Snoogsdad

I would agree with him if we are talking about the Moultrie camera. The 100 and 200 I've tested seem to make you coax them to take a picture so trails are definitely not their thing. Deer have to mingle for them to get a picture.

The other 17 digital game cameras I've tried have all had faster trigger times and will work on trials if you put them at an angle. Sure, if a deer is moving fast enough it is difficult to get its picture but I get few pictures with no deer at all in the picture even when on food plots or trails.

IL-Cornfed

I honestly read 20 bad experiences for every goodreview on the Moultrie. Enough to know that folks just shouldn't waste their hard earned money of one!

As far as trigger speed from a Digital. I haven't found anything that could come close to the Cuddeback! The Cuddes will trigger in 1 to 2 seconds and nearly ALL your photos will be perfectly centered. The Cudde is vastly sperior to most trail cams on the market. It sounds like you need to try one?

GrumpyTom

I guess you have not tried very many home made models. I have a 2.0 meg (olympus D380) which I converted to IR which triggers very close to the 1 second mark. Most of the homebrews will trigger at near the 2 second mark (depends on your camera used). The biggest thing about my camera is, that I have only about $200 invested (+ my time) and this includes extra batteries and an extra slave flash for addded night picture distance.

I think that you can get a higher priced store bought cam which will work great, but with the home brew, you can get as good if not better then the store bought, for alot less money. Plus you can build yourself exactly what you want, not have to settle what the stores will sell you.

IL-Cornfed

No doubt the homebrews can and will work great. However, I couldn't tell you the number of folks that mess up a couple of them before getting it right. Now the price doesn't seem cheaper if I have to buy a couiple of them to get one well functioning models. Also, with the homebrews you get NO warranty and NO customer service. As much as a digital cam has to be subjected to over the course of one year in the deer woods, I kind of seriously like the idea of havong a ONE YEAR warranty. Homebrews are great if a guy wants togo that route and he knows what he's doing. To eachhis own.

GrumpyTom

I do not know who built the units that you have seen or delt with, but I could point you out people that stand behind their units as much as the stores. You will also find out that their customer service is better then a store bought unit. Of coarse you need to look into the builders history, investigate just like you do with a store bought units history.

The only problem I had with my homebrew was in the control card I bought. I did not investigate enough and bought from a maker that did not stand behind his product, but there are many control boards out there that work great and have fabulous customer service. They are not that difficult to do, there are step by step instructions (with pictures) which make it easier.

As you said, To each his own. All I wanted to do was point out another option for a trail camera.

Snoogsdad

Although the Cuddebacks are the fastest I have tested, I'd have a hard time calling them the best. Speed it nice, but it's not everything.

I agree the homebrews are very good and you can buy cams that are well made. Personnally I currently like the Trail Watcher line of cams and the customer service is excellent.

As far as customer service goes, I've not had succes with the Cuddeback phone help.

Bullet Hole Bailey

I have one and i like it but you probably would want to put food out because of the slow trigger time.

Branson

Any links or books on a homemade unit? I have a few old digital cameras lying around that could be used if possible...

Primitive Weapon

Ditto. I'd like to see what all goes into it as well.

GrumpyTom

PM sent to both of you.