which trail camera?

[Mark Christianson]

Reports on the new Cudde Excite and Expert are not so hot...

go to google and search on [YouNeedAuthorization].

Spell exactly as I did. Reviews on all brands and models.

[BLACKJACK]

I think the 256mb card is plenty, I have both 256 and 512 cards. Here's a chart I found:

2 megapixel camera (1,600 x 1,200)

File size: 0.9MB (900 kb)

Card size Number of photos

128MB 142

256MB 284

512MB 568

1GB 1136

2GB 2272

Call the folks at Leaf River/Vibrashine and see what they say. Their service is usually pretty good.

[hookset]

"I have two Leaf Rivers. One I got in May of 2005. This one has been back to the factory three times. The first time the focus was off, and was attributed to rough handling in shipping. They restaked the lens and it took great photos. The only problem was they forgot to put the flash unit back in, so it went back again. A few weeks ago, it was snapping tons of empty pictures. They again fixed it and it is now working fine."

My Leaf River takes a ton of pictures with no "subject" is that the problem you had?

joe

[Gissert]

Yes. Sometimes it would take 20 to 40 pictures per hour, for hours on end. Then it would not take any for several, only to start again.

Not sure what they did, but it is again working like it is supposed to.

[Bagley]

Gissert, BLB, Hookset, BlackJack,

Have any of you guys had the problem that I was having? I.E- The LCD screen displaying a larger number of captured events than actual photos taken.

[Gissert]

Bagley -

I have not see that. I have see the opposite, where the LCD counter on the camera shows fewer than what is on the chip. I have mine set up to take 3 quick shots if additional movement is sensed, so I think that is why mine does that.

[slimngrizzly]

I have had 2 cuddebacks and still have one. I also have 2 Moultrie (the Cabelas 4.1 Outfitters). The Cuddeback DOES take better pics and does not screw up as much on leaves and wind and sun, etc. The Cuddeback takes some time to "load" which is a pain to wait for but it has not failed me yet. The batteries on the Cudde (4 D-cell) will last me a couple months or well over a thousand photos.

I have tried a lot of cheap cameras. They have ALMOST all sucked for me! But I gotta say, These new Moultrie with the rechargable 6-volt and optional high quality photos are great!!!!! They are not as perfect as my Cudde, but for $150 they are the best buy out there, hands down. Very user friendly, LONG lasting batteries, great pics in daylight, good pics at night, accept SD Card.

The one downside is sometimes they dont want to read a card... and there you sit. But it will still go then on its 99 pic internal memoy.

Ive got a lot of great pic with both but I dont know how to post them on here.

Try a new Moultrie. You will like it. And you can have almost 3 of them for the price of a Cudde.

[Mark Christianson]

Bagley,

Yes I have had that exact problem. More so when its very cold out. Leaf River said that its possible the batteries get so cold that it doesnt have the strength to take a pic, but yet it still detects the motion and registers it....

I think they need to start testing in a freezer and figure out if thats really the case. It really sounded like an assumption on their part.

And I have also had one camera that did that when it was warm out, and it was sent back for repairs like so many of my Leaf Rivers have been. Still waiting for one to get shipped back to me as we speak....

If you can't tell, I have a sour spot for Leaf Rivers. When they work, they are GREAT. When you need them fixed, the service is GREAT.

But, when they don't work(which has been too much for my tastes), I sit with nothing in the field while they repair them.

I have a couple cameras that have been sent back 3 times each. Another FM'er has sent one of his back 5 TIMES! I will let him speak up if he likes.

[xedge2002]

I run two Cabela's 4.1MP cameras made by Moultrie. I agree with everything slimngrizzly said above about the pros/cons. They are real easy to use very easy on batteries and takes good pics. I just pulled my one down today from one spot and plan on putting it out this weekend on a new spot. The battery was in it for at least a month and the battery was still at 81% and had taken over 250 pics. I use a 512MB SD card in it. I have a couple of 1 GB cards but for some reason they don't really like those even though they say they will accept a 1 GB card. On the high quality setting the 512 MB card will still hold about 600 picks. I've never had that many on it, I usually try to check it every other week or so. It will also take video but I don't use that cause I never know for sure when I will be able to get to the camera to change cards.

The only knock on it I can think of I found this morning, the snow will sit on a little ledge in front of the camera so if it gets tripped it will take a pic and you can't see anything. One other thing I don't really like is their mounting system, the bungee straps can be a pain but once you get used to them you kinda learn what trees work best to mount them on.

I really like the cameras but I my next one will be one with IR flash, just to try something different.

Here are a couple of pics from the Cabelas cams.

[Mark Christianson]

Interesting....

I am testing a Bushnell 119200 right now, so I hope to have some reports on that in the coming weeks as well.

[BLACKJACK]

I also agree with the Moultries, I bought one of the Gamespy 100's last year and its been very reliable. I did find though that I had to goto the rechargeable 6 volt batteries, even the Duracell batteries wouldn't go three weeks. I've had a few issues with the SD cards, came to check it last night and it said 'SD card locked'. Its only a 128 MB card, it might be full. Put in a new card and battery and did some resetting and it took off. It is a tad slow, like most of the cameras it works best pointed down a trail or over a salt block/mineral lick/feeder. I scrapped the 'shoestring' attachments right away and went to a couple of bungies. One downside is that it doesn't have a very good locking capability, as compared to the Leaf Rivers, which you can lock and cable down very easily. So its a $100 camera and I probably have another $50 batteries, charger, and SD cards but I've been happy with it.

My two Leaf Rivers are another story!!! As BLB said, they're great when they work but between my two cameras, they've been back 8 times!!! Good pictures, good battery life but unreliable!!!! Just got one back from the shop for a bad flash, set it up beside the other one for a side by side comparison, the suspect one had 19 motion detections, the other one 132!!! Haven't looked at the pictures yet but I'll report back shortly.

My next camera will be another Moultrie, or if I want to spend the big bucks, a Camtrakker, unless I start hearing better reports on the Cuddes and Bushnells. I would really like to have a fast response camera at a decent price, one that you could use as a true scouting camera, that would detect the motion and take the picture as the deer crosses in front. One good thing is that their is getting to be lots of competion out there. I may even have to contemplate doing one of the homebrew cameras. Anybody put together their own?

[slimngrizzly]

hey BLACKJACK? Have you seen a lot of nice bucks in the area this year? Looks like we maybe chase some of the same deer?

[Mark Christianson]

Perchjerker has made a couple homebrews. If you want fast response times, the ones he made are awfully quick.

[snapcrackpop]

I just got the Stealthcam V390Z. Hope to put it out this weekend.

Haven't heard anyone mention this brand, what do you know that I don't know?

[tealitup]

Quote:

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Interesting....

I am testing a Bushnell 119200 right now, so I hope to have some reports on that in the coming weeks as well.

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I am satisfied with mine. Battery life is okay not the best - and rate of pictures seems high without being able to change it. 4 weeks and 349 pictures

[Mark Christianson]

Price is right for sure. Heck, if batteries last a full month, that would be wonderful.

[BLACKJACK]

slimgriz, seen one nice one in velvet on the way to work, caught another one on my trail cam, but really haven't seen any wall hangers.

I hunt NE of Sunburg, where do you hunt?

[slimngrizzly]

I hunt N. of Pennock and S. of Atwater, Spicer..... it depends how big he is! Seems to be several nice bucks this year in my opinion. 130-140"+ kind of stuff, One monster should go close to 195-200" maybe more?? Hope I can say for sure in bit here!!!