Trail Cam Recommendations

[BoilerWes]

Hey! Seeking input on favorite Trail Cameras. Best picture/video? If cellular, most cost effective plan? Ease of setup?

Thanks!

 

[GodFearinGunTotin]

This is changing so fast. Less than a year ago Tactacam Reveal XPro. I’ve posted a few of its photos on the trail cam thread. I’d recommend it. But there may be newer and better versions out by now. I also have a couple Muddy cell cams. (See same thread). I like them and I know they have new and improved versions out.

Bear in mind to be able to request photos and videos on demand you might have to upgrade to the manufacturer’s highest tier data plan.

 

[two70]

Hey! Seeking input on favorite Trail Cameras. Best picture/video? If cellular, most cost effective plan? Ease of setup?

Thanks!

How many cell cameras do you plan to run? If you plan to run more than 2-3 then you can't beat the cost of running multiple cuddelink cameras (up to 24) daisy chained to one Cuddeback cell cam for one cell fee of about $15 per month depending on the number of photos transimitted. It also allows you to place the cell cam where the cell signal is best and the cuddelink cams in areas of spotty signal. Of if you live on your hunting property you can forgo the cell cam and just route the photos to a home base in your home or somewhere that it is easily checked frequently. Setup is easy enough that you probably shouldn't be carrying weapons or handling sharp objects if you can't easily setup one. The trigger speed is fast enough to use pretty much anywhere, even perpendicular to trails.

There's two main downsides to the system though. The first being that you can't set them to record videos if you're using a cell cam. The other is battery life, it takes a lot of juice to transmit photos up the chain. The new L models are supposed to be more efficient. I'm trying out a couple currently but it is still too early to tell on the battery life. They do offer auxiliary battery packs and solar panels to extend the interval between replacing batteries. The solar panels are not cheap but can run the cameras for years without changing batteries.

Whichever one you decide to get avoid the ultra cheap models. They tend to eat batteries, have slow trigger speeds, or poor photo/video quality. Sometimes all of the above.

 

[rem788]

We have the Cuddlink system as mentioned above. Works just as described, we have been satisfied with the performance. Just be prepared to buy a lot of D batteries. We also have a Spartan cell camera that transmits pictures to our cell phones very quickly, within a few seconds of taking the picture. It also has the option of remotely switching to streaming mode so you can watch as things are happening. Both are about $15 per month.

 

[phylodog]

We've used several brands over the years. Ten years ago we ran Bushnell cameras, then when cell cams came around we went with Covert Cameras. We've been using Tacticam cameras the past several years and we've had pretty good luck with them, I'd have no problem recommending them. We've picked up a handful of Browning cams recently and they're performing well.

 

[Hop]

/subscribed

I don't want to side track the OP here but I'm also wanting some trail cams. Suggestions welcome.

I do not want a Cell phone subscription (no service where these will be located anyway).
I would like to retrieve the video via Bluetooth or Wifi without pulling the memory card(s) if possible. I don't even know if that's a thing now or not.
Solar rechargeable would be nice as we only get down that way every few weeks.

My gf has a natural water spring on her property & we want to see what kinds of critters frequent the area.

 

[ws6duramax]

How many cell cameras do you plan to run? If you plan to run more than 2-3 then you can't beat the cost of running multiple cuddelink cameras (up to 24) daisy chained to one Cuddeback cell cam for one cell fee of about $15 per month depending on the number of photos transimitted. It also allows you to place the cell cam where the cell signal is best and the cuddelink cams in areas of spotty signal. Of if you live on your hunting property you can forgo the cell cam and just route the photos to a home base in your home or somewhere that it is easily checked frequently. Setup is easy enough that you probably shouldn't be carrying weapons or handling sharp objects if you can't easily setup one. The trigger speed is fast enough to use pretty much anywhere, even perpendicular to trails.

There's two main downsides to the system though. The first being that you can't set them to record videos if you're using a cell cam. The other is battery life, it takes a lot of juice to transmit photos up the chain. The new L models are supposed to be more efficient. I'm trying out a couple currently but it is still too early to tell on the battery life. They do offer auxiliary battery packs and solar panels to extend the interval between replacing batteries. The solar panels are not cheap but can run the cameras for years without changing batteries.

Whichever one you decide to get avoid the ultra cheap models. They tend to eat batteries, have slow trigger speeds, or poor photo/video quality. Sometimes all of the above.

I tried the Cuddelink system and HATED it . Mine were absolute garbage. With fresh batteries , they were "OK" , but about 2 days after a battery change , they were horrible.

I would put out 2 cameras (1 cuddelink and 1 non cell) side by side , using the same settings and the Cuddelink cameras would take roughly 80% less pics. I switched to a Spartan and it works flawlessly.

 

[HuntMeister]

I have been running the Reveal X cams for a couple of years now and really like them. I do the $5 plan / mo / cam, gets 250 photos / cam and all the available photos go into a bucket that every cam draws from so 4 cams, 1000 photos in the plan that are available to any cam in the plan. I do not run them over salt or bait sites so I have never ran over the allotted number of photos.

 

[two70]

I tried the Cuddelink system and HATED it . Mine were absolute garbage. With fresh batteries , they were "OK" , but about 2 days after a battery change , they were horrible.

I would put out 2 cameras (1 cuddelink and 1 non cell) side by side , using the same settings and the Cuddelink cameras would take roughly 80% less pics. I switched to a Spartan and it works flawlessly.

I've never seen anything like that with mine after running close to 20 of them for the past 4-5 years. I wonder if you just got a lemon or maybe had an issue with the batteries you used? I've heard that they can be temperamental if you don't use quality, name brand batteries.

 

[two70]

/subscribed

I don't want to side track the OP here but I'm also wanting some trail cams. Suggestions welcome.

I do not want a Cell phone subscription (no service where these will be located anyway).
I would like to retrieve the video via Bluetooth or Wifi without pulling the memory card(s) if possible. I don't even know if that's a thing now or not.
Solar rechargeable would be nice as we only get down that way every few weeks.

My gf has a natural water spring on her property & we want to see what kinds of critters frequent the area.

I don't know of any that will allow you to download photos via Bluetooth or Wifi remotely yet. About as close as you can get is the Cuddeback Cuddelink system. You would need at least one camera, probably more depending on the distance, and a home base. You put the one camera up where you want it, then put the home base or another camera up within about .25 mile and it'll send the photos down the line to the home base which can be attached directly to a computer or placed somewhere that it is easy and convenient to retrieve the card.

 

[BoilerWes]

Think I’m going with the Tactacam Reveal. I have had multiple recommendations for it. Reviews and online pics look great.

 

[ancjr]

Subscribed.

I think I'd like cameras for the two legged wildlife around here as much as anything else...