Best for the $ trail cam

[xtrema312]

I am thinking of putting a trail camera or two on the wish list this year.  What is the best IR camera for the $, and why?  Also were is the best place to get it?  What factors should I consider?

[Chris Surtees]

http://www.chasingame.com/

 http://www.graywolfwoolens.com/store/home.php?cat=39

 http://www.covertscoutingcamera.com/index.html

[bowmaster12]

i just bought two wildgame innovation ir 4 mag pixal cameras will be trying them out this week will le tyou know how they work if i get any pics they are only 100 bucks

[Robert Miller]

I have 2 Wildgame extreme 5 and they have taken good pics day/night. I got them at Dicks sporting good for 99.98 till 11/14/09.

[KentuckyTJ]

www.dlccovert.com

Battery life is incredible. Photos are amazing, they take excellent video.They are the size of your hand which makes them easy to hide from roaming hunters. They also have a groove in them that you can put a cable lock on.

You get what you pay for.

T.J.

[xtrema312]

Thanks for the info so far.  What kind of batteries should I consider and what is good battery life?  Are rechargeable batteries a possible option?  I would think I would be able to check cameras and change batteries at least every two weeks.  Is that reasonable?

[Bob Walker]

What TJ said, they're absolutely the best I've seen for the money. They have 2 banks of 4 AA batteries each. I put 3 on my property in March and have had it set to take 30 second videos and still have 3 bars on the batteries.

[Charlie Lamb]

Battery life is certainly something to consider. If you have to change batteries often, you will soon spend as much as if you'd have gotten a camera with good battery life.

[razorsharptokill]

I'm really liking the pics my Wildview IR extreme is getting. Tigger time can be slow but if placed with the flow of traffic it works pretty dang good.

As far a s basttery life goes, rechargeables are an option too. I have a rechargeable 6 volt battery on my feeder with a small solar panel and it has been in service a year now.

[Chris O]

Originally posted by KentuckyTJ:
 www.dlccovert.com

Battery life is incredible. Photos are amazing, they take excellent video.They are the size of your hand which makes them easy to hide from roaming hunters. They also have a groove in them that you can put a cable lock on.

You get what you pay for.

T.J.

I'll second this. I actually have the Bushnell Trophy Cam, which im pretty sure is the exact same cam just by bushnell. I read that they had a little longer warranty so I went with that one. Just want to remention that the battery life is amazing!

[KentuckyTJ]

Originally posted by xtrema312:
Thanks for the info so far.  What kind of batteries should I consider and what is good battery life?  Are rechargeable batteries a possible option?  I would think I would be able to check cameras and change batteries at least every two weeks.  Is that reasonable?

Todd, I use the energizer blue lithium's they even last longer than the regular ones. Depending on how you have the camera set of course but for normal conditions I'd be willing to bet you could get as much as 6 months or more on a set if you just have the camera on photo mode on a travel corridor or on a food source.

I had a camera set up in a driveway just to catch trespassers and got many many vehicles as well as deer, coyotes, coons and squirrels. The camera ran for 9 months and took my photo the day I took it down.

[lpcjon2]

Check out Nachez.com they have trail cameras and some are priced better than they would be in the stores.

[Fallguy]

Battery life also has alot to do with the temperature. As the thermometer drops so does the battery life.

[xtrema312]

I plan to use one or a couple for scouting stands mostly during September - mid November. 10-12 week battery life on rechargeable AA batteries would be fine.  Even 4 weeks run time would be ok.  I will probably move them around every week or two to see what is going on at different hunting spots on different properties.  All my areas are private, but some are shared with other hunts, who I do no always know.  Maybe one nice compact one for my best spots where I feel confident it will not disappear.  Mostly I want them to be reasonably priced, offer reasonable quality, good battery life, inexpensive batteries, and do an all around good job.  They don't have to have all the bells and whistles or video.  I do want to make sure I don't get something that will not work well or cost a lot in batteries to run.  I would love to spend $100 on them, but if $150 gets me one that is far better, cheaper to run, and with less problems then that would be fine.  

I also want to use them to bust some fence setters and hunters in my safety zone on my property.  So something that doesn't cost a lot so I don't lose a lot if they get messed with would be good.  Maybe I need to look at two options for a higher quality and general all around use.

With the IR cameras can a person see the flash?  I am wondering about that for security of the camera if I use it for watching the fence setters.

[KentuckyTJ]

The IR's flashes are red led.

[xtrema312]

Thanks TJ.  So I can assume someone would see that go off and I would need a protective box and all if I want to keep it after catching a trespasser or something on camera if I had it set to flash.  

So what are the things to consider on the cameras?  Are there minimum features and performance levels to consider other than battery life?  What should I avoid or look for in cameras when evaluating them?  I am new to these so I need trail cam 101 help.

[razorsharptokill]

You can see them if you are looking that way. Not really a flash, lights just come on then go off.

[KentuckyTJ]

Yes you can see the red lights. They have a security box you can get.

Other things to look for are:

Card type (Coverts take a SD card that are easy to get at any drug store or Walmart and have little problems)

Trigger speed
Battery size and number
Flash type
Will it take a video
What are the delay settings
Overall size - I like them small
Lockable
How does it attach to tree - Can you access card and settings while its attached to the tree (very important). Its a pain if you have to unstrap the whole camera every time you want to switch out cards).

I would avoid the flash cameras and stick with an IR. They don't spook mature deer as bad the first time the deer gets flashed.

Here is a trail cam comparison website for you to make your own decision

     http://www.trailcampro.com/scoutguardphotos.aspx

[Brian Krebs]

Are the quality of the lens just a crap shoot; or are they consistent for different camera types? I notice some cameras do not show clear pictures; and I am wondering if it is all about pixels; or if it is the lens quality ?

[xtrema312]

Thanks for the info TJ.  I will check out that site to see how they compare.

What is a good trigger speed?  What range of delay settings is best?  Maybe it is covered on the site.  I need to make sure I understand what I need so I can compare.

Good question Brian.  I wonder about lenses and minimum pixels also.