Black Gate cell cams

[TheLBLman]

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.

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.

Maybe you got a lemon Browning, but I've had much better overall luck with Brownings than Tactacams. Haven't tried a Blackgate.

I think you're on a good path in comparing different cams, but suggest a minimum of two alike cams to help rule out a "lemon".
You also might take a look at all the very detailed comparisons available at www.trailcampro.com
although doesn't look like they've tested a Blackgate.

Most of us who run cell cams are running more than one of the same brand.
For my purposes, running 4 or more Browning cell cams,
I spend less (just for the monthly cell plans) than running 4 or more Tactacams.

I do agree that the minimum you "can" spend monthly is less with "a" Tactacam.
But my average monthly service cost is overall less with the Brownings.

I typically find some different "pros" & "cons" with different brands of cell cams,
and often, it takes a couple years or more to appreciate differences like longer battery life, higher quality (and faster) sensors, etc., as just a couple the "pros" of the Brownings.

The ongoing replacement of cell cam batteries is an often over-looked item of new users. Most of my Brownings only use 8 AAs, while my Tactacams use 12 AAs. Ironically, the Brownings 8 AAs last longer than the 12 in the Tactacams.

Another way of measuring "costs" is what you spend per great pic obtained.
Hard to put a price tag on all you miss with slow sensors and less reliable cams.

 

[dustycoyote]

Sounds like you are a big personal fan of Browning's.

I actually had 6 Brownings. All of them have crapped out except one that I am now running in non cell mode.

(And as an aside and FYI,
when I started testing the tactacam and R4Gs, I also tested a stealth deceptor. The stealth actually seemed nice except that they require you to be on an active cell plan with them to use it. You can't use it in non-cell mode.
I got rid of that one pretty quick. I don't like companies that try to force customers into the ir services.)

Anyway,
I had six of the Browning's, so no, I didn't get a lemon. And three of them failed the same way (sd card slot).


And I'm not sure how you say that running the Browning's was cheaper than tactacam. Maybe tactical is dramatically more expensive than I thought if they compare to Browning. But the plans are listed online (at trailcampro in fact) so anyone can look them up.


But I do stand by my experience with Browning.
Nice picture and video, decent sound (except at night oddly..), fast sensors with good range, but at a stupid monthly cost, with poor connectivity, fickle and troublesome uploads (that may be caused by their poor connectivity) and cameras that aren't built well and will break (at least in my experience with my 6 cameras).


As nice as the browning videos are, they aren't that much better than the ones I'm getting now. Definitely not worth the difference in cost.

I may need to look for another vendor if I can't get more distance out of the R4G or tactacam doesn't come up with a video only mode, but it won't be browning unless they drop their costs and I get more confidence in their quality.


Oh, and about battery life,

This is why I got the Browning's in the first place. The Browning's offered WAAAY better battery performance than other options, and I needed to leave my cams out all winter in a location that I couldn't access. They did pretty well on battery life until they started having problems.
And the one I am still running in non cellular mode seems to be doing fantastic on batteries currently (the only unit I don't have on a solar external battery)
No complaints there.

But my Browning's took 16 lithium batteries. I quickly realized that, even with their great battery life, I would save a lot of money by adding an external solar battery pack.

These have been doing great so far,

Hunting Made Easy (HME) 12VBBSLR... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BR8FHSYH?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

 

[TheLBLman]

And I'm not sure how you say that running the Browning's was cheaper than tactacam.

It's often difficult to do a true "apples-to-apples" comparison between one brand vs another with cell cam service plans. There can be lots of differences in exactly how they work, and one brand may cost you more on one hand, but less on the other hand.

For example, Tactacams will only upload a single pic with a firing sequence or triggering event (say you have your cam set to take 2 pics per triggering event), while the Brownings will upload both pics. (Yes, if you agree to "pay extra", the Tactacam will also upload both pics.)

But just comparing the basic plans running 4 cell cams with plans many users choose:

4 Browning cell cams on a monthly plan (HunterPlusPlan);
6,000 pic uploads monthly;
total cost = $44.99
$44.99 divided by 6,000 = $0.007 per pic uploaded

4 Tactacam cell cams on a monthly plan (IntermediatePlan);
2,000 pic uploads monthly;
total cost = $30.50
$30.50 divided by 2,000 = $0.015 per pic uploaded

There really is no way to make an "apples-to-apples" comparison here
as I typically have the Browning cell cams uploading 2 or 3 pics per triggering event
while the Tactacams are uploading only 1 pic per triggering event.
I am paying more monthly with the Brownings, but much less on a per pic basis.

Browning, Tactacam, and other brands will have various monthly user packages you can cater to your usage. I've found I rarely have ever needed "unlimited", as having something like 1500 pics per cam (monthly) is usually more than enough.

Although both Browning & Tactacam allow you to "pool" the pics between all the cams on the above plans, this averages to 500 per month on the Tactacams & 1500 per month on the Brownings.

But don't focus too much on minor differences in cell plan rates, as other factors can matter as much or more. I'd rather pay more, and get more, than pay less, and miss getting important pics due to a slow sensor trigger, or my cam only uploading 1 of the 2 pics taken.

Browning cams allow you to take up to 8 pics per triggering event (and upload all 8 without extra fees); Tactacams allow you to take up to 3 pics per triggering event (and upload only 1 without extra fees).

 

[TheLBLman]

Sounds like you are a big personal fan of Browning's.

I guess you could say that, as I've used most major cell cam brands now for over a decade, and found the Browning cams to be the best overall value for the money.

However, to a large degree you get what you pay for, and Browning cell cams are not the best I regularly use and have used. They're just the best "for the money" among those I'm using and have used. Browning cell cams are overall not as good as Reconyx and Ridgetec, but more feature rich & reliable than Tactacam.

 

[East TN Bowhunter]

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?

Get the 2 piece security box not the 3 piece. The original tactacam box was 3 pieces and a terrible design bc I had to use 3/4in standoffs on the back in between box and tree so I could lag it to the tree. The nubs on back of camera stuck thru the box and made so you had to use the standoffs. Makes it way more difficult to mount the box and get it in the exact position you want. The newer version 2 is a 2 piece and no standoffs needed. Seems a little sturdier as well and easy to set up.

 

[TheLBLman]

Just to be clear, I'm not meaning to come across demeaning Tactacam or Black Gate cell cams. In fact, I applaud any start-up company that can put real competition to established companies.

Competition between competing companies offering similar products is what produces the best combination(s) between prices & values to the end consumers.

So how do Black Gate's cell plans compare to Browning's & Tactacam's?
Again, can't do an exact "apples-to-apples" comparison,
and making comparisons seems purposefully complicated to prevent us from doing it!

But, using 4 cell cams, this is how Black Gate compares . . . . .

4 Black Gate cell cams on a monthly plan;
4,000 pic uploads monthly;
total cost = $36.00
$36.00 divided by 4,000 = $0.009 per pic uploaded

Using 4 cell cams, Black Gate's plan is less costly than Tactacam's,
but more costly (per pic) than Browning's.

That said, if you only have a single (1) Black Gate cell cam,
they will let you have a plan with 250 pics for only $3 a month.
That is cheaper than Tactacam's "starter" plan at $5 a month (for 1 cam).

For most of my cell cams, I have to plan ahead on needing to average somewhere around 500 to 1500 pics per cam per month. It's nice to have multiple cams on a plan, such as 4 cams sharing 6,000 pics, even if 5,000 comes from a single cam, while the other 1,000 comes from the other 3.

 

[TheLBLman]

Again, imo, minor differences in cell cam plan rates should be way down the line of factors you consider when purchasing a particular cell cam. All of them are made to "sound" good by their own marketing.

Having been burned by many "new" trail cam brands & models (including cellular ones), I'm simply not trying any new ones any more until I've seen a true scientifically valid comparison of the new cam's features against the established models.

I can remember when Cuddeback, Leaf River, Uway, Covert's 1st cell cam, and many others,
were all "the Cat's Meow". Cuddeback went down the toilet, Leaf River & Uway went out of business, and Covert's 1st cell cam soured me on their brand. Actually, I really liked the Leaf River units, but apparently they couldn't get their price point down low enough for people to buy them. The Uways had some of the best imagery ever, when they worked.

But all the brands, including Reconyx, have had periodic "issues", particularly with periodic quality control and particular models. Buying any new cam can be a like a crap shoot, you will not know how well it works or doesn't until you used that cam for an extended period of time, like over a year.

 

[BSK]

I'm shocked you've had such problems with Browning cam quality dustycoyote. I've got 15 Browning cams, some for 5 years, and not a failure from any of them. But then I'm not using any of their cell models. Sounds like the cell models have problems.

 

[dustycoyote]

I'm the opposite. I've only had the cellular type so that's all I can speak to the durability of.


And, concerning the costs of the cams, (I think you may have one-too-many or one-to-few zeros in one or more of your numbers above.)

You're right about being able to measure the plan costs in different ways.
I've never needed nearly as many pictures/videos per month as you are referencing. I don't know who does. For my usage I find that the minimum monthly cost per camera along with the ability to add incremental data/pics is a more accurate way to measure cost.

If I needed many thousands of uploads a month then the browning plan might make sense.
But I tend to need hundreds per month not thousands.
And Browning doesn't offer an option to add more cameras without requiring payment for a large additional amount of pics/videos that I won't ever use.

This is the primary reason I tried out the Black Gates. Their plan let's me really only pay for what my real usage might be.

Sending communication to BlackGate soon to see if they have feedback or can help with the sensor limits I am experiencing.
Will try to report back with any update.

 

[TheLBLman]

. . . . . concerning the costs of the cams, (I think you may have one-too-many or one-to-few zeros in one or more of your numbers above.)

You were correct dustycoyote, as I did indeed have one too few zeros in one of the posts.
Thank you for catching that.
I just edited to correct.

In your opinion, did my typo error change the gist of anything in the comparisons?

 

[beefydeer]

I sold a side by side to a sales rep for Black Gate. They had a booth at the NWTF show in Nashville this past spring. That alone is a big investment. They said they were working on a deal with Michael Waddell. Sounded like a good camera for a good value but they were sales rep.

 

[dustycoyote]

FYI

I sent an email to Black Gate and they responded super quick. They sent some info on repositioning my camera so that the area I am trying to monitor is better positioned for the camera sensor. Seemed to make sense. I am planning to go make that change tomorrow. Will try to remember to report if it seems to improve the performance of the sensor pickup.

 

[dustycoyote]

So just thought I would update this again for anyone looking at these cell cams.

I did reposition the camera as Black Gate recommended and it worked perfectly. they said that the sensor is tuned to focus on a line across the screen/image that is right at the middle. That focus point/line is where the sensor will set its depth of field, so if I have it pointed so that the line sits above the horizon or maybe at a point very close to the camera, it won't catch movement at the distance I want it to.
I repositioned with that line in mind and Wala! The camera now works at a better range than the Browning did! (though the Brownings may very well have been just as good and I had them positioned wrong as well.)

After repositioning them. I moved over to my Tactacam camera and realized that the tactacam has a thin red focus line printed on its viewing screen to help with positioning the camera. I just hadn't ever noticed it before. So it must be the way that all of the cameras work. I adjusted that camera to optimize where that focus line lay in the image and it also helped the tactacam.


SO overall, here are my thoughts on the cameras for anyone who is interested in my experience. It hasn't changed much from what I've listed earlier in the forum post but have thought about it more as I've worked with the cameras over the spring and summer.

For context for those who didn't read the earlier posts; My primary uses and need for the cameras are for monitoring my land for poaching and trespassing. But my primary enjoyment from the cameras is just watching the wildlife.

Spoiler for the whole write up; I would choose the Black Gate and I think most people would benefit from the same choice unless a specific use case or need leads to to one of the other two.

Purchase Cost/value

• All of the cameras were priced in a similar range I believe. I can't remember exactly how much they each cost but they were each between 160.00 to 220.00. I seem to think they were all pretty close to the 180-200 range.
  • I would say that all of them seemed to be pretty good purchase values outside of ongoing costs and durability. the Browning is the worst value by ya long margin for those two reasons. And that it doesn't come with a monitoring screen on the camera for that price. Just a cheap little crappy menu window that sucks. The other two both seem to me to be pretty good values so far. I prefer the Black Gate over the Tactacam for reasons I'll list below.

ongoing cell plan costs

• This is the big one that kills the Browning. There are those who probably work for Browning, or are at least paid promoters of Browning who will list out how the Browning is actually a better ongoing cost for the cell plan. But that is just not true for the vast majority of us Trail Cam users. read the string above for details, but if you need 6000 images a month, then yes the Browning would be a better value. But I still have yet to meet someone who needs that many pictures. Browning creates plans that cost a lot more than these other two vendors and then builds an unrealistic plan metrics that no-one needs in order to create a story of value. But realistically they are just expensive.
  • Having said that, IF you are indeed someone who needs to several thousand images a month in your plan, then Browning really becomes a competitive value, and maybe the best value of the three brands.
    • But also pay attention to how the plans scale around camera counts,
    • and think about your needs for HD images or videos.
• Overall, the Black gate is the best value for me, and I expect it will be for most people. Its a really well designed plan that lets you buy how much data you need and doesn't force you into excessive costs for features or data quanities that you just won't use.
• the Tactacam plan seems pretty good too, and I have no issues with it. But the Black Gate is better

quality of build/durability

• I've only gone through a single year with the Tactacam and BG, but they already both have exceeded the Brownings in durability. We'll see what happens with them as they weather the winter. They may end up being not much better. We'll see.
  • At this point I had already started to have some issues with the Brownings SD slots on a couple of the cams. If I remember correctly I had one of them replaced. But overall they were still working well and at this point I don't know that it is fair to say that these other brands are a whole lot better. they seem to be great but it would be unfair to make this conclusive till they ride the cold weather and snows.

battery life

• The Browning kicks butt here if you aren't using an external solar pack. they take more batteries (16 lithiums) but if you have a need for the cameras to go a long time, these were great.
• this is the original reason I chose the Brownings. Because Trailcampro rated them the best for battery usage, and I would need to leave the cameras out and un-serviced through a long winter each year.
• Ultimately it just didn't make sense without using solar packs because the cost of replacing16 lithium batteries is almost the same cost as my solar power packs. But the Brownings that didn't have hardware issues did fantastically well.
  • (for context, one of the ways that the Brownings started to fail was that they suddenly started to use LOTS of batteries. As in, where they previously lasted for multiple months and hundreds and hundreds of videos or pictures, they started lasting a few days and maybe 10 to 50 pictures.)
• With my solar packs hooked up, all of the cameras (including a Browning I still have deployed) work great. No issues. I wouldn't do cams without solar packs ever again.

to be continued...

 

[dustycoyote]

company support

• This one is Black Gate hands down. One of the better companies I've ever worked with for support. They are easy to reach out to and are super responsive. I mean that I have sent them a note or left a voicemail late in a day and they are responding to me at 11pm their time that night. And it it obviously someone in Ohio I am speaking to or emailing with. they are easy to understand, they understand my issues and are super helpful and knowledgeable.
• Tactacam is not very responsive at all. But I also haven't had any real meaningful issues so I can't speak to how much they honor or support their products.
• Browning was about what you expect from large companies these days. Had to email with them and usually got responses a day or more later. They were fairly helpful and provided monthly credits for failures in service, and relaced some hardware until they felt like they didn't want to give any more (even though my issues had not been resolved) and they just kind of said "live with it"
  • They had been contactable though and worked with me for multiple months before kind of throwing in the towel.

pic quality

• so I've gone back and really looked at the images and videos and I still think that browning is probably the best. But Tactacam is pretty close. I could see someone liking the tactacam imagetry better but I think almost everyone would choose the Brownings.
• Having said that, All three of them are good. The BG is kind of harsh and sharp compared to the other two, but they are all very good.
• If everything else were equal I would choose the Browning.

video quality

• Same story as the pic quality but maybe a little more so. But all of them are still really good. None that I would look for an alternate because of poor quality videos.

night time video/image quality

• all seem to be very similar

sound

• This is one that I think should be considered almost as part of the imagery/video quality. I have been surprised how much good sound improves the experience or enjoyment of the wildlife on the cameras.
• Sound wasn't originally something cared about or even considered. But it really improves the experience
• Browning and Tactacam are both garbage.
  • Browning picks up some sound during daytime videos but its not great. At night it is just static and whining for some reason.
  • Tactacam doesn't pick up anything except the sound of the camera. Day or night.
• BG actually has really good sound pickup.
  • it can be really cool to hear the crash of antlers when the elk are in the rut, or the sounds of birds at night.
  • If this matters to you at all, the other two shouldn't even be a consideration.

sensor speed

• I think the Browning was the best here. Not perfect, but still probably better than either of the others. The Black Gate is good enough and close enough to the Browning that I still choose it. But I would love to see them do something to improve this.
• This is the reason I am trading out my Tactacam. the sensor is slow in the first place. But if you are a video user like me, the camera is really completely unusable because is has no video-only setting. It takes a picture first and then starts a video.
  • Almost all of the time a picture isn't taken until something has moved at least 40% of the way across the cameras field of vision. the sensor is just slow. And I would say that 95% of any animals for trespassers that are moving across the frame are completely gone once the video starts. And I am talking about things that are walking, not running.

sensor distance

• Now that I have the cameras set up better, I would rate the sensor distance as BG first (I've been really impressed. If they matched this up with a faster sensor it would be amazing)
• The Tactacam and Browning are both pretty good too. I think I am getting triggers out to close to 60 feet with all of them.
• I wouldn't say that any of them are bad here. I think they all do pretty darn well.

connectivity

• no changes or updates here. the Browning was not great. The other two are both awesome.

viewing screen and setting up the camera

• One thing I don't love on the BG is that the viewing screen and camera are mounted on the door that swings open. This makes it a pain to set it up. YOu can't see where the camera is actually pointing when adjusting the positioning of the camera mount. It's manageable but a pain. the tactacam setup is much better.
• the browning is the worst because it doesn't have an onboard monitor screen at all.

menu and features.

• Managing the menu on the Browning is ok after initial setup (Initial set up sucks) and it has more features than either of the others.
  • One big benefit to the Browning is that it gives the option for longer video recordings.
• BG has the most limited menu and feature set. but the menu is easy to use and the onboard screen that the Browning lacks is really nice. Overall it satisfies what I want and has the most important features but a really big deficiency for me is that it limits video recordings to 10 seconds. I generally want 20 or 30 seconds for my videos.
• tactacam kind of sits in between these two. It has a screen and a good menu. I would say it has a better menu than the Browning but still lacks the ability to take longer videos.

app and online experience

• the tactacam has a good app but I bugs me that after I pay for the video download of an image on my phone it wants to charge me again if I want to view that video on a pc. thats a scam.
• Browning has a great app experience. Would rate them the best.
• Blackgates is pretty primitive comparatively, but works just fine.
  • BlackGate can't show videos on a PC at all. Only on the app, which stinks.

other things

• external power port
  • One issue I have with the Tactacam is that the port for the external power is a different size and overall shape than either the Browning or BG. Its a pain in the but and I had to buy some adapters to get the correct size, then had to shave down the connector to fit well in the camera port. Is just a pain in the butt....
• downloading videos
  • the Browning would only let me call for one HD image or video at a time, otherwise it would lock up the cameras and I would have to physically reset them onsite before it would clear the issue. A HUGE pain in the butt.
  • BG will also only download one HD/video at a time, but it doesn't lock up the cameras. And you can clear pending commands right from your app. So it is a HUGE upgrade from the Browning. Not just for the HD downloads issue but anytime you have an issue with a camera. This alone would make me choose BG over Browning.
  • Tactacam works like a charm. I can tell it to download multiples and it does it just fine. the issue with them is that they charge you for each download.