Trail Camera Showdown

[Onin24Eagle]

In the last thread I did, Stevejedlenski asked if the comparisons I did could be put in one spot.  Maybe it's too much for a moderator considering the number of threads, but it's not too much for a "cut and paste" job, so I'm posting all of them below.  This way they are all in one spot and I can simply add to this thread from here on out.  Hope that makes things easier for those who want to go back and look at any of the older ones again.

Here's the first one:

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.

[Onin24Eagle]

Round 2:

This time around it will be the Primos Truth Cam 35 vs the Cuddeback Capture IR.

Round 1:

Daytime, moving

Primos:



Just a little blurry, as we saw in round 1.  Deer is pretty well centered in the photo.

Cuddeback:



Much less blurry than the Primos.  Colors are a tad weird overall but much easier to make out the details on the deer.  Based on where the deer is in the picture, it appears that the Primos has a faster trigger time.

Round 2:

Night, Moving

Primos:



Deer isn't moving terribly fast here but the picture is pretty good for an IR camera. 

Cuddeback:



Little more blurry than the Primos, but not terribly bad.

Round 3:

Night, moving (again)

Primos:



Cuddeback:



Picture quality about the same in those two.

Round 4:

Day, Still

Primos:

Did not take this picture.

Cuddeback:



The Primos did not even detect this racoon.  I did have it higher on the tree and the batteries are at 65% vs the Cuddeback which has battery life of over 90%.

That's all I really have for now.  As far as picture quality goes, I'd call it a tie.  At night, the trigger time seems to be very similar for both cameras, however the Primos has the edge on daytime photos with a slightly faster trigger time.

Other pros and cons:

Primos:  I already listed these in my round 1 post.

Cuddeback:

Pros:
Super easy to change SD card (easiest of all my cameras)
Very easy setup

Cons:
Price
Mounting system is not user friendly. 
Uses "D" size batteries.
Batteries not fun to change.
Does not have "shot burst" mode.  Takes 1 pic at a time.  Dwell time is 30 seconds minimum (Primos can be set to 3 or 5 shot burst and you can set the dwell time as low as 10 seconds)

As far as picture quality, these cameras are about the same.  The Cuddeback did score some extra points for capturing the racoon that the Primos missed.  However, considering price, mounting and setup options, the Primos wins this bout by split decision.  It was close, but holds it's title for now.  Next week's matchup will be tougher though as I'm pairing it up against the Spypoint G4, which is one of my favorite cameras that I have.  Stay tuned.

[Onin24Eagle]

#3

Primos Truth Cam 35

vs

Spypoint G4

This will be a little shorter than the others since, although I got quite a few pics from each camera, I did not get ANY daytime pics from either one.  Therefore we are only going to compare pics taken with the IR flash.

First up, Nighttime pic w/ moving subject:

Primos:



Pretty much what we saw in the first two rounds.  A little blurry but you can still make out the rack (or in this case, the lack thereof)

Spypoint:



The Spypoint G4 does have a "graininess" to all of it's pictures, day or night, but it is one of the best cameras I've used as far as the blur factor goes.  There's a small amount of blurriness, but not much.  Quite a bit better than the Primos, in fact.

Another nighttime moving subject,

Primos:



Again, a small blur factor.  Not sure what this critter is.  At first I thought maybe a fox, but I really don't think so.  Maybe a Fisher?  Chupacabra?

Spypoint:



Again, a little "grainy" with a slight amount of blur.  Still not bad though.

Moving subject #3

Primos:



Got this guy coming through a couple times.  You won't get much detail on any camera with a big black mass of fur moving at night, but if you look at the reflection of the IR flash on the eye, you can tell there's some blurring going on here.

Spypoint:



Maybe I should take that last statement back.  Actually, there is quite a bit more detail in this one.  Especially in the face.

Moving subject, dawn (light out but not enough to switch off IR)

Primos:

Did not detect this guy.

Spypoint:



Pretty good detail and you can tell he's moving at a decent clip. 

Still photo, night:

Primos:



Good detail.  The guy in front is moving a little so there's a small amount of blur but the deer in the background shows up clear as a bell.

Spypoint:



Less blurriness on the little guy in front and overall a little more grainy than the Primos but plenty good enough of a photo.

Still subject #2

Primos:



Pretty much the same description as the previous photo, only with a bigger deer.

Spypoint:



Again, just a little grainy but certainly nothing worth complaining about.

Other Pros and Cons

Pros:

Primos
Easy Set up
Very good battery life (although at 60% during this matchup, this cam has already taken over 2500 pics this season)
Pretty cheap camera (around $75)

Spypoint G4:
Uses 8 AA batteries
Awesome battery life (have had batteries in this since early/mid July and it's still over 90%)
Super easy to set up
Small, Compact size
Mounting strap is easy to use and long enough to fit very large trees
RealTree camo pattern helps conceal it.
Switch inside battery compartment allows you to go from alkaline to rechargeable and get the most out of your batteries depending on which you are using.

Cons:

Primos
Big and Bulky
Uses "D" batteries
I don't like where the SD card slot is
Model has been discontinued and replaced with the more expensive Truth Cam 35 Ultra (though you can still get them at some retailers...for now)

Spypoint
Pics are a bit "grainy"
Price has gone waaaay up since I bought mine.  (They were $99 when I bought this last year.  They are $179 now, although they come with a remote viewer which was not available when I bought it, but still, $80??  Wow.)

Edit:

I forgot to announce a winner.  I'm going with the G4 based on the quality of the IR pics with moving subjects.  I can forgive a little graininess if I can make out details just fine.

Next matchup will be the Spypoint G4 vs the Covert CA3.0.

I've moved them to a different location so hopefully I get enough pics to get a decent comparison.

[Onin24Eagle]

#4


Spypoint G4 vs Covert CA3.0

It's been a little longer than expected to get this one out.  Ran into a few hiccups.  When I first checked these two cameras I had neglected to check the battery meter on the Covert.  It was dead and only had 2 pics on it so I had to start over.  Then I did a firmware update on the Spypoint and left for the IMTS show in Chicago for a few days.  The firmware update apparently increased the power to the LED's and I had a lot of very white IR photos at night.  I decided to move the cameras to separate trees with the Covert looking across the trail and the Spypoint looking more down the trail on a corner.  I didn't get a ton of pics but I think there's enough to do a comparison.

First photo:

Spypoint at dusk:



The firmware update I did was supposed to "improve picture quality" and it's hard to say as this pic still seems a little fuzzy.  However, looking at some past photos from the camera there may be a slight improvement.

Covert at dusk:



I was a little surprised to see that the Covert does not turn the IR filter on as early as some other cameras.  It's a tad blurry but it is nice to have color pics.  On the flip side, if you look at the Spypoint photo above, you can make out a lot more detail when the IR filter is on at this time of day as it takes the shadows out of the equation.  Also, the trigger time on this photo seemed a little slow on the Covert.

Spypoint night (moving subject)



Photo is a little blurry here and you can tell that the IR flash is brighter than before after the firmware update.  That isn't necessarily a good thing as close up subjects with any white on them (like deer) will not show up as well.  But for what it's worth, this is a decent IR pic.

Covert night (moving subject)



Little blurry here too but a decent IR photo compared to what's out there.  It's really not any better or any worse than the same Spypoint photo above.  Trigger time was better than on the first photo.

Spypoint night (still subject)



You can see what I'm referring to about the IR flash after the firmware update here.  I'm kind of wishing I hadn't done the update as I find the bright images a bit annoying.  Even so, the detail is decent and the subject does not have much blurriness.

Covert night (still subject)



There is a little bit of blurriness on the head of the deer as it wasn't standing perfectly still, but if you look more at the body it comes out with pretty good detail.  Again, the trigger time was better that the Covert showed with the first photo above.  It may be that this camera has a better night time trigger than day time.  I didn't get any other daytime photos in this spot from these cameras so it's hard to tell.

One more Still photo, night (Spypoint)



This time the deer is not directly in the center of the IR flash and comes out with very good detail.  There is also the possibility that new batteries are causing this problem as I changed the batteries in both cameras after the ones in the Covert initially went dead.

One more still photo, night (Covert)



I did this last comparison since in both cases the deer was off to the side of the IR flash.  There is definitely better lighting on the sides with the Spypoint than the Covert in this case.

Outcome:

Even though I'm a tad upset (and concerned) that the firmware update gave me too much IR flash on the Spypoint, I'm going to give that camera the win in this matchup.  The reasons are these:  Even though I prefer color photos to IR, there are too many shadows in the dusk situation and you don't get as much detail with the color photo.  Trigger time on the first photo was a tad slow on the Covert.  Both cameras generally have similar photo quality.  The Spypoint has better IR range on the sides.

Other pros and cons:

Pros:

Spypoint G4:
Uses 8 AA batteries
Awesome battery life
Super easy to set up
Small, Compact size
Mounting strap is easy to use and long enough to fit very large trees
RealTree camo pattern helps conceal it.
Switch inside battery compartment allows you to go from alkaline to rechargeable and get the most out of your batteries depending on which you are using.

Covert CA3.0
Uses AA Batteries
Very tiny camera.  Fits in the palm of your hand.  Easy to conceal.
Comes with remote with small screen to view pics.

Cons:

Spypoint G4
Pics are a bit "grainy" (seems slightly better after firmware update)
Price has gone waaaay up since I bought mine. (Used to be under $100, now is about $180)

Covert CA3.0
Not a user friendly SD card slot (hard to get to unless you have small fingers)
Remote is nice but the cord is only about 12 inches long and has to be plugged into the camera.  Port for remote is difficult to access.
Uses 4AA batteries and does not have the best battery life (although the ads claim otherwise)
Strap is a little more complicated than it needs to be.
Discontinued model (the CA4.0 is now available)  New model, like the Spypoint G4, has gone way up in price.  The CA3.0 cost me about $70.  The CA4.0 is closer to $130.

The Spypoint moves on, even though it's now a higher priced camera.  The Covert is actually a decent little unit.  Very tiny.  It's literally as long and wide as a dollar bill and maybe 1.5 inches thick.  Even with the higher price on the new model, $130 is not bad in today's market compared to Moultries, Primos, etc.

The next matchup gives the Primos folks a chance to reclaim the title as the Spypoint G4 goes up against the new Truth Cam 35 Ultra. 

[Onin24Eagle]

#5


Put the Spypoint G4 up against the new Primos Truth Cam 35 Ultra.  Both cameras are on a trail looking over a salt lick.

One thing to note, I've got several cameras over salt licks and out of over 1000 photos taken this past week, I had only one buck hit a salt lick and that was a spike.  I think the bucks are pretty much done with mineral licks until after the rut.  I moved a couple of cameras to new spots and started some mock scrapes.  We'll see if that gets any more action in the coming weeks.  Also, I did not get any daytime photos (again) during this comparison so there are only night and dawn/dusk photos to compare.

First photo, Night:

Primos:



Not a bad pic, but it is a little blurry.

Spypoint:



Not as blurry but as you can see I'm still having issues with the "whiteout" from the IR flash ever since adding the firmware update.  I'm still regretting doing that.

Second photo, night:

Primos:



Except for the pose of the deer, this is almost identical to the first photo above.  Not a bad pic, but just a tad blurry overall.

Spypoint:



Same "whiteout" problem but for the most part the picture is much more defined than the Primos photos.

Third photo, dawn:

Primos:



Not as blurry as the night photos and has decent detail.  Hard to make out clear detail at this time of day on this camera as the overall color of the photo seems to all blend together.  Not a bad pic though.

Spypoint:



Pretty much the same story as the Primos in this situation.  In fact, I'd call it a dead tie if you were to pick which one takes better photos at this time of day.  Both are fairly clear and both are very "grey".

Fourth photo, dawn:

Primos:



Just a teeny bit blurry but about the same as the previous picture, overall.

Spypoint:



Slightly better detail than the Primos.  Overall pretty decent.

That's really all I have.  Although each camera took over 300 photos, they were all pretty much exactly like the ones I just posted and probably all the same deer too.

Other pros and cons

Primos:

Pros:

Small, and compact
Uses 8 AA Batteries
I like the strap
Super easy to set up
Decent price compared to similar cameras (about $120 new)

Cons:
Battery life not the best.  The old Truth Cam (which uses 4 "D" cell batteries) will last 5x as long.

Spypoint

Pros:

RealTree camo pattern helps to conceal it.
Strap is easy to use/adjust
Uses 8 AA Batteries
Can use rechargable batteries
Excellent battery life

Cons:

Photos are a little "fuzzy" which can be improved with a firmware update, but then the tradeoff is that you get much "brighter" deer in your photos as something in the firmware update causes anything white to show up 100x brighter.
Price - this used to be something I'd put under "pros" but the price has gone up substantially since I purchased mine.  Almost doubled.  They currently retail for about $180.

I was actually expecting the Primos to triumph here but looking at it more closely, I do have to admit that the Spypoint does take better photos.  Despite the price difference, I'm going to say that the Spypoint moves on here. 

Next matchup will pit the Spypoint G4 against the Wild Game Innovations S4.

Also, I will be doing some more matchups between some of the other cameras that have "lost" in previous rounds.  I have done some firmware updates to the Moultrie M-80's that seem to have improved the picture quality on those and it will be interesting to see how they stand up to the competition now.  I probably won't declare an overall "winner" until December.

[Onin24Eagle]

#6


This time it's the Spypoint G4 vs the Wild Game Innovations S4.

I picked up the S4 earlier this summer.  My mantra is mainly to get as many cameras out as possible as I have a lot of area to cover.  Being that I want a lot of cameras, I've tried to find the "best" one that is reasonably priced.  That's the whole point of this little experiment.  Trying to decide which one is the best.  I'm hoping this helps anyone out there that's looking to buy a camera on a budget.

I moved the Spypoint to the spot where I had the WGI camera set up since that spot seemed to be getting a lot more buck activity than the other cameras recently.  I think it has to do with the fact that the acorn crop is actually pretty good in the little oak grove where I have it.  There's a salt lick there as well and it's the only one that's seen much activity from bucks in the past couple of weeks.

Here are the results:

Night, still:

Spypoint:



A little bright IR flash but good pic.

WGI:



Pretty obvious here that the flash range is not as good as the Spypoint, but at least the details that you can see are fairly clear.  The deer in this pic is a little over 10 yards from the camera, so I'd say the IR flash range is somewhere from 30 - 35 feet.

Another still night photo:

Spypoint:



WGI:



I decided to do a second night photo to show that the IR flash range noted in the first set is not a fluke.  It is much shorter on the WGI camera.  However, at close range it does take very nice pics.

Daytime, moving:

(these pics are here to demonstrate that both cameras do have pretty decent trigger times)

Spypoint:



WGI:



The bird in both pics is quite blurry, which is to be expected considering that songbirds generally do not move slowly through the air.  The big thing to point out here is the background.  The Spypoint lets in more light than the WGI camera.  This makes the details in the background harder to make out.  In my opinion, the WGI camera produces a much superior daytime photo as even trees far in the background are much easier to distinguish whereas the sunlight drowns out much of the far background in the Spypoint photos.

Rather than just pick some random photos of moving deer, I would like to show a sequence of pictures taken by both cameras.  This is to show that the Spypoint has a better detection range and better options for dwell time.  You cannot adjust dwell time on the WGI camera below 1 minute (the time from when it takes a photo until it's ready to take another).  I have the dwell time set to 15 seconds on the Spypoint. 

First two photos are from the WGI S4:





Here are the same two photos (the first and last in the sequence) from the Spypoint, along with everything that happened in between (I'm going by the time stamp as these cameras are fairly closely in sync):















As you can see, there's quite a difference in what one camera catches vs the other. 

Other Pros and Cons:

Pros:

Spypoint:

RealTree camo pattern helps to conceal it.
Strap is easy to use/adjust
Uses 8 AA Batteries
Can use rechargable batteries
Excellent battery life
Can adjust the detection range using small dial on the side (I've neglected to mention this in previous posts).  This is a nice feature that allows you to customize the detection range depending on the environment (open field vs looking across a trail, etc)

Cons:

Same as before.  Photos are a little "fuzzy" which can be improved with a firmware update, but then the tradeoff is that you get much "brighter" deer in your photos as something in the firmware update causes anything white to show up 100x brighter.
Price - this used to be something I'd put under "pros" but the price has gone up substantially since I purchased mine.  Almost doubled.  They currently retail for about $180.

WGI S4:

Pros:

Easy to set up.
Price (got mine for $62 at Menard's)
Easy access to SD card slot.  Might be the easiest of all my cameras.

Cons:

IR flash range is not the best (as noted above)
I don't care for the bunjee cord mounting system.  It's simple but the cords that come with the camera are not very long.  I bought different ones at the local hardware store that worked much better.  It's a simple system but it would be nice if they gave you a couple of different lengths.  The cords that come with the camera will only work on trees that are about 10 inches in diameter or less.
Uses "C" cell batteries.  I prefer cameras that use "AA" or even "D" as they are both cheaper to buy in bulk than the "C" cells.

As far as the winner goes, I'm sticking once more with the Spypoint.  It's not really a fair matchup considering the price points of both cameras but it's still obvious that the Spypoint is much more versatile than the WGI.  That being said, the WGI seems to be a decent little unit.  If not for the dwell time issue and the fact that I cannot set the camera up for any kind of shot burst, this could be one of my favorites.  As it is, it's not bad, but I have others in the same price range that are just as good.  I'll be highlighting those in later matchups.

There's only one more IR camera that I have that has not been featured yet.  I've moved the Spypoint again and put it on the same tree as one of my Stealth Cam Nomad 5.0 cameras.  This really should be another easy win for the Spypoint but we'll see what happens.  After that, I could put it up against the Cuddeback Excite 2.0, but that's a flash camera and I don't think you can find them any more.  I think that we'll start doing matchups based on price point instead (like the WGI vs the Stealth cam). 

I know that there' s a ton more out there for cameras and manufacturers, but I only have 12 to compare, some of which you can't get any more.  I hope these little comparisons help anyone that might be looking to purchase game cameras in the future without having to spend a ton of cash.

[Onin24Eagle]

#7


This is the last one to determine the best overall camera that I have and, as expected, the Spypoint took the prize.  I am going to lay this one out a bit differently than the earlier matchups.

This round pits the Spypoint G4 against the Stealth Cam Nomad 5.0.  Both cameras have burst settings so I set both at 2 shot bursts.  If the detection range/trigger speed is similar on both I should have gotten approximately the same number of pictures on both cameras.  When I pulled the cards, the first clue as to the difference between these cameras was obvious.  The Spypoint had taken 84 pics since I set them up (although 6 of them were of leaves falling, the rest had deer in the frame).  The Stealth Cam, a whopping 16.  Both cameras had fairly fresh batteries (over 90% life remaining).

Please note that the time stamps on these two cameras are a few minutes apart.

First series,

Stealth Cam:




SpyPoint:




The only point that the Stealth Cam wins here is the fact that the IR filter was not still on and I got color photos.  It is obvious from where the deer is in the frame that the Spypoint has a much better trigger time.

Second Series:

Stealth Cam:




SpyPoint:




Same thing.  The Stealth Cam captures the deer just as it's leaving the scene while the Spypoint, with its faster trigger, catches it mid-frame.

Third Series:

Stealth Cam:




Spypoint:




Spypoint pics are a little more centered, but there is a possibility that the cameras were not exactly lined up (one pointed slightly more left or right of the other).  Maybe not so much of a difference here.

Where there is a big difference, however, is the overall number of deer captured by the Spypoint that the Stealth cam completely missed.  Here are just a few:






Like I mentioned at the beginning, the Spypoint had taken 84 pictures to the Stealth Cam's 16.  Six of the pics on the Spypoint were just of leaves falling so that still makes it 78 to 16.  Pretty obvious from those results that the Spypoint has much better sensitivity.  This is also noticable by the fact that in many cases (such as the first and second series above) the Stealth Cam doesn't capture the subject until it has almost left the frame. 

Other Pros and Cons

Spypoint:

You can read any of the last couple matchups to see these on the Spypoint.  Some things I have not mentioned earlier though are the fact that the Spypoint does capture sound on the video setting (which I don't use very often).  Another thing to note is that I had listed price as a "con" earlier but these are on sale right now on the Gander Mountain website for $99 with free shipping so I'm moving that into the "pros" category.

Stealth Cam:

Pros:
Very inexpensive camera (can be had super-cheap when they go on clearance after the season.  I have 2 that I bought from Cabelas last year on a BOGO offer so I basically spent $32 a piece.
Setup is pretty easy
Picture quality is better than expected for this price range
Extra long strap allows you to mount to very large trees if needed.

Cons:
No internal memory for date/time stamp.  You have to remember to reset this every time you change batteries.
Uses "C" cell batteries (I prefer AA's or even "D" size)
Big, bulky camera
Slow trigger time (as illustrated above)
Memory card slot is not the easiest to access (but it is easier than a couple of my other cams)

That's pretty much it for matchups to determine the best overall camera that I have.  The overall winner is the Spypoint G4.  I do want to see how others stack up against each other and there are also some cams that I didn't put the Spypoint up against since the Spypoint became the "champ" after beating out the Primos Truth Cam and that had already beaten out a couple of others.  I will get all of these compared side by side in the coming weeks.  Then we'll compare by price range.  I will start by doing the low-cost cameras.  The first of these side by side comparisons will be the Stealth Cam Nomad 5.0 which was just featured above vs the Wildgame Innovations S4.  Hopefully I'll have that one up sometime next week.

[Onin24Eagle]

I'll have the next matchup done probably on Saturday unless I get a chance to get out there tomorrow.  There is one subject I would like to tackle though for anyone looking at buying a trail camera in the near future.

I would like to point out that most of the trail camera buying public is being duped by something called megapixels.  For most of us, we are not printing our trail camera pictures on photo quality paper.  This is really the only time you will notice any significant difference in quality when it comes to the megapixel count on your camera.  In most cases (probably over 99.9%) people using trail cameras are only looking at pics on a view screen or on their computer or phone screen.  Each of these has its own megapixel count which will not improve no matter what the megapixel count is on your camera.  The average computer screen has a megapixel count of around 100 DPI (dots per inch).  If you take the size of your screen (let's say 15 x 10 inches) multiply each by 100 (1500 x 1000) you would get 1500000.  Since one megapixel is 1000000 pixels that would equate to a megapixel count of 1.5.  In other words, if you take a picture with a camera that has a 1.5 megapixel count and then take a picture with a camera that has a 16.0 megapixel count, you will not notice any significant difference if you view them on your computer screen.  Where you will notice a big difference is if you print the picture on photo paper.  The main thing that affects photo quality in a trail camera is the firmware in the camera itself.  Unfortunately, there is no way to tell how good the firmware is until you either try the camera or if you know someone that has one and you look at some pictures before biting the bullet and lightening your wallet.

The main point I'm trying to make here is that you don't have to shell out an extra $100 or more for an 8 or 10 megapixel trail camera.  ANYTHING over 1.2 megapixels will work just fine.

Here are some examples to illustrate my point.

This first picture was taken with a Stealth Cam Nomad 5.0.  This is a 5.0 megapixel camera:



Here's a picture taken with an older Cuddeback Excite 2.0 which is (you guessed it) a 2.0 megapixel camera:



Now the first one seems much brighter than the second.  There's an easy explanation for that.  Look at the time stamps.  The first pic was taken in the middle of the day while the second was taken late in the evening about an hour before sunset.  Besides, megapixels aren't supposed to affect color or lighting, but clarity.  As you can see, if I had not already told you which is which, you probably couldn't tell the difference.  If what most people believe about megapixels is true (which it's not) then the first picture should be 1 1/2 times clearer than the second one.  Obviously, it is not.

When buying a camera, pay no attention at all to megapixels.  Instead, focus on extra features.  What are the dwell time settings? Does it have video settings?  Does it have shot burst mode?, What kind of batteries does it use?  How easy is it to mount?  What is the trigger time?  (that's an important one)  What kind of memory card does it use?  Does it have remote viewing?  Can it instantly send pics to my email or phone?  Do I want an IR camera or flash camera?  All of these questions are more important than megapixel count.  If you're just looking at that and you pay more money for a camera because you want better pictures, you're being duped.  Don't be "that guy".  Check the features and buy the one that has the features you want.

[Onin24Eagle]

This matchup pits the Stealth Cam Nomad 5.0 vs the Wildgame Innovations S4.

There was a little delay getting this one out.  The reason for this was due to the weather.  Although we didn't get a ton of snow in my area, some did get packed into the motion sensor on the WGI camera and that camera took zero pictures for several days until the snow melted off of it.  In case you were wondering, that's the reason this took a little while. 

I put both cameras on the same tree over a salt lick.  The deer activity has been almost 100% at night lately and I once again have no pictures of deer, or anything else for that matter, in the daylight.

The Stealth Cam has settings allowing for shot burst and I had the camera set up to take two pictures every time it was triggered.  The WGI camera does not have a shot burst setting and took only one picture each time it was triggered.  Initially, I thought that the Stealth Cam was going to take this matchup easily until I looked at the photos and realized that this was the case.  Anyway, without further ado, here are a few samples and my observations on these two cameras:

WGI:



Stealth Cam:



Although these pics were taken at roughly the same time, it is obvious that one camera was triggered before the other.  It's hard to say which because whichever one was first, the deer obviously turned around and moved the other way afterwards.  One thing is noticable though, and it will show in subsequent photos as well, and that is the difference in flash range.  The Stealth Cam lights up a much larger area and the flash reaches out further from the camera.  The deer, when close enough, as is the case in the first set of photos, shows up quite clearly on the WGI camera though.

WGI:



Stealth Cam:




I put this series in to show that both cameras have issues with either sensitivity or dwell time (or both).  The WGI photo was the only picture taken during this time frame.  It shows four deer around the salt lick.  The Stealth Cam had 4 pictures, but I only show two of them as it was set on two shot burst mode.  The two pictures are the second taken on the first burst and the first taken on the second burst.  Note that over three mintues elapsed between triggers.  At the same time, this proves the deer were there for several minutes, but the WGI camera only took one photo during this time.

WGI:



Stealth Cam:



This set is just reiterating what I mentioned above.  The Stealth Cam does have a superior flash range when compared to the WGI.  Although I would argue that the pictures from the WGI have better clarity with still subjects at night.  The Stealth cam wins that battle when the subjects are moving though.  See the next photos for an example.

WGI:



Stealth Cam:



Taken at approximately the same time, the lead deer in these photos is blurry from both cameras.  However, it is easier to make out the deer in the pics from the Stealth Cam.

Bottom line is that it's hard for me to say which is actually the better camera.  These are the two cheapest ones I own, both retailing for around $60.  In the end I'd probably have to give the Stealth Cam a slight edge despite the longer dwell time and the fact that it is bulkier than the WGI.  The flash range is far superior and it has more features, such as shot burst, that appeal to me a little more.

Pros:

Stealth Cam:

Nice long strap allows it to be mounted to very large trees.
Up to 3 shot burst
Video Mode
Price

WGI:
Easy to access SD Card
Video Mode
Price

Cons:

Stealth Cam:

SD Card slot is a pain in the  to access
Dwell Time can be set to no lower than 1 minute
Big, Bulky camera
Uses "C" cell batteries (my least favorite)

WGI:
Bungee strap system comes with too short of bungees.  I had to buy longer ones at the hardware store.
Dwell time can be set no lower than 30 seconds. (too long for me, but better than the Stealth Cam)
No shot burst mode
Bulky camera, but not as bulky as the Stealth cam
Uses "C" cell batteries

For the next matchup, I thought it would be interesting to pit the Primos Truth Cam 35 against the new Primos Truth Cam 35 Ultra.  We'll see what happens, but based on what I've seen from these so far, I have a hunch the old version is going to win.

[Onin24Eagle]

This matchup pits the Primos Truth Cam 35 (TC35) against the Primos Truth Cam 35 Ultra (TCU35).  The Ultra is the new model released in 2012.  The Truth Cam 35 has been sold for the past several years.  This particular one I purchased in 2010.  Both cameras were at about 70% battery life at the start of this matchup.

First photo, night:

TC35:



TCU35:



Each camera scores points against the other here.  The old Truth Cam has much better clarity in the picture.  However, the Ultra has a much better IR flash and lights up more of the surrounding area.

2nd Photo, low light (dawn):

TC35:



TCU35:



The old truth cam scores double points here as it catches the subject sooner, indicating better trigger time and sensitivity and also has a clearer, more defined picture.

3rd photo, daytime:

TC35:



TCU35:



The Ultra seems to let in too much light, making the picture less defined overall.  There is also something noticably missing from the picture taken by the Ultra....the deer.  The motion sensor was triggered, but it did not catch the animal at all.  There were 6 total pictures taken by the Truth Cam 35 at this time, all six of which had this deer in the frame.  There were 3 pictures taken by the Ultra, none of which had deer in the frame (both cameras were set on 3 shot burst).  Again, points go to the old version.

As stated above, both cameras started this matchup with 70% battery life remaining.  When I pulled the cards, the old Truth Cam still had 65% battery life remaining.  The Ultra was down to 40% and I had to put new batteries in.  Score yet another point for the old version.

Although there are great improvements feature-wise with the new Ultra and an improved IR flash, the old Truth Cam wins this one hands down.  There are things I like about the new version, but ultimately for me it comes down to sensitivity and picture quality.  Features are a secondary concern.

Other Pros:

TC35:
I like the strap
Battery life is very good
Easy to set up
Up to 5 shot burst mode
video mode

TCU35
Same strap as previous model
Easy to set up
Small, compact size
SD card slot is easy to access
Uses "AA" batteries which can be bought in bulk for less $ than other sizes.
Up to 5 shot burst mode
video mode

Cons:

TC35:
Big, bulky camera
Uses "D" Cell batteries
Makes a light, barely audible "clunk" sound when activated
SD card slot location could be better

TCU35:
Poor battery life which cancels out the cheaper AA battery advantage

I'm going to do one more matchup for the time being and then I'd like to deploy an extra camera as there's a certain buck I'm trying to pattern and getting cameras in more locations will help.  I plan on moving that camera next time I pull cards.  Right now I have the Covert CA3 and one of the Moultrie M-80's on the same tree overlooking a scrape and I'll do a comparison of those two next.  This will probably be the last matchup for quite some time.

On a side note, I'm thinking of getting another camera but I don't really want to increase the number I have so I'm going to sell one of the cameras I currently have.  In other words, I'm looking to upgrade one camera.  I'll put a post in the classifieds forums if anyone wants to take a peek.