which trail cam to buy?

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sdhunter

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ok guys, i know absolutely nothing about trail cameras, which brand is the best to go with. which one has the best picture, best battery life so on and so forthe?
 
I'm also looking so will be interested in the replies.

sdhunter...you need to pick a price point as there is a wide range. How much do you want to spend?
 
well i was always told that you get what you pay for. so price is really not an an option as long as it is a reliable camera.
 
Reconyx all the way.
That said, they are spendy.

I have two Moultrie game spy 4.0 and one Reconyx RC55.

The Moultries take a comparable picture but their wake up time is somewhat slow.

The Moultries we use for feeder duty and the Reconyx for trail viewing.
 
I got a Wildview Infrared Extreme TGL51R for xmas. i set it up in the kitchen and did a walk around and it seemed to work pretty good....cant wait to get it out in the field this summer.
 
for the money you cant really go THAT wrong with the moultries. i have a few of them and they do just fine. i splurged last season and got a cuddyback. the pictures were no better but the trigger speed was notably faster.
 
I will just note that the Moultie example performed poorly in those independent thorough tests linked to above. Not saying it doesn't work fine, just that it doesn't appear to be all that great relative to the competition; particularly on width of detection zone.
 
I have a few of the moultries myself and have had experence with a few others. I would highly recomend the moultrie brand, the cheaper ones work great.
 
Just picked up another of the Moultrie IR40.

They are on sale online at Cabelas for $169.00.

Get em while the gettins good.
 
I've been looking at good but not overly expensive trail cams and the two 2009 hot picks seemed to be the Bushnell Trophy Cam and Scoutguard SG550, both based on the same core electronics. I suspect there may be some good prices when the new 2010 models come out.

For 2010 it is a month or so early, but the 2010 Bushnell Trophy Cam XLT and UWay NightTrakker NT50IR both look interesting, and are upgrades to the 2009 BTC and SG550.
 
I've bought 5 or 6 "cheaper" trail cameras and always end up with the same problem...they quit working about half way through the season. I've been trying to stay within the $100-150 range but I'd be willing to spend more if I knew the camera would last.

Anyone having any reviews on camera longevity?
 
the moultrie I40 had MAJOR issues for the last 2 years. there are threads all over the internet about the LCD screen going out in them, thus making it impossible to set anything on the camera.

I went through about 6 or 7 of them (exchange at academy) before I finally game up on them and went to the cuddeback capture. The cuddeback doesn't have the battery life that the I40 did, but htey WORK and haven't crapped out yet after two years.

there is a thread on texasbowhunter with at least 40 people that have had similar problems.

Moultrie will deny any such issue if you call them.

I will never buy another moultrie product...

the little scoutguard cameras have been getting very good reviews too.
 
The Moultrie D-40 is about as nice as you will find for your money, they are inexpensive, take color 4 meg picks even at night with flash which does not spook game like I have heard many times, least not from what I see. I have used others many times but keep coming back to the D-40 simply because it works best for me and has all the features I need.
 
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I have a couple scout guard sv650 cameras and do like them enough to order a couple more. Even midway usa is sell'n them now .
 
As I said, the Moultrie is best suited to feeder duty or at the very least, close attention needs to be paid as to the direction it points on a trail.
More parallel with the trail is best as opposed to looking straight across the trail.
In this manner you give the camera more time to sense the animal and " wake up" in time to take the picture.

They take quality photos and have a very long battery life compared to some other higher dollar brands.
We have used a couple for almost two or so years now and we have been very pleased with their performance.

Check out Midways web site and read the reviews and compare the different price points and what many others have to say.
This is what led us to purchase the moultries in the first place.
 

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