SD Card Viewer

[Cabin Fever]

Been looking for an relatively inexpensive SD card viewer for my when I check my trailcams. If a spot isn't as active or not producing what I am looking for, I would like to know while I'm there in the field, so I can move the cam accordingly. I've been taking the cards home (30 min away), checking on the computer, then making another trip to camp, and running back out into the woods to move the cam.

I came across this one that the Sportsmans Guide carries for $50. http://www.sportsmansguide.com/net/cb/cb.aspx?a=753537 It's about the size of a wallet and fits in my back pocket perfectly, the screen is 3" (nice size for a portable viewer), has a rechargable lithium battery, photo quality is great, you can either scroll through the pics manually or have it run through automatically like a presentation, has a thumbnail preview option if you just want to take a quick look at the pics, also plays movies (.avi files, which is nice because I like to have cams set up in video mode sometimes), has 512MB internal memory if you choose to save pics to it (nice if you want to load pics onto it to show your buddies without having to carry the cards around), plays music, and has text for reading e-books.

So far, no complaints! Well, maybe one. When I watch my trailcam videos from one of my cams, it slows the video down. The videos from my other 4 cams run through perfectly and they look great! The manual does say that the video files must be 30fps or slower. Maybe the vids from the one cam (newest) runs faster, I'm not sure. Regardless, this is meant as an in-the-field-PRE-viewer for me, so I'm fine with that.

The buttons are a little small (or my fingers are too fat!), but thats it. I've never seen one with all these options for this cheap ($50). Granted, if you want to spend $100-$150, you'll certainly find ones that are better built. But, for that price, I'd probably buy another trailcam! I'm happy with this one and only having to spend $50 on it. It'll save me a lot of time, gas, multiple extra trips back into the woods, and "eager anticipation", as I won't have to wait until I get home to check!

Check it out!

[WNYBuckHunter]

Ive thought about picking one of those up. Its too bad they dont make an SD card reader that could plug into the mini-USB port on a smart phone.

[wdswtr]

All i do is take my digital camera in with me, pop the sd card in it and view the photos. I cant see buying a viewer if I already have a digital camera. Simple and works I can zoom in delete etc I am able to even transfer the photos to internal memory and then download the pictures on my laptop. I dont need extra sd cards to swap out and no need to take the cards home to view the pictures. Theres a key to this though as well as using older computers. Theres a difference between sdhc and sd cards. Older cameras and older computer equipment are only able to read sd cards. Its not a software thing either its hardware. To get around this howeer you can go to Walmart and pick up a sdhc adaptor. The great thing about this cheap little device isd it also can read ,micro sd,mmc and compact flash cards. So you can take your minis sd card out and download pictures from your phone or upload pictures to the mini sd card to view on your phone. Its under 20 dollars. 50 dollars for a viewer or purchasing more sd cards means one less treestand purchase lol.

[fasteddie]

I like to swap out the SD cards and bring them home . I bought 4 4GB Sansdisc SD cards on EBAY with free shipping for $6.50 each . I use them in several different devices . I can check out the SD cards in my camera but bought a card viewer for a reasonable price .

[moose]

my digital camera doesn't view my sd cards from my cuddyback. I can only do that on my lab top. But i can view my wild view sd card on my camera. I called cuddyback and they told me that i would have to us a view finder because of the programming. cuddyback only a year old.

[WNYBuckHunter]

I like to swap out the SD cards and bring them home . I bought 4 4GB Sansdisc SD cards on EBAY with free shipping for $6.50 each . I use them in several different devices . I can check out the SD cards in my camera but bought a card viewer for a reasonable price .

Same thing I did. I have 2 cards for each cam. The viewer would come in handy so I can see if the area has been active and if I want to move the cam or not.

[JimmyDaSavage]

I bought and use the exact same one cabin fever is talking about. It is great and I have no complaints. The sd card on my trail cam does not fit into my digi camera so the sportsman guide one was perfect.

[Cabin Fever]

Ya' know. After taking it in the field today, I have to say I'm not real happy with it. I've had it in my posession now for less than 24hrs, took it in the field once (carrying it in a ziplock baggie with my spare SD cards), and the outside cover is so worn and torn that it looks like I've been out kicking it around in the woods! I think I'm gonna pack it up tonight and send it back tomorrow... The viewer itself is working good, so far, but as poorly as the outside is made, makes me wonder how the inside would hold up.

[G-Man]

i find that just exchanging cards works for me so if a camera stays in the "wrong spot "for a week so what.. some times it becomes the right spot..id rather put the money in to more cameras to try out that other area...

[wdswtr]

my digital camera doesn't view my sd cards from my cuddyback. I can only do that on my lab top. But i can view my wild view sd card on my camera. I called cuddyback and they told me that i would have to us a view finder because of the programming. cuddyback only a year old.

Does your cuddyback take sdhc cards by chance? Like i noted before some older equipment can only read sd cards so that might be the problem with your cuddyback. It works the opposite way however you can use an sd card in an sdhc reader just fine. SO if your camera is older it may only read sd and not sdhc. I pulled my hair out for awhile with this.

[moose]

WDSWTR my wives camera that is use is only a year old and it ran me four bills. She even tried the sd cards and could not get them to work. I will have and check with hewr about your comment and see i am a leg behind in tech department. TANK YOU.

Does your cuddyback take sdhc cards by chance? Like i noted before some older equipment can only read sd cards so that might be the problem with your cuddyback. It works the opposite way however you can use an sd card in an sdhc reader just fine. SO if your camera is older it may only read sd and not sdhc. I pulled my hair out for awhile with this.

[fasteddie]

I bought a Photo Share SD viewer a couple years ago for about $30 . It's a handy gadget but has to be charged regularly as the battery drains even when it is off . Shows the pics larger than my camera but is slow to go from pic to pic ..

[zeeto]

If you have a smartphone or tablet, with a MicroSD card, you could always use a Micro w/ SD adapter in the trailcam and then just pop the Micro out of the adapter, throw it in your smartphone/tablet and look at the pics.

I sort of did this when we went on our EU trip this summer. I used a micro w/ adapter in our camera, then at night would pop the micro card out and throw it into the tablet to view them larger.

[SteveNY]

If you have a smartphone or tablet, with a MicroSD card, you could always use a Micro w/ SD adapter in the trailcam and then just pop the Micro out of the adapter, throw it in your smartphone/tablet and look at the pics.

This is what I do.

I also have spare SD card in my truck, so if I want to bring the pics home with me, I can put a fresh SD card in the cam and not have any down time.

Edited November 9, 2011 by SteveNY