Trail Camera Review Criteria
22. Oct, 2008 
13 Comments
Dozens of factors can come into play when you are shopping for a trail camera. Some of the more obvious are price, reliability, and picture quality. I am currently working on creating a trail camera test and review system. I am looking for feedback from all my fellow hunters. No registration is needed. To share your ideas all you need to do is submit a commit below. Feel confident when entering your email because we will never spam you. I am just looking for ideas on how to test the trail cameras and the criteria that you are looking for when buying a trail camera.
Last year I started out with the Moultrie I40 and have been impressed with the stills and videos. This year someone recommend the Remington Ghost at Dick’s Sporting Goods so I got one and put it up in the same place the Moultrie was to compare them. To say I was dissapointed would be an understatement. The videos are more important to me than the stills and the Ghost had the poorest quality I’ve seen yet. Thinking I may have gotten a lemon I returned it to Dick’s and got a new one in return. I then took it home and set it up in the backyard and discovered that either I got two lemons or they’re all lemons. Ex. Starting at 5 yards I started backing away from the camera and by the time I was at 15 yards I became blurred by pixels. At 20 yards I was a “Ghost” (maybe that’s why they named it that). By 25 yards I wasn’t even in the picture. I got a lot of totally black videos when it was in the woods so I surmise the deer were past 25 yards when triggering the camera. Personally I would not reccommend this camera.
Most important thing when picking out a game camera. Power up time #1, Battery life #2, quality photos #3. I would test at 32 degrees at both day and night. Would be a very interesting test.
I’d like to see a feature comparison chart. That is, a list describing things like Flash or IR, megapixel size, memory storage type and capacity, programmable features (burst count, video, no flash, delay, etc.), cost, battery type and so forth.
A feature comparison chart is a great idea
1. Trigger speed.
2. Flash range.
3. Storage media.
4. Ease of set up.
5. Battery life.
6. Time and date stamp.
7. Usable temperature range (i.e. -10 to 95)
I have used 2 Moutrie IR cameras the past 3 years. They are great on battery life and picture qaulity. The one drawback is the wake up time (delay) – is over thirty seconds. This does not matter over a food source but it is bad for trail photos becuase most game passes before the pics. I think the newer models have much better wake up time Another issue is they are hard to mount. The plastic clip on releases when you try to tighten it. Another issue is that you have to scroll through the options each time you turn it on. I like a camera that stays in he same mode ubtil you manually change it. A simple on/off would be nice, I tend to us the same settings unless I move to a different spot. One of my Moutrie has a built in veiwer. As far as I am am concerned it is a wasted feature. Its too small to see any real detail. Just switch out the s chip and look at home, on with a laptop n the truck. I am waiting for a new Covert II to arrive. I will let you know how I like it. I expect it will be easier to mount becuase of its small size.
I would like to know the difference between wake up time & trigger speed…My #1 reason for putting out a camera is I want the camera to take a pic as soon as possible
I agree with Mike, test at below 32 degreees, my 2 bushnells will not work below 35.
2- radious of detection
3- distance of detection
4- distance of infra red pictures
5 ease of use
6 price
What I want in a trail camera:
Quick wakeup
Good battery life
Reasonable cost
Quality color day and night
pictures
At least 3 picture per trigger
Easy setup
Good severice
I have also created a group on facebook:
TRAIL CAMERA REVIEWS!
PLEASE COME AND JOIN OUR GROUP!
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=111412198893651
I have several Moultrie I40 Cameras and have had continual issues with the LED reader. I have had to return them to Moultrie on many occasions. The Cameras were less than six months old. They replaced them and I have still had the issues with the replaced cameras.
In turn, I returned these YET AGAIN, and this has been over two months ago. I made several calls to Moultrie to find out what was going on to no avail.
Finally, I got hold of a supervisor who agreed that the problem should not have taken this long and that she would be sending me out new replacement cameras. However, I still have not received those.
Waiting for Moultrie to answer their phones is ridiculus, as I have set on hold waiting for the NEXT technichian for over an hour.
If you intend to purchase a Moultrie Game Camera I caution you to be wary and purchase a brand where the company stands behind their product and possibly a company that creates a better product.
Dealing with Moultrie Game Cameras is like dealing with disposable cameras…you use it for a short time then dispose of it because Moultrie will definately give you the run around!
Try it call Moultrie 1-800-653-3334 and they will tell you they will be with you and that you are 5th in que and you will sit on hold for a very long time.
Let the Buyer Beware!
I have exexellent results with my moultrie camera,,but poor service in getting one repaired,,four e-mails to moultrie snd camera sent in for repairs in november ,,no contact has been made by moultrie,,I USE 18 or more camers in by game management business,,im switching to cuddleback i think
Game camera feature matrix would be great. It’s sometimes hard to compare apples to apples with game cameras.. like you mentioned price, quality, etc separate what’s ‘better’ from game camera A and game camera B.
GC