Trail camera advice wanted

Now that the season is ending it is time to start thinking about next year. In my 69 years of youth I always found it worthwhile to start looking for "new" gear in the off-season. I would respectfully like to ask what cameras I should be looking at to buy on sale this winter/spring? With so many new names on the market today i hope this thread could become educational not only for me but for our entire crew at TN DEER. Thank you in advance.

Really depends on what you want to spend and on whether you want cellular or standard cams.

Oh boy are you ever about to tart down a rabbit hole!!! You'll enjoy it. Running cams is a lot of fun.

I can't recommend any cell cams because I just don't know enough about them. I run lots of traditional cams. To be quite honest, the technology has come so far that they're all pretty ok these days. BSK has gotten me on a Browning kick.I've bought half a dozen of them this season and glad I did. They're the the best cams I've bought in a long time.

If you're OK with non-cell cams, the Browning HP5s and HP4s are top of the line. They run in the $190 range.

For regular cameras a 2nd browning. I have switch to cell cameras but I still have service issues in several places and browning in my experience has been nothing but great. Cell cameras I run bushnell and tactacams like both like tactacams a little better. About to buy the browning cell cameras to compare and also going to get a few Spartans To compare. I have had terrible luck with stealth cams, spypoints (cell cameras), and wild game cameras. Have had ok luck with Moultrie but not great. Also not had very good luck with cuddybacks. For the money and just regular cameras Browning has impressed me way more than any cameras I've been around.

deerhunter10 said:

About to buy the browning cell cameras to compare and also going to get a few Spartans To compare.

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Had a sister ask for my recommendation on a cell cam for her husband. I recommended the Spartan because of the reviews I had read. Have to admit, I kind of like it. Works well, and picture quality is excellent.

BSK said:

If you're OK with non-cell cams, the Browning HP5s and HP4s are top of the line. They run in the $190 range.

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This. These HP series cameras are out of this world fantastic. Most all the black flash brownings are. My weakness is coming across one sub $100 - mostly the Dark Ops. I HAVE to buy it! .

Just depends if you want cellular or not. It's not for me.

BSK said:

Had a sister ask for my recommendation on a cell cam for her husband. I recommended the Spartan because of the reviews I had read. Have to admit, I kind of like it. Works well, and picture quality is excellent.

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I found one the other day where you could go in and do a live view. That seems like a cool feature. I know a few people that have them and have nothing but good things to say about them. They used to be pretty pricey but they are petty reasonable now. I would love to have some reconyx as well but I'd have to hit that mega millions tonight for that. Especially when I could buy 3 browning for one reconyx. Or close to it.

Will you ever start to go the cell camera route?

I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me but I'm a fan of the cheapest cameras you can find. I've got several high dollar reconyx and about 20 $40 dollar stealth cams and other random cheapos and I can't tell a lick of difference

webfeet7 said:

I'm sure plenty of people will disagree with me but I'm a fan of the cheapest cameras you can find. I've got several high dollar reconyx and about 20 $40 dollar stealth cams and other random cheapos and I can't tell a lick of difference

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Picture quality seems somewhat even across the board. I noticed battery usage, trigger speed, and just getting more than a few months out of a camera. Also ir images are different on the cheaper ones other than some that cost more.

JCDEERMAN said:

This. These HP series cameras are out of this world fantastic. Most all the black flash brownings are. My weakness is coming across one sub $100 - mostly the Dark Ops. I HAVE to buy it! .

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The Dark Ops is my "go to" non-cell cam for scrapes. It's a great performer, and only requires 6 AA Lithiums. You do need to use lithium batteries in the Dark Ops.

The Browning HP series are mainly only better if you're running video, imo.
They do have longer battery life than the Dark Ops, but also use 8 AAs, and are a larger cam.

JCDEERMAN said:

Just depends if you want cellular or not.

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Well, sometimes you may want it, but not have cell service where you want it.

I can greatly recommend the Browning Pro Scout cell cams.
I have had problematic issues with the Browning Ridgeline cell cams.
I've not tried Browning's newest cell cam model.

I've not used every make & model out there.
But overall "like" the features & performance of the RidgeTec cell cams over the Brownings.

I've been overall disappointed with the Tactacam cell cams.
My 3 Tactacams have simply been under-performers compared to the Brownings, which under-perform the RidgeTecs.

Of these 3 brands, Tactacams are the cheapest at the point of purchase, Ridgetecs the most expensive. But Ridgetecs have the lowest cost ongoing monthly/annual service plans, especially if you're using 3 or more same-brand cell cams. Browning's plans are a good value for between 3 and 7 plans, but become relatively expensive with more than 7 (compared to Ridgetec).

BSK said:

Had a sister ask for my recommendation on a cell cam for her husband. I recommended the Spartan because of the reviews I had read. Have to admit, I kind of like it. Works well, and picture quality is excellent.

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My next purchase when i can find a farm with reliable reception.

I've been running trail cameras since the homebrew camera days, thus 20+ years. I currently run Reconyx and Browning non-cellular cameras and Tactacam Reveal and Spartan cell cameras. All are solid and get the job done, yet some excel in various areas/features when compared to others. Some of my Reconyx cameras are 15 years old and still taking photos. I advise every deer hunter that owns a smartphone to get at least one cellular camera to tinker with and see if they like it. If they do, get a few more and deploy them to the field during deer season and use as security camera during the off season, or take the SIM card out and use the cellular camera as a traditional non-cellular camera during the off season. Good luck. 2023 ATA show just wrapped up so there will likely be some new cameras, or new and improved cameras that hit the market this year. I do not endorse any camera make/model strictly from marketing, I have to use it in the field first for several months before I will make a recommendation. Good luck with your pursuit.

Don't waste your money on top name brands that are all made in China. I've been using off brand cameras off Amazon for the last 3 years and getting HD quality pics and video plus sound and haven't lost a camera yet.

Amazon product ASIN B08VRDFSNL

fairchaser said:

Don't waste your money on top name brands that are all made in China.

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While this statement is true for most trail cameras made these days, it does not apply to Reconyx cameras. Both traditional (non-cellular) and cellular Reconyx models are made in the USA. I also recently purchased a few browning non-cellular cameras that were made in Philippines. With that said, if fairchaser has gotten 3 years out of a $79 camera and the monthly data plans are reasonable, he has definitely had a good experience thus far.

Moultrie been good to me. $50-80. No way would I pay over a $100 in this day and age, the basic cams are generally the same. Run lithium batteries for longevity, but they almost as much as my cams now, sucks but they out last alkaline xxx. can't comment on cellular, other than expensive and pay for service.

deerhunter10 said:

Will you ever start to go the cell camera route?

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My BIL runs a couple cell cams that I maintain. They're OK, but the two biggest problems for my uses are 1) Cell service is poor on my property, so cell cams are limited to high ridge-tops where they can get a signal; and 2) high-quality video is very hard to transmit by cell signal.

Although the imagers on the Browning cams I'm using are only 2K (HD video), I've found my "minds eye" can see details in video that I can't see with still images. Basically, still images can have motion blur at night, but in video mode, I can still make out details of a buck's rack in motion better than I can in the motion-blurred still images.

HD Video will quickly eat batteries in cell cams.
Somewhat defeats the purpose of using cell cams
if you have to frequently replace batteries.

Andy S. said:

While this statement is true for most trail cameras made these days, it does not apply to Reconyx cameras. Both traditional (non-cellular) and cellular Reconyx models are made in the USA.

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I've got 3 Reconyx cameras. Each one has been sent back over the years once each for various fixes. One is a 2007 model - that's 17 seasons now running that camera! Also, each time I send one back, they send me a Reconyx hat back with the camera and apologize for the glitch. The other two are 8 years old I believe. So, that's 3 cameras with 33 years of working! I'm a fan to say the least.

But with the quality and price Browning now has, call me a fanboy

Andy S. said:

While this statement is true for most trail cameras made these days, it does not apply to Reconyx cameras. Both traditional (non-cellular) and cellular Reconyx models are made in the USA. I also recently purchased a few browning non-cellular cameras that were made in Philippines. With that said, if fairchaser has gotten 3 years out of a $79 camera and the monthly data plans are reasonable, he has definitely had a good experience thus far.

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I've not been run cell cams for a few years as I can check them often enough. I've paid as little as $59 for these grande cams and they are still running perfectly and the battery life is excellent. The video is also excellent.