Never had a trail cam, want a decent one, suggestions?
 

Hello:

I live up against a green-space and have coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, etc...
I have never had a trail cam before, but I would like one that will take day pics of them, but also at night (decent quality), but do not want a white flash.
The distance would be max of 50' before the heavy woods would limit visibility.
I don't want to waste my money on junk, nor do I want to spend a lot either, probably under $250.
Reading reviews with trigger speed, recovery time, red glow vs black flash, I'm pretty confused.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Look into Moultrie cameras. They're very good trail cameras, and not too expensive.

I've got a Moultrie A20i, a Wildgame Innovations Mirage, and a JLB Superhunter I picked up at Ollie's for $20 on clearance. Of the 3, the cheap Superhunter takes the best night photos but during the day it snaps 1,000's of pictures mostly of nothing. The Moultrie is good and takes great daytime photos but the nighttime range isn't very good. I've only had the WGI camera for a few weeks and so far I'm very happy with it. All are IR LED flashes and have no visible flash. If you watch carefully IMO you can pick up a pretty good camera on sale for $100 or less.

if you go to the Cuddyback web site they are selling demos at a reduced cost
a way to get a higher end cam at a lower end price

but honestly IMO<> when you buy cheap game cam's there ALL hit and miss
some get great one's and some get same model and have nothing but issue's
pick of the litter when buying cheaper models?
nature of the beast! sort of get what you pay for

the good news is, if you buy a CHEAP camera, odds are your going to want a second one down the road, and a cheap one will show you the things you DON"T like about it, and second one you will buy and most likely spend more to get a better cam!

50 ft away at night is asking a lot of most cam's the flash MIGHT get there but things might look really small or far away like?
just a heads up!

Stealth Cam ..anything in G series..
Sells from 69.00 to 149.00

Only changed batteries once.

EASY to use..
No flash to scare game away..has a flash but can't be seen

I have a few cuddybacks but I've been transitioning to bushnells. They are as fast as cuddyback and seem to last longer. I think they take great day and night pictures and bushnell is great about repair work or replacement if something goes wrong. I run 10 cameras at a time...

I have been pretty impressed with the Browning line of cameras. The battery life is exceptional and the pics are a solid 7 or 8 out of 10. Pretty quick trigger speed so very seldom get a missed pic

I can't recommend any one camera but I will say not to buy any Kodiak cameras. They are a wireless camera that your smartphone can connect to from 100's of feet away they say. Not true! I got the camera to connect to my phone maybe 3 or 4 times and I was standing next to the thing. False advertisement! They do take great pictures. The best of any camera I've ever owned, but if you forget the code to access it, you will be locked out and the camera becomes junk. Yes, this happened to me. And I know, I should have written it down. My bad! I tried contacting the company by email and phone for 3 months straight to no avail. I never got a response from them. I reported them the Better Business Bureau and even they got no response. Now I've got a $250 paper weight.

buy one or two of the cheapest ones you can find. i got my latest pile for ~$20 and they all shoot 1080p video or 4MB pictures - just fine for what i want.

i use them trapping and scouting, so the more out there the better. i've had them stolen and busted, too. for $20 it doesn't hurt so much, in fact i worry more about the SD card than the camera.

i can put a dozen cameras out in the field for what a high-end, fancy camera will cost, and i'm not needing ultra high-end 4k video. just show me the animals and what they are doing.

hope this helps. Brownells and Midway have awesome sales on trail cameras, but you have to be watching - they sell out FAST.

I don't buy Cuddy back anymore. Their customer service sucks!!!!! I tried to get one of my cameras fixed and they wanted to sell me a new camera. They said they didn't service those models anymore. Well that was a lie, they wee still selling them two years after my call.

Go to Bushnell, greatest customer service. Had one of their cameras get totally submerged under water from the creek it was next to and they replaced the camera with they latest model!!!!! You can't get any better then that.

I run 4 Bushnell Essential E2 cameras on the property I hunt. Excellent battery life along with good day and night photos once you get the settings dialed in.

A couple of years ago I got two Moultries for the price of one in early January. Look for after Christmas sales and last falls hunting stock going on clearance.

So far, I'm running 4 brands of game cams--Cabelas, Browning, Moultrie & Stealth Cam. I have the mid range models and purchased them from $100-$140 this year at either Cabelas or Amazon. A few are Black IR or No Glow models but most are the regular IR models which cost a little less.

I've got plenty of pictures of deer, bear, turkeys, coyotes, cattle and 1 bobcat and 1 fox. The only animals that have noticed the IR light are a few does that almost posed for their pictures. None of the animals seemed bothered by the IR light.

All of these cameras take great pictures in daylight and okay pictures at night. From what you described in your OP post, IMHO, any of these cams would work for you.

I only use Sandisk SD cards and Energizer Lithium batteries and haven't had any problems so far. All of the cams have taken over 10K pics per set of batteries and all have proven to be rain proof. A couple of tricks a Cabela's employee told me is that their cams' Low sensitivity setting is really medium (I'm now using the low setting) and to set the camera to take 3 pictures instead of 1.

Hopefully this helps you with making your decision.

I have had great luck with Covert Cams.

My Covert Red 40 died this yr after only 5yrs.
Pretty disappointed because it was a great camera.
Just started eating through Energizer Lithiums.

I been buying the $100 Browning Strike Force cams and love them.
Good day and night pics and does video.
Energizer Lithiums last about 10-12months in them.

Ilzho, if you have not already bought a trail camera you might consider two refurbished Brownings on ebay for $100. They are older models that have been discontinued but should do what you want them to do. They are covered by the Browning 1 year warranty. I bought two of them, they look like new, they are a gift so I will not try them out. Like CalHunter, I also bought SanDisk cards and Energizer Lithium batteries, Browning also recommended those. The model No. is BTC-1XR for the cameras, they are 8MP low-glow IR, pics or video with sound. I am told that they are decent cameras.

Suggesting the right one
 

It seems really good that you are planning to buy a trail camera. No doubt it would really help you in your hunting expeditions. Well, the one I would recommend is Bushnell E3 trail camera as it delivers good results within its price. You can also read best trail camera reviews under 200 based on the criteria of price and results.

I have used many cameras over the past 20 years. Cuddeback, Stealth Cam, Wildview, Bushnell, Browning, & Primos. Trial and error have lead me to this conclusion - don't send a fortune on them. Seems the $400 cam will die just as easy (easier?) as a $60 cam. The picture quality isn't always the best with cheaper cams, but it's adequate. Most recently I have been using Browings and Primos along with my remaining Bushnells. I'll buy a $60 Browning any day. I have also been impressed with the over quality of the Primos Proof Cam - and for $40, you can't beat them.