Recommendations for Cheapish Cam

Derek Reese 29

5 year old buck +
Hello everyone,
I am asking for a friend who has had terrible luck with Moultrie cameras (as in ordered 4 and none have made it outside the house due to malfunction), but I was wondering what a suggestion would be for a fairly inexpensive (max $75-$100) camera for a beginner. I have run Moultries (various models but always get the kits with the SD card and batteries) as well as even the cheapest stealth cam and wildlife innovations and have had no issues getting them to function well even in bad/cold/wet weather. We also leave our cameras out year round. I just feel bad for this guy as my suggestions have only resulted in frustration for him, so I'm reaching out to all the experts on this forum.
Thanks in advance.
 

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I've ran Covert cams since about 2012, started with the MP5 and then the MP6 ( 8 cams ) slowly over the last 8 years they have been quitting and I've been trying to replace them. I still have 3 MP6's that are running. I bought a covert MP12 and it's ok but not quite as good as the MP6, I tried the Tasco MP10 and they do ok for $40 but they seem to hold moisture and a lot of morning pics are blurry because of the moisture and the pic quality is just ok. A month ago I bought a couple Covert MP16 for just over $100 and have only pulled the cards once but the seem to be ok, time will tell if they last as long as the MP6's.
 
I use the cheap wild game innovations cameras. Their cheapest ones only seem to last a couple years but their middle of the road ones have lasted well for me And have great battery life.
 
Hate to be the one to say it but.. cheap cameras are cheap for a reason. You're lucky if any camera in that price point lasts 2 seasons. There's always a couple that do but if you buy 3 expect to only have 1 or 2 working after the first year, etc. Just been my experience... Even the more decent cheap ones.. Moultree, Bushnell, etc.
 
If you want cheapest of the cheap go to Walmart and grab the $28 Tasco 8mp camera. I'm extremely impressed at the quality of the pictures. Cant say anything about the longevity of the camera because i've only been using them this year.
 
If you can find a Tactacam Reveal, they're $99. They are a cell camera, but you wouldn't have to activate it. They are doing well for me, so far, I have 4. Only 2 weeks in, but I'm impressed. Otherwise, get a Browning Strike Force series.
 
I bought some used Covert NWF18's - white flash..from Trailcampro for $90 each. Pleased so far..just can't do videos at night.
 
I bought a muddy 3 years ago for under $100. The daytime pictures are the best I have ever seen. The nighttime pics are so so. It lasted 2 years and crapped out. With low price point cameras most peoples results will vary.
 
I have terrible experience with Moultrie. The absolute best camera I have is a Primos Truthcam I got a long time ago, and it still functions 100% as it did when new. I have had some Wildgame and Spypoint cameras that worked well in the past (but can't find them). The next camera I buy will be a Browning because of all the great reviews.
 
I recommended Browning to him (Cabelas is having a sale now, though good luck finding one in stock)....I have yet to use them, but the reviews are all great and I have wanted one for years! Although I do still have 2 very old, very cheap Wildgame Innovations cameras that I think were 40$ for both of them that still work, I have been burned by their products too many times to count...
Thanks for all the suggestions...
 
Been very impressed with Apeman mini cam off amazon. Get them for 30 something. Only down side so far is using a micro SD card.
 
Got a Browning Patriot delivered today. It's a new model that scores 92/100 from the Trailcampro guys. But I ordered it elsewhere this time due to finding it $30 cheaper. I'm still sticking with Brownings 100% for now. Black flashes.
 
Anybody ever try a Campark? It has wifi built into the camera so all you need to do is download an app and then you can download the pictures without physically going and getting the card out of the camera. It's $99 on amazon. It's pretty highly rated as well.

I had a guy on craigslist that I bought used cuddebacks from. Not sure what he used them for but he said they were never outdoors and he used the timelapse functions. I like them because they'll take a picture and then a video. It's nice if there is a buck chasing a doe because you get a pic of a doe and then a video of the buck running past. Anyway he'd sell me 2 for $80 but he wasn't on there this year.

My favorite camera is a Browning dark ops. It takes really nice pics but it was pricey. The drawback is the picture/video files are huge and I can't email them or post them anywhere.
 
I run 2 Brownings (don't recall the models) and the newer ones are pretty good and can be had for ~$100. I have a Exodus as well ~$150 but has been great and comes with a 5 year warranty. I used to by cheaper stealth cams....they where OK but I would only get a year...maybe 2 tops out of them before they would fail. If I had to buy another cam it would be another exodus.

I would certainly suggest a black flash version....the white light is the worst and the red glow isn't the best either... I also like ones where you can take video...that is the setting I use the most. I post them to you-tube and then post the links in my forum posts.

Last Moultrie I bought...still took film!
 
Haha. My dad had a camera that used film. It was huge too. Never had much luck with Wildgame cameras. Bought a Walmart Tasco ther other year. Took decent pics but as expected only lasted a season. I bought a Wosports this year. A cheapo but takes decent pics. We'll see how long it lasts.

I had an old Moultrie. I think it was 4 MP and took 4 C batteries. It just quit the other year. It lasted 8-10 years.

I've been impressed with the cuddebacks. The pictures/videos aren't the best quality especially for supposedly being 20 MP. But they have lasted for a long time and I got them all used. I just had to send one back to cuddeback because the IR filter was getting stuck and all my day pics were pink. They fixed it for free and sent it back, even out of warranty.
 
Been through several piles of Moultries, Stealths, Bushnells, and Brownings over last decade.

Brownings strongly get my current vote.

Shared this video in a separate thread, but will share again with an interesting follow-up note. This past week I had a friend visit who loves wildlife and hadn't seen the video. I pulled it up on YouTube to watch on an 85" Sony TV. I thought for sure at that size it would look "pixelated" but it instead was amazingly sharp and smooth. Crazy how much cameras have improved in just a span of 10 years. Admittedly, used Spec Ops which cost a bit more than the $100, but good bit of that cost is for viewing screen in camera... go with model without that feature and you can get close enough to the Benjamin mark to justify going with a Browning.

 
Nice video BBM! Kids loved it. Henry spotted the mystery surprise animal right away. I take it armadillos aren't known for their grace. Or whatever those were.
 
I take it armadillos aren't known for their grace. Or whatever those were.
Mortenson, armadillos indeed, and your ID skills are way better than my mother-in-law's as she dentified them as "baby pigs." LOL!

I need to put an armadillo video together... have tons of video captures of them charging each other and leap-frogging one another. Also have few videos of quadruplet siblings rambling around. Weird critters with really weird characteristics... moms have a single egg that when fertilized splits into four identical same-sex quadruplets, and that's true nearly each and every birth cycle.
 
Great trivia right there. We laughed when it fell off, and assumed it was a 1-time deal. Guess again lol

I've still never set my Brownings to video mode. Need to do that. I know several of the models are known to be great for video capture.
 
Hello everyone,
I am asking for a friend who has had terrible luck with Moultrie cameras (as in ordered 4 and none have made it outside the house due to malfunction), but I was wondering what a suggestion would be for a fairly inexpensive (max $75-$100) camera for a beginner. I have run Moultries (various models but always get the kits with the SD card and batteries) as well as even the cheapest stealth cam and wildlife innovations and have had no issues getting them to function well even in bad/cold/wet weather. We also leave our cameras out year round. I just feel bad for this guy as my suggestions have only resulted in frustration for him, so I'm reaching out to all the experts on this forum.
Thanks in advance.

In that price range, you are rolling the dice regardless of brand. They are all Chinese cams and at price range, there really is no Quality Control to speak of. Some guys will get cams that run great. Others will get duds. We expect a lot from a trail cam. Unlike our other cameras we have come to expect to perform well at a very low cost, trail cams are expected to run in cold/heat cycles and take pictures in all kinds of weather conditions and have no operator. Either he will get lucky and happen to get a good one off the line, or he won't regardless of how they are branded.

Does this really matter? If you are just trying to have some fun and see what might be out there, not at all. If you get some good pics great, if not and you have to mess with it or return it, so be it. Expect a short life span, but you may get lucky. If you don't want to raise your price threshold, lower your expectations. On the other hand, if you are doing a research project or collecting data for QDM decision making, you probably can't suffer this and need to go high end. The up-front cost is high, but when you amortize it over 10 years or so and consider your time valuable, it is less expensive in the long run. This is not needed for hunters just trying to get some pics, but it is key for data collection when data loss can bias your results.

I will say that the picture quality from many low end trail cams has hugely improved and some will take beautiful pictures.

That is my 2 cents and realistic perspective.

Thanks,

Jack
 
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