What's your Trail Cam of choice?

[Andy S.]

I run rechargeable AAs in my cams year round and my impression is they really shine in colder weather compared to hotter, but they hold their own in all temps (25-90F). I usually let them run 4-6 weeks at the longest interval, regardless of the time of year. I only use Sanyo Eneloops and Maha Imedions and have been completely satisfied over the last 4-5 years. Furthermore, I have not had to purchase any batteries during this time either. My sunk cost up front was a fair amount, but I feel as if they have paid for themselves at this point.

 

[TheLBLman]

I usually let them run 4-6 weeks at the longest interval, regardless of the time of year.

I just don't want to NEED to be changing them that often between late September and early January.

It may be that my poorer experiences with rechargeables in cold weather were in part due to my not exchanging the batteries out often enough. In really cold weather, my best experiences have been with the lithiums.

 

[BSK]

Lithiums SERIOUSLY outperform even the best rechargeable, especially in cold weather.

 

[JCDEERMAN]

Lithiums all the way here

 

[Andy S.]

Oh I agree that Lithiums would outperform any battery in a single run of duration, but for me, they are overkill for my needs, and furthermore, they sting your wallet every time you purchase them. I have never had a problem getting to my cameras once every 4-6 weeks during the fall, when I am either scouting, running cams, or hunting. Basically I am pretty much always in the area of my cams once every month, many times more often than that, thus there is no need to go check them, it just makes sense to at the time. Now one down side is I have to charge my replacement batteries once every month, but I typically do that during the week overnight so they'll be ready to go the following weekend.

 

[TheLBLman]

Andy, there is no question that using rechargeables 100% of the time will save you money over time. That's why I use them most of the time OUTSIDE deer season.

But during deer season, I value my time more than the cost of batteries, particularly since I'm often checking them coming or going from a stand location. I also don't want to routinely be carrying around replacement batteries while I'm hunting.

If you're mainly just using your cams to monitor scrapes, using lithiums, simply by converting back to rechargeables post-deer season, you can use those same lithiums for at least two deer seasons if not three.

 

[BSK]

Yup, rechargeable cost you in the short term (buy two sets of batteries and the recharger), but save you in the long term (years of use). Lithium are cheaper the first year, but must be repurchased every year. I believe I spent almost $170 on lithium AA batteries this year, and do so every year.

 

[gil1]

I've only used IR cameras and I would really like a blackflash, with the IR a lot of times the deer are looking dead into the camera, is that not the case with a black flash? I guess I'm trying to ask if they aren't as noticeable to the deer?

Deer cannot see the flash of a true black-flash camera.

And people cannot see the subjects in the photos of a true black flash camera.

 

[ZachMarkus]

Love moultrie and primos trail cams but you couldn't run fast enough to give me another wild game innovation camera.

 

[BSK]

I've only used IR cameras and I would really like a blackflash, with the IR a lot of times the deer are looking dead into the camera, is that not the case with a black flash? I guess I'm trying to ask if they aren't as noticeable to the deer?

Deer cannot see the flash of a true black-flash camera.

And people cannot see the subjects in the photos of a true black flash camera.

With many of the cheap black-flash cams, you're right!

 

[CAW]

I finally got tired of the Chinese crap. I've had just about every brand out there and finally decided to bite the bullet and invest in several Reconyx HC600s. (Thanks for the referral BSK)

I thoroughly enjoy running trail cameras and the anticipation of pulling cards to see what I have "captured" is very enjoyable for me and my kids. When you wait two weeks to check a camera only to find out that it has died and never took a single picture is a huge disappointment. Or, you take what you think is a perfectly good camera to a new hot spot and set it up only to find out that it is dead - that sucks almost as much. Hopefully, I will not experience nearly as much of that with the Reconyx cams.

 

[Thirty-06]

My choice is moultrie for sure, havnt tried anything else but I have two black 80s IR and have solar panels hooked up and havnt had the first problem with them. The only problem is the coons unplug the panel from time to time! I used to have an old moultrie and its crazy how far along they have came in the last few years!

 

[Shed Hunter]

I run cams on 4 different properties and need multiple cams. We have 6 which is not even close to enough. With that being said, and the high risk of theft, I cannot see it practical to spend over $200 on a camera. If you only need one or two, homebrew and Reconyx.

I will start buying the Moultrie 990i. I use everything from simple bait pile setups, mineral sites, scrapes, food plots, and most importantly true trail camera setups as in catching deer traveling. The M990i seems practical for all cam setups. Covert lost me with the bad night pics I keep hearing about. That isn't very practical for catching mature bucks moving.

 

[CAW]

My choice is moultrie for sure, havnt tried anything else but I have two black 80s IR and have solar panels hooked up and havnt had the first problem with them. The only problem is the coons unplug the panel from time to time! I used to have an old moultrie and its crazy how far along they have came in the last few years!

I used to be a huge Moultrie fan. I have been running several for the past couple of years and I bought 6 more M880 this summer. Of the 6 new ones, 3 have already gone bad and ALL of the Moultries I bought last year have died. Same for my Coverts, Cuddebacks, Bushnells, etc. I honestly do not have a single camera that still works, and I have a PILE of them that I have bought over the last several years. Maybe I've just had some really bad luck. I'm glad you are fairing better with yours.

 

[McCoy]

Well first of all thank you all for all the great input! I wish I would've found this site long ago! Master Chief, this is the first I have heard of the bad night pics, I was literally about to order it up.....it seems like every camera has some cons or someone that's had a bad experience with it though.

 

[McCoy]

Can anyone with the covert black 60 let me know how the battery life is....thanks!

That style of camera, that uses 8 or 12 AA batteries, will last 6 months to a year with lithium batteries.

That's impressive and sounds like it would best suit my needs, thanks for the help!

 

[TNPredator]

I have a Moultrie and a Primos.
The Moultrie hardly takes any pix day or night.
The Primos does great during the day, but its no-flash blackout does not give me a visable picture at all. Just black pixs.
I was wondering if any of you knew of a camera that takes nicely lit pics at night. All my 'subjects' are night critters, and hoping not to have a flash to spook them.

 

[BSK]

I was wondering if any of you knew of a camera that takes nicely lit pics at night. All my 'subjects' are night critters, and hoping not to have a flash to spook them.

I don't know what you consider "nicely lit" but see my post above about my favorite cameras. I only use black-flash. Also remember you can buy a black-flash flash extender that gives you much more light at night.

 

[McCoy]

Just ordered a cam from custom1, do they have good customer service? How long should I expect to wait for delivery?

 

[McCoy]

Well I got my covert in the mail today! Its already in the woods and I pumped to go check it out in a week or so!