Trail Cameras

Shifty11

Shifty11

CGN Regular
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Hey folks.

I have barely any experience with trail cameras, I picked some up for my
Father in law to use out at different properties of his (which I check on for him) I picked up 3 Stealth Cams from Cabelas last year on sale. One stopped reading SD cards.. and I’m
not super stoked on how long it actually takes to take pictures (it could easily miss someone driving by on a quad for example) but I think we only paid sub 200 for 3 so can’t complain too much right?

What are some decent cameras for the price that people use and haven’t had too many issues with? I’ve seen some on sale at CT and Cabelas (both checking online from home) Father in law said he is cool spending a bit more on cameras this year.

For reference, we’re using these to see what animals are on his properties along with who is going around the gates and such. (Recently had a quad run from me and bush bash around the gate and fence) I’ve been looking online at reviews but still having issues picking cameras.

Hoping CGN can help :)
 
Simple answer to your question is buy the cheap ones and keep it for year or as long as they work.

Get your cards and batteries out in winter, they are all made in China and all are piece of crap.

So use as you go and buy cheap, if you lose one or two over the time, you wouldn't be crying.

Keep the old and not working one's in the places which are more visible so it throws the thieves off - Chow
 
RojamB21 said:
Simple answer to your question is buy the cheap ones and keep it for year or as long as they work.

Get your cards and batteries out in winter, they are all made in China and all are piece of crap.

So use as you go and buy cheap, if you lose one or two over the time, you wouldn't be crying.

Keep the old and not working one's in the places which are more visible so it throws the thieves off - Chow
Click to expand...


Not a bad idea for sure.. never even thought of that!
 
i have tried many a brand,i use 6-10 at a time in deer season,it seems they all fail sooner or later. now i get them at CTire when they are on sale.i buy the cheapest i can get that have blackout led.
 
I have tried a few of the 100 - 200 dollar cameras from Canadian Tire all junk, didn't even have a viewing screen and the 100 dollar one worked for 1 day.
I bought 3 off of Amazon for 60 bucks each works better than any at Canadian Tire and they have a viewing screen. No a few guy's from another Ontario Forum who also bought them off amazon.
 
I never had much luck with Stealth Cams, like you they seem to malfunction more often and take worse pictures

I bought a Tasco and was impressed with the pictures and it seems pretty robust

Point your cameras up or down the trail instead of across it to get picture of moving objects
 
I use higher-end Stealthcams, G42NG, and I've never had a problem with them. I've had a long string of troubles with Moultrie. When looking at new cameras I go to Cabelas and other retailers and look for the highest reviews, though I might buy them from somebody else.
 
RojamB21 said:
Simple answer to your question is buy the cheap ones and keep it for year or as long as they work.

Get your cards and batteries out in winter, they are all made in China and all are piece of crap.

So use as you go and buy cheap, if you lose one or two over the time, you wouldn't be crying.

Keep the old and not working one's in the places which are more visible so it throws the thieves off - Chow
Click to expand...

I leave mine out all winter and haven't had any pack it in over 3 plus years.
 
I leave my amazon ones out all winter no problem. I consider them much better than any from Canadian Tire or Cabelas. At an average cost of 70 bucks or less. The last one I bought for my son at Christmas I got for 70 bucks with a 32 Gig card.

RojamB21 said:
Simple answer to your question is buy the cheap ones and keep it for year or as long as they work.

Get your cards and batteries out in winter, they are all made in China and all are piece of crap.

So use as you go and buy cheap, if you lose one or two over the time, you wouldn't be crying.

Keep the old and not working one's in the places which are more visible so it throws the thieves off - Chow
Click to expand...
 
Shifty11 said:
Anyone have experience with these?

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/138908/wildgame-innovations-wraith-16-lightsout-trail-camera-2-pack

Thinking these ones with the 2 functional ones I already have
Click to expand...

Not that one specifically but I bought this one https://www.wildgameinnovations.com/silent-cam-30-lightsout on deep discount at CT. Takes good quality pictures and video, that's really all I can say so far, only had it for a couple of months. I know what you mean about the delay though, I've had a few videos of a bunny tail just as it disappears off camera lol.
 
Everybody's personal experiences are all going to be quite different and fairly conflicting. The trail camera argument is fairly polarizing... just like which tire is the best for (###) purpose...

So as a result you will get my experience in the ways that I've used my cameras. Take it for what it's worth ymmv.

I have 6 units, a mixture of Spypoint and Browning. The criteria that dictated my starting point was "How expensive of a camera would I be prepared to lose?" eg. stolen, eaten by bear, busted by moose, or otherwise ruined by the weather. That value initially was $150 +/- $10 .

After establishing how much I was comfortable loosing it was then a process to find the best camera which fit the price point. My first units were Spypoint, a Force 10D, and then a Force 11, and then just for comparison I got a Browning on-sale. I since tended toward buying the Brownings, however when my Force-10D was stolen I did replace it with a 11. I have been trail camming now for over 3 years.

I have experienced some type of failure from both brands of camera. The Spypoint 10D was first, it went through a rash of pictures that were either over or under exposed (bright white blob vs. black hole) and other images that were all grainy or had really strange striping colour striations across the image. The camera did seem to correct itself but was stolen shortly after so no love lost... the #1 thing with trail cameras is that you have to trust they will/are functioning properly....and I had lost faith in that unit...at best if I still had it it would be a decoy.

The next failure was a Browning, that particular camera started CHEWING through batteries, I mean 6AA's didn't last beyond a week! I eventually figured out what was going on and removed that camera from service. I still had warranty on that camera so I sent it to Browning Customer Service for diagnosis and repair, they ended up just giving me a whole new camera. Browning customer service was fantastic to deal with so they get bonus points on that alone.

Lastly most recently one of the Spypoint Force-11's has exhibited some fritzy signs. Some internal mechanism of the camera is making excessive noise and which is being recorded as a warbling/throbbing type submarine sound on the video. (Oh yeah btw I switched to taking videos a while ago... they are WAY more entertaining than still-life photography, I wish I'd switched earlier and is something I would suggest you try. Do 20 or 30second videos). I haven't removed that camera yet as I want to see if the problem continues to get worse, and I don't care so much about the animal movements during this time of the year. I have very limited experience with Spypoint customer service although my initial impression is it's not as good as Browning... plus this camera is out of warranty.

Otherwise 3 other Brownings and 1 Spypoint have been performing reliably and consistently. My cameras live out in the bush 365 days a year for the past few years (Edmonton area). I go visit them around once a month on average... less during muddy road season and deep winter.

Battery Life: In general either manufacturer of camera has good life. Taking videos will obviously drain them faster. But neither Browning or Spypoint trumps the other. I could comfortably get 3-4months on a set. One difference however to keep in mind is Browning take 6AA's while Spypoint uses 8AA's

Storage: This is where Spypoint is a bit disappointing as their cameras are limited to 32GB max size SD card... Browning can take up to 512GB... so something to watch for.. Spypoint doesn't openly state that their camera won't read anything larger than 32gb.

Field-of-View: Browning has a wider angle lens compared to Spypoint. Browning image also isn't "zoomed in" as much as Spypoint... so you can use the Browning is tighter areas where you can't set-back the camera from the trail very far. If you just have a long wide open cut-line than the Spypoint is fine as you can place it as far back as you need.

Trigger Speeds: Anything under 0.5seconds is amazing and you couldn't tell the difference between cameras.

Time-to-Arm: Spypoint is 30 seconds, Browning is 9seconds (boo)

***Camera setup/Image reference***: This is probably my biggest pet peeve between the cameras I own, and one of the few areas that Spypoint excels hands down. So when you place the camera ideally you want to be able to view in real-time how the lens is pointed and what it will actually take a picture of. Force-11D and Brownings will all do this however the stupid Brownings use the 9second arming window for referencing of the image, and when the timer is up the camera is armed! You have to constantly press a button to reset the timer as you set up the camera. Spypoint has a dedicated set-up menu which isn't timed and that shows you the lens image AND AS WELL gives you a sensitivity/trigger indication. So with Spypoint you could leave it in this menu, walk way far away and test the distance trigger point for the camera, and then adjust as needed. Very useful and pain-free... I wish Browning would change their programming to adopt something similar cause it's the one difference I hate between my cameras.

Image Quality: My cameras are anywhere from 10MP up to 20MP . They all can take some pretty spanky hi-def HD video too. 30second movies are upwards of 60Mb. I don't generally feel there is a clarity or sharpness difference between my various cameras, they are all fairly high quality and images are useful no matter which device takes them. The one difference I do notice is the colour saturation.. Spypoint images seem to be kinda dark/flat whereas the ones from Browning cameras are really colourful and vibrant.

I hope some of this helps you. I guess if you were to ask me "Rob, which camera would you buy next/again?" I would say Browning... I don't think you can go wrong with those Micro-HD trail cameras, although I do hate that setup mechanism and I'd really like for Browning to make it better. But I think their cameras are better overall to warrant overlooking that shortcoming. Spypoint has had a sale on their little micro satelliete uplink camera which I think would be cool to have but I'm too cheap to have yet another monthly expense.

I have friends who've got the 3pk StealthCam special from Cabelas. They're cheap and seem to work ok...my friends have no complaints and there's no other evidence to prove that they shouldn't have bought el-cheepo camera. Would I ever do it...? I dunno... maybe... mostly just as cheap decoys or consider as throw-aways like a previous poster said.

Do I think a $500 or $600 trail camera is that much better than my $150-200 ones? I highly doubt it, but hey if you got money to burn and are comfortable essentially hanging 500 dollars from a tree out in the woods then who am I to tell you how to spend your money.

I think I've seen Spypoint having a Force-12 for sale around $100, that might be a good entry level option for you. Or else wait for one of the Browning Mirco's to come on sale they'll probably be in the $160-200 range but they are good cameras. You already have some experience with the StealthCam 3pk cheepo special, I mean they work..for a while..and are affordable, so there's something to be said for that.

A lot of the Moultrie's get ####ty reviews so I never bothered to try those cameras, plus I don't like how they look, but again some people will feel they are the cat's meow and swear by 'em. again ymmv
 
RojamB21 said:
Simple answer to your question is buy the cheap ones and keep it for year or as long as they work.

Get your cards and batteries out in winter, they are all made in China and all are piece of crap.

So use as you go and buy cheap, if you lose one or two over the time, you wouldn't be crying.

Keep the old and not working one's in the places which are more visible so it throws the thieves off - Chow
Click to expand...

This is my outlook, I bought a $50 two pack of Simmons a few years back and after a year one stopped working but the other is going strong. If someone steals it or it packs it in I’ve got my money out of them, plus I’m it looking for high res pics so the 4-6mp ones are fine for my needs.
 
Butcherbill said:
This is my outlook, I bought a $50 two pack of Simmons a few years back and after a year one stopped working but the other is going strong. If someone steals it or it packs it in I’ve got my money out of them, plus I’m it looking for high res pics so the 4-6mp ones are fine for my needs.
Click to expand...

Yes and the technology gets better every year, so the next cheap ones you buy will likely be far better than the top of the line at the time you bought the first cheapo.

I have a 10 year old Moultrie that still works fine. Paid less than $70 for it. It uses c-cells and batteries won't last a week in the cold, but it takes decent pictures reliably. Got another Moultrie about 4 years ago as a gift and it uses "AA"'s I think. No troubles so far.

Looking at the ones with cell capability to help out with trespassers, holding off until one gets a solid rep. Hearing too much bad about them, and they are pricey.
 
Shifty11 said:
Hey folks.

I have barely any experience with trail cameras, I picked some up for my
Father in law to use out at different properties of his (which I check on for him) I picked up 3 Stealth Cams from Cabelas last year on sale. One stopped reading SD cards.. and I’m
not super stoked on how long it actually takes to take pictures (it could easily miss someone driving by on a quad for example) but I think we only paid sub 200 for 3 so can’t complain too much right?

What are some decent cameras for the price that people use and haven’t had too many issues with? I’ve seen some on sale at CT and Cabelas (both checking online from home) Father in law said he is cool spending a bit more on cameras this year.

For reference, we’re using these to see what animals are on his properties along with who is going around the gates and such. (Recently had a quad run from me and bush bash around the gate and fence) I’ve been looking online at reviews but still having issues picking cameras.

Hoping CGN can help :)
Click to expand...

Like yourself, I bought a trail cam to see what was roaming around on my father in laws property. Mostly to see when the coyotes were around. $65 on Amazon and has worked great.

https://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B07K9MJW8B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

View attachment 376029

View attachment 376030
 
Shifty11 said:
Anyone have experience with these?

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/138908/wildgame-innovations-wraith-16-lightsout-trail-camera-2-pack

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/122677/spypoint-force-20-20mp-trail-camera


Thinking these ones with the 2 functional ones I already have
Click to expand...

After reading all the comments and responses (which have been eye opening and helpful) I’m still torn between...these two, disregarding cost (since 2 for 2 they are close enough)

Any thoughts?
 
I bought a Simmons Prohunter 6mp camera back in 2012 and have been using it every year from November to June. Battery life seems to be good, and the pictures taken are as good as I’ll ever need. Picture speed also seem very acceptable. These cameras are made by Bushnell and fit inside a Bushnell security box. I think I paid the camera $70. They are discontinued but they can still be found online and newer models are also available
 
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