I’ve fantasized about owning a trail camera for a few years now, not to use on a game trail, but to discover which wildlife visits the yard when no one’s watching. I’m an avid birder (thanks, pandemic!) and enjoy watching and feeding any of the animals that hang out in my small suburban backyard, which is a bit of a wildlife “safety zone” between yards with dogs.
More than once, my neighbors told tales of one chonk of a raccoon climbing a nearby house at night and I’ve wondered whether a raccoon was the culprit digging small lawn holes along the side of the house. And then there are the feral cats and OPP (other people’s pets, in this case) which occasionally leave a little evidence behind, and I’ve been really curious about what’s been making these lawn landmines. I didn’t want to spend a fortune on a trail camera, so when I read the reviews for the Rigdoo HT-10 I knew it was a great choice for my goals. At the time of this review, I’ve had it for about two months. It’s been entertaining, to say the least.
Rigdoo HT-10
Specifications
- Price on publish: $40.99 on Amazon
- Image resolution: Various settings from 8 to 48 Megapixels
- Power source: 4 or 8 AA batteries, or optional 6V, 1.5-amp DC power adapter (not included)
- Weatherproof: IP 66 waterproof level (suitable for harsh environments but not underwater use)
- Adjustable angle: Yes, with included angle adapter piece
- Fastening system: Large strap (included), or optional tripod mount
- 2.4” LCD display
- 30-meter infrared LED
- 30-meter triggering distance
- .1-second triggering time
- Up to 6 months standby time
- Photo and video formats: JPG, AVI
- Memory card type: 32 GB SD card (included); capable for up to 256 GB
- Working temperature: -4 to 160 degrees Fahrenheit
Pros:
- Includes everything necessary to use it right away
- Records images, video, or both
- Has night vision capabilities
- Reasonable entry-level price point
- Easy to use
- Runs on AA batteries (4 or optionally 8)
- Fairly long battery life
- 32 GB SD card allows for plenty of images
- Easily connects to a computer via the included USB cable for simple image transfer
- Includes a special bracket to angle the camera as desired
- Camera housing can be locked (padlock not included)
- May be mounted to a tripod
- Includes a strap to mount the camera to a tree or structure
- Multiple options for number of sequential images, image resolution, and video length
- Multiple sensitivity settings
- .1-second trigger speed
Cons:
- Only records in night-vision mode when batteries are full or nearly full
- Deleting images isn’t clearly explained
- Though the camera screen is handy, it would take a long time to find any particular image this way, without the camera being connected to the computer
- The battery power sometimes drops significantly in cold weather (this is more of a battery issue than a camera issue)
- No wifi, cellular or bluetooth connectivity
- The camera tree strap is only long enough to go around small to medium trees
First Impressions
As an early enthusiast of digital photo and video cameras, I know they can be even quirkier than their cell phone counterparts. To reduce my chances of disappointment with a trail camera, I read just about every Amazon review of this camera and several others before buying this model. I wasn’t familiar with the Rigdoo brand, so I was happy when the camera arrived within a couple days after ordering it from Amazon.
The camera comes packaged in a durable Rigdoo box with an image of the camera on it. The bottom of the box shows the key specs and the customer support email, which may be handy if the instruction manual is ever misplaced. Inside the box is the trail cam, four alkaline batteries, a 32GB SD card (already installed), a USB-C cable to connect the camera to a computer, an adjustable angle bracket, a strap to mount the camera to a tree or other object, plus the user guide and a warranty card.
All in all, everything was nicely packaged. I was pleased with the presentation, as well as the durable — and lockable — camera housing. All of this made me feel confident about the quality of this product. I skimmed the instructions and popped the batteries into the camera. This part was slightly confusing since there are two separate areas for four AA batteries each; I didn’t know which section to use for just four batteries; the manual just says to insert them into the designated slot. I chose the bottom set.
Moving the power slider into the Test or On position results in “welcome” displayed on the screen, which is one simple way to tell the camera is working. The manual said to format the SD card before first use, which was easy to do by pressing the Menu button, then using the down arrow key to select “format memory card.” I could tell even at this point that I’d be able to figure out most settings without digging deeply into the instruction booklet.
Another area on the settings offers choices for photo resolution, video resolution, video length and how many images to shoot in a row. By default it shoots three in a row. After using the camera a while, I found this a bit redundant, so I changed that setting to two. The video length is set to 10 seconds by default, which is plenty of time to see what’s going on, at least for my purposes.
I appreciate the optional time and date stamps; I use the camera with the info on every image because this is how I learn things. For instance, some nights rabbits visit my yard every couple hours all night long. Who knew? The date stamp is also a good way to tell which day things happened, especially if I didn’t delete the previous batch of images first.
Field Work
I strapped the camera to a post beneath the back porch, pointed toward the patio since it’s part of the “snack zone” for the birds and squirrels I feed. I turned the camera on, then let it do its thing for about 20 hours. I brought it inside the next day, easily located its USB port and connected it via USB cable to my laptop. The camera screen displayed its “Welcome” message without me turning the camera on, which is nice since this process doesn’t use battery life. The computer immediately sensed it as a USB storage device, and the camera folder and files opened as they would with any connected USB drive or camera. The images and videos show up chronologically as .jpgs and .avi files respectively. I started at the beginning and viewed all of them, copying the interesting ones to my desktop.
The initial batch of images captured birds, squirrels and a rabbit. The rabbit also came within range several times at night. The night-vision shots are on par with those aired on reality shows aiming to locate supposedly extinct animals or even bigfoot. Each shot looks like black and white security-cam footage in a strange landscape, and animal eyes seem to glow as if illuminated from within. Creepy? Maybe, but these are images I wouldn’t otherwise capture with a regular camera.
Another night, the capture showed Chonkus, a nickname I’ve given to a rotund raccoon that lives somewhere nearby. One night’s images showed an opossum visiting several times and eating strawberry tops that I left out for the “yard pets” — any of the random wild animals that enjoy the yard. All of this qualifies as entertainment as far as I’m concerned.
Sometimes the wind seems to trigger the camera; when it’s windy out, the resulting photos capture movement of a stray leaf blowing on the ground, or of a finch feeder blowing in the wind, no animals present. I expected as much, and after that usually chose not to use the camera during rainy or windy conditions.
After using the camera for a week or so during cold weather, I noticed that it no longer captured anything after dark. The manual explains that this is normal when the batteries drain (and it seems fairly common for trailcams), but it is a bit disappointing. I eventually switched to using eight AA batteries instead of four to ensure the camera functioned at night; after all, who knows what may show up at night? That’s the fun part: Anticipating what’s on those image files once I check the SD card.
This camera has no networking capabilities: No Wi-Fi, no bluetooth, no cellular network connectivity. This also means no camera-specific data charges. I have no need for any of those capabilities, since I plan to use the camera primarily at home. For anyone that needs a trail camera in locations far off the beaten path, however, cellular connectivity would be helpful. Wi-Fi or bluetooth would be convenient: I wouldn’t have to go outside to grab the camera or its SD card any time I wanted to view pictures. I don’t mind getting in a few steps to access the camera, however, and the lack of connectivity really keeps the price reasonable on this camera.
The image quality is better on this budget trail cam than on some of the pricier models with more bells and whistles. I’ve left it set to only 8 megapixel image resolution out of the 48 MP available and the quality suits my needs so far. Zooming in a bit on an 8 MP, however, the image becomes a little less sharp.
A solar charging option would be helpful, as I’ve had to replace the batteries several times during the past two months. Using rechargeable batteries may also be helpful; I plan to purchase some eventually so I can keep the batteries charged enough to always capture night images. A third-party DC 6V power adapter is another potential power option, provided an outdoor outlet is handy nearby. My century home doesn’t have one near the backyard.
With an available outlet and power adapter, this camera could be a good way to monitor a front or side yard as well, to potentially identify the mad four-legged pooper — most likely a feral cat, or possibly one of several neighborhood pets that are allowed to roam off leash. So far, I’ve discovered that the backyard is an animal superhighway for all sorts of two- and four-legged “friends” on their way to doing whatever they deem important or fun. As an observer, it’s been fun for me as well.
Rigdoo HT-10
In a Nutshell
The Rigdoo HT-10 is an easy-to-use, fun trail camera that runs on AA batteries. The image resolution is on par (or even better) than pricier trail cams with more features. Since this doesn’t have cellular or any other networking capabilities, it’s best for use somewhere close to home, as there’s no way to connect with it from afar. The camera housing can be secured with a padlock, which comes in handy if the camera is placed in an area of human activity. All in all, this is a great entry-level trail cam that’s loads of fun. The images and videos do not disappoint.
