Has anyone else tried one of these yet? I was hoping this was going to be an upgrade over the Solar Dark. It definitely is not. I've been using the Solar Dark series for at least five years and have always liked the layout of the menus and just the general functionality, although the durability hasn't been all that impressive. I really liked the fact that they had a solar panel which meant that battery replacement was pretty much eliminated. I always used Energizer Lithium batteries as backups and they would last for multiple seasons. The cameras had a two year warranty and that's about as long as they would last. The weakest link seemed to be the lifespan of the internal lithium battery pack. Makes me want to run right out and buy an electric car. NOT!


I will admit though that I would always set them to take one photo and then a 30 sec video. I'm sure that put them under a lot more stress than single photos would have but, hey, there is nothing saying you can't or shouldn't use them that way. It's kind of a moot point now since that model is no longer available.


Anyway, when the new Force Pro S went on sale recently I ordered one from Sportsman's Guide. The menu and functionality are really a step backwards from the Solar Dark in my opinion. Just like everything else, it probably has something to do with computer chip shortages. And so far the reliability has been horrid. The label on the side does say "Made In China" so no big surprise there.


This new camera doesn't let you combine photos and videos so I set it to take 30 second videos. I got a grand total of 48 videos before it apparently died. I can turn it on but it will not recognize any of the SD cards I have tried, including the card that came with the camera. The display screen lights up and then says "Please Format SD". So, after reading the instructions on SpyPoint's support website pages I did that and formatted the supplied SDHC 16 GB card. I first tried a quick format which didn't work and then a long format with the same result. I'm still getting the "Please Format SD" error.


I also downloaded the latest firmware from their website but that was a total waste of time since the camera won't read the SD card the firmware is stored on.


Next I opened a chat session on their website and after at least half an hour of back and forth messaging with me trying multiple suggestions all they would say was is that it looks like the camera will have to be replaced.


So I've sent the proof of purchase and now I'm waiting for confirmation of a replacement. I would honestly rather just get a refund but I'm not even sure if that is an option.