Trail Cams

[wizbang]

Curious about your expertise with trail cams, guys. I know it's a little late in the year to get started but I was hoping to buy and set up a trail cam this weekend. Wonder what you think about these qeustions..

A few questions:
1. Brands you like and why
2. Battery life -- any particular type of battery or brands to avoid?
3. Flash or infared?
4. Memory space -- how much would a guy need if he checked it like once a month?
5. Any brands with good warranties you know of?
6. Resolution-- what would you consider the minimum resolution on the camera (is 3 or 5 megapixels enough?)
7. Security-- I hunt about 200 acres. What are the chances it'll be stolen? Lock suggestions?
8. Image portability-- do all the brands allow you to download and email the images like a regular .jpg, or do some have special software you need to view and/or send pics??

Thanks!

[bucksnbears]

Wiz. i've been doing the trailcam thing for awhile now and these are my findings. i've owen about 9-10 of them and they can be fun and frustrating at the same time. first off is brands. my fovorites by far are the ones with removable sony cameras. i've got them off e-bay and websites. my all time fav is made by woodland spy cams. its a 4 mega pixel .it has taken thousands of great photos and has a fast trigger speed which is very important if you plan on setting it on a deer trail of want to catch tresspasers. the stealth cams can be good or junk. 50/50. the moulties are ok but have a slow triiger speed as do the bushnells and wildveiws i think. i hav'nt used them all but i would get a cuddeback for a good allaround cam. fast trigger,great battery life,pretty good pics. as for flash-inferred,they both have there up n downs. my sonys are all flash and they take awesome nighttime images infrared is the way to go if your worried about theft.as for memory. some of mine are 512 some are 2gb. setting over a trail i think you can get bey easily with 512. over a mineral lick you better bump it up.resolution?? 3-5 is a great plenty.if i could afford several of the very best. i would go for the woodland spy cam if i did'nt worry about theft. a cuddeback ir if i was. i think the adrress is woodlandandoutdoorsports.com. a bit spendy but they are awesome. p.s. i really don't think the've helped me out as far as patterning big bucks, if anything they may hamper it as i find myself checking them more often than i should. i think the flash does boogger some older deer also. there is alot of trial n error but they can be fun. specially when you can take a photo to someone reading your no tresspasing sigh and ignoring it, than showing it to them (grin).

[wizbang]

Wow. Thanks for the info, man. Always worth alot to hear from someone who's got experience with the stuff-- not some commercial's opinion.

[Coyotehunter]

Cuddeback

[lyonch]

A little while back i was able to talk with a guy that operates a deer hunting ranch in souther minnesota. He said his entire buisness is ran off of those cameras. He told me the only camera he will ever buy is a Reconyx (spelling). He said yes they are expensive but you get what you pay for. The are many options that this camera has that many others dont is what he told me. So if you have the money and would like to research another brand i would look into them.

[montycoyote]

I just bought a Bushnell trophy cam 2010. It has 3 settings for pictures and videos. 3.0mp,5.0mp and 8.0 mp.
I am very impressed with this camera. The night pictures are great and the daytime are better than my digital camera 7.0 mp.
At 8.0 mp sometimes is too much for video but with the pictures its awesome. I am very pleased.
As far as trigger speed. On the high setting with a 3 shot burst with 5 second intervals I get 1 picture with me in it. There are 3
setting levels low med and high. I run it on high all the time so I don't miss anything. I like the video mode as it gives me a lot more
time with the high sensitivity. PS. 16 gig is the max SD card acceptable I'm using a 4 gig card and haven't touched it's capacity
yet. Steve

[montycoyote]

Just an update. I'm sold on the Bushnell trophy cam. Great night and day pictures 2 months running on the same batteries. Only a few false triggers now that the leaves are out and the wind moves them around. using a 4 gig sd card and haven't come close to it's capacity yet. Small , compact, easy to use and set up. I use video pretty much exclusively by choice. 30 second clips have been awesome. Would suggest this camera to anyone looking for a affordable and compact workhorse. Great bang for the buck as far as I'm concerned. I'd upload a sample but can't figure out how to yet.

Steve

[Prairie Ghost]

Monty thanks for the input it's greatly appreciated!!!!

[bucksnbears]

Monty, hows the trigger speed on still photos???

[montycoyote]

Walking at a a normal pace the pictures fire within 5 feet of hitting the trigger. In my tests I had it set for a three shot burst 1 second apart. My travel distance for all three shots was 10 feet or less. Most of my testing outside was done this spring with temps ranging from 0 to 20 above. The camera didn't seem to have any problems with the temp. I preferr the video so I get to see every thing that happens in 30 seconds. This camera will handle a 16 gig card so storage isn't an issue unless you leave it in a really busy place for a very long time. My 4 gig card now has less than 3% with about 50 (8 megapixel quality) 30 second videos. (just the ones I've saved). I'm using 8 AA batteries (recommended) and have experienced no light fade with 2 or three videos in a row. Time stamped two in the same minute and one the next minute.
All three videos were bright and clear.

[bucksnbears]

Thanks, hope yop u can post some pics/vids for us to see do you use these on on deer or trap sets. it would be real interesting to see a preditor coming into a set

[Prairie Ghost]

I've got an ice cold beer for the first member to post a predator working a trap, snare, or M-44!!

[bucksnbears]

I've got an ice cold beer for the first member to post a predator working a trap, snare, or M-44!!

Damn i had a picture of a coon walking with his head just entering into a snare and the next pic he was hanging from it but i gave it to Dusty. i set the snare over a 6x6 wood beam they used to get across water.

[Prairie Ghost]

Close only counts in horseshoes and hand-grenades!!!LOLOLOLO

[LeviM]

A good buddy should just buy me a cold beer anyways! mmmm beer!