I have not seen anyone on here mentioning running the Black Gate cell cams so i am going to be the test dummy. I will have 2 of the R4G models in the field starting tuesday and will try to remember to share updates and pics for anyone interested . I am running 8 tactacams (6 reveal X, 2 XB) at the moment and i am pretty pleased overall with them considering the price point.
Black Gate cell cams
- Thread starter JAY B
- Start date
boonencrockett
Well-Known Member
I've ran a few black gates for years now . They work flawless and take good pics for the price range. The guys that own it are friends with my friends from Ohio I hunt with . Customer service is best there is
Didnt realize they had been out that long . I am going to give these a few more days before I share my experience with them.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Updates on the camera?
They are working well for me and what I am looking for out of a budget cell camera. Battery life is not the best (8aa),but not terrible. Pic quality is ok, can be great if the lighting is just right . Trigger speed seems good , app is pretty easy to navigate. Overall I would give 7/10 from my experience. Keep in mind I have only used Browning and Tactacam cell cameras. Currently running 7 tactacam reveal X and 5 Blackgate RG4 lite models, hope this helps.
Which do you like best?
Each have their own pros and cons, overall if i could only run 1 it would be the tactacam as of right now. I like the app better than the Blackgate and the way it shows most recent pic sent no matter which camera vs having to click on individual camera to see those pics, small fuss but just my preference. BTW the price on the Blackgate plan is the best in the business i believe, good luck whichever route you take.
dustycoyote
Member
Any feedback on range of the flash and detection sensor?
Lots of cams don't live up to their marketed range specs....
I'm looking to replace several Browning cams. Considering Tactacam x pro and stealth detector cams right now but am thinking I may want to do the Black gate instead.
Any thoughts on reliability, durability? Sensor range and how well it picks up game??
I'm going to be adding some solar battery packs so not to worried about battery life but would love any additional thoughts and preferences you may have.
dustycoyote
Member
No one responded to my questions above to I'll post my own answer for anyone still looking at these cams.
Also, FYI, I contacted BlackGate to ask about their sensor range. they would not give an answer. Even after I asked again they would not answer. So I assume they have a substandard sensor range and are well aware of it and just don't want it made broadly and publicly known. this is pretty much substantiated by my experience.
Since posting that question I bought a couple Black Gates to try them out as a replacement for my current Browning cams. I also purchased a Tactacam X PRO to try out and have had all three in the field for about 2 months now.
The Brownings perform specacularly but their monthly plan is ridiculously expensive and their cams fell apart one by one. they started failing after just the first year. Three of mine had the tension spring in the SD card slot fail so the camera wouldn't recognize the card or function. Expensively frustrating....
I run mostly video, so this info applies movtly to video functions.
Most important item to me are the sensors and how well they actually pick up activity. Do they catch everything? How soon do they catch it? How far away does it sense movement? etc.
This is super important to me as my primary use for the cameras is security and trespassing. Wildlife viewing is a really nice bonus, but I really need the cameras to catch anyone who enters an area.
Sensors - The Browning is by far the best. PIcks up movement and starts a recording right as something enters the visible frame of the camera. It also has pretty good range. Very consistent in catching movement at over 60 feet.
R4G - Very disappointed with the range. I have one location where it is about 10 feet off of the ground watching a gate that is about 60 feet away. It catches nothing at the gate. I am going to have to replace it with another model. The only time I get any images from the camera in this location is when someone is already inside the gate and kicks up dust from the road near the camera.
This gate is my primary entrance to my property so have have had 4 instances where I approached the gate from the far side, got off my ATV, unhitched the gate, remounted, drove straight at the camera and parked right below it. Then stood on top of my atv in order to change the SD card on the camera. Not once has it picked up any of that. Even me driving directly at it has not been picked up.
I also drive up to my other R4G from almost directly in front of it. This one is only about 6 feet off the ground. When I drive up to it, the video doesn't start until I am about 40 feet away from it or so. And I am driving pretty slow. Maybe 5 or 6 miles an hour. But it does seem to have caught some animal movement that happens a little farther out. Maybe up to 60 feet or so. Not sure how consistently it is catching it. The browning seems to have captured Interestingly, It seems to get movement farther out a little better at night...
The R4G seems to be pretty good at ignoring the wind blowing. probably better than the Brownings, but I suspect that this is just indicitive of an overall less capable and sensitive sensor. It just doesn't catch as much movement and at as great a distance overall.
The tactacam is closer to the browning for range. it might actually be as good or even a little better. But the Tactacam is terrible at catching movement as it enters the frame from the side. for anyone that primarily wants video it is even worse in that there is no video-only mode. it takes a pic first then starts a video. So the video doesn't start until after the pic is done. With the cameras poor ability to catch movement entering the frame, the pictures generally don't happen till an animal is well within the field of view, Then the video starts even later.
Interestingly the Tactacam is CONSTANTLY Being triggered by the wind. It is in a location with lots of trees and leaves so I expected some triggering, but it is triggered more than the Browning was at the same location.
Costs -
Browning is stupid. Was paying three times what I pay with Black Gate.
Black Gate is awesome. shared data with cheap add-on camera costs.
Tactacam is pretty darn good too, but not as good as Black Gate.
Connectivity - Both of these are much better than the Brownings. Like WAY better. Where the Brownings would have marginal to decent, but sometimes intermittent, connections at the same locations, both of these have strong consistent signals. No conectivty problems at all. I would definitely give an edge to the R4G for its ability to just select the best carrier with no input from the user.
My Brownings were able to use either Verizon or ATT, but I had to select one or the other and it is kind of a pain to change. And they didn't have great connection on either carrier at my locations.
uploading HD and video to the cloud - My Brownings were not good. Probably at least partially due to their poor connectivity. But I always had issues with them.
If I tried to request more than one HD/Video from the camera at a time it generally would not execute on the request. And if I did that it also regularly would lock up the camera so that I could no longer get any more HD/Video uploads to the cloud until I physically visited and reset the camera.
The R4G generally will also only execute on a single upload request at a time, but if I request multiple it just ignores all but one of them. It doesn't lock up the camera. and it executes on the reqests quicker so I am able to just make multiple separate reqests in a day if needed. Not perfect but workable.
the Tactacam seems to be the best at doing the HD/video uploads, but for some reason I prefer the R4G.. I think I've developed a bias here as it defintely works better than the R4G in this area. I like the R4G better overall so I think I am unconsciously giving it the benefit of the doubt here...
Video and Picture quality -
Browing is again much better than either the R4G or Tactacam. The BG and Tac are both OK. Not bad at all, but just not nearly as good as the Browning. Both of these seem to have super high contrast levels. Not as realistic or pleasing to view as the Browning which has just overall nicer and more realistic images and videos.
I would rate the R4G above the Tactacam here.
Battery - I have all of mine hooked up to solar power so I can't speak to battery power. I will say that the Tactacam has an odd sized connector for external power so you need an adapter which is a pain.
Menus and options - Browning has much better options and a larger selection of options. but I can make the other two work. Would like to have the option for longer video on both...
The menus on both are superior to the Browning which is a pain.
mobile app and web interface and access - Browning is great The others are not.
Browning - Easy interface and full functionality shared on app and web.
Black Gate - App is more primitive but OK. BUT, and this is a big issue for me, it is not able to show videos on the web, only on the app. So I am not able to see high res video on a large screen until I collect the card from the camera.
Tactacam - Also not able to show video on the web. ONly on the app, In addition, Tactacams business model is that a user pays separately for video. A one time payment of 5.00 gets you 50 video or HD uploads. BUT it appears that an upload request from teh app applies only to the app. If you want access to that same HD image via the web they will charge again for a request from the web. The two do not seem to be interconnected...
My overall opinion
I would almost certainly choose the R4G over the Tactacam with a huge concern around the distance its sensor reaches. And that concern may end up making them not work for me at all, even if I like a lot of their other aspects. Will have to see if I can get enough range out of them to make them usable.... Neither one has as good of a sensor as the Brownings but the Browning is just an untenable solution becuase of the high cell plan costs and the poor build quality of the cameras themselves. The connectivity and upload issues are not deal breakers but are serious enough concerns that I would be exploring alternate options anyway.
I haven't had these new cams long enough to know if they also have durablility and quality issues. I will have to see about that over the next year.
Also, FYI, I contacted BlackGate to ask about their sensor range. they would not give an answer. Even after I asked again they would not answer. So I assume they have a substandard sensor range and are well aware of it and just don't want it made broadly and publicly known. this is pretty much substantiated by my experience.
Since posting that question I bought a couple Black Gates to try them out as a replacement for my current Browning cams. I also purchased a Tactacam X PRO to try out and have had all three in the field for about 2 months now.
The Brownings perform specacularly but their monthly plan is ridiculously expensive and their cams fell apart one by one. they started failing after just the first year. Three of mine had the tension spring in the SD card slot fail so the camera wouldn't recognize the card or function. Expensively frustrating....
I run mostly video, so this info applies movtly to video functions.
Most important item to me are the sensors and how well they actually pick up activity. Do they catch everything? How soon do they catch it? How far away does it sense movement? etc.
This is super important to me as my primary use for the cameras is security and trespassing. Wildlife viewing is a really nice bonus, but I really need the cameras to catch anyone who enters an area.
Sensors - The Browning is by far the best. PIcks up movement and starts a recording right as something enters the visible frame of the camera. It also has pretty good range. Very consistent in catching movement at over 60 feet.
R4G - Very disappointed with the range. I have one location where it is about 10 feet off of the ground watching a gate that is about 60 feet away. It catches nothing at the gate. I am going to have to replace it with another model. The only time I get any images from the camera in this location is when someone is already inside the gate and kicks up dust from the road near the camera.
This gate is my primary entrance to my property so have have had 4 instances where I approached the gate from the far side, got off my ATV, unhitched the gate, remounted, drove straight at the camera and parked right below it. Then stood on top of my atv in order to change the SD card on the camera. Not once has it picked up any of that. Even me driving directly at it has not been picked up.
I also drive up to my other R4G from almost directly in front of it. This one is only about 6 feet off the ground. When I drive up to it, the video doesn't start until I am about 40 feet away from it or so. And I am driving pretty slow. Maybe 5 or 6 miles an hour. But it does seem to have caught some animal movement that happens a little farther out. Maybe up to 60 feet or so. Not sure how consistently it is catching it. The browning seems to have captured Interestingly, It seems to get movement farther out a little better at night...
The R4G seems to be pretty good at ignoring the wind blowing. probably better than the Brownings, but I suspect that this is just indicitive of an overall less capable and sensitive sensor. It just doesn't catch as much movement and at as great a distance overall.
The tactacam is closer to the browning for range. it might actually be as good or even a little better. But the Tactacam is terrible at catching movement as it enters the frame from the side. for anyone that primarily wants video it is even worse in that there is no video-only mode. it takes a pic first then starts a video. So the video doesn't start until after the pic is done. With the cameras poor ability to catch movement entering the frame, the pictures generally don't happen till an animal is well within the field of view, Then the video starts even later.
Interestingly the Tactacam is CONSTANTLY Being triggered by the wind. It is in a location with lots of trees and leaves so I expected some triggering, but it is triggered more than the Browning was at the same location.
Costs -
Browning is stupid. Was paying three times what I pay with Black Gate.
Black Gate is awesome. shared data with cheap add-on camera costs.
Tactacam is pretty darn good too, but not as good as Black Gate.
Connectivity - Both of these are much better than the Brownings. Like WAY better. Where the Brownings would have marginal to decent, but sometimes intermittent, connections at the same locations, both of these have strong consistent signals. No conectivty problems at all. I would definitely give an edge to the R4G for its ability to just select the best carrier with no input from the user.
My Brownings were able to use either Verizon or ATT, but I had to select one or the other and it is kind of a pain to change. And they didn't have great connection on either carrier at my locations.
uploading HD and video to the cloud - My Brownings were not good. Probably at least partially due to their poor connectivity. But I always had issues with them.
If I tried to request more than one HD/Video from the camera at a time it generally would not execute on the request. And if I did that it also regularly would lock up the camera so that I could no longer get any more HD/Video uploads to the cloud until I physically visited and reset the camera.
The R4G generally will also only execute on a single upload request at a time, but if I request multiple it just ignores all but one of them. It doesn't lock up the camera. and it executes on the reqests quicker so I am able to just make multiple separate reqests in a day if needed. Not perfect but workable.
the Tactacam seems to be the best at doing the HD/video uploads, but for some reason I prefer the R4G.. I think I've developed a bias here as it defintely works better than the R4G in this area. I like the R4G better overall so I think I am unconsciously giving it the benefit of the doubt here...
Video and Picture quality -
Browing is again much better than either the R4G or Tactacam. The BG and Tac are both OK. Not bad at all, but just not nearly as good as the Browning. Both of these seem to have super high contrast levels. Not as realistic or pleasing to view as the Browning which has just overall nicer and more realistic images and videos.
I would rate the R4G above the Tactacam here.
Battery - I have all of mine hooked up to solar power so I can't speak to battery power. I will say that the Tactacam has an odd sized connector for external power so you need an adapter which is a pain.
Menus and options - Browning has much better options and a larger selection of options. but I can make the other two work. Would like to have the option for longer video on both...
The menus on both are superior to the Browning which is a pain.
mobile app and web interface and access - Browning is great The others are not.
Browning - Easy interface and full functionality shared on app and web.
Black Gate - App is more primitive but OK. BUT, and this is a big issue for me, it is not able to show videos on the web, only on the app. So I am not able to see high res video on a large screen until I collect the card from the camera.
Tactacam - Also not able to show video on the web. ONly on the app, In addition, Tactacams business model is that a user pays separately for video. A one time payment of 5.00 gets you 50 video or HD uploads. BUT it appears that an upload request from teh app applies only to the app. If you want access to that same HD image via the web they will charge again for a request from the web. The two do not seem to be interconnected...
My overall opinion
I would almost certainly choose the R4G over the Tactacam with a huge concern around the distance its sensor reaches. And that concern may end up making them not work for me at all, even if I like a lot of their other aspects. Will have to see if I can get enough range out of them to make them usable.... Neither one has as good of a sensor as the Brownings but the Browning is just an untenable solution becuase of the high cell plan costs and the poor build quality of the cameras themselves. The connectivity and upload issues are not deal breakers but are serious enough concerns that I would be exploring alternate options anyway.
I haven't had these new cams long enough to know if they also have durablility and quality issues. I will have to see about that over the next year.
BSK
Well-Known Member
dustycoyote,
Awesome and thorough review! Thanks for posting it!
I use no cell cams. And I'm a big fan of Browning cams. But I have to admit, one of the primary weaknesses of the Brownings is their susceptibility to wind. In summer and early fall, when there are still leaves on the trees, sunlight on wind-blown leaves drives me crazy. I'll literally get 50-60 videos in a row of this on a blustery day. Often, I have cams watching early season scrapes, and the overhanging limbs still has their leaves. If the sun shines on the leaf-covered overhanging branch, and there's a moderate wind, I'm going to have a ton of "nothing" videos. Just the sunlit overhanging limb swaying back and forth.
However, their very long detection range, fast trigger, superior video and sound quality, and very long black-flash range over-ride this one weakness.
Awesome and thorough review! Thanks for posting it!
I use no cell cams. And I'm a big fan of Browning cams. But I have to admit, one of the primary weaknesses of the Brownings is their susceptibility to wind. In summer and early fall, when there are still leaves on the trees, sunlight on wind-blown leaves drives me crazy. I'll literally get 50-60 videos in a row of this on a blustery day. Often, I have cams watching early season scrapes, and the overhanging limbs still has their leaves. If the sun shines on the leaf-covered overhanging branch, and there's a moderate wind, I'm going to have a ton of "nothing" videos. Just the sunlit overhanging limb swaying back and forth.
However, their very long detection range, fast trigger, superior video and sound quality, and very long black-flash range over-ride this one weakness.
Sorry for not replying on this post sooner, i am not very active on the trail cam forum early in the year. Your post describes alot of my thoughts exactly. I am still running both cams but if i had to choose 1 brand as of right now it would still be tactacam 100%.
dustycoyote
Member
Your notes reminded me about audio!
The audio on the R4G is great. Better than browning. It picks up all the bird songs and other animal sounds really well.
The audio on the Tactacam is really poor. So muted and low that I don't really even try to hear it on the recordings anymore.
I know not everyone cares about audio but if it matters to you the R4G is much better.
Also, another comment in the string reminded me about the sounds the camera makes.
The tactacam is loud. It's own camera sound is one of the few things I can hear on the recordings. It seems like it is probably pretty loud.
I'm not sure if the R4G is loud or not but something about it draws the attention of elk and deer for sure. Many of my videos are of deer or elk abruptly turning their attention to the camera. With many of them walking over to check it out.
Both seem to draw more attention than the Browning. But it also drew some attention.
The audio on the R4G is great. Better than browning. It picks up all the bird songs and other animal sounds really well.
The audio on the Tactacam is really poor. So muted and low that I don't really even try to hear it on the recordings anymore.
I know not everyone cares about audio but if it matters to you the R4G is much better.
Also, another comment in the string reminded me about the sounds the camera makes.
The tactacam is loud. It's own camera sound is one of the few things I can hear on the recordings. It seems like it is probably pretty loud.
I'm not sure if the R4G is loud or not but something about it draws the attention of elk and deer for sure. Many of my videos are of deer or elk abruptly turning their attention to the camera. With many of them walking over to check it out.
Both seem to draw more attention than the Browning. But it also drew some attention.
dustycoyote
Member
I'm looking through my videos now to make sure I'm accurately representing the info for each camera.
It looks like the R4G sensor is pretty slow to pick up animals entering the field of view from the side as well.
There are a couple of videos on that 6 foot high camera where a deer only 6 or 10 feet away enters from the side but the video doesn't start until it is almost centered in the field of view.
Just an FYI.
It looks like the R4G sensor is pretty slow to pick up animals entering the field of view from the side as well.
There are a couple of videos on that 6 foot high camera where a deer only 6 or 10 feet away enters from the side but the video doesn't start until it is almost centered in the field of view.
Just an FYI.
dustycoyote
Member
Sorry I keep adding more comments.
The Black Gate has great costs and audio.
Setting those two things aside, if the tactacam didn't require taking a picture before each video, I think I would prefer the tactacam too.
The Black Gate has great costs and audio.
Setting those two things aside, if the tactacam didn't require taking a picture before each video, I think I would prefer the tactacam too.
Thanks for all this info. Very informative. Oddly enough I ordered 3 Tactacam X-Pro cameras yesterday with the solar charger before reading this. Never owned cell cams before but looking forward to getting them going.
deerhunter10
Well-Known Member
Great review. I want to try them but may go another route.
East TN Bowhunter
Well-Known Member
I own 4 tactacams(2-XBs and 2-X Pros) the X-pros have better image quality but the video quality on the XBs seem a little better to me. One thing I definitely agree on with Tactacams is the false triggers from wind and the delay in the pic to video start time is not too good. If a deer is running from one side to the other good luck catching it on video. I had an awesome sparring match in late December last year between 2 good bucks that quickly went off camera at beginning of video(All I got was a leg) and then luckily ended up coming back in frame for a couple secs before the video ended. They were locked up and steam rolling one another back and forth about 10-15 yards at a time which was awesome LOL but wish it could trigger videos quicker or just have a video only setting. I don't mind their monthly price plan but I haven't had any Brownings or Black gates so I can't really compare too much. I have had bears rip my antennas off and the cell portion stopped working but it kept taking pics on the SD card. I have been running the XBs for 3 years with no issues and the X Pros for one season with no issues. I also use the steel security boxes with mine so bears and thieves can't destroy or steal them. Overall, I love my Tactacams for using them either as a traditional trail cam or a cell cam. If I could change one thing about them, it would be image quality equal to Browning's level.
dustycoyote
Member
Another thing I remembered after checking my pictures this morning is that the BlackGate uploads video previews. This is really nice and one of the reasons I want to see if I can make them work, even with the sensor deficiencies.
If you are running in video mode, the R4G automatically uploads a video preview rather than a single picture. When you click on the thumbnail in the app, it plays a series of maybe 5 frame captures from the video so you are able to see what is on the beginning/middle/end of the video before requesting the full video download. This is a really nice feature for a video user.
And thanks for the info on the durability of the Tactacam. The last time I serviced mine I found that an Elk had been messing with it. She had pulled out the external battery cable and had bent the connector. Since that time I have videos of her every single day visiting the camera and chewing on the cable and the antennae and generally messing with it. I probably should get a security box.
Anyone have any recommendations for cheap ones that still work?
Or maybe is there a spray I can spray it with that will keep the deer and elk off of it?
If you are running in video mode, the R4G automatically uploads a video preview rather than a single picture. When you click on the thumbnail in the app, it plays a series of maybe 5 frame captures from the video so you are able to see what is on the beginning/middle/end of the video before requesting the full video download. This is a really nice feature for a video user.
And thanks for the info on the durability of the Tactacam. The last time I serviced mine I found that an Elk had been messing with it. She had pulled out the external battery cable and had bent the connector. Since that time I have videos of her every single day visiting the camera and chewing on the cable and the antennae and generally messing with it. I probably should get a security box.
Anyone have any recommendations for cheap ones that still work?
Or maybe is there a spray I can spray it with that will keep the deer and elk off of it?
