Why do most trail cams suck ? When they are brand new most with a few exceptions work fine but run them for a year and see what happens ! I run trail cams year round , the companies battery claims are also greatly exaggerated , some go as far as to claim a year worth of battery life do not believe it.I have purchased numerous stealth cams, moultries, cuddebacks, penn woods, and now bushnells
trophy cam which are new and thus far produce stunning 12 megapixel images am waiting for them to fail also !All cams i was told bya company that sells various trail cams that most with few exceptions are made in China and you can expect about a year of use from them , i find that sad not to mention a waste of money .I would spend the money for an American made cam such as Reconix but scared of maggots stealing them wich they have done along with tree stands! Any ideas and or experiences with a great trail cam please .
I've only used stealth cams. I was sick of buying batts, so I went to Tractor Supply and bought some small 12v rechargeables and cables. But, they didn't seem to last any longer per sit, just that being rechargeable was saving money on the C's or AA's. After a year or so, they don't charge either. I went back to the AA batts and got about 3 weeks out of them (before the cold set in). Good luck, it would be nice to have a functional AND affordable cam.
I've got a Bushnell that's been in year round use for 3 years now with no issues. I run it in movie mode. An external 6 v lead acid battery has served me very well.
Have you given Wildgame Innovations a try? I'm running the same three cameras that I've had for 5 years and they still take good pics. I just checked their website and it doesn't appear as though they are still making the same camera that I have, but maybe their other cameras will perform the same as the older ones for you.
I have several bushnell trophy cams and I get 6 months or more on average from them on alkaline AA.
I've got 10 moultrie a5 cams and have been very please with them over the last 4 years. I've had 1 crap out but overall for under 60 bucks they work great
I agree with the comments about the moultrie a5 cams. I pretty much use only moultrie and have been very pleased with them. Good price and decent pics. Battery life in the A5 is really good as well. It doesn't produce award winning pics or have a ton of setting options, but it's a good affordable cam.
I use the Wildgame Innovations Cameraa - I own 6 of them, and didn't pay more than $50 for any of them. I've never had a known failure - in fact, they've all worked really well. You have to be smart in how you set them up... unless you spend major dollars then you can't set them up 15 yards from a walking trail and expect good photos. They work great when you use them within their constraints. I've found their battery life to be awesome - 8 AA batteries have lasted nearly a full year in each of them. And for the price point - if one does get stolen, it's not the end of the world.
Stealth cams have failed on me miserably, but I have been most pleased with the Bushnells. Just my experience.
Also my experience with HCO cameras have been disappointing.
Yep. Moultrie A5. Four years without a problem and easily 6mos. on batteries.
I run a huge number of cameras and have had success with the Moultrie A-5 as well. I have several that have lasted a few years but unfortunately they don't make the Gen1any more and have moved to the Gen-2. The new one claims much better battery life and low glow.
Looking for reviews on the new one as I need about a dozen new cams this year.
If you buy your cameras on-line, look at purchasing from vminnovations as they double the warranty on all cameras sold.
I've been using the Moultre Gen II cameras. 80i or 800i, can't remember which. Great battery life.
Bushnells seem to be the best for me and I've tried them all. I have culled my fleet to be mostly these. I would suggest the use of Lithium batteries and to make sure the camera is set on lithium. I get 5-8 months out of them in the warmer months(depending on usage). in the winter I usually get a couple months unless real cold.
I have 4 trophy cams, easy to setup, take good images, have good shutter speeds and battery life.
I have been using covert mp8's for over 2 years. Battery life is out this world even in the cold weather of north Kansas where I leave a couple that I check once a year when I go up to hunt in November.
One camera ran a year and nine months on 8 AA Lithium batteries. It took over 12,000 pics on a trail.
Another mp8' I only had 4 AA lithiums in it and it ran a year and 3 months and took over 11,000 pictures on a trail.
I had one with 8-AA alkaline batteries and it took over 7,000 pictures but only lasted 13 months
not the greatest pictures I've seen but I get to see what happens on that property year round with that kind of battery life and they pay for themselves in the long run
I had stealth cams and wouldn't own another one of those failing, battery sucking cameras if they were the last one's made!
I have 11 Moultrie M880's...7 are the infrared. 4 are the white flash. I would never get the white flash again as they just blur all the night time pictures...but the M880i (infrared) work great. All the function you need, pretty good trigger speed, very clear pics day or night with it's freeze-frame turned on. Very good battery life. You can get them in 4-packs from VMI Innovations at around $85 each. I use Lithium batteries and just keep charging them up. My cameras are out about 8 months of the year...all 11 still work after 3 years.
I think Browning is made by Moultrie. At least they used to be. Have one of those too and it's exactly like my M880i in every way but the bezel.
I also like Moultrie stuff. However, this past summer I bought one of the new A-20i model cameras. I like the small size and the programming is user-friendly. However, Id NOT recommend the A-20i to anyone. It takes lots of "ghost" photos (nothing in the picture), fails to take pictures at times too. I have purposefully walked in front of it before pulling the card and no picture. The night photos are only so-so (blurry many times) and the many of the day photos are so bright its hard to see the picture. I'm looking for a new camera soon and it sure will not be another Moultrie A-20i!
I've had great luck with a few Brownings and just bought another one. Also picked up a couple Primos on a black friday special - $30 each. Will see how they work.
Myself, my Father in law and a good friend have 12 Bushnels amongst us. We've not had a single failure. Great little cam for the $99 price from Wal Mart. Is it perfect? Heck no. But I'd buy another in a heart beat. Some of mine are 4 years old and still going strong and other than pulling them in gun season they are out year around.
QuoteOriginally posted by Jerry Russell:
I run a huge number of cameras and have had success with the Moultrie A-5 as well. I have several that have lasted a few years but unfortunately they don't make the Gen1any more and have moved to the Gen-2. The new one claims much better battery life and low glow.
Looking for reviews on the new one as I need about a dozen new cams this year.
If you buy your cameras on-line, look at purchasing from vminnovations as they double the warranty on all cameras sold.
You can find the Moultrie reviews here.... http://www.trailcampro.com/
I've had a Browning Strike Force for 2 years now, not a single problem. I run it in video mode and the battery life is very good. 6 to 8 months battery life taking videos.
Curious - Being a traditional site, how many trail-cams ya allowed out before it's considered cheating?.... :bigsmyl:
How's those carbon arrows flying for ya, Zbone? LOL
Just like everything else you buy, you get what you pay for. Cheap ones typically suck!
Your expectations are a little high I think, you can not trust any of them on battery life because it's based on the amount of picks taken. These cams set outside in storms, snow, subzero temps and temperature fluctuations which cause condensation on electronics including your batteries. We run a lot of cams and have tried many but I will not by the exspensive cams its a waste of money and just bragging rights.
I've had and still have some old Moultrie cams from 2008 that still take fantastic pics but only use them for back up because of there size and amount of D batteries they take. We're running WG cams now and they are working great, haven't paid over $50 for one yet. I'm not going to name the bad ones and there's a few but I will say every once in a while the ones we like we will get a bad one so I always keep the boxes and receipts for exchanging. Usually it's just that cam and your good to go and last for many years.
I love white flash cams and finally found one that takes the small batteries, its adjustable so you don't get the blurred night picks any worse then a IR cam. I bought a bunch of them and they have worked great this season.
Tracy
QuoteOriginally posted by Zbone:
Curious - Being a traditional site, how many trail-cams ya allowed out before it's considered cheating?.... :bigsmyl:
You can't use trail cams!! When you're sneakin around nekkid with your club, you might get flashed by one!! :laughing:
Club? I heard ya only had a little twig.. :)
I have 6 Browning cameras. No issues and great battery life.
Reconyx is my favorite. Also use a lot of the moultrie 880/990. Lithium batteries help a lot lasting longer than alkaline. Setting the picture to the lowest image quality setting will prolong battery life.
Had an issue with one of my moultrie cams, contacted them and they no longer service/repair them. They did send a code for 50% off a new one from them.
I have point a shoots that I could hang fence with and they will still work. I have found very few trail cameras that last more than a couple years. I do ave a couple old moultrie that seem to continue to fight on but unfortunately they have no way to lock them up. In the area I hunt they won't last much in the woods unlocked.
QuoteOriginally posted by kennym:
QuoteOriginally posted by Zbone:
Curious - Being a traditional site, how many trail-cams ya allowed out before it's considered cheating?.... :bigsmyl:
You can't use trail cams!! When you're sneakin around nekkid with your club, you might get flashed by one!! :laughing: [/b]
I am looking for white flash cameras that run on AA batteries. Does someone that is running one have a model number?
I picked up a moultrie a20i on sale and I agree the picture quality isn't great but the last firmware update helped but the night pictures are still lacking. I did notice that the motion detector activates outside the picture frame which is why there are some ghost pictures. The good thing about that is it helps the effective trigger speed. I have a picture of a squirel caught in mid jump but only 3/4 of the way into the picture. The daytime trigger distance is over 90 feet. The trigger sensitivity picks up smaller animals my cuddeback misses.
I have ran several cameras and the one I'm the most impressed with is a Primos workhorse. It doesn't have a bunch of features it just takes pictures but I have had it out since July and it shows 80% battery life even through this cold snap we just had in Ohio. I think the more features on a camera the easier to run batteries down and to break on you but that's just my opinion.
QuoteOriginally posted by BenBow:
I picked up a moultrie a20i on sale and I agree the picture quality isn't great but the last firmware update helped but the night pictures are still lacking. I did notice that the motion detector activates outside the picture frame which is why there are some ghost pictures. The good thing about that is it helps the effective trigger speed. I have a picture of a squirel caught in mid jump but only 3/4 of the way into the picture. The daytime trigger distance is over 90 feet. The trigger sensitivity picks up smaller animals my cuddeback misses.
BenBow, I have not checked for any firmware updates for my A20 camera. From your post above I gather that the firmware update made the camera perform some better?