Spartan Lumen Trail Camera Review
The Spartan Lumen uses a white LED flash to capture color nighttime photos and videos. Night photos are good at close range, but illumination suffers past 40'. Picture detection speeds are very good making this an excellent choice if you want a picture-taking white flash camera. We would not recommend this unit for video. - TCP Staff
Model # SRC-3X
Trailcampro Comprehensive Score:
82/100
Spartan Lumen Trail Camera Review
Pros
- Great battery life
- Excellent picture quality - especially at night
- Picture detection circuit is solid
Cons
- Slow video detection circuit
- Very limited night flash range
Be Wary Of Megapixel Ratings
Megapixel ratings for trail cameras seem to increase more & more every year. In reality, the native resolution of 99% of all trail cameras is 5 megapixels or less. Manufacturers artificially inflate megapixel ratings for advertising purposes through a process called interpolation. Interpolated photos are enhanced by software to mimic the file size of a higher megapixel photo, but seldom offer additional clarity or resolution. The result is an exponentially larger file size photo which takes longer to load and slows down the speed of your camera. We always program our cameras to capture photos at the image sensor's native resolution. This allows our cameras to operate as efficiently as possible and store more photos to memory. With shorter load times, this also allows us to review photos at a much quicker pace. To put things in perspective, the trail camera widely considered to be the "Gold Standard" and used by more professional researchers than any other unit is just 3 megapixels.
Photo resolution: 24 mpxl (interpolated)
Video resolution: 1920 x 1080 w/ audio (.MOV files)
Flash Type: Xenon (Photos) LED (Videos)
The Spartan Lumen trail camera utilizes a white LED flash that allows it to capture color images at night. Daytime photos and video are good. Nighttime photos are good at close range, but video suffers from inadequate illumination.
Picture & Video Resting Power (on): 0.61 mW
Picture Daytime/Nighttime Power Consumption: 2.2 Ws | 4.4 Ws
Video Daytime/Nighttime Power Consumption: 23.1 Ws | 45.7 Ws
Picture Mode
If this camera were to take 35 day and 35 night pictures every 24 hours, it would last 11.4 months in the field on a set of Lithium batteries.
Video Mode
If this camera were to take 15 day and 15 night videos every 24 hours, it would last 3 months in the field on a set of Lithium batteries.
Picture Trigger & Recovery Speed: 0.41 s. | 2.1 s.
Video Trigger & Recovery Speed: 2.71 s. | 3.6 s.
Detection Range & Angle: 70 ft. @ 32.3° detection angle (62.1° field of view)
The Lumen is very solid in picture mode, sporting a 0.41 second trigger speed and a two second recovery time. In video mode, everything slows down quite a bit. The detection zone is average and displays a very wide field of view and a detection angle that is roughly half the f.o.v.
Dimensions: 4" x 4 1/2" x 2 3/4"
Battery Type: 6 AA (we recommend lithium)
External Battery Jack: 12V
SD Card Size: Micro SD card Up to 64GB
Case Design
The Lumen is a very small trail camera, about the size of your palm. It has an adjustable metal bracket on the back that swivels up and down along with a small latch to open the front of the case. The battery tray slides out the bottom but doesn't have a very positive click when going back in. The lumen uses a Micro SD card which is difficult to mange and impossible to handle with gloves.
Camera Setup
The camera has an internal viewing screen that helps with set up and picture/video playback. The control buttons are rather small and might be a problem for the larger fingers. Other than that, set up is extremely easy and intuitive. Just make sure you remember to select "arm camera" when you turn the camera on in the woods. We forgot once and it cost us a few weeks of pictures!
Durability
The vast majority of consumer-grade trail cameras are inexpensive, imported devices exposed to harsh conditions 24/7/365. Most manufacturers only offer a one-year warranty. We stock only the most durable units and provide an additional year of warranty at no extra charge. The Trailcampro exclusive 2-year warranty allows you to deal directly with Trailcampro avoiding long wait times on hold with the manufacturer and prolonged periods without a replacement camera. We turn around most warranties in just one business day!
All test results are achieved through the use of proprietary equipment used exclusively by Trailcampro. Any re-publication of this data without prior written consent is strictly prohibited by law. COPYRIGHT TRAILCAMPRO, L.L.C. 2023, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
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