So, I'm looking at getting a new trail cam for next year and have heard some pretty good things about the Stealth Cam G42NG and wanted to hear some first hand knowledge/opinions on these cameras and see what you guys think of them. I'll mostly be using this camera on video mode, so if anyone can comment directly on that it would be great, but all information is much appreciated. Right now I have a few Moultrie M100 and when they take a video, they take a picture first and sometimes the animal has walked out of the cameras range by the time the actual video starts, wondering if the Stealth does the same thing, or takes the video right away. If you have any pics/videos you'd like to share that were taken with this camera that would be great. Thanks for the help!
It takes videos right away, no pic with it. I love my G42NG, but have barely used it on video mode. I'll try and track down one of the few I have and post it. I've got tons of pics though if you're interested. This camera has been very good to me
The front door on them does not seal well, I have two dead ones here at the house. Going to find out if the warranty service dept takes care of them.
Video files are abnormally huge. Flash burn too on animals up close. I remedied mine by taping off some spots on the front flash array cover. I had three g42s and all went back for different issues. They don't cover water damage to the camera so you are outta luck. I would look into the new Browning cams over a StealthCam.
Some owners including myself are experiencing horrific flash burn with the G42. I have to cover 95 percent of the LED's to control the severe burn. Day pictures are excellent.
Here's the only video I have on my computer, a wolf with mange. [video=youtube_share;hGKe7kRt5P8]http://youtu.be/hGKe7kRt5P8[/video]
Wow, Fitz those pictures are incredible! In the video do they all make that buzzing sound or is that just this one? How long have you had your cam and how has the battery life held up in the cold MN weather?
As for people who have had the flash burn problem does it occur on all night time pictures or is it just if the animal is really close to the cam?
Happens all night with me. I tried everything. Lowering the camera on the tree, aiming it up and down and moving the camera back from the trail. The only thing that worked for me was to cover almost all of the LED's.
Nearly all the problems spoke of about the G42ng's are completely alien to my experience with them. I have over a dozen and the only problem I have had with any of them is the IR burnout but I only get that on animals that are really close to my cameras. I just pulled cards yesterday and out of over 4000 pics I don't recall any that had IR burnout. Sorry but I never run mine on video mode. I'll upload some more here after a while. I'll find the ones that are closest I have to burn out but they aren't bad at all. No idea why my experience is so different from the others that are unhappy with them but I love mine. Biggest complaint I have with them is the night pics aren't as crisp as my old 2013 moultries but that's getting damn picky. Like many other things, it's individual luck and personal preference I guess. I have not had one that had a problem with the cover seal.
Here are a few more pics, I can't find any of my old ones that had bad IR burn out. I probably didn't keep any of them and as I said...I didn't have any on yesterdays card pull, for whatever reason I just don't have it happen very often.
Covey those pictures are incredible, I think it's the clarity that really stands out to me. If you don't use the video option do you use the burst mode or just single pictures? I want to try and get a better idea of which direction the deer are coming from/going to.
Depending on where I have the cam, I set my burst. Most of the time I have it set to 7 pics if it's on a trail that I don't expect them to stop on.
How fast does the burst take the 7 shots? And what's the biggest burst setting? Thank yu guys for all the information I really appreciate it?
Sorry, I don't have much to add except experience operating them and some examples of pics. I don't use anything but a single picture every 20-30 seconds (depending on the camera). There's no practical way I could go through even twice as many pics as I get as it is, let alone three to seven times what's normal. A single shot limited to every 20 seconds on the G42's works fine for me so I can manage looking through them. So far I've not really seen a need for any other settings. I've used plotwatcher mode a couple of times and don't really care for or need it either.
In all honesty, the plotwatcher mode may work really well for telling you where they are coming from and going to, if we're talking about an open area like a field or plot. Otherwise I would think video mode may work best for that purpose. The only other option would be to use more cameras and pay attention to direction and time stamp. I just generally place them on trails and watch for direction of travel if I need to learn those details. Set ups on feeders or plots will get lots of pics but fewer actually indicating entrance and exit routes. Like my feeder pics, just basically get sex, age and numbers data for me, if I didn't already know details of how deer got there and where they went when they left...those pics wouldn't provide much indication of those details.
Thanks for all the info guys. I think I'll end up pulling the trigger and picking a couple of these up...can't beat $116 with free shipping! One last question, any specific type of sd card work better then others or recommended?
I've been using a mix without issues yet. I formatt every card pull. It's quick & easy with the new menu. So far I've used Stealth Cam, ScanDisk, Transcend, and a Verbatim cards without issue. If you're going to be using video more, don't skimp on SDs. HD video works best with fast cards.
