Looking for game camera suggestions

[EddieWalker]

Game cameras have become a yearly purchase for me because that's how long they last. I keep them out 24/7 and I feel that the summer heat and humidity is too much for them. I should probably take them down after deer season, but so much happens out there that I hate missing out on it.

I've tried most of the name brands. Stealthcam used to be REALLY GOOD, but they have slipped considerably over the years. The biggest issue that I've found with different brands is the quality of the picture at night being too grainy, or they just stop working at night.

The last two years my wife has bought me a new camera for my birthday based on Amazon reviews, and they have been horrible. When I go back to give my review, they have been closed to reviews, so that's something I look for when reading reviews.

Another thing to look for is the size of the SD Card. NEVER buy one with a micro SD card. They are very hard to get in and out of the camera, they are very expensive, and they have to go into an adapter to download the pictures. I really hated that camera!!!!

 

[TractorGuy]

Game cameras have become a yearly purchase for me because that's how long they last. I keep them out 24/7 and I feel that the summer heat and humidity is too much for them. I should probably take them down after deer season, but so much happens out there that I hate missing out on it.

I've tried most of the name brands. Stealthcam used to be REALLY GOOD, but they have slipped considerably over the years. The biggest issue that I've found with different brands is the quality of the picture at night being too grainy, or they just stop working at night.

The last two years my wife has bought me a new camera for my birthday based on Amazon reviews, and they have been horrible. When I go back to give my review, they have been closed to reviews, so that's something I look for when reading reviews.

Another thing to look for is the size of the SD Card. NEVER buy one with a micro SD card. They are very hard to get in and out of the camera, they are very expensive, and they have to go into an adapter to download the pictures. I really hated that camera!!!!

I will add a note on the SD card subject. I have had three failures of Sandisk brand micro SD cards this year. When I looked at the warranty on their web site they said they don't warranty them in cameras that loop record. Looking at other brands I saw no exclusions. All of my dash cams use micro SD cards so I won't be buying any more Sandisk brand cards.

I have bought and returned a couple of game cameras. Most produced images of deer tails. I don't even remember what brands I tried but I think the last was a Wild Game Innovations.

I don't have any game cameras but I have used a couple of Reolink wifi cameras within a few hundred feet of the house. I have mixed feelings about them but most of the time I get good video recordings and I don't have to leave the house to retrieve them.

 

[coobie]

Game & Trail Camera Reviews - Trail Cam Buying Guides-Trailcampro.com I have browings they are cheap decent cameras.

 

[Rock Crawler]

Bought through the VIPON application that links to Amazon.
All no name china imports, all work great in the elements and last for many months on the AA batteries.
I have 6 that work great and are a year old.

 

[Avondale]

Between my brother and I, we have about 30. Many models and maker. Been collecting them over ten years. All "worked" to varying degrees. Lately, I have noted that all of my Moultries have problems, usually with the LCD. All three spypoints have failed, won't keep time and date set. One issue I found when using all year round is that ants love them. I think many of my dead cams were due to ants eating away inside the camera. When opening the door, a vast herd of them came out with the eggs. I now use an ant goop inside the door with apparent success. Right now, I think WGI seems to be best value, just bought some Mirage and some Prizms, take decent pictures and on sale at Canadian Tire Store. Another opinion of mine, the black lights, no lights, lights out, etc are not worth the extra bucks. I have not seen any issues with normal red LED flashes and they have better range and clarity that the "invisible" flashes. I agree with other posts, modern cams using AA batts will last almost a year.

 

[IXLR8]

Lots of good input for me to do further research on, thank you. Thanks for the pics as well.

 

[dasranger]

I too have settled on Browning, in particular, the Strike Force. I buy a new one just about every year. New for 2019 is the Apex. Thought I would give it a try. Got it on Amazon. Very impressed. The night vision is solid. The videos and sound are excellent. It sips battery voltage. The SD card slides in and out much easier than other strike force models. There is no doubt in my mind this camera will go at least a year with lithium batteries.

 

[nyone]

I have had a moultree A5 for about 7years now and its spent more time outside than inside. Spent one winter in northern NY and survived. Its currently outside at our cabin.

I have tryed stealth cam, WGI and they work but dont get as many pictures day or night as my old moultree. Im looking at a moultree m50 now.

I tryed the cheap amazon/chinese ones. They didnt last one summer. After summer i came back to this camera. The pressure from the battery springs blew the back appart. I tryed to go back and give a bad review and it too was closed. I wont buy another off brand again.

 

[nyone]

That old moultree also cought this guy that winter it spent outside.

 

[Jim Nelson]

I've been trying game cams for videos and the old version 1 Stealth cam is the only one that I would rate as satisfactory. It lasted 6 years before giving up and everything I've tried since then in the $100-$150 range has had problems. Most of them work pretty well for still photos but videos are a problem.

I think that the camera companies are focusing more on the higher end models that will link to a smart phone or computer and I'm not interested in that. All that I want is a camera that will give reasonably clear 30 second videos and have external battery capabilities to get away from the cost of lithium batteries.I check my cameras every day and only use them for the entertainment value of seeing what is going through our property.So far I've seen one mountain lion, one weasel, several raccoons,2 fox, hundreds of coyotes,a lot of bobcats, and some interesting birds.

My neighbor has become interested also and between us we have tried pretty much everything out there in the under $150 price range and none have worked for us.