Game camera

[Boz330]

I'm thinking about buying a game camera and I'm wondering what might be the best for the money. I'd like to spend about $100 to $150 on it. I've looked at a few in flyers but some of the info listed is Greek to me, I'm old so what can I say. Any help would be appreciated.

Bob

[NSB]

Well, from one geezer to another here's my opinion. I've been using game cameras now for around ten years and I've owned a lot of them. Most all of them turn out to be junk pretty soon after you get them. Other than Reconyx or Buckeye, they're all made in China, and made to the highest Chinese standards....that means they look good but don't have to last or function. Most of them never made it two years although some did. None of the internals are plated circuits which means they deteriorate due to the elements. Plating circuits costs a heaping sum of about fifty cents to each camera and that seems to be a breaking point for the Chinese or their American importers. I used to buy several cameras each year at Dick's and then take them back for a refund right after the season ended since 90% of them wouldn't work the second year anyway. A couple of years ago I saw some Cuddeback cameras for sale and they had an extended warranty on them and a remarkable trigger speed of 1/4 second. The warranty was two years full warranty and three more years at 50% of cost. I bought two of them to try out. They worked better than any of the other cameras I'd ever owned and I owned every brand out there. I got no white out shots, no black out shots, virtually no missed shots due to slow trigger speed, and they kept on working after the second year. I now have five Cuddebacks and two Brownings and they are all working perfectly. The Brownings seem to be good quality also....probably made by the same Chinese company. I think what's made the difference with these cameras is better software, trigger speed, and plated circuits. They actually work very, very well. They are probably 90% as good as a Reconyx at one third the price. They cost right around $149 most places. Note: do not get these from places like Cabela's where they are made just for Cabela's...the boxes are marked "for Cabela's" and are probably spec'd out different. I'm not picking on Cabela's, they might be exactly the same and I like Cabela's. However, the ones I got were not marked that way and they aren't spec'd out for a big box store. FWIW, all Dick's camera's are spec'd out for Dick's. They aren't the same as the ones you buy from other sources. They are a bit different and I don't trust them. PM me if you have any specific questions on this subject. I've got a bit of experience under my belt at this time (around 10,000 pics to date) and maybe I can help. Good luck.

[snowwolfe]

I own two Brownings and been happy with them. They are sensitive enough to pick up grey squirrels jumping around.

[Hickok]

I'd like to see a game camera that could take a picture of Bigfoot that wasn't blurry. They all get perfect, in focus pictures of deer, bear and coyotes, but Bigfoot is always blurry.:kidding:

[bosterr]

I'm watching this thread with interest. I have 2 Spy Point IR-A's. I bought them at closeout prices, no doubt because of better models replacing them. They work, but my issue is not trigger speed but shutter speed. Bucks in the rut don't want to stop moving to get their picture taken. Always blurred. Only occasionally do I get a clear view of their rack. Video mode is grainy as all get out, perhaps because of deterioration as mentioned above. Any recommendations on a make/model to overcome this issue? I have a $200. Christmas gift card gift to use.

[standles]

The issue is not the camera. Bigfoot has evolved to emit a EM field as a method of concealment and camouflage. This messes with the cameras autofocus sensor so tada blurry pics

[Mal Paso]

The issue is not the camera. Bigfoot has evolved to emit a EM field as a method of concealment and camouflage. This messes with the cameras autofocus sensor so tada blurry pics

There is no Bigfoot! It's an alien named Horace. Won't say what planet, I suspect he's not welcome there. If he didn't blur the picture you would see it's just an alien in a cheap fur suit.

[Rick Hodges]

I have 3 Brownings...with the infrared lighting (not the black light) One is 3 yrs old, one two years old and another new one this year. My first game camera was a scout guard 550 that I purchased over 10 yrs ago....all of my camera's are still working. I leave them out from October til Dec. and usually have them in bear resistant covers. I own ScoutGuard (1) Primos(1) WildGame(2)and Browning(3) all work fine, the features and ease of operation and battery life on the 2 newest Browning BTC-5HD make them my favorites. They have good range at night and excellent pictures daytime. I think I paid $120 for the last one.

[NSB]

I'm watching this thread with interest. I have 2 Spy Point IR-A's. I bought them at closeout prices, no doubt because of better models replacing them. They work, but my issue is not trigger speed but shutter speed. Bucks in the rut don't want to stop moving to get their picture taken. Always blurred. Only occasionally do I get a clear view of their rack. Video mode is grainy as all get out, perhaps because of deterioration as mentioned above. Any recommendations on a make/model to overcome this issue? I have a $200. Christmas gift card gift to use.
I have many pictures of me riding my ATV past my cameras and me and the ATV are frozen in time so to speak.....absolute clarity and no blur. This is trigger speed which is the same as shutter speed. Night time pics are not as clear with black infra red. It's a trade off having security vs. a somewhat grainy picture. White flash will tell everyone where your camera is and black flash is invisible to anyone snooping around. I'm not trying to win photo awards with my night time pics, I just want to know what's on my property.

[NSB]

I have 3 Brownings...with the infrared lighting (not the black light) One is 3 yrs old, one two years old and another new one this year. My first game camera was a scout guard 550 that I purchased over 10 yrs ago....all of my camera's are still working. I leave them out from October til Dec. and usually have them in bear resistant covers. I own ScoutGuard (1) Primos(1) WildGame(2)and Browning(3) all work fine, the features and ease of operation and battery life on the 2 newest Browning BTC-5HD make them my favorites. They have good range at night and excellent pictures daytime. I think I paid $120 for the last one.
You've done better than me. I only had two Wildgame cameras last over one year....they lasted two years and quit. Same with Primos and Scoutguard. Also, those brands had a very high percentage of missed shots due to slow triggers and lots and lots of white outs. I no longer even bother using them. I consider them vastly inferior to the Brownings and Cuddebacks. My cameras now stay out year round. Also, battery life on the Brownings and Cuddebacks is around five months!!! The Wildgame battery life is around three weeks or just a bit longer if they don't get any pics. I've put my Cuddebacks next to the Wildgame cameras I had and the Cuddebacks would get 3-400 pics in a three week time span and the Wildgame right next to them might have twenty pics if I was lucky.

[waksupi]

http://www.opticsplanet.com/s/trail-camera

Here are some with reviews. I recommend also doing a customer review search for each one you may be interested on Google. Get as much feedback as possible before buying.

[ole 5 hole group]

This past summer I purchased a Reconyx off ebay - new in the box for $500.00. I've always wanted one and this was a very good price for their latest version. I like it and it takes excellent pictures of everything - even leaves moving with the wind currents.

Owning a Reconyx has two (2) problems - Main problem is fear of theft, I'm always concerned about thieves when I put the camera out. 2nd problem in my opinion is; even through the pictures are great and battery life seems to last forever, other trail cameras costing much less seem to take great pictures also.

Buyer's remorse? maybe, but I've always dreamt of owning one ever since I knew about them and I just had to own one - I now own one and I'm completely satisfied that it works just as good as anything else out there, it will probably last my lifetime and I no longer have to wonder about the Reconyx mystic - is it worth the cost? only if you think you can't live without it - same goes for the Aimpoint micro T-1 I purchased several years ago.:wink:

[Boz330]

http://www.opticsplanet.com/s/trail-camera

Here are some with reviews. I recommend also doing a customer review search for each one you may be interested on Google. Get as much feedback as possible before buying.

I've been checking reviews and the new Cuddebacks have gotten some bad reviews from people that say the old ones were better.
In the price range the Browning's seem to get pretty good reviews. I normally look at the bad reviews to see what the issues are. In some cases it is obvious that the reviewer is being picky or complaining about something that doesn't matter to me. But it is nice to have the reviews to look at and help make a decision.

Bob

[Bullwolf]

You've done better than me. I only had two Wildgame cameras last over one year....they lasted two years and quit. Same with Primos and Scoutguard. Also, those brands had a very high percentage of missed shots due to slow triggers and lots and lots of white outs. I no longer even bother using them. I consider them vastly inferior to the Brownings and Cuddebacks. My cameras now stay out year round. Also, battery life on the Brownings and Cuddebacks is around five months!!! The Wildgame battery life is around three weeks or just a bit longer if they don't get any pics. I've put my Cuddebacks next to the Wildgame cameras I had and the Cuddebacks would get 3-400 pics in a three week time span and the Wildgame right next to them might have twenty pics if I was lucky.

I had two Wildgame cameras (one IR, one regular flash) quit on me after a year or so, same as you lots of white out pics and poor trigger/shutter time.

Out of 5-6 old IR Primos Truthcams ... (that still use D batteries not AA's)

1 Truthcam 46 died on me, and I replaced it, The replacement Cam has been up for over year so far, and is still working.

Have not lost an older dip switch Primos Truthcam 35 yet, but my neighbor did manage to kill one pretty quick out of the box, so they aren't invulnerable. Or perhaps he simply got shipped a bad one.

I have 3 Truthcam 35's currently running full the time on my property. The oldest one has been working for at least 4 years now. I also have an ancient non IR Moultrie that just won't quit, but is really hard on battery life and takes very low resolution pics.

I've been pleased with the older Primos Truthcam 35's. As long as I can find a source for old stock replacements - I will probably continue to use them. When my Truthcam 35's quit and I can no longer replace em, Figure I'll give the new Moultrie game cams a try.



- Bullwolf

[10x]

I've got Simmons, Tasco, bushnell, and Moutrie. Never had a camera fail in 4 years other than they simply turn off when the temperature hits -30f and the batteries can not supply enough current to run them

I have had several stolen or possibly picked up " by mistake "

[Rick Hodges]

You've done better than me. I only had two Wildgame cameras last over one year....they lasted two years and quit. Same with Primos and Scoutguard. Also, those brands had a very high percentage of missed shots due to slow triggers and lots and lots of white outs. I no longer even bother using them. I consider them vastly inferior to the Brownings and Cuddebacks. My cameras now stay out year round. Also, battery life on the Brownings and Cuddebacks is around five months!!! The Wildgame battery life is around three weeks or just a bit longer if they don't get any pics. I've put my Cuddebacks next to the Wildgame cameras I had and the Cuddebacks would get 3-400 pics in a three week time span and the Wildgame right next to them might have twenty pics if I was lucky.

I have been lucky and the older cameras do have slow triggers and a tendency to get white out photos during the transition from daylight to infrared illumination. The old S2 Wild game is especially bad for that. The Micro 6 Wildgame has been a great camera. The Primos is a big clunky battery hog..but it takes great pictures and has remarkable range at night. The newer Brownings are vastly superior to the older camera's. My point was simply that all the camera's still work and are useful for Id'ing game. The old Scout Guard is only a 2 mp camera, the pictures are a bit grainy, but not too bad for a camera designed 12 yrs ago.
Perhaps I was lucky, I don't know. I do like the Brownings but would stay away from the black light. My hunting partner purchased one (Cuddeback) and went through two of them before returning it for a red infrared model. The black light pictures were useless. They had limited range and you could only make out the general shapes of objects. Could not tell a buck from a doe. The red light model is working fine.

[jmorris]

I have a bushnell that was under $100, uses 8 AA batteries but they will last all year.

Worth what it cost and uses IR "flash".


Its much more more compact that the very first digital game camera that I know about.

http://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/gn/IMG_20150908_164720_629_zpskae6rbwu.jpghttp://i664.photobucket.com/albums/vv5/qvideo/gn/IMG_20150908_164837_522_zpscve6eer0.jpg

One I built that used a Cannon digital camera, RC car parts and some homage circuits for timing.

[NSB]

I have been lucky and the older cameras do have slow triggers and a tendency to get white out photos during the transition from daylight to infrared illumination. The old S2 Wild game is especially bad for that. The Micro 6 Wildgame has been a great camera. The Primos is a big clunky battery hog..but it takes great pictures and has remarkable range at night. The newer Brownings are vastly superior to the older camera's. My point was simply that all the camera's still work and are useful for Id'ing game. The old Scout Guard is only a 2 mp camera, the pictures are a bit grainy, but not too bad for a camera designed 12 yrs ago.
Perhaps I was lucky, I don't know. I do like the Brownings but would stay away from the black light. My hunting partner purchased one (Cuddeback) and went through two of them before returning it for a red infrared model. The black light pictures were useless. They had limited range and you could only make out the general shapes of objects. Could not tell a buck from a doe. The red light model is working fine.
You are correct about the black light infrared compared to the red light infrared. The red light is better for picture quality. I've found that the red light is virtually undetectable to people finding them even though if you know where to look you'll see the red lights. People rarely take notice of red lights (very dim red lights) and I think it's because there are so many other red lights around you that you don't realize you're tuning out.....radio towers, cell towers, etc. I've got pics of trespassers actually looking towards the camera and not taking notice. I try to keep them above eye level if they are placed where someone might be looking around. I've found that the black infrared do give "grainier" pictures but still good enough to identify the animal and it's features. I don't think they're as clear as the red infrared, but still more than good enough to be usable for tracking the game on my property.

[quilbilly]

We have one Primos 35 that has been outside 24/7 for 18 months and it is still getting great pics. We added a Cabelas cam to another trail a year ago 24/7 and it is also taking great pics. Both cost less than $100 on sale. The Cabelas cam is easier on the battery supply however.

[Mal Paso]

Thanks NSB! I've followed your posts through 3 threads. I ordered the latest Cuddleback then took waksupi's advice and the reviews were not good. The market is changing fast and by the time you find out how durable a camera is, it is no longer available or the new one is seems much better you wouldn't get the old one.
Anyway I changed the order to a Moultrie A-7i based on reviews and 940nm IR and if it gets stolen, not huge. I will post results.

[Tenbender]

Anyone have any dealing with the Moultrie 990i ? I have heard very good things about the 880. The 990i doesn't have a visible flash ?