Camera help please

[Sandhillshunter]

So we have decided to put two or three cameras out this year. I have never done this in the past, so not sure which ones are considered good. Which ones to stay away from and so forth. Not even sure what options we want/need, as I have never been into them. Time is my issue during summer and early fall. July - September are my busy months. So having a wireless option would be nice, as I will not have time to go check cameras during those months. I did read through the "wireless" thread but that is about a year old.

For three months, I would assume power becomes an issue. What is the typical battery life of these things? Prices seem to be all over the board. I don't have a problem spending up to 300 per camera, but less is better. I will not spend 500-600 per camera.

Yes, my property does have cell service.

Thank you,

 

[deermanok]

A couple of my friends have spy point cameras. I don't know much about them other than they send the pictures right to your phone.

 

[Sandhillshunter]

A couple of my friends have spy point cameras. I don't know much about them other than they send the pictures right to your phone.

Thanks deermanok. Spy point is a brand that I can find locally.

Others I can find locally include Steathcam, Browning, covert, and cuddeback. Probably just going to have to buy something and see how it does. Start with one and go from there.

 

[ENCORE50A]

I use 6 SteAlthcams and they work just fine.

NOTICE............. WHAT EVER YOU DO, GET NO-GLOW FLASH OR GLOW. YOU DO NOT WANT A FLASH OR LIGHT GOING OFF. ITS A MAGNET FOR THEIVES AND THEY'LL STEAL THEM AS FAST AS YOU CAN PUT THEM UP.

 

[sdporter]

Watch Camofire, if you’re not familiar with it, it’s a website that has deals on all kinds of hunting stuff. I got some Stealthcams on there for $40 a piece. They were $79 at Sportsmans.

 

[phalanx]

I haved used spartan cams for years along with SPYPOINT. Spypoint gives you 100 pics a month for free. Spartan not so cheap but better pics.

 

[Smyrnagc]

I have two Spypoint cameras out and they are going on 6 months with plenty of battery life left. They run on 8 AA batteries but I use the Energizer batteries. I have the 100 free pics plan on them.

If you get the Spypoint camera make sure that you have a good signal from a tower for Verizon or ATT. You can easily check this with your cell phone.

 

[bandicoot]

I like Browning and Spypoint. www.trailcampros.com

 

[Sandhillshunter]

Thanks all! Looks like we are going to go with Spypoint or Stealthcam and it will probably just come down to what is available.

 

[Icerman]

So we have decided to put two or three cameras out this year. I have never done this in the past, so not sure which ones are considered good. Which ones to stay away from and so forth. Not even sure what options we want/need, as I have never been into them. Time is my issue during summer and early fall. July - September are my busy months. So having a wireless option would be nice, as I will not have time to go check cameras during those months. I did read through the "wireless" thread but that is about a year old.

For three months, I would assume power becomes an issue. What is the typical battery life of these things? Prices seem to be all over the board. I don't have a problem spending up to 300 per camera, but less is better. I will not spend 500-600 per camera.

Yes, my property does have cell service.

Thank you,

I have about 25 trail cameras. The best that I have is a Reconyx. Very expensive but the best; fewest fast triggers, best battery life (6+ months/12 batteries) (this depends on the number of photos). Mine only does pictures, but it is so fast you can see different segments of a deer jumping a fence! I think they miss very few animals, "see what you've been missing" is valid with these cameras. I also have Bushnell- I have a love/hate relationship with them; love the adjustability, love that I can get lots of videos on a card, and have great battery live (6+ months/8 batteries): I hate the multiple false triggers I get on them. Browning-I have lots of them. They take great photos, 6 batteries last a long time (5-6+months), but the videos eat up SD card space. I have some that will have few false triggers and some that continually have 1000's of false triggers, they are good but vary camera to camera. I have Tec Bean: cheap, OK but not the best. I have Victure; again, cheap, not the best, but you can view the photo/video on the screen...If you can see the screen in the sun light. Viewing the setting/screen is really difficult on both the Victure and the Tec bean. Both of these are no-glow, so I mainly use them on my property for surveillance. I think they may miss photos/animals at times. My brother has about 18 cameras. He too has browning and bushnells and some stealth cam; He has had issues with the stealth cams (maybe that is why you see them constantly on CamoFire?! He has also had acorn cameras (cheap), I doubt any of them work now. Anyway, If I had the money, Reconyx all the way. Unfortunately I can have 4-5 cameras for the price of one reconyx thus the reason I only have one! I prefer those that take a standard SD card as opposed to a micro SD card. Personally, I think the cellular ones should be outlawed during hunting seasons as they give you an unfair advantage, but that is my opinion. I love using my trail cameras, I likely have more fun with them than actually hunting! Many states are outlawing them, my own state is trying to do so. That will be sad, but when you have a water hole with 25 trail cameras on it and people constantly traveling to/from the water, it can disrupt wildlife. Oh, I think you will get better pictures on the glow vs the no-glow. I do use the no glow for surveillance so people do not see them.

 

[Bad Karma]

Watch Camofire, if you’re not familiar with it, it’s a website that has deals on all kinds of hunting stuff. I got some Stealthcams on there for $40 a piece. They were $79 at Sportsmans.

I’d forgotten all about that site!

 

[Hatchet Jack]

I bought my first trail cams about 15 years ago. They are fun to mess with. A hobby within themselves.
Last year I bought 3 of my first cell cams. They are the Tactacam, Reveal. I liked them so much I bought 2 more this year of the newer model Tactacam, Reveal X. They can all be be managed from my phone pretty easily.(Even for a not so techy guy) I have 3 of them running right now in Ohio sending me pics. The other 2 are up on the mountain behind my house here in Maryland sending me pics.
I paid $100 for the original 3, and $119 for the other 2 this year. I ended up purchasing the unlimited yearly subscription for each camera that cost about $90 per year, per camera.
I am pretty pleased with them and they don't break the bank.