The popularity of trail cameras is increasing day by day. From exploring the wild-life to detecting thieves, wherever there is a need for a camera that can work without the presence of a capturer, trail cameras are there.
Even nowadays, trail cameras have become an inseparable part of hunters’ life. No hunter can even think about going on exploring the wild-life without a trail camera. Trail cameras can function in such a way that they are even being used for security purposes.
That’s why when you are choosing a trail camera for yourself, you need to find a perfect one so that you can make the best use of it. To help you out in this, we are here with a very promising trail cam, the Stealth Cam G42NG.
The Stealth Cam G42NG is one of the most affordable trail cameras in the market. It comes in 3 versions and 3 colors to meet the demand of every hunter. It seems to win the market with its affordable price tag but does it win when it comes to its picture quality, triggering speed, battery life and, other features? Read this Stealth Cam G42NG review to find out!
In this Stealth Cam G42NG review, I’ll discuss its features, specifications, pros, and cons. Finally, I’ll give my verdict on whether you should get it or not. Let’s get started with the review.
About the Brand
When it comes to trail cameras, GSM Outdoors is a very popular name. GSM Outdoors is known as the brand that made the trail cameras mainstream by introducing Stealth Cam trail cameras in 2000. After only 4 years, in 2004, they combined digital functions with traditional trail cameras and came up with digital trail cameras.
Since they kept on developing their technologies and stayed top of their game by introducing the world’s first HD trail camera and the world’s first 3-in-1 trail camera. Now, to help out the budget-conscious hunting enthusiasts, they have come up with the best trail camera under 150, the Stealth Cam G42NG.
Stealth Cam G42NG Review: Detailed Features
Build and Design:
The Stealth Cam G42NG, also known as stc-g42ng comes with a very sturdy casing that works for both inside and outside use. The casing is sturdy enough to protect the camera even in harsh weather. It was designed with such colors that it easily gets mixed with the color of leaves and becomes undetectable. It comes in 3 different colors. Gray, camo and cryptek. The gray one looks pretty modern.
The camo and cryptek ones were designed to get blended with the wild area. If you are using the Stealth Cam G42NG for home security or commercial security, you can go with the grey one. But if you are using it for hunting purpose, then camo and cryptek colors are for you. They will blend out easily with leaves and disappear into the surroundings.
Taking the case out to change batteries can seem a bit tricky at first but once you get the hang of it, it becomes quite easy. Overall, the build and design are quite moderate compared to its price.
Camera and Picture Quality:
⇒ Camera Resolution:
The basic stc-g42ng comes with a 10 Megapixel camera that allows you to choose the resolution from four different options which are 2MP, 4MP, 8MP and, 10MP. The more the resolution, the more space the pictures will take. There’s another updated version of this trail camera that has 2MP, 4MP, 8MP and 12MP camera options. It even comes with 42 Black IR emitters. There’s another pro version of this trail camera known as the 2020 version. The 2020 version comes with 24MP camera to take amazingly sharp pictures!
You can record videos with sound in all the 3 versions of the Stealth Cam G42NG.The video recording feature also comes in 2 different resolutions that are 720×490 and 1280×720. It allows you to record up to 180 seconds of video with sound.
⇒ Day-time Pictures:
Compared to the price, it’s daytime pictures come out very good. If you take a closer look, the pictures are very sharp and saturated but a little bit washed out. It has a technology called matrix that reduces the blur while taking pictures.
⇒ Night-time Pictures:
The camera takes pretty good night time pictures as IR flash, made of 42 black flash emitters, is very advanced and it lights up a pretty large area to take the brightest and clear pictures. Besides, the advanced 2 versions can keep date, time, moon phase, temperature and even name stamps.
⇒ Camera Mode:
The camera comes with several useful modes. With its 6/9 image burst mode, you can take up to 9 pictures continuously. Other modes are time-lapse, manual point, shoot mode and HD video with sound.
Trigger and Recovery Speed:
The Reflex Sub 1-Second Trigger of the stc-g42ng offers an ultrafast trigger speed that takes a shot within 0.5 seconds of triggering the camera button. The 2020 version has a triggering speed of 0.8 seconds. But the recovery time is a bit slow compared to the trigger speed. It takes up to 6.5seconds to recover and get ready to take the next shot.
Detection Zone:
All the 3 versions of the Stealth Cam G42NG trail camera comes with a great detection zone. Its 60 feet detection circuit can cover a large area at a time. The black IR emitters can detect motion even if its 100 feet away from the camera. In addition to this goodness, the camera uses a multi detection zone which are narrow zone with a longer detection, medium angle and wide-angle, unlike other traditional trail cameras.
Battery Life:
All the 3 versions of this trail camera require 8 Lithium AA or alkaline batteries to operate the camera. But the batteries easily last up to 1 year as they advertise it as “1-Year Battery Life” on the Stealth Cam G42NG. But a point to be noted for this trail camera is that you can’t use NiMH rechargeable batteries in this camera as they are not strong enough.
Specifications
- Size: 4.0”x5.5”x2.5”.
- Color: The basic version is grey, the advanced version is camo and the 2020 version is cryptex.
- Camera Resolution: The basic version - 10 MP, The advanced version – 2MP, 4MP, 8MP and 12MP.
- Video Resolution: 720x490 and 1280x720.
- Video Duration: 5seconds to 180 seconds with sound.
- Triggering Speed: 0.5 seconds in the first 2 versions and 0.8 seconds in the 2020 version.
- Recovery Speed: 6.5 seconds.
- Flash Range: 50 feet.
- Detection Range: 100 feet.
- Detection Angle: Narrow zone with a longer detection, medium angle and,wide-angle.
- Batteries: AA Batteries (Only Alkaline or Lithium-Ion).
- SD Card Slot – Up to 64GB SD card.
Pros-What We liked About the Stealth Cam G42NG:
- The size makes it pretty handy.
- Comes in 3 different versions with additional features.
- Comes in 3 different colors, grey, camo and cryptek, which is pretty rare in trail cameras. You get to choose here according to your choice and usage.
- The casing is very durable.
- Standard resolution with 4 different resolution options in camera mode and 2different resolution options in video mode.
- 3 versions with different camera resolutions. The 2020 version even offer 20megapixel pictures so whether you are a beginner or an advanced user, you get to choose your desired megapixel here.
- Multiple camera modes that offer burst mode, time-lapse mode, and HD video recording with sound.
- Day time pictures are very vivid.
- Very good motion reduction technology known as Matrix.
- Bright night time pictures that can make it the best trail camera for security.
- Ultrafast triggering speed.
- Compatible with up to 64GB SD card.
- Has mini-B USB compatibility.
- It even comes with secure lock password protection so that you can maintain your privacy and prevent outsiders to access your pictures.
- Very accurate detection circuit with 3 detection angles.
- It can be the best trail camera under 150.
Cons- What We Didn’t Like About the Stealth Cam G42NG:
- The recovery speed is quite slow.
- Night-time pictures get washed out sometimes.
Lets See Video Review:
Final Verdict:
We are almost at the end of the Stealth Cam G42NG Review. From the whole discussion, we can say that the Stealth Cam G42NG is an excellent camera in its price range. It provides very vivid pictures in the day time as well as very bright pictures at night-time. It offers a great detection range, triggering speed and good battery life. The 3 versions have different colors, picture quality and even additional features. It lets you choose the camera according to your requirements, color choice, skills and budget. In such a low budget, so many features and choosing options surely makes it a win.
So if you are looking for a good trail camera in a low budget you can definitely go for this amazing Stealth Cam G42NG.
