Long term reliability

[Columbia Scott]

I was wondering what cameras everyone has been using that have lasted more than 2 years. I have ruled out Scoutguard and Wildgame. Both gave up the ghost within 18 months. I just ordered new Primos truth 35s.

I really don't care how good a warranty might be because I'm still without a camera while it's being fixed or replaced.

I am looking for a 100.00-150.00 camera, white/red/black flash that will hold up long term. Chasingame.com doesn't test for reliability. Any suggestions?

 

[Mr.Bro]

I like my cheap Moultries,D40s and 50s i believe.4 years on 2 and another year on the 3rd and no prob;ems a all.

 

[BSK]

I was wondering what cameras everyone has been using that have lasted more than 2 years.

There are only two series of cameras with that reputation, both of which are very expensive--Reconyx and BuckeyeCam.

I am looking for a 100.00-150.00 camera, white/red/black flash that will hold up long term.

Columbia Scott, you are looking for what doesn't exist. There are no cheap cameras with a reputation of reliability. And that is the problem with the trail-camera market today. You can either get very high-tech cheaply made Chinese cameras with extraordinarily high failure rates, or you can get very expensive reliable cameras lacking in many high-tech features. There is nothing in between (yet).

 

[Columbia Scott]

That certainly seems to be the case BSK. It's been a never ending process of sending cameras back for warranty repairs,buying cameras to replace those that crap out after the warranty period and just dealing with white-out and black-out pictures. I only need four cameras so I guess I should drop the cash on a few homebrews or Reconyx.

 

[BSK]

That certainly seems to be the case BSK. It's been a never ending process of sending cameras back for warranty repairs,buying cameras to replace those that crap out after the warranty period and just dealing with white-out and black-out pictures. I only need four cameras so I guess I should drop the cash on a few homebrews or Reconyx.

The whole trail-camera community is waiting for the first inexpensive camera that works as advertised, takes decent pictures, and reliably lasts for 3 or 4 years. That camera hasn't been made or sold yet.

 

[Mr.Bro]

That certainly seems to be the case BSK. It's been a never ending process of sending cameras back for warranty repairs,buying cameras to replace those that crap out after the warranty period and just dealing with white-out and black-out pictures. I only need four cameras so I guess I should drop the cash on a few homebrews or Reconyx.

The whole trail-camera community is waiting for the first inexpensive camera that works as advertised, takes decent pictures, and reliably lasts for 3 or 4 years. That camera hasn't been made or sold yet.

I have 1,000s of pics that says you are mistaken.
2 moultries that just went through their 4th year.
No i dont leave them out all year,cause its over an hour away.Cannt make that trip every few weeks.
For 6 months out of the year mine work perfect.
They may crap out tomorrow but i got my $50 worth.

 

[PickettSFHunter]

Most homebrews fits that bill, if you build yourself.

 

[PcDeer]

My Moultries have been running strong for 4 years now. They have gone beyond my expectations so I bought another one yesterday when I purchased another moultrie m 80. If you shop around you can find a M 80 for around $100, they may not take as good of pictures as the high end quality cameras but I am more than satisfied.

 

[BSK]

That certainly seems to be the case BSK. It's been a never ending process of sending cameras back for warranty repairs,buying cameras to replace those that crap out after the warranty period and just dealing with white-out and black-out pictures. I only need four cameras so I guess I should drop the cash on a few homebrews or Reconyx.

The whole trail-camera community is waiting for the first inexpensive camera that works as advertised, takes decent pictures, and reliably lasts for 3 or 4 years. That camera hasn't been made or sold yet.

I have 1,000s of pics that says you are mistaken.
2 moultries that just went through their 4th year.

I've had two Moultries. Both died within 6 weeks. Moultrie has one of the better reputations, but considering how many complaints I've heard about them, I would not consider them "reliable."

 

[BSK]

Most homebrews fits that bill, if you build yourself.

Depends on the features you want. Homebrews won't do some of the things commercial cams will. Plus, I've not seen a true black-flash homebrew.

That said, all my homebrews fit the bill for reliability (all lasted at least 3 years, and some 4 or 5 years).

 

[TheLBLman]

The whole trail-camera community is waiting for the first inexpensive camera that works as advertised, takes decent pictures, and reliably lasts for 3 or 4 years. That camera hasn't been made or sold yet.

Not only will I agree with BSK here, but would add this is also the case among those cams more in the "medium" price range, not just the "inexpensive" (both titles a matter of perspective).

I've gone thru several cams that most would label in the "medium" range. These include the very "top-of-the-line" Cuddebacks, Bushnells, and Uways. NONE --- ABSOLUTELY NONE HAVE PERFORMED AS ADVERTISED ---- and I've been very disappointed in their failure rates and lack of reliability. Some have also been a real "pain in the butt" when it comes to field servicing, the worst being the Cuddeback "No Flash". Will say the Bushnells are "user friendly" and easy to field service, but mine have been very unreliable, mainly due to "run-away" triggering, where they will sometimes fill a large card in a couple days ---- that can be very frustrating when you take advantage of the long battery life, then find out a couple months later your 8gb card became full a couple days after you placed the cam.

Among the "medium" priced commercial cams, the only ones I've felt worked as advertised and were a lasting value have been my Leaf Rivers. I believe they are in 6th & 7th years now, and stil working. That said, I don't think Leaf River has kept up with innovation, and have become an over-priced unit, with essentially no upgrades for several years. While they have features I like, particularly do not like the large size of the unit itself, and will refrain from recommending Leaf River to a new purchaser. Would instead steer a new purchaser towards a "Homebrew".

"Homebrews" have proven the best value for me in the "medium" price range. But then, they have not been available in truely invisible "black flash" versions, which is the big appealing innovation some of the commercial cams have brought to market.

At the present point in time, I could only recommend going with a "Homebrew" (for the medium price range) or a Reconyx (if you can afford the higher cost).

 

[TheLBLman]

Beyond reliability, there is also the issue of what you get for what you pay. Many people may think a 5mp cam produces better quality pics than a 3mp cam, but this is not necessarily the case at all.

One thing I've heard little discussion about is the quality of the glass. It's a big discussion topic when it comes to binoculars and scopes, and should be on trail cams, imo.

Let's say you go to Wal-Mart and find a very cheap pair of 10x binoculars for $29.99. Without question, these will bring the image to appear 10x closer. They are in fact 10 power binos.

But comparing "the picture" seen with a 10x pair of say a $500 binocular, one will clearly see the difference in image quality. Similar can be said about comparing one "x" megapixel trail cam to another. While the Reconyx is only 3mp, it can have image quality comparable to 5mp (or more) in some of the cheaper cams. My Sony Homebrews (which have a real Sony camera in them) have only 4mp. Yet these 4mp homebrews are producing similar to superior images to several 8mp commercial cams.

Generally speaking, an inexpensive trail cam is going to have lower quality glass (or perhaps we should say plastic) in the set-up. They will not produce the pic quality of a "real" camera (which is used in a "homebrew").

Going beyond the "glass" (or plastic lenses), there is also the issue of the "image processor". This also greatly effects the quality of the pic, and is part of why an 8mp $1,000.00 professional camera can produce a higher-quality pic than a 16mp $200 "point & shoot" camera.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

I have 2 Moutlries that are 7 years ol that have taken 15-20,000 pictures each. They still weren't worth the 100 dollars because of trigger speed and reliability that they will take a pic. The trigger speed is so slow that you have to put them on a baited site, and even with that pictures aren't guaranteed. They have gotten worse to the piont that I don't even put them out.

 

[Hillbilly Hunter]

That certainly seems to be the case BSK. It's been a never ending process of sending cameras back for warranty repairs,buying cameras to replace those that crap out after the warranty period and just dealing with white-out and black-out pictures. I only need four cameras so I guess I should drop the cash on a few homebrews or Reconyx.

The whole trail-camera community is waiting for the first inexpensive camera that works as advertised, takes decent pictures, and reliably lasts for 3 or 4 years. That camera hasn't been made or sold yet.

x2

Reliability being the key word.

 

[Columbia Scott]

If the Primos Truth cams don't hold up I may just go to a white flash Moultrie. I have a friend who has used the same cameras for years. Problem is that he gets almost zero pictures at night because the deer get spooked.

 

[TheLBLman]

Problem is that he gets almost zero pictures at night because the deer get spooked.

Unless you go to a truely invisible "black" flash unit, the "infrared" cams will still spook deer, similarly to white flash.

SOME deer don't seem to mind, white or red "low-glow" infrared.
But I think many older deer are more spooked by the "infrared" than white flash.

 

[ferg]

My Scoutguard lasted 3 years of nonstop use - for the money, I suppose I didn't expect much more - and just got the 99.00 job from wildgame - way easier to program the Scoutguard - but the IR is WAY BRighter too - I had to pull back from the 'target' to prevent the whiteout conditions -

we'll see how long it last - and I love the 4 'c' cells vx 8 AA's

ferg....

 

[woodchuckc]

I have not had much luck in the way of longevity with commercial cameras in the past several years (including Bushnell, Scoutguard, and Wildgame cameras) - none have lasted more than 2 years. I have an old Stealth IR230 camera that I bought in May, 2007 that is still taking pictures (not very good quality pictures, but actually has a very sensitive PIR and doesn't miss much). I also had an old Moultrie GameSpy white flash camera that lasted almost 5 years until it was smashed by a falling tree. It took great pictures but had a slow trigger so I only used it on a salt lick. I keep my cameras out year round and use rechargable batteries to cut down on my operating costs.

I did just get a couple of new WGI W6XAC IR cameras from Amazon.com (they were $49 each, but I see that they raised the price to $99 in the last couple of days) that take really nice pictures and seem to have a fast trigger for a camera in the sub-$200 price range, but I don't hold out much hope that they will last more than a year or so.

Wes is right - I think most deer are spooked as much or more with the IR flash as compared to a white flash. I think the white flash is more "natural" to deer as they are used to things like lightning flashes. I just got one of the Uway ExtendrIR-B2 black flash units that I am going to put on one of my new WGI cameras and cover up the IR array on the camera at one of my established salt licks to see what kind of a difference it makes.

 

[BSK]

I just got one of the Uway ExtendrIR-B2 black flash units that I am going to put on one of my new WGI cameras and cover up the IR array on the camera at one of my established salt licks to see what kind of a difference it makes.

It will make a huge difference.

 

[BigWes22]

Reconyx! Well worth every penny! reliable is its most powerful feature in my opinion. I've got an out of state lease over 3hrs. away from my house I can't get in the truck and check my cam every 2 weeks I needed a cam that would run 2-3months and not miss a lick on a single set of batteries. Reconyx is that camera!