Wingscapes WSCA04 Timelapse Outdoor PlantCam (Discontinued by Manufacturer)

I bought this camera to monitor a construction project that will take about 15 months to complete. I was looking for an easy and inexpensive way to take photos every day during construction. I tested the unit with general photos before putting it in place because I wanted to see what kind of picture quality I would get and also learn how to use the camera.It is pretty straight forward and simple. What I didn't expect but I should have based on a couple of wildlife cameras I have, battery life is less than stellar.It came with a set of 4 Kodak Akaline AA batteries included. I didn't expect them to last very long just because you don't know how long they sat on the shelf at the warehouse. They lasted about 4 days with the camera taking 1 photo per hour for 14 hours a day. I next tried the Duracell Alkalines, and got about 8 days out of the camera. Same settings, 1 pic per hour, 14 hours a day.I also ordered the power supply that is made for this camera and now use this even though it limits where you can put the camera. It comes with about an 8 ft cord. ( Also note the power supply is not weatherproof)Overall, this is pretty good camera especially for the money. I think there is a higher resolution version available now. This one is 4 mp, and I have it set on medium quality, about 2 mp per picture. Picture quality is surprisingly good for something appears to have a plastic lens. ( I don't know that, but assume that it is based on the rest of the camera construction)If you view the pictures on your pc, you will see the date, time and name of the camera at the bottom of the picture. You can turn off the imprint if you don't want the date and time noted on the photo. Also, you can change the name of the camera. The default name is " Plantcam". I think you get 12 characters for the name.It will accept the high capacity SD cards. I looked in several places to try and find that information. I am not sure it even says that in the instruction manual, but I put an 8 GB SDHC card in the unit and it works fine, and gives me a capacity for about 7900 pictures. I don't have any 16 GB or 32 GB cards so I don't know if they work in this camera. You will get an offer for a free 2 GB card by mail from the manufacturer if you register the camera. ( It does not come with a card) The 2GB card gives you a photo capacity of about 2399 pics at medium resolution.Have not tried the video function so I can't comment on that.Be careful if you use the wake to light or shut off at Dusk feature. When I tried using those two settings, the camera did not always wake up, and didn't always shut down. You wind up with a lot of blank ( dark) photos using the shut down at dusk feature. You wind up missing a lot of early morning shots with the wake at light feature. (Other users have mentioned this same problem so I would be careful using those options.)I finally just put the schedule times in, 7am to 9pm and I only wind up a few dark shots at night . Will probably change the schedule again to 7 am to 7pm once we go back to normal time and switch from Daylight Saving Time.This camera comes with a pretty nice little universal mounting bracket that allows you to attach it to a pole ( up to about 2 or 3 inches in diameter in your garden or a piece of rebar at a construction site. You can also mount the camera on a conventional tripod. It also has mounting straps 2 types belt type and bungy cord type straps for mounting on trees, or other large objects.It does have a laser aim feature and a view finder as do most of the wildlife cameras of this type.It also comes with a small measuring tape for setting your range. You have 3 range options on the lens so you do need to estimate the range from your subject on anything closer than 3 feet. The lens settings are 11 inches to 17 inches, 17 inches to 3 feet, and 3 ft and over .It also comes with USB cable and a video out cable to connect the camera to your TV.( I have not tried either one)I usually take the card out of the camera and copy the pictures to my PC for viewing.My only negative for this camera is sometimes it is hard to tell if it is on or off. Pressing he power button activates the LCD display, but the only way you really know if it is taking photos is the red led that blinks every 3 to 5 secs.I was trying to turn the camera off to make some adjustments and could not tell if it was off. I think the default is on unless you put it in the setup mode. I have several pics of myself that the camera took while I was making adjustments.In conclusion, this is a pretty good, simple time lapse camera. I already ordered a second one and a power supply to go with it.

This just arrived today, so I've only had a few hours to play with it. I'll update later.Why only four stars? Picture quality was good, but the color was a bit too saturated. That's my only complaint.The good stuff: This camera is highly customizable, easy to use, and produces darn good photos all things considered. It's got tripod mounts on two sides, so you can set it up vertically or horizontally. It comes with a mounting bracket, which I've attached to a plastic lawn chair, or it can be used as a wall mount. Or you can use the included bungees or strap to attach it to a tree or post.It has a laser pointer so you can see about how well you've aimed at your subject, even if you can't look through the viewfinder.Photo settings are low (640x480), medium (2048x1536), and high (2560x1920), and video will be low quality. If you're shooting photos, you can tell it to shoot 1, 2, or 3 at a time, which I guess might be useful if you think your subject might be moving (on a windy day, perhaps.)You can tell the camera what time to wake up, or you can allow it to measure available light. It won't turn off automatically at night, though. (From the manual: "There is no 'BY LIGHT' option to prevent inclement weather from temporarily turning off the camera in the middle of the day.")It's got USB out, TV out, and of course you can always take the SD card out and get at the images that way. It supports SDHC, and just about any SDHC card will work. A slower (and cheaper) card will be fine for this camera. It doesn't come with a card, so get one if you don't have one. Otherwise you'll be using the 16MB of internal memory, and you'll only be able to store 100 low quality images (or 10 high quality images) that way.It's a little tricky to configure if you can't see the front of the camera. (Mine is pointed down at a pineapple plant.) But the controls are easy to distinguish by touch, so once you learn the location of the controls it should become easier. (I hope.)My first photos were pretty good, and I'm looking forward to putting together some videos. I'll update this review when I do that, but of course, it'll take time.

On September 21st 2011 I ordered a Wingscapes WSCA04 Timelapse Outdoor PlantCam.  I love all things photography and was really excited to add a dedicated timelapse camera to my collection.  My justification for this purchase was we'd just moved into a new apartment that needed lots of work, when we started work on our back yard I thought I'd be fun to document the transformation.  Overall I love the idea of the camera but constantly found myself disappointed.  The resolution although claiming to be 4MP I found comparable to a 1.3MP.  I'm into creative photography so the image quality I was able to overcome. Other issues I had with the camera was I didn't find it easy to set up, I often found myself checking to ensure it was on and working which ultimately led to a lot of movement of the camera which pretty much ruins timelapse videos.  Last issue I had was with the lens cover, the camera is obviously designed to be outside with it's waterproof housing but once my lens cover got wet It had spots on it that I just couldn't remove thus making the poor image quality even worse.  I pretty much bailed on my original use for the camera and used it a few other times but always with the front open so the image quality was better.  The manufacturer has since discontinued this model, I hope their newer models are better but I personally don't think I'd buy another Wingscapes.  I'm pretty sure I gave this camera away a couple years ago when I purged most of my photography gear collection.Seller: Amazon.com LLCCondition: NewPurchase price: $62.69