2016 Covert Night Stryker Review

Model # 5182 |

Pros

• Incredible battery life (over a year)
• Improved latch design
• Good day pictures
• Great video quality

Cons

• Very slow picture & video detection
• Lacks flash range

Trailcampro Analysis

The 2016 Covert Night Stryker replaces the Covert HD 40 from 2015.  This is a red glow IR trail camera with a 2" internal viewer.  The Night Stryker is the sister camera to the Night Stalker.  The only difference is the Night Stryker (this camera) is red glow IR night flash.  The Stalker has no glow (invisible) night flash.

 Quality of Design

Dimensions:  5.75" x 4.5" x 2.75" |  Battery Type:  12 AA Batteries  |  External Battery Jack: 6 Volt

We are certainly enjoying all the new 2016 scouting cameras that are utilizing the over-sized latch that opens the camera.  This large latch is more secure than the small latches the previous Covert scouting cameras had and also much easier to open with cold fingers.

"Night Stryker has a 2" internal viewing screen"

The Night Stryker has a 2" internal viewing screen that allows video and picture playback on the camera. This doubles as an effective way to position the camera on initial setup. Not only is this a nice feature of the Stryker, but it is also a rare commodity in trail cameras right now.

On the back of the camera is a built-in bracket for a and a 1/4" x 20 threaded insert on the bottom for a tripod or .

The camera has a6-voltt external battery jack if you plan on using outside power or a solar panel.  However, as you will read later on, battery life is outstanding and there isn't much need for an external battery.  The battery compartment is among the best designs we have seen.  Inserting and removing batteries is easy - no tool required.

Programming hasn't changed much from previous Covert trail cameras.  The start/stop time is a unique feature that tells the camera to only be turned on during certain times of the day.  Programming is easy and the Night Stryker offers all the major settings you would expect.

Durability on Covert scouting cameras has been very solid the last several years with no major issues.

Detection Circuit

Picture Trigger & Recovery Speed: 1.04 s. / 5.1 s.  | Video Trigger & Recovery Speed:  2.48 s. / 5.5 s.  | Detection Range:  60 ft.

Picture and Video trigger speed actually slowed down from 2015 to 2016.  This is surprising and will really hurt the overall rating of the Night Stryker.

Recovery Times are very average for a modern scouting camera.  Slight improvements in detection speed could greatly improve the Night Stryker's overall rating.

The detection range is 60 ft.  This is the most common range we have seen in 2016 trail cameras.

Overall, this detection circuit is below average, specifically for speed.  

Picture Quality

Photo resolution: 12, 8, 5 or 3 mpxl  |  Video Resolution: 1080 x 720 w/ audio  |  Flash Type:  Red Glow Infrared

Day pictures look really good.  Solid color, clarity and they stop motion very well.  Covert daytime pictures continue to impress us.  

Night pictures lack the flash range that we have seen from Covert scouting cameras in the past.  We don't have an explanation for it, but the Stryker ranked 14th out of 17 red glow cameras in our Flash Range Shootout.  Our field pictures have been good, as long as the animal is close to the camera.  Overall, we don't think the Stryker takes as nice a night photos as past Covert cameras.  However, we are in the process of placing more Stryker's in the field to confirm these results and to make sure that the cameras that are currently out are representing this camera accurately.

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Night videos are brighter than the night pictures we collected.  You can see from the videos below that the flash is adequate and clear.  These are good night videos.  Day videos are identical to day pictures in quality.  Good color and clarity make for a highly rated day video.

Battery Life

Resting Power (on):  2.33 mW  |  Daytime Power Consumption:  2.71 Ws |  Nighttime Power Consumption:  3.74 Ws

Battery life doesn't get much better than this.  Combine efficient consumption numbers with 12 AA batteries working on a 6 volt system and the result is a 5 star battery life rating.

If this camera were to take 35 day pictures and 35 night pictures every 24 hours, this camera could last 12.6 months in the field on a set of lithium batteries.

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