cheap trail cam review

MRBB

5 year old buck +
OK, so I know many guys are always looking at trail cam's and the prices go from high to low.
I have been playing with trail cams now since the late 90's (35 mm film cams) I have had a LOT of different brands and from high end costly one's to cheap as I can find
I have had a LOT of cam's stolen over the yrs (25+ cams) so, I have always been trying to find cheaper cam's for higher risks places
most of the low cost cam's I have tried have been very hit and miss at best, and most have been either very slow wake up times, or ate battery's and a ton of pic's with NOTHING in them, and most have not lasted very long
I run cam's 24/7/365, and in low temps (minus 30+ wind chills) to close to a 100 or more in summer time

I was at Wally world last yr and seen they had some Tasco trail cam's for $25 bucks and change
no frill's NOTHING special about them lower megapixel only 4, but they do have a 6 and a 8 for a few dollars s more! think the 8 was 38 bucks and 6 $30
I have the first cam outside now for 6+ months, ahve taken well over 9,000+ pic's on same set of battery's
its been super reliable, very fast wake up time and so far LONG battery life even in the cold, rare if ever do I get a pic with nothing on it(animal wise)
NOW the pic's are not the most clear but NOT expected, flash range has been OK on deer and foxes out to about 40-50 feet, on bears it gets a little harder due to them being black, in day time, it tends to add a little yellow to the color on things, and IF you set it up to to take a pic every 2 seconds, it seems to struggle a little with the second pic in a row, just a little darker than the first pic
BUT for 25 bucks, I now have 4 of them and all have worked just fine
and I think anyone looking for a cheap cam that won't make you curse if it grows legs on you, there worth the 25 bucks!

here are a few pic's
 

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Cool. Thanks for the tip.
 
Yeah, thanks for that. Had always thought to try one out, but never got around to it. I may go pick one up now...


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Yep. Good review and thanks!
 
I bought a couple of the cheap Menards ones Wild Game inovations, the pictures are ok, but they must be noisy or the flash scares them. I had almost every picture of deer staring at the camera, then the next one the deer running away. I took them off trails, and food plots, and only use them for security near gates, and the road. People may see them, and get deterred, they may see them and steal them, but there are other cameras back further that are hidden.
 
I also use the wild game innovations cameras. Since moving them up to six feet high I never get a picture of a deer looking at them. I do get lots of pictures of nothing. I don’t know if they’re too sensitive or if it’s slow trigger speed. I get plenty of deer pictures too. I have lots of squirrels and sometimes I’m convinced my empty pictures are squirrels zipping past. Some day I’ll actually buy a nicer camera to see how much better they are but the wild game ones have served a purpose so far.
 
well I forgot to add, these camera's are NOT quiet and have a red light when they take a pic, but I get thousands of pic's of deer, bears foxes flying squirrels and you name it, have never been a issue for me , heck many times its been a help to get a good face on shot!
I wouldn;t maybe use these cams on sensitive bucks, but for a cheap cam that works , doesn't eat battery's and wakes up fast, for 25 bucks I find them hard to beat
other con's maybe some might have, would be cheesy straps, just a quick cinch like deal , not the fastest on or off
and another con is NO battery meter, which I do wish it had?
I tend to keep these cam's in east to get to places and check more often than I would a cam I trusted more !

but again, for 25 bucks, you can add a bunch and not break the budget, batterys might cost you more after a yr than the camera did LOL
and again, as I said, if things grow legs , loosing the pic's on the camera will be the worst part of things, having 600-700 dollar camera's stolen SUCKS, been there done that a few too many times, and even 150-250 cam's still sting when they get damaged or stolen too
even if these camera's only last a yr(so far seem to be working just fine and no reason to not work longer) I'd still say there worth the 25 bcuks, if anyone wanted a cheap cam to stick in a higher risk spot!, or just wanted a cheap cam

the cheaper wildgame cam's I have had were no where near this quality, nor were other brands, costing twice or three times as much
I have a few of the wild game cam's that have been very GOOD camera's, lasting 3+ yrs of non stop running so far, little better flash too, but costed on sale about 65-70 bucks?
again, these Tasco's are NOT HIGH end camera's and not saying they are by any means, , but so far everyone i have works great, and takes decent pic's for what they are, and battery life has been better than expected!
I have NOT tried burst or video, or even sure it has burst option, but it has a LOT of settings for how fast it will take pic's
again, just a simple cheap cam that so far has worked above my expectations of! and sharing the info here
 
I wonder if the electronics could be used for a homebrew camera? Nice little package that could wired into a higher quality camera....

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I Guess it could be done, and they do sell higher megpix versions for not a lot more $$ too

I just think this is a cheap cam that works, for those not wanting to stick a higher costing cam in a higher risk place, or to just try a game cam and see what they are like(leading to more cam's 99% of the time )
 
I grabbed one of these out of curiosity when I saw them in Wal-Mart. I haven't put it out yet. Thanks for the review.
 
I saw one of these earlier this fall and picked it up a 8mp for $26.88 + tax, seems to take good picks day and night. Maybe not as sensitive as this cameras always has less picks than my others in the same area but I feel it is well worth the price, thx for posting this !

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Fwiw wingsupply has trail cameras 50% off for the next 2 days.
 
glad you all have had decent luck as I have with them
I seen they stopped carrying them at my local stores now

but all mine are still working and even on original battery's yet, the one I am sure has taken over 10,000 pic's on original battery's too, and been out over a yr non stop
for the price they are/were hard to beat IMO
 
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