

Wow great images 😀

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

Glad you like them!

[@HFG207]

I bought a Recon Force Advantage based on the quality of your videos. It’s been great. A big advancement in these cameras is that they won’t trigger based on vegetation blowing in the wind. Not having to go through hundreds of videos of nothing is huge.

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

I agree, now to see how the batteries last compared to the Advantage.

[@HFG207]

@@MaineWoodsbooger I’ll be interested to see your results. I’ve had very good battery life with mine. I do notice when it’s really cold the night videos are shortened, presumably because it takes a lot of power to keep the infrareds on.

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

@@HFG207 Night videos will always be 20secs no matter the settings. I've also noticed that when batteries get weak they are shortened.

[@belewis]

In this video there was no real wind to speak of, where I live 20mph wind is the norm. I just had 80 wind triggers on my SD card and nothing else on my Recon Force Elite HP4 trial run. Admittedly I could place it better, but it's hard to avoid some branches in the woods.

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

@@belewis I actually did have one day of wind here, and about 30 videos of it. LOL It did seem better, but I'm still not convinced.

[@garrettevans2308]

Very nice! It's a big improvement over the Edge series. I'm liking my HP 4 so far. I will be picking up an HP 5 next. Thanks!

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

I agree, hopefully they last in the field.

[@lambertsaldi1550]

Great Stuff Mainer 👍👍🐻🦌 The Vermonter

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

Thanks 👍

[@ravensdotter6843]

Nice and sharp!

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

It is, hopefully it passes the long run test.

[@bradwelch7425]

Amazing, I am going to get a couple of these myself, no comparison and also the wonderful wildlife that this camera clearly captures, Love it What are the settings for the video mode in this model? Cheers

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

Sorry for the delay in responding. My settings are ultra, 1 minute video with a 5 second delay in between. Long range sensor as well.

[@henryparent1157]

Let us know what you think of it

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

I certainly will.

[@azdesertcritters]

I just received the HP5 and all my other cameras are the HP4. Daytime recordings I'm not happy with. The exposure is higher than with the HP4, it's too bright. Nighttime does look really good.

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

I have noticed some over-exposed areas in daytime videos from the HP5. My thought is that Browning has a lower f-stop which in turn allows more light in. This in turn will make for better night videos/pictures. I've also noticed that the white balance is more inconsistent with the HP5 than the Advantage. I haven't tested the HP4 yet. I'm thinking that at some point the Browning will have a firmware that my fix this issue. My fleet of cameras are still mainly the Advantage models. Solid!

[@azdesertcritters]

@@MaineWoodsbooger I hope so. I’m going to call Browning and see if they are aware of this and send them my videos if they want to see them.

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

@@azdesertcritters me too. Please keep us posted.

[@azdesertcritters]

I talked with Browning and the guy said the video should be identical to the HP4. He is not aware of any problems nor software fixes. He said I should send my comparison video to a specific person at Browning. Talked with Trailcampro, where I buy my cameras, and he didn't think the HP5 was over bright, but he did acknowledge a difference. Didn't think there was a problem. One thing I will go do now is place the HP5 at the same spot as the HP4 just for a true side by side comparison in case there is something causing the difference from where this HP5 is currently located.

[@azdesertcritters]

Here is the response from Browning: Thank you for sending the detailed information and example videos. The HP4's and HP5's do have many differences that make them hard to compare as well as different components that will yield different results. We have reviewed the images and do feel they are of the quality to be expected and find no issues. Should we be able to further assist do let us know.

[@jasonhiggins6431]

Thanks for that I’m having one , or two

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

So far so good with these cameras. I have two now and haven't had any issues, luckily.

[@georgesilverhawkstrailcame2297]

I personally believe the Browning Spec Ops and Recon Force Advantage cameras were the very best trail cameras. The Edge cameras had the LEDs moved forward to widen the LED's light field because many complained about the dark edges in the field of view. But I liked the Advantage and didn't mind the darker edges because it looked nature to me. What many didn't realize is when you widen a light source it also softens the light resulting in less contrast and apparent sharpness. It's also my opinion that the Browning Advantage line was the best built and rugged Browning Spec Ops and Advantage cameras. But fortunately I haven't had any mechanical or operational problems with the Edge cameras, I just prefer the Advantage cameras and think they had the best video image quality. I'm hoping the new LEDs of the new line of Recon and Edge give better contrast. What's you opinion at this point, and if you don't mind me asking, what problem/problems did you have with the Edge cameras... was it the Spec Ops or Recons or both? Best wishes sir...

[@georgesilverhawkstrailcame2297]

PS That was amazing footage of the Great Horned Owl... hands-down my favourite clip. I'm liking what I see with this camera so far. But I want to see more footage for a while before pulling the trigger. More people are now posting videos with these cameras. I also want to see videos from the new Spec Ops also... I do use no-glow more often for research reasons. Thanks.

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

Hi George, sorry for the delay. I'm on the same page as you. I've never owned any Spec Ops, but have many Recon Force Advantages and so far they are still my favorite. So solid, good quality and long battery life. As far as the Edge, all of them (10) had out of focus issues within 2 weeks. Also a few killed batteries within 2-3 weeks. I had one that the audio failed, scratchy and like wind was blowing directly into the camera. The edge was a complete fail, although I still have one working in the field that seems ok. As far as the Elite, so far so good. However I have pulled it and need to get it back out. Hopefully this week. I won;'t buy any Elites until I see more reviews. Thanks for sharing and asking great questions. - Colin

[@georgesilverhawkstrailcame2297]

@@MaineWoodsbooger Colin, not a problem I'm short on time lately as well. I have 8 Spec Ops Edge cameras and had to return my first one for repair and they actually replaced it. It was recording/writing corrupt files to the SD card that couldn't be opened. They (Browning) told me it was a "bad processor" and they replaced the camera. All are well now. That said, they're all bad on battery life compared to the Recon cameras... generally speaking I get 1,200 x 20 sec. videos, not even half of what I get with the Recon Advantage Cameras, and the video image quality while very good, isn't quite as good as the Recon Advantage. Also the Spec Ops Advantage in my opinion has better video image quality. The Recon Edge cameras have all been fine but the video image quality (Contrast) isn't quite as good as the Recon Advantage because of the LEDs being moved forward. It's still great, but not quite as good as the Recon Advantage. Well, I'll wait on your further results and my friend Char's and I look at other's before pulling the trigger. Thank you very much for your time and information. All my very best to you and yours sir. George

[@mymaineheritage2927]

Just curious on what your using for batteries and what size sd cards?

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

Good question. I use Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries, and 64gb or 128gb SD cards depending on location, activity, or how long I don't check them. For example I just checked 7 cameras that I set 6 months ago in the mountains, but couldn't check all winter because of the snow and access. All 6 of the 7 cameras had 100% battery life, with one at 50%. Only one card was completely full and the rest had an average of 300-400 videos.

[@mymaineheritage2927]

@@MaineWoodsbooger that’s great information thank you

[@SouthernSierraNevada]

​@@MaineWoodsbooger which memory card filled up? and approx how many 1 minute vids?

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

@@SouthernSierraNevada one of the 128gb. It was in an open area with a ton of wind. All of the cams were set to 30 secs videos with a 5 sec delay.

[@ojosenelmonte]

I also think the new camouflage of the HP5 is a success

[@MaineWoodsbooger]

I agree!