Cuddeback help

[JLemon]

I have 4 Cuddelink G series cameras. 3 with the double strobe and one with dual flash. About half of the night pictures from one of the strobe cameras comes out completely washed out. The day pictures are fine. If it keeps doing it I'm going to swap the flash module with another camera and see if it goes away.

 

[FredG]

I see that you have that camera set to "Strobe Power = Far" which tells the camera to use 3200 ISO for flash shots. Are your other double strobe cams set to Far also? Personally, I've never set any of my strobe cams to Far because it has a tendency at 3200 ISO to wash things out too much (especially when something is close to the flash) and IMO there is simply too much color noise (like confetti) even when the subject is more distant and well exposed. I only use Far as a last resort for pushing flash deep into fields from a high set (a low perch will set the ground on fire).

Unlike IR flash, the double strobe flash can not adjust the exposure to compensate for animals coming in close. You simply have the four settings of Indoors (ISO 100), Close (ISO 320), Medium (ISO 1000) and Far (ISO 3200) and each of those settings has a near and far useful range. Any critter that ventures inside of the near limit will be washed out and any that passes outside the far limit will be too dark. It's just a trial and error thing.

 

[JLemon]

I actually had all 3 on medium and this particular camera was doing this. I changed it to far just to see if it still did it. It’s about 50% of the night pictures it takes.

 

[FredG]

Can you rule out that no critters are approaching close to the camera?

 

[JLemon]

I can’t say for sure but it’s the only camera that does it. Today I put a dual flash in it and put this strobe in a different camera just to see what a different camera in this spot will do.

 

[JLemon]

Can you rule out that no critters are approaching close to the camera?

Now it looks like sometime last night this camera went in to Time Lapse mode. It took pictures about every minute starting about 1:18am last night and was still going when I pulled the home card a little after 5:00 tonight. Also why is the hardware version different than the rest of the G series I have?

 

[TreeDaddy]

J......
.......looks like you bought a Lemon.....

bill

 

[Ed Brodt]

One of my G series went into time lapse mode on its own. Took a picture every minute. I took it down and disconnected the batteries for a couple of minutes and it has been fine since then.

 

[JLemon]

One of my G series went into time lapse mode on its own. Took a picture every minute. I took it down and disconnected the batteries for a couple of minutes and it has been fine since then.

Did yours show it was in time lapse in the settings or did it just start taking pictures like it was? Mine says Off in the time lapse. I pulled the camera yesterday and had the batteries out, reset the camera and did a firmware update. I turned off cuddelink and put the camera out on the deck this morning. Hopefully the SD card isn't full again when I get home. If it's not acting up I'll put it back out in the woods.

 

[Ed Brodt]

Did yours show it was in time lapse in the settings or did it just start taking pictures like it was? Mine says Off in the time lapse. I pulled the camera yesterday and had the batteries out, reset the camera and did a firmware update. I turned off cuddelink and put the camera out on the deck this morning. Hopefully the SD card isn't full again when I get home. If it's not acting up I'll put it back out in the woods.

I didn't even check to see if it was in time lapse setting or just taking pictures like it was. Just immediately pulled the batteries and reinstalled a few minutes later. Since that fixed it I am assuming it was not in time lapse mode.

 

[Peplin Creek]

I didn't even check to see if it was in time lapse setting or just taking pictures like it was. Just immediately pulled the batteries and reinstalled a few minutes later. Since that fixed it I am assuming it was not in time lapse mode.

I’ve had issues from time to time with this. It always seems to be for me after I put fresh batteries in them.

 

[JLemon]

Well I put the camera out on my deck for 12 hours and it was fine. I put it back in the woods last night and at 1:00 am it took a picture of a possum. Then nothing until 8:13 am when it started taking a picture every 5 seconds until 11:47 am. It then started working normal again taking a picture of a turkey at 3:26 pm and then 3 pictures of me at 6:56. New batteries, factory reset and reloaded firmware didn’t solve it. I guess it’s time to get a hold of Cuddeback since it’s still in warranty.

 

[4wanderingeyes]

I feel guilty, I buy a camera, replace batteries every 6 months, and it sends me pictures with no hassle.

 

[JLemon]

So do my other 3. This one did too up til 2 days ago. Luck of the draw I guess.

 

[Potter co notill]

I’ve had issues from time to time with this. It always seems to be for me after I put fresh batteries in them.

Yup I have 2 cameras this happens to me with when I put new batteries in, then works fine once it drains them a good amount

 

[JLemon]

Yup I have 2 cameras this happens to me with when I put new batteries in, then works fine once it drains them a good amount

I won't deal with that. Not only does it fill up a 16GB SD card in a day it also clogs up the network having a couple thousand pictures in queue.

 

[Potter co notill]

I won't deal with that. Not only does it fill up a 16GB SD card in a day it also clogs up the network having a couple thousand pictures in queue.

Yea I know. I kept thinking it was vegatation setting it off on a windy day, so I kept moving the camera and cutting anything possible down and still did it. I then put a different a camera in same spot and that one also started doing it, the 3rd camera didn't do it so I knew it was the cameras and it didn't dawn on me it was always after putting new batteries in that it did it till I read this thread.
And my problem is its 4hr drive to my cameras so its frustrating to see it just wasteing batteries and card space for no reason

 

[JLemon]

Mine has something to do with the auxiliary power port. If I plug in the cuddepower it does it. If I unplug it then it works fine.

 

[JLemon]

Yea I know. I kept thinking it was vegatation setting it off on a windy day, so I kept moving the camera and cutting anything possible down and still did it. I then put a different a camera in same spot and that one also started doing it, the 3rd camera didn't do it so I knew it was the cameras and it didn't dawn on me it was always after putting new batteries in that it did it till I read this thread.
And my problem is its 4hr drive to my cameras so its frustrating to see it just wasteing batteries and card space for no reason

Loving the AC in your profile by the way. 180? 185?

 

[Potter co notill]

Loving the AC in your profile by the way. 180? 185?

Thanks its a 180, was my grandfathers. great machine