What are you guys using?
Im in the market, but everything I look at on cabelas has bad reviews.
My main priorities would be cost, cold weather compatible amd whatever else you guys find good about them.
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What are you guys using?
Im in the market, but everything I look at on cabelas has bad reviews.
My main priorities would be cost, cold weather compatible amd whatever else you guys find good about them.
I really like the Bushnell Core 4K, check out review on trailcampro website
Use Lithium AA in cold weather
You get what you pay for.
I got the Stealth two pack for 149 on sale. Several pairs. Several years ago.
They are OK . Sure do miss pics though. Frustrating, you can walk right through. And at times they don't pick you up. Yet has even picked up great detail at times. I know they miss some pics but, are affordable for average guy
My best photos come from an old stealthcam. My best videos come from a newer stealthcam DS4K. The DS4K takes 4 extra batteries, but I have no problem getting a winter with it and an external battery in goat country. The programming with the DS4K is pretty sweet to, lots a guy can do with it
I’ve got several brand name cameras but my best and favorite one is a no name Amazon special. They’re $89 now but I think I got it for $55 last summer.
Zopu Trail Camera 20MP 1080P No Glow Night Vision, Game Camera with 2.4" LCD 120° PIR Sensors, 0.2s Trigger Speed Motion Activated, IP66 Waterproof https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B07TL9ZF3T/...ing=UTF8&psc=1
I run 16 cameras.
My most consistent are Browning. I run most of my cameras on video and Browning are my best cameras for that.
I do have 2 2012 Bushnells that still work great and 2 2012 Spypoint cameras that still take good pictures. I also have an Amazon camera that works good, a few older Simmons 7mp Hunters and a mix of IR and white flash Stealthcams.
One new camera I have been running is the Primos Autopilot 20 for this year. So far, not too bad. Takes good video and excellent sound. Batteries last a long time.
Cheers
SS
Do you want a good camera? Or do you want to only spend money that you don’t mind getting chewed on by a bear or have it walk away?
I’ve been running inexpensive cameras so far.
They only take 10 second video clips…..flash distance isn’t stellar… and don’t have sound. On the plus side, triggers seem decent and battery life is very good.
Been running mostly 12 mp tasco two packs from Can Tire…$90 for two.
Recently I thought I’d try something different. Tried the two pack of 14mp Primos on sale for $89 (Can Tire)
Got them home. It’s the identical camera as the Tascos.
SSS
Well I was really hoping for a silver bullet here with somebody say “just buy this one and you’ll be happy”. But they all seem to be mediocre. I guess that’s why the reviews are the way they are on cabelas website.
I have one older trail cam that seems to work fine even though I don’t get many pics on it, maybe it’s where I set it up or maybe it doesn’t work very good. Lol. I did set it up in my bedroom once when I went on holidays and was quite surprised by what my house sitter was doing in my bedroom, but that’s a different story for another day.
Anyways, the wife picked up a 3 pack of stealth cams today for $150. We'll try them out and see what happens.
I stay with cheaper cameras in case they go missing. Have some old Simmons that still work perfectly. I also have an older stealth cam that works very well. Based on that I bought a couple of stealth cams from Costco. They worked excellent the first year but since then they will only take one picture. I tried several things to fix them. If I reformat the sad card it works when I set it up in the house however when I put it out it will just take one picture. Very frustrating. Start with a cheaper camera and decide if you want better pictures or video after the initial season.
I had 2 cameras many years ago when they were first coming out. I was very excited about using them and put them out on the first day of my hunt. I left them for 3 days before checking them. The first one had some pictures of a bear and the last picture was a picture of the bear with an open mouth in front of the camera. I found what was left of the camera and salvaged the card to see the pictures. The second camera had a nice picture of a bull moose walking by and then some elk. The last picture on this camera was a picture of an elk horn. I guess he wanted to play smash the camera because that was the end of that camera too. I don't know how good the protective covers are for the cameras but they would have to be made of metal, not plastic for these guys.
Check out this site for reviews on a very large sampling of trail cams.
https://www.trailcampro.com
I made my own protective box out of breaker boxes from Home Depot, some Liquid Nail for texture and spray paint.Quote:
Originally Posted by high and to the right
https://i.postimg.cc/kG7tXfws/8-B6-A...2-DC400511.jpg
SSSQuote:
Originally Posted by Stone Sheep Steve
They are all made by Bushnell. I have the cheap Tascos and one stopped taking pictures after a year, the other one is still taking great pictures, but shitty video. I will box up the one and send it to Bushnell and see what they say. My buddy took three of his 2012 Bushnell Trophy Cams that had quit and sent them to Bushnell last winter. A month later he got three brand new CORE cams and a thank you for buy Bushnell note.
A note to anyone buying cams, don't get sucked in to the Mega Pixel rating as they are all extrapolated from a basic 4mp. I run mine at the lowest MP so I can get the most pictures on a card and zoom in on the picture with out it pixelating.
I got away from the cases as they can get expensive, don't stop elk from slobbering all over the lens and forgetting my keys for the lock gets old fast!. Tried building my own, but in the end, went with making my own screw in mounts. https://www.deerassociation.com/buil...-camera-mount/ I bring a section of climbing tree stand ladder and use it to put my camera 9-10' up a tree and angle it down.
I had a few issues with bears at first, but now I just pile a bunch of brush and shit at the base of the tree and have not had an issue since. And I like the angle as it shows the animal better. The downfall is the the field of view is narrower so you do get the animals in the back ground.
Lots of good info out there and lots you can learn yourself.
Cheers
SS
Here’s the quality of video you get for a $50 camera.
Still a good value if you ask me.
https://youtu.be/1ZabfO6DeEE
Have you guys tried experimenting with 2-3 cams in the same spot, to see if others trigger or not? I use to run the cheaper cams (spypoint, bushnel, Simmons) but found that they wouldn’t trigger half the time. I often run 2-3 cams in the same spot and found this pretty normal, one cam would trigger while the other(s) wouldn’t.
Since switching out to stealth cams and brownings, I rarely get a missed shot (when I have another cam in the same spot for proof). And gotta say, the photo/video/sound quality is a lot better as well vs the lesser cams. That’s what’s shy’s me away from the budget cam’s personally.
just my findings with cams. I haven’t bought new off the shelf for 2-3 years now, perhaps there’s some better quality out there now.
I’ll add a clip from my DS4K for comparison. https://youtu.be/XnuaF-7GuxM
And from another of my old Stealthcams, which is still in action. My longest mountain cam to date. http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/showth...ntain-cam-pics
Im quite impressed with the browning cam’s as well. I do prefer the sound on the brownings, but find the image quality is better on the Stealthcams. Brownings seemed to trigger nearly 100% of the time as well.
A note on Stealthcam, share your cool shots with them, they sometimes hand out free gear ;).
I always run a cam on picture as well as another on video in Sept-Dec at the same place. Video can eat batteries and fill up a card fast, so the the back up will still be running pictures. I have never tested one against the other in the field, but I always run the back yard test every spring and have not noticed much of a difference between my cheap Tasco's and my more expensive Brownings (although I have never paid more than $120 for the Brownings).Quote:
Originally Posted by decker9
Another reason I like Browning is that I can run 128 g cards, which gives me ~2000 videos and they take 6 AA batteries (Lithium's) that will take 1000's of videos, even in the cold weather. Although my Brownings are not all alike; some take better video that others and some have better sound, some can go for months on a set of batteries, some I get a couple months.
My Stealthcams are all hit and miss. One of my white flash G models take great video but crappy pictures, the other takes both great pictures and video. My Costco Special is the same; good video but crappy pictures. My buddys Stealth Cam takes great pictures, but grainy video's.
I am really liking my Primos Autopilot; takes good photos and great video for $99 camera and when CT puts it on sale for $69, even better!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQT7meilMRY
Brent, that Tasco is much better than mine for video. Mine are 3 years old 8mp and I see that they are now made under the Primos name and is 14mp with 720p video.
Another thing to note is if you run lithium batteries, get a battery tester as I am finding that if one craps out, the camera quits, yet when I test them, one will be shitty and the rest will still be good.
Cheers
SS
I run cheaper cameras as well, and they take better quality videos than that. I run APEMAN cameras off amazon. They are $55-65, depending on sales, and they are pretty good. The only downside i have noticed is they tend to lose dates often. I have no idea what causes it, but will have to try lithium batteries and see if it makes a difference. Not all of them, but some of them. Cold shouldn't be the issue as i've had them out in July/Aug and they still had incorrect dates when i check them a month or so later.Quote:
Originally Posted by Stone Sheep Steve
As SS said, always make sure to set the quality and picture size to LOWEST setting. Otherwise, all you are getting is the lowest setting digitally enhanced to a bigger size. And, as you know from using the digital zoom on your phone or camera, all that does is make for a crappy photo. The 48 Megapixels, or whatever, is all crap marketing. The sensor in that camera is nowhere near that, and it shouldn't be. My first digital camera was in 2003 and it had 2 Megapixels, and it took better pictures than any trailcamera of today. It's marketing like this that i would make illegal if i could!
Here's one of my favorite trailcam pictures - taken with a cheap Amazon APEMAN camera. The date on this one seems correct, but the time seems wrong.
Of course, the cranker completely disappeared the moment the season started.
https://i.imgur.com/9C8SRpx.jpg
Here is a night view:
https://i.imgur.com/bbLFzWO.jpg
That’s some good info guys. That Apeman cam does take a phenomenal photo!!
I never thought about the picture size, I believe I have mine set on the highest megapixel. Something I’ll have to check when I go up in the spring.
Great boxes, showing talent there.Quote:
Originally Posted by bcsteve
I used an ammo can, no imagination, just steel and screws
There are various cams out there witht he Stealthcam name, not created equal for sure.
One two-pack comes on sale for $160 , another 3-pack comes on sale for $120, another looks like just a name change to 'Muddy' brand
Thanks! I wouldn’t leave a trail cam out for more then a couple weeks without a box. This cam had videos of half a dozen bears chewing on it as well as cows and moose rubbing on it. No damage on the camera just some liquid nail eaten off!Quote:
Originally Posted by boxhitch
https://i.postimg.cc/m2MvwysL/77-A58...A2-CA97-D6.jpg
270
Does the APEMAN use the micro SD cards? That's the one PITA I have with my Amazon specials. It takes the micro card and with my fat fingers, I find it hard to get it out a lot of the time and have dropped it more than once. Mine also changes the time and date randomly.
Cheers
SS
Any reviews on these cheapo Tascos? What do you guys recommend for SD cards? I have 2 old Simmons cams and never had good luck with them
https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/t...?rrec=true#spc
They are a good value cam when on sale for $45 per camera. The video that I posted above is from that cam.Quote:
Originally Posted by thick
https://youtu.be/1ZabfO6DeEE
Thanks for that, gonna give these a try. Did you get the 7months from one set of Lithium batteries or a couple battery swaps in between when checking the cam?Quote:
Originally Posted by Stone Sheep Steve
I just use basic AA’s. Not overly cold in the OkanaganQuote:
Originally Posted by thick
Yes. Actually had about 10
months out of one set of batteries on another cam that I left out and forgot about it. That camera didn’t see a pile of action however
when they work, they are decent, good clear pics and videoQuote:
Originally Posted by thick
but I don't trust them....I purchased the old tasco 5mp two pack many years ago, my very first trail cams and they have been reliable, compete with my more expensive cams
so i purchased the new 12 mp version expecting the same performance, but they just don't work as reliably, I put them on the same tree as others to test them, and they get 1/4 of the pics and go a few months with zero pics....and then all of a sudden start working perfectly for a few weeks, and then back to not working
Yes, sadly, most have switched to the micro now.Quote:
Originally Posted by Sitkaspruce
I, too, find it annoying because i often drop it fumbling around with it and then it can be a pain to find in the grass.
Much prefer the bigger cards. So much easier to handle.
It must depend on the model because I have an Apeman and it uses a regular SD card.Quote:
Originally Posted by twoSevenO
X2 on that Amazon trail cam $79...easy to use (even I have no problem) has a screen you can see your pics or vids, batteries last a long time, have got lots of game on it. After the first year I got a second one have had it for 3 years now no issues.
I had two expensive cams before the cheep ones but could never figure out how to use em.
MM
What do you guys use for a security box?
I make my own.Quote:
Originally Posted by walker1985
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/blob:h...9-e1987f0da480http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/blob:h...b-f56f294e7ed6https://i.postimg.cc/kG7tXfws/8-B6-A...2-DC400511.jpg
I have about a dozen trail cams now that still work. I have a couple cheap amazon and have put my much better ones beside them a few times. No comparison in the 2. The cheap amazon are terrible compared to both my Ridgetec and Bushnell. A couple of my Ridgetec are about 6 years old and 4 of my Bushnell are about 3 years old and I also have a couple of the newer Bushnell 4K and they are amazing. I can't believe how many animals I missed with the amazon and Spypoint ones. A few of my cheap ones only lasted about 2 years so when you pay a little more they end up costing about the same long term. I have places that I leave them out all year so I get lots of great pictures. Battery life on both the Ridgetec and the Bushnell are very good. I change my batteries twice a year just to make sure I don't miss anything.
http://www.huntingbc.ca/forum/attach...tid=8612&stc=1 I like my Browning cameras. They are user friendly, too many goofy things happen with other brands I have tried ( like 2500 pics of nothing!)
One of my rules about trial cameras, is if it cost me 50 each then Ill buy one or 2, as things go animals will eat my camera, or the camera will grow legs, so a 50 dollar camera plus memory card so around 70 each, the memory card is what im after if no camera is there, then I loose both camera and memory card, I do have one cell camera that sends texts to my phone so this one cost me 300 plus the memory card, but I do like the texts cameras so thats what im going with now