I guess I've had a couple of these Force Pro S cameras long enough now to do a review. I've only purchased one Force Pro S from the Sportsman's Guide but I have also received a couple of others as replacements for the older and similar Solar Dark cams that failed before their two year warranties had expired.
One of the biggest issues I have with this new model is the life of the internal battery which is supposed to be charged by the built-in solar panel. Compared to the old Solar Dark model these things are pitiful. I realize that a big part of the problem is that during this time of year there is the least amount of daylight, while at the same time, the greatest amount of nocturnal activity by wildlife, especially deer. That means the camera sees its greatest use during the time of day when there is basically no charging light available. I could excuse that except for the fact that I never had as bad of an issue with the discontinued Solar Dark model. Either the solar panel is less efficient or the internal battery has less storage capacity or both. I have had multiple instances where the camera has shut down after only a few days of use after being fully charged by connecting the camera to my desktop computer via a USB cable. I have one connected right now after only two days of use. Never had that bad of a problem with the Solar Dark. I suppose the new model just uses more power but I find that hard to believe when it has fewer capabilities. Now I will admit that I have these cams set to take a 10 second video with no interval between vids. However, I always set the older Solar Dark to take one photo and then a 30 second video with no interval. Sign of our socialist times, I guess. New product equals lower quality for about the same or higher price.
There also seems to be a problem with the use, or lack of use, of the backup batteries. I only use Energizer Ultimate Lithium batteries in any of my trail cams. I have yet to see a reduction of available charge on any of the backup batteries in any of the Force Pro S cams I have. That would seem to indicate that the backup batteries are simply not being used. I have also had multiple incidents where the internal battery has lost enough of its charge that the camera simply stops taking photos but yet the backup batteries still show that they are fully charged. Why even have a backup battery capability if the stupid camera won't use it? That brings up another thing. The old Solar Dark would actually display the percentage of remaining battery life for both the internal and backup batteries instead of the comparatively uninformative battery symbol used in the "Poor Farce" S. However, once the internal battery reaches a certain level of discharge and the camera shuts down the display does read "Low Battery". No kidding?
I also don't like the fact that there is no hybrid mode. In other words, you cannot set the camera to take both a photo and a video. You can do one or the other but not both. However, you can vary the length of videos taken. The old Solar Dark would do all of that. Again, another step backwards.
The picture quality is also inferior to the Solar Dark and especially so with night time photos. I've tried multiple photo setting options but nothing seems to help.
The Solar Dark also had a lot of other, useful features that are not available on the Poor Farce S. Like having a display screen where you could actually read the SD card and view any stored photos. More steps backwards.
So, bottom line is I will not buy this product again and would never recommend it to anyone else.
BTW, yesterday I spent almost an hour and a half in a chat session on Spypoint's "support" website trying to get a warranty issue resolved on another of my old Solar Dark cams that had finally died. No disrespect to the folks who man these support chat things but they honestly have no knowledge whatsoever of the product. All they seem to be able to do is ask a bunch of basic questions from a list they are given. Offering any helpful information is completely ignored unless it is in direct answer to their questions. And they are obviously not allowed to make any decisions on their own. The "team" finally agreed to send me another Poor Farce S as a replacement. Great. Just what I wanted.