Looking for trail camera recommendations

brotherjack

brotherjack

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Back story:
Last year I picked up a 2.1MP Bushnell Trail Sentry for a smokin deal, mostly because it was the cheapest thing going at the time, and I wanted to get my feet wet with something that didn't cost a lot of $$$.

So, turns out, I like having a trail cam. I have yet to have it clue me in to a previously unknown monster buck or anything that exciting, but it sure has spared me a LOT of wasted time sitting by trails/spots that it turns out, aren't nearly as heavily traveled as I might have guessed they were. So, thumbs up to the trail camera idea in general, but I find I want more features/flexibility than the bare-bones setup of the Trail Sentry gives me -- most especially a "burst mode" or something whereby when the camera triggers, it takes several pictures, not just one. It's kind of annoying, for example, to get a picture of an animal with his head down or behind a bush; when if the camera would just have taken several photos after it triggers instead of just one, you know/feel/think you would have got a good shot of the headgear.

Question:
So, I'm asking for recommendations on what you've had good (or not) experience with. My criteria/thoughts are thus:

I'm looking to keep the budget in the sub-$200 range.
I don't care (much) about resolution, even the 2.1MP is plenty good for trail-camera photos.
I would like at the least a good "burst mode" setting, and would appreciate having a variety of more flexible settings than a Trail Sentry (which is kind of a "on or off" affair).
Of course, I would like something reliable, with a decent warranty.
I don't care one bit about night vision (or even a flash, for that matter).
Prefer one that runs on D-cells, since I already own a set of rechargeable ones.
Has to use SD cards, since I already have a few of them.

Anyway -- recommendations, anyone? Cameras to avoid? Preferably from personal experience... Moultrie D40's seem to get decent reviews and are available in the sub-$200 range -- anyone personally used one (and was it worth a darn?)

Thanks in advance.
 
i use a moultire infrared 4.0 and love it. i looked at the bushnells, but passed. i work at a large sporting goods retailer and have seen probably 1 out of 5 bushnells sold come back with a problem of some sort, where as moultries maybe 1 in 50, if that.
 
moultrie I40 or buy a couple moultrie D40's. Even the HCO scoutguard is a great camera. I got a scoutguard on order right now. I bought a trail camera 2 years ago.....now I own 5 LOL
 
My advice...spend the extra $50 and get a Moultrie...or the HCO Scoutguard.

I've heard alot of good things about the HCO, but supply has dried up at the moment.

My Moultrie I50 is simply amazing. :D

All of my Bushnell cams ended up in the garbage. :mad:
 
My local store used to sell the Bushnells, but now sells moultrie because most of her customers were complaining how sh!itty they Bushnell model was.

I myself have a Moultrie I40. It takes great color pics, and nice B+W using the infrared, and the battery last a long long time.

The only thing you have to make sure when using the I40, it to make sure it gets plenty of light. The light sensor on newer models(starting in 2008) has a tough time deciding when it should change from night pic's to day pic's, so you end up getting a lot of B+W pic's.

I tried putting mine 7 ft. up a tree, angled down, to keep it away from a bear, but not enough light was getting into the sensor, and I was getting a lot of B+W pic's.

Try this website,they have great reviews on the most popular models of trail cams, and do some great practical tests on them.

www.chasingame.com

Here is an example of the quality of the Moultrie camera.

MDGC0061.jpg
 
I wouldn't recommend a Moultrie. The tigger speed is not very good. I have 2 M40's and a D40.

I would get one of the Scoutguards, or new Bushnell Trophy Cams or even a Spypoint. They take different batteries though. The Bushnell Trophy Cam is just over $200 and has a 1.5 second trigger time. The Scoutguard has the same guts as the Trophy Cam but has a different camera body. The Spypoint FL-A is under $200. It also has a IR flash accessory that you can swap out for the white flash. Spypoint is also Canadian.

Kevin
 
kseniuk said:
I wouldn't recommend a Moultrie. The tigger speed is not very good. I have 2 M40's and a D40.

I would get one of the Scoutguards, or new Bushnell Trophy Cams or even a Spypoint. They take different batteries though. The Bushnell Trophy Cam is just over $200 and has a 1.5 second trigger time. The Scoutguard has the same guts as the Trophy Cam but has a different camera body. The Spypoint FL-A is under $200. It also has a IR flash accessory that you can swap out for the white flash. Spypoint is also Canadian.

Kevin
Click to expand...

Like, how bad a trigger times on the Moultrie? I've read that, while not "instant", that they were mostly in the 2 to 6 second range (unless you're using the flash -- which I don't); which would be comparable with the Trail Sentry (which is fine -- you just point the camera "down the trail", not "at the trail", and it works great). ??

Reason I'm kind of asking, is that I've got a line on some D40 close-out specials for a bargain basement price (2 for under $100) that are starting to look pretty good.
 
id buy a couple d40s for under 100$. The trigger speed may be a bit slow, but you will learn how to place the camera for the best pictures. (placing it looking down the trail, not across) and you can put the D40 on burst mode....takes 3 pictures within a couple seconds. I can post hundreds of pictures from my D40 of walking deer,coyotes, bear and moose. they are all in frame and most are stopped and looking at the camera (the flash gets their attention)

although my oldest D40 is starting to not take night pictures anymore..Its 3 years old with probably a couple thousand pictures threw it. Mauled by a bear for a while, not sure if the flash is broke or what, still takes day pictures well though.
 
Just got a Moultrie D40 for $90. I think it works great and glad I didn't spend more. I should buy another for a security camera around the cottage.

MDGC0178.jpg


MDGC0290.jpg
 
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