Browning Trail Cameras Strike Force Pro DCL Nano 26MP Trail Camera with Dual Camera Lens Technology, Infrared Illumination, and 4K Video

Why it's worth it

Browning's Strike Force Pro DCL Nano pairs a 0.15-second trigger with a 130-foot infrared flash and two separate lenses — one tuned for daylight, one for dark. It runs on six AA batteries and stores to an SD card, so there's nothing to subscribe to.

Trigger speed is the spec that decides whether you get an animal or a tail, and this one is quick. Browning rates the DCL Nano at 0.15 seconds. Popular Mechanics' engineering analysis found that every extra 0.3 seconds of delay roughly doubles your odds of catching only the back half of a walking deer at 10 feet. At a sixth of a second, you're getting the whole animal on trails where slower cameras keep missing.

The dual-lens design is the less obvious reason to pick this one. Most trail cameras use a single lens and a movable IR filter, which is a compromise in both directions. Here one lens handles daylight and a second handles infrared, each optimized for its job. Owners describe the resolution as very good for a trail camera rather than cinema-grade — a fair way to put it, and better than most of what's in this lineup.

From our review of 7 trail cameras for wildlife photography, by Genevieve Dubois, Home & Living Expert

What we like

• +Trigger speed is the spec that decides whether you get an animal or a tail, and this one is quick
• +The dual-lens design is the less obvious reason to pick this one
• +The 130-foot flash range is the longest in this group, and reach matters more than people expect
• +Six AA batteries is a small number for a camera this capable — many competitors want eight or twelve

What to know

• –The infrared here is illumination, not true no-glow
• –There's no cellular option
• –It's also a very new listing with a thin owner-feedback record