Trail Camera Showdown: Round 1

[Onin24Eagle]

I have mentioned before in another post that I have 11 cams out of various brands.  Some get tons of pics, some don't.  Some take great pics, some don't.  I figured the best way to decide which brand and model that I possess is the best, I might as well do a side by side comparison.

I have a spot by a fence line that has been hitting pretty good this year.  The cameras below are facing South.  To the North, it's nothing but prairie grass for about 1/2 mile.  To the South, in the direction the cameras are pointed, its nothing but woods for about 20 miles.  HOWEVER, in this particular spot they just logged off about 200 acres just 50 yards from the camera.  They left a small strip of woods all along the fence line.  The fence runs almost directly East/West and goes for about 1/4 mile in each direction from where the camera is set up.  Ever since they logged that area, I've been seeing A LOT of deer activity along that fence line.  Considering this, I thought this would be the perfect spot to do the side by side comparison.

This is Round 1.  The Challengers are the Primos Truth Cam 35 vs the Moultrie M-80.  Both cameras are mounted on the same tree.  The Primos is mounted above the M-80.  The Primos is about 4ft off the ground and the Moultrie about 3.5ft.  I might also point out that the Primos Truth Cam had a handicap in this bout as the battery level was at 70% during this matchup while the Moultrie still had 96% battery life remaining.

Some of you may notice that the times do not match.  That's my fault.  The Primos has the correct time.  I reset the time on the Moultrie last fall and did not have a watch or cell phone on me when I did it so it was off by about 15 minutes.  It was also "daylight savings time" when I did that so the time difference now is about 1.25 hours.  Not a big deal.  I'll fix it next time I go out.

First Photo
Daytime, moving

Primos TC 35:



Moultrie M-80:



BOTH pictures are a little blurry.  The Moultrie seems to take a closer pic than the Primos.  Because of this, less of the deer is in the picture (remember, the Moultrie was mounted BELOW the Primos).  I give the edge to the Primos here due to the fact that I can see more of the deer.  As far as clarity goes, it's pretty much a tie.

Second Photo
Daytime, still

Primos:



Moultrie:



Again, the Primos captures MORE of the deer than the Moultrie.  However, there is a slight difference in quality here as the Moultrie pic does have better clarity than the Primos.  

Third Photo
Night, Still

Primos:



Moultrie:



Pretty obvious difference here.  Not sure if the Moultrie took a pic while the IR flash was going off on both cameras at the same time or what.  I don't think that's the case as I tend to get photos like this all the time off of the Moultrie.  I don't have any other pics to compare in this situation as this was the only photo on either camera where the deer was standing still.  The Primos obviously takes the prize here.

Fourth Photo
Night, motion.

Primos:



Moultrie:



Both pics have blurriness, but the Primos is much better than the Moultrie.  Also, I really like the fact that in all of the above cases the Primos captures more in the frame than the Moultrie.  

Pros and Cons not mentioned above:

Primos
Easy Set up
Very good battery life (although at 70% during this matchup, this cam has already taken over 2500 pics this season)
About 40 - 50% cheaper than the Moultrie (you can get one on Amazon.com right now for $78 while the M-80 will run you about $140.)


Moultrie
Easy set up
Small, compact size
Uses AA batteries and they are easy to change
I love the strap.  This is the easiest camera to move that I own.
Faster trigger time than the Primos

Cons:

Primos
Big and Bulky
Uses "D" batteries
I don't like where the SD card slot is

Moultrie
See pictures above.  I like the features on this camera but the pictures are what the customer is after and this camera just doesn't take very good pictures.

Overall, the Primos Truth Cam 35 wins the first bout by TKO.  That Camera is the Champ for now and will defend its title vs the Cuddeback Capture IR.  Results from that matchup will come next week.

[lentz]

Geese my menards wild game innovation takes so high quality photos I guess better then the moultree

[deadeye]

Great comparison.  I think the Moultrie gives a 16X9 shot so it may need to be aimed lower.  I believe both IR's were on on the washed out pic.  You can see trees quite a ways behind.  Did you have the Moultrie set to "freeze motion" mode?  This is to prevent blurry night photos.
Thanks for this comparison.  Good Job.

[Cody Gruchow]

I run moultries. And I like them. But I also have a small problem with the ir flash whiting out the deer. The way I fixed that was set the cam back a bit further and take advantage of the trigger range

[dakids]

 I think there is a downloadable update available for the moultrie that addresses the white out problem.

[Cody Gruchow]

This happens every so often

[Onin24Eagle]

Deadeye,

I'm not so sure that's the case as it's almost the same situation in the other night time photo.  You can see more of the trees in the background.  I think it's mainly due to the fact that the M-80 has more LED's than the Primos.

Thanks for the tip on the "freeze motion mode", I'll look into it.  This is last year's model camera so I hope that feature is on there.  Not sure where I put the manual for this camera but I can probably Google it and find out how to change the setting.  After all, I own the camera and I'd like it to take better pics.  If not for the picture quality I'd love this thing.  Super easy setup, compact size, easy to move and changing batteries is a breeze. 

Here's a pic from my other Moultrie (same model) that I had out at the same time:



dakids,

Thanks for the tip.  I'll look it up and if I find it I'll definitely give it a try. 

Maybe after doing these updates I'll do a re-match.

[deadeye]

It does look like the led's are too powerfull for IR camera.  Here is a night time photo with my Bushnell Trophy Cam.  I get some of the blury ones when the deer is passing by.  Night time photos must be fairly close with this camera.

[deadeye]

Omim24Eagle,

Here is some info on the Moultrie m80xd

New 2012 Moultrie Camera

Introducing the next generation of Moultrie’s top selling mini-cams. The Game Spy M-80XD takes mini-cams to a new extreme with ground-breaking features like the brand new Motion Freeze Technology.

In 2011, Moultrie entered the mini-cam market with the Game Spy M-80 which featured the Illumi-Night sensor, providing the clearest and brightest night-time images available. In 2012, the Game Spy M-80XD takes clear images to a new level with Moultrie’s Motion Freeze blur-reduction technology, greatly reducing night-time blur caused by an infrared flash. Combining the Illumi-Night sensor and Motion Freeze Technology gives the M-80XD unprecedented picture clarity, leaving no question how many points are on that trophy buck’s rack.

Key Features

◦5.0 megapixel infrared game camera
◦Night range up to 60ft
◦Three operational modes
-IR triggered gamer camera
-Hybrid time lapse plot camera
-Plot by day infrared by night
◦New FastFire continuous shooting mode caputers up to three photos per second
◦Temperature, moon phase, time, date and camera ID
◦Illumni-night sensor provides the brightest and clearest nightime infrared pictures

◦New Motion Freexe technology reduces infrared nightime blur


◦16:9 widescreen images and videos provide a wider field of view than standard game cameras


◦Picture delay 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1-60 minutes


◦Records video with sound


◦Battery Life calculator


◦SD memory card slot – up to 32GB (SD card required for operation, card not included)


◦Operates on 4 or 8 AA batteries (not included; Duracell and Energizer recommended)


◦Includes weather-resistant casing, mounting strap, USB cable and Plot Stalker cofterware CD


◦External power port for optional Moultrie PowerPanel


◦Updated Plot Stalker mode captures images at preset intervals Plus images triggered by game


◦Takes up to 3,600 images in one day in Plot Stalker Time-Lapse Mode


◦Long range view for maximum field coverage

[Onin24Eagle]

Oh well, I happen to have the 2011 version so it doesn't have the "motion freeze" setting.  However, I did find the firmware update on the Moultrie site that dakids mentioned above.  I don't even need to bring the camera home, it downloads onto the SD card and I can simply put that card into the camera and turn the switch to "aim".  The software should automatically update.  We'll see if that helps.