Trail cam reviews

[igojuone]

Check out this site for reviews on a very large sampling of trail cams.

https://www.trailcampro.com

[bcsteve]

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.

I made my own protective box out of breaker boxes from Home Depot, some Liquid Nail for texture and spray paint.

[Sitkaspruce]

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

SSS

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

[Stone Sheep Steve]

Here’s the quality of video you get for a $50 camera.
Still a good value if you ask me.

https://youtu.be/1ZabfO6DeEE

[decker9]

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 .

[Sitkaspruce]

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).

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

[twoSevenO]

Here’s the quality of video you get for a $50 camera.
Still a good value if you ask me.

https://youtu.be/1ZabfO6DeEE

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.

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.

[twoSevenO]

Here is a night view:

[decker9]

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.

[boxhitch]

I made my own protective box out of breaker boxes from Home Depot, some Liquid Nail for texture and spray paint.

Great boxes, showing talent there.
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