Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Okay guys, here's the idea. Some fella on here got me thinking. He has been comparing digital trail cams and I have found his site very useful, however what I haven't found is a very straight to the point answer about all aspects of the digital cams. Most posts give you a couple of ideas about a couple of cameras, but you are left to bit and piece it all together. So, Iwould like forthis post to be the only resource one would need to use before going digital. We all know digital can be pricey, so I hope everyone that has information to share about a particular camera, does so. I'll probably take down the page in a month (mid September). That should give everyone sufficient time to post.

If you would like to help, click the link below and complete the form. (I added a page to my classroom website to make it quick. Thought that was worth mentioning because the background does not quite match the current topic.)

http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/education/peach/edu558/studentwebs/sp05/bparker0/trail_camera_review.htm

Thanks everybody.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Great idea. Way to keep everything centralized. I hope you will share the final compilation when it is finished.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

I am a little surprised that we only have one form completed at this point, but I hope they start pouring in. The way it works is for people that have a digital trail cam to go to the link in the first post, and complete the form, then click submit. The information is sent to me and then I will post it. The reason I did it this way is because I wanted to make sure participants didn't accidentally leave anything out. I will not edit any of the responses in any way. Like I said, I am doing this for everyone that is looking to go digital. I do not have a digital trail cam so I have no opinions either way about any of the cams.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

A big thanks tobozz for our first post.

Brand & Model: Leaf River digital with view screen

Link: blank

Cost: $ 359 last years price....now $ 100 less and IMHO the best bang for the buck out there....no contest !!!

Battery Quantity & Size: 4-D'S....3 C'S

Battery Life: 4 months in moderate temp,...40-90 degrees

Trigger Speed: 4 seconds....gotten whole deer on every shot.....its all in the cam angle...some cams claim faster but do so by losing pic quality because cam has not fully waken up !!

Trigger Distance: has an excellent sensitvity adjustment....can pick up birds from 30 yds or more...

Resolution: 4.1 mp

Memory: Compact flash.....the is not real useful info here so far.....seeing since you can get this info. right from L.R.

Picture Viewer: Mines has a built in screen....its helpful.

Security: comes with a heavy duty locking bar on the front...and a nice cam housing with locking cable holes pre-drill

Strap: strap or cable.....I use a cable.

Good Qualities: Their 35 mms have had a excellent reputation for years....for $ 269 with view screen and so many easy to use controls and features...such as zoom on the screen.....it was a no brainer as far as best buy for the buck....not to mention the cam has a very cool rugged look about it !

Bad Qualities: Really can't think of any....I love the cam !

Happy with purchase: VERY HAPPY.......own a cuddy and didn't care for it much took it back for the Leaf River and like it much more....better pics......more featues....easier to use and better locking cables can be use with it !

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Thanks go outtoglew22 for oursecond post.

Brand & Model: Cuddeback 1.3 mp

Link: www.cuddebackdigital.com

Cost: $400 on sale for $300

Battery Quantity & Size: 4 D's

Battery Life: I usually get around 3 months

Trigger Speed: Can't be more then a second, just as quick as a 35mm i have

Trigger Distance: The largest clearing I have tested in was 20 yds and it sensed it right away

Resolution: 1.3 mp

Memory: It uses a CF card, the larger the size the larger amount of pics you can take.

Picture Viewer: Yes you can view images in the field with a separate hookup you must buy, but its just as easy for me to wait the 5 mins to get back to my computer.

Security: The camera is secured to the tree with a cable and/or a 4 inch long screw, it also has a hold in the bottom where you can put a padlock on it. If someone does manage to get it off the tree they will never be able to operate it without knowing your password.

Strap: See above

Good Qualities: I haven't see many cams that take bad day pictures, but i think i speek for most when i say the magority of my picutres are at night and this is where the cuddeback really outshines a lot of other cameras, i really havent seen many night pictures that can compare to the cuddeback. The customer service is great as well (see below).

Bad Qualities: Some, including myself, have had problems with the software mine stopped working not long after i got it, but the company was great they sent me another one the day i called them even before i had sent the other one back and its been great since then.

Happy with purchase: Yes, if i had any extra money to throw around i wouldn;t hesitate buying another. I belive the camera is worth every bit of the $400 it was origianlly marked as but $300 is just a great price IMO.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Thanks toDampland for ourthird post.

Brand & Model: LEAF RIVER (Model DC-2BU) 2.1 Mega-Pixel digital game camera
This camera includes the LCD viewing screen

Link: WWW.vibrashine.com

Cost: 2004 Price $349.99

Battery Quantity & Size: 4 - D
3 - C

Battery Life: Left outside in the N.W. Wisconsin winter during late December 04, early January 2005.
Approximately 25 days. Had over 260 photos on the Compact Flash card.
When I first put the camera in early November, I installed the orginal batteries I bought for it. Those batteries were still working, after I pulled the camera fro the woods in mid-January, due to EXTREME cold.
I would guess that the batteries will work just fine for 6-8 weeks in early fall conditions, and 4-6 weeks in the colder winter conditions.

Trigger Speed: 5-6 seconds

Trigger Distance: can be varied, according to sensativity. But in general, I would say 35-40 feet max.

Resolution: 2.1 Miega-Pixels

Memory: COMPACT FLASH cards. I currently use Sandisk 128 MB cards

Picture Viewer: Yes, viewer included on unit.
BUT, the viewer is very small, and is often hard to see what is on picture..... usually just look on computer at home.

Security: comes with a metal bar that if you buy 2 small locks, they will prevent the unit from being opened up (no stolen Memory cards)
Also has holes in metal frame for a bike chain lock to be used.

Strap: Fabric cord, with some elastic built in, regular strap buckle at end.

Good Qualities: Reliable, takes decent pictures, good battery life, I love the DATE & TIME on each picture., good camo on product. Appears sturdy construction. Pretty simple instructions to follow, and get started right away.

Bad Qualities: I feel the wake up/trigger speed is too slow 5-6 seconds.
on-camera LCD viewer is so small that it is really not worth getting...EXCEPT that the viewer is VERY helpful when setting up the camera settings.

Happy with purchase: YES, Other than a problem at the beginning with the WHITE BALANCE being all screwed up. (Solved by taking out all the batteries, and letting the unit sit for 48 hours) It has worked fine. If you want a camera for deer TRAILS, this is NOT the right camera...too slow.
But for FOOD PLOTS, mineral Licks, or Bait Piles; it works just great!

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Thanks torecurver67 for our4thpost.

Brand & Model: MOULTRIE GAMESPY 1.3 megapixiels

Link: blank

Cost: 179.95 from Cabela's last year

Battery Quantity & Size: 6 volt lantern battery

Battery Life: 3 to 4 weeks with warm weather or 400 to 500 pics with rechargables.Don't know about cold temps yet.With cheap battery about 250 pics or 1 week in cold.

Trigger Speed: In warmer temp it is slower(4 to 5 seconds)I would guess.

Trigger Distance: It seems to be about 25 to 30 yds depending on the temp. It will miss or catch part of animal in warmer weather but not always.

Resolution: 1.3 M.P

Memory: 16 mb internal or SD memcard external.With a 128 mb card it about holds 300 pics on high res.

Picture Viewer: Only with card reader(sold seperately).

Security: Small cable and lock supplied.(It's a joke)

Strap: The mounting system is a joke,supplied are two shoe strings with little stops.

Good Qualities: With the Moultrie's cost being half what others sell for I bought another one.I have less than $ 300 in 2 cams,2rechargable batteries and 2 128mb mem cards. The pic quality is good on high res and as a scouting tool they're perfect.I have not had any problems with either cam other than being a little slow at times.If you take a little time in the setup it will improve the pic quanity and quality .I believe for the price you can't go wrong.

Bad Qualities: These cams can be a pain to setup with the junk mounting system.The supplied cable and lock could be cut with a pair of wire cutters.

Happy with purchase: Overall I'm happy with the cams,the price and a product that works.It's a afforbable scouting tool that tells you what your scouting for.The only thing I would change is the mounting and that I'm working on.I think the pic quality is good and improves with creative setups.I will buy another when I can afford one.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

With the increased selection of (at least) decent digital game cameras, now all we need is a game camera with wireless internet capabilities that way it could automatically upload the pics to the web. Then we could just sit at home and see whats been cookin at the honey hole!!!! Wouldn't that be awesome!!!!!!!! No more traipsing through the woods to check the camera spreading scent everywhere!

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Here's a nice flash comparison of the more popular digi models.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Doc,
Penn's woods has one that works of a cell phone, it emails it to your computer right after the photo was taken. Neat technology, but in my opinion that's getting a little ridiculous, hunters will be "hunting" from their pc. All they have todo is check their emailand walk out an shootMoe when he walks by....I think I'll sit in the woods. Below is a pic frommy cuddeback 3.0,the biggerbuckin the distance is about 20yds from the camera (the extended range flash was on).

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

I could cuss right now. Unfortunately my website is down at the college, so the link will not be up for a while. I shot an email to the tech dept and am waiting for a response. I got a professor looking into it as well. She said it could be a day or a week. Will post when its back up. I apologize for the inconvenience. Thanks to everyone for checking out the post.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

I would like to see some night time photos from the LR, I have saw numerous daytime shots and they are very good quailty, does anyone have any nightime photos from one?

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Night time Leaf River pics

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Thanks Il, Those are some great pics and great bucks, Man Illinios really grows some big'ns.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Heres a couple frommy Cuddeback..

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Nice looking bucks Strut.
Chuck

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

LOL you have probably saw those before Chuck.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Il-Cornfed, do you work for Leaf River? Those pictures look like the same pictures that are in the DVD that came with my camera?? My pictures from my digital leaf river don't seem to hold a candle to the pictures Strut posts!!

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

MY APOLOGIES TO ALL. The form is back up now, for those interested in submitting information about their particular digital trail camera. The page has been getting swamped since the form went down. People from all over the US, Canada, & Mexico have been checking it out. I am terribly sorry for the timing of all this. But, IT IS UP AND READY FOR YOUR POSTS. Here's the link again.

http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/education/peach/edu558/studentwebs/sp05/bparker0/trail_camera_review.htm

Thanks.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Strut....is that Cuddeback of yours the new 3.0? I have two of them and they sure don't take pics that good. Seems on both of mind that most of the flash is to the right side. Weird.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

No Bob its the old model, most of my pictures are about the same quality as these, very seldom do I get a blank picture, The only problem I have is when the fog moves in, it makes them a little fuzzy. Is your flash reflector real nice and shiny? Last year I took so many pictures that mine was starting to turn black from the flash, I guess from the flash burning it.I sent it in and they fixed it.

One thng I would like to see on the Cuddebacks would be the way the pictures are stored on the card, I wish you could set it to where the file names would keep going in a numerical order instead of starting over at 1 when you put a new card in, I save all mine to a file on my computer and also on a disc, if it has more than one pictue file with the same number from 2 cardsI either have to change the file number or delete one before I can save it, also in having an on going file number it would make keeping count of your pictures thur out the year a little easier.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

strut--- Iused to have the same problemI found a pretty good solution. Highlight all the pics on the card and right click on the first one and replace the number with a number in parenthases you need to use parenthases or else the first one will be 1 witht he second 1 (1)...1 (2) and so forth. You can name them starting with whatever number then copy them into where all you other pictures are and repeat the process with all the pics in the file....sorry for not beign very clear but it does work, if your haveing trouble let me know and I'll try to explain it a little better.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

A big thanks tokpsingleton for our4th post. (I think it's the fourth.)

Brand & Model: Moultrie Digital Spy Cam 1.3

Link: http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productDetail.aspx?id=MFH-DGS-100

Cost: $98 from Walmart

Battery Quantity & Size: 6 volt lantern

Battery Life: blank

Trigger Speed: Differs. Sometimes seconds to almost 20 seconds.

Trigger Distance: blank

Resolution:1.3 MP

Memory: SD Card up to 256 MB

Picture Viewer: No.

Security: Really none. But hey, that's what you get when you only spend $98.

Strap: 2 ropes that came with unit.

Good Qualities: Price, Price, Price. I just use it for scouting and it is absolutely perfect for that.

Bad Qualities: Lousy fastening system, sometimes trigger speed is ridiculously slow.

Happy with purchase: Yes, very happy. I can buy 4 of these for the same price as one of the higher end models. I know I am sacrificing some features but that's okay since I only use it for scouting.

RE: Comparing digital trail cams (The POST To End All POSTS)
 

Thanks go outtobasswacker foranother post.

Brand & Model: Penn's Woods DS-04. 3.2mp Sony camera

Link: www.pennswoods.com

Cost: 699

Battery Quantity & Size: 2AA is camera and 4 c's for the sensor

Battery Life: ~200 pics for camera batteries (rechargeable duracells) and I change out the others each time (rechargeables) so I don't know exactly, at least 200pics

Trigger Speed: Seems pretty quick?

Trigger Distance: Good range, wish the flash range was a little better

Resolution: 3.2 mp

Memory: Memory sticks, I have two a 256kb and a 64kb

Picture Viewer: Viewer on camera

Security: Python cable, which is heavy duty. I put a screw through the inside of the box to the tree so it can't be slid up and over if the tree were cut down.....feature I stole from my cuddeback.

Strap: Python Cable holds it to the tree

Good Qualities: Great resolution, I've taken over 300 pics this week and don't have an empty pic in the bunch, they all have some sort of critter. Very easy to set up.

Bad Qualities: $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ and somewhat short range flash

Happy with purchase: Very happy with the camera.