Cellular Trail Cams?

I’ve had a couple tactacam Reveal SK cell cameras out since last July. They come with lithium batteries and solar panels. Both the batteries are still showing 100%.
 
Been using about a dozen Spypoint cell cameras exclusively for many years. The LM models are great value for your money. For more options the Flex models are good but more expensive. I bought 2 S-Dark models last fall and have been testing them in solar mode outside my house. One of them has been slowly running down, while the other one keeps up. They don’t like a lot of shade though.

They sometimes sell reconditioned cameras on their website and you can often find a good deal.

I have also have a Flex-M set up at my house that I put out in early May on the same set of lithium batteries. It takes about 20 pics per day and I have it programmed to send them once a day. I might get a whole year out of one set of batteries!

Regarding the Flex cameras, I found that the internal battery meter is unreliable as it fluctuates - sometimes widely. To get the most battery life, use Lithium and set the camera to send pictures no more than once a day. On demand and videos will chew up the batteries faster. My cameras are 7 hours away from home so I don’t have time to be runnning out there every 2 months to swap them out.

Spypoint had a bad reputation for defective cameras and poor customer service including long waits on the phone. I have to say that they have worked really hard to improve both their product and customer service. Like many businesses, they have a call center staffed with folks who sometimes don’t speak English all that clearly so you have to be ready for that. They also have a procedure that they follow when trying to diagnose a problem which can be irritating and time consuming if you already have an idea what the problem is. Lastly, in most situations, you need to have the camera in your hand to fix a problem as they can’t do much remotely (over the air).

I’ve had a lot of experience with these cameras and should anyone have any questions they can fire me off a PM and I will be happy to answer them. I’m not a pro staff or employee, just a guy that has a lot of experience with them.
 
I have used a bunch of Spypoint Cell cameras including the Cell Link that you connect to a trail camera that you already have. Some have worked well, some have failed, customer service can be spotty. When they work, they work well.

The best in my opinion are the solar Link Micro S LTE cameras - with the solar panels and lithium batteries I have one that I use for property security that has lasted over 2 years without touching it. You can still find them, and although initial set up can be a PITA, they have worked the best for me.

I have one solar and 2 non solar Flex cameras and they dont impress me (other than memory card set up being done on the camera and not on a computer). There are complaints of water leakage into the camera itself, although I havent experienced it.

They come with straps, but I use my own adjustable mounts instead of and mount the camera 12 - 14 feet up in trees, pointed downward.

However the 1/4x20 threaded receiver in the Flex series are in the wrong place. Being located on the top back of the camera body limits how much you can angle the camera downward before it bottoms out on the tree. The receiver should be on the bottom of the camera, not on the back of it. A black bear climbed up the tree and pulled one camera out of the screw in hanger. It pulled the threaded insert right out of the camera body and left it on the hanger.

Just my experience and thoughts.
 
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