Reconyx Hyperfire SM750

Reconyx SM750 Review

– This camera is good at one thing – taking pictures of license plates at night. It really doesn’t do anything else, but it is the only License Plate Camera on the market, justifying the high price tag. – TCP Staff

Model # SM750  |  Reconyx SM750 Owner’s Manual

Pros

• License plate pictures at night
• Extremely fast detection circuit
• Excellent durability
• Long battery life

Cons

• Expensive
• No video capabilities
• Black/white daytime photos

Trailcampro Analysis

The Reconyx SM750 is one of two in the line of security cameras from Reconyx. The SM750 is a License Plate Camera – which is meant to capture vehicles. The SC950 is your more typical human surveillance camera.

The SM750 is no glow infrared, which simply means the human eye can’t detect the glow from the infrared LEDs. A thief could be walking by your camera, in the middle of the night, and be completely unaware you are taking dozens of pictures of them.

The Reconyx SM750 is only useful as a License Plate Camera. However, it is the only camera that is capable of this, and it does an amazing job at it. You can capture license plate numbers at speeds of around 40-50 mph.

Picture Quality:     

Photo resolution:  3.1 mpxl |  Video Resolution: None  |  Flash Type:  No Glow Infrared

Daytime pictures are black and white. The pictures are clear but dim. To be fair, this camera wasn’t designed to take perfect day (or night) pictures. This camera has a specific purpose. However, to be fair, we must judge it as we do everything else. We would ignore the star rating in this category as it is meant for typical trail camera pictures, not a license plate camera.

The SM750 has been programmed to overcome the reflective surface and to capture the plates and identify the intruder. At the expense of capturing the license plate number, the rest of the picture is almost completely black. The pictures must be dimmed down enough so that the plates won’t get “washed” out. Below are examples of both day and night operations.

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Battery Life:    

Resting Power (on):  1.80mW  |  Daytime Power Consumption:  0.62 Ws |  Nighttime Power Consumption:  1.46 Ws

Battery life is a huge positive for the Reconyx SM750.  All the below numbers are incredibly efficient, allowing the camera to last a long time in the field.

The SM750 operates on 12 AA Batteries. You will need to use either Lithium or NiMH Rechargeable Batteries. Alkaline Batteries do not work in this camera, as they do not produce enough consistent power.

If this camera were to take 35-day and 35-night pictures every 24 hours, the SM750 would last an unbelievable 23.7 months in the field on a set of lithium Batteries.

Detection Circuit:    

Picture Trigger & Recovery Speed: 0.10 s. / 0.52 s.  |  Video Trigger & Recovery Speed:  none  |  Detection Range:  60 ft.

Detection Circuit is absolutely outstanding. The trigger speed is blazing the recovery time is nearly instant.

Detection range is approximately 70 ft. The camera is quick enough to take pictures of vehicles moving at 40-50 mph. However, we recommend practicing with the setup to get optimal detection and picture taking abilities. Getting the proper angle will pay huge dividends in capturing the license plate.

Quality of Design:   

Dimensions: 5.5″ x 4.5″ x 3″ | Battery Type: 12 AA Batteries | External Battery Jack: none

Case design, user setup, and durability couldn’t be better. This ranking is higher from the other Hyperfire cameras because the SM750 has a few extra programmable option that the HC500 and HC600 do not have.

First, the SM750 can be programmed (with the software that is included) to be set to come on or shut off at certain times. For instance, if you are setting the camera up watching your business, you may not want it on from 8-5 while you are there. So, in turn, you could set the camera to come on at 5 pm and then shut off at 8 am.

Secondly, The 750 is set to “overwrite” its photos. This simply means if the sd card fills up the camera will keep recording by writing over the very first pictures taken. Please note, a Reconyx will hold roughly 28,000 pictures on an 8 gig card.

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