Be honest here. How many trail cams have you bought that turned out to be junk? What did they cost you?
I won a Predator that turned out to be a POS retail $475 But none that I have bought have been bad . . . so far
I've bought three. One of them turned out to be crap and cost $119. The other two I paid $50 for and they take the best pics.
Cuddeback....Better hope nothing ever goes wrong with them because they have horrible customer service and turn around on replacing cameras. I have had 6 different kinds from convert and stealth cam to Moultrie and Cuddeback. They all have bad apples, but I'm still a firm believer in you pay for what you get.
I've had 2 in 2 months that have given me problems right out of the box. The 1st 1 was the bushnell low glow 466 that i posted some pics from, it was 204.00 and received a full refund. The 2nd was a primos truth 60 blackout from Gander, it liked snapping pics non stop, it was 167.00 i believe, sent it back, they paid for return postage, received a full refund. Several years ago i had a cuddeback no flash that gave me problems, that was 450.00 if my memory is correct, no refund or no return. Back when i 1st started buying mine there was 1 that had a string and a 35 mm cam, i cant remember the name, junk. But back then i didn't know any better. I bought 8 cuddeback captures when they came out for a particular piece of property that i needed to scout, and i must of got lucky because i never had a failure (that i know of) but then again if something walks by your camera and it don't take a pic how are you gonna know? Well i tested this by putting cameras across from each other. For the money and what they did and how they performed they were way over priced. Since the low glow-black flash arrived i have sold all but 1 of those cuddebacks, added 3 bushnell 466 low glows that are working fantastic. Its still to early to tell if these will hold up, they just haven't been out long enough. 1 moultrie m80 that has alot of features and so far is working good for a red blob 120.00 cam. They do need to get a firmware update out to address the recovery time...its longer then 15 seconds, more like 30 to 35. The time lapse software is much easier and IMO overall better then the primos DPS software. 1 primos DPS that im still running tests on, for some ppl it seems its a little finicky as to which sd card it likes. So far so good with the Adata 16gb class 6 sdhc card, the test is still in progress. This cam could be very handy to have in your arsenal but the software provided to view the time lapse pics is pain to use. (for me anyway) 1 scoutguard thats been a little work horse, its a little picky when the temps get cold though. 1 Reconyx, simply awesome! And there will be more of them in the future when the bank account allows....... But these are just my opinions on some of the cams that i've owned, take em for what their worth.
I bought the Wildgame Innovations X6C for about $100 last year and it was an awesome camera last year. Went to turn it on this year and the screen won't even light up..
Just one, a Cuddeback Capture Flash. Got rid of it in less than 6 months. I did have a Bushnell TC and a Stealthcam I590 go bad but I had purchased them from Trailcampro.com and since their warranty is airtight, I had replacements within a few days with absolutely no hassles. Blessings.......Pastorjim
I've only ever bought one and that was a Camtrakker waaaaaay back when they were new. (film cameras) I had many years of good pics with that cam and when the actual camera broke I sent it in and they repaired quickly. I'm in the market for cheaper trail camera now so this thread could be helpful.
First camera didn't like, took it back and got a POS remington camera. Took it back and got another remington...bad choice. Kept it too long to take it back so I got a Wildgame innovations IR8X....love it!
had one of those tasco small camera jobs a while back..POS.only paid 50 or 60 for it was not even worth that. went to the stealthcams this year really pleased
I have only owned two, an earlier(maybe one of the first) Bushnell trail cams and an older Moultrie D-50. The Bushnell lasted a tad over a year which is a bummer because it cost $250 and the Moultrie is still going after 3 years and it cost less than $100. But the Moultrie isn't perfect either, it has problems with the "TV out" connection and battery life is relatively short. I guess I took the long-winded route of saying that the Bushnell is the worst one I've owned so far.
My cheap Moultries and Primos 35 have been great. My first digital trail cam (Cuddeback Capture) took a dump after one Fall, sent it back and was returned with a bill for the shipping and handling (fine if it was FIXED!!). Even after it was returned it would only take one pic and that was of me when I would retrieve the flash card (I am guessing that soemthing was wrong with the sensor which I told the company in my letter when I sent the cam to them). That Cuddeback I just sold for $5 at our garage sale....the flash card was worth more than that. GGGRRRR!!! It really frustrated me 'cause it is a fairly local company with a good reputation, but I apparently got a lemon.
I have owned cameras from Stealth Cam (1), Recon Outdoors (2), Moultrie (3) and Cuddeback (2) which have all failed, so 8 total cameras in about 10 years of using them. Moultrie had good service but being realistic, after the camera is several years old we can not expect the company to continue to service them. I have now turned to Reconyx and currently I am trying a camera with the Big Rack Trophy Product name. Both are made within 20 minutes of my home so they have an easy fix to them if there is a need.
Currently I have 2 cuddeback capture flash, 1 primos 60 and 1 busnell trophy. Both captures are replacement units, luckily for me the store let me exchange the defective units no questions asked 2 years ago and these have been good since. The bushnell is also a replacement, the original lasted about 3 months before it had runaway issues. I also had 2 capture IRs that were returned after their first round of pictures, battery life was terrible and almost no pictures in what is usually a good spot. I have a love hate relationship with trail cameras. I can't wait to go check them this weekend, HORN PORN!
Our group has 4 Cuddebacks none of which are out because I have had terrible luck with them. I also have 3 Moultries sitting on the bench. They took really good pics for a little over a year but have been bad since. I also have one of the first Wildgame Innovations and a Stealth cam sitting. The Wildgame is junk and the Stealth is terrible on batteries. I have 15 Covert cameras out, the only ones I am using right now because of the other problems. Even with the Coverts I am having some problems this year. I have had ants get in a few of them and mess the cameras up. But the customer service is really good with the Coverts.
