Best Cellular game cameras?

[MattB]

Tactacam is what we use.

 

[Primitive11]

Another vote for Cuddeback here, I work in IT in the comms industry and what they are doing with the tech in their cameras from a usefulness/communication standpoint is a game changer.

 

[mobohunter]

Another vote for Cuddeback here, I work in IT in the comms industry and what they are doing with the tech in their cameras from a usefulness/communication standpoint is a game changer.

I think the Cuddebacks work great to understand a farm. If they could get the range a little better and the user experience so a normal guy could use it, they would be tough to beat. I run 18 of them on a farm but after about 2 years you can figure out the movement patterns...

 

[Primitive11]

I think the Cuddebacks work great to understand a farm. If they could get the range a little better and the user experience so a normal guy could use it, they would be tough to beat. I run 18 of them on a farm but after about 2 years you can figure out the movement patterns...

When's the last time you bought some? Just wondering if the tech has changed since you did. I just started looking at them last year, and had a phone convo with the guy who designed the tech in them and was really impressed. I had an idea already of how they might work, and thought I might even offer them some suggestions before I purchased on how to improve, but they were already doing what I was going to suggest. Pretty cool.

That said, what issues do you have with range and the user experience? Just curious before I start putting mine out!

 

[mobohunter]

When's the last time you bought some? Just wondering if the tech has changed since you did. I just started looking at them last year, and had a phone convo with the guy who designed the tech in them and was really impressed. I had an idea already of how they might work, and thought I might even offer them some suggestions before I purchased on how to improve, but they were already doing what I was going to suggest. Pretty cool.

That said, what issues do you have with range and the user experience? Just curious before I start putting mine out!

If you are just a little bit tech savvy you will be totally fine. I would say if you are a guy who just wants to throw in batteries and go, this is not the camera system for you. The interface online is great as well, because you can log in and change settings online. So if you dont like what you are seeing, make a change till you get it right. I had to do this in a heavily trafficked area.

The range is all dependent on open area vs forest. I would say the cameras in open terrain work very well, as you will need the solar panels if you want them to run without headache, but as soon as you get in the woods the range decreased drastically and the solar panels are not getting enough light to keep them going. I have had cameras in open areas with solar panels run for 2 years straight no issues, in the forest maybe a couple months. Distance up to a couple hundred yards... I run 18 on 142 acres.

I run the premium tenergy rechargeable batteries in all of the j style cameras, and an EBL 10k D battery in the home camera / heavy flash camera.

 

[Honyock]

We've used Moultrie Mobile Edge for the last three years and have had zero issues with them. Not so much luck with Spypoint, four out of five have crapped out within 18 months. The Edge has ran a year on 8 batteries and they have a great app. They're cheap and no SD card so no going in and out when cards are full.

 

[171farm]

I’m over tactacam…I swear they have something in them that makes them basically junk after a year or two. Ours were pretty good, now they stink. Missing pictures and unreliable. Tired of the excuses from Tactacam. Their price and data plans are great, products not so much in time.

 

[ricknhunter]

I have run Reconyx for several years. Price to purchase is high but the functions for what you pay on a plan are great & reliable! I also run a Reveal cam now and its doing well, but when ya want certain HD pic or something you need to bump up your plan.. Dumb bc for what little I pay for reconyx plan I get a lot, best of all I can "live view" on my camera anytime. And you can Hybernate Reconyx for 6 months and not pay for a plan ..still can take pics. just not send if you choose to save money up to 6 months each year So really comes down to your budget. Or as I say "buy nice" or "Buy twice"

 

[Beagle1]

I’m over tactacam…I swear they have something in them that makes them basically junk after a year or two. Ours were pretty good, now they stink. Missing pictures and unreliable. Tired of the excuses from Tactacam. Their price and data plans are great, products not so much in time.

I’ve been running over 10 of them for four years with no problems.

 

[danarnold]

Tacacams suck, horrible detection circuits. If you don’t mind missing one out of five pictures they are a great camera. The Gen x2 are reliable at least. The Pros are junk and will end up with water damage.
Tacacams CS Is terrible. The saving grace is they are cheap and that’s about all they have going for them. Night pictures decent … day pictures overly plixial out big time. Dawn and dusk…washed out. Sample size about 20 cams. Expensive plans for what you get. The app is decent.

Various browings, good battery life. Good night pictures, fair to poor day light pictures. Data plans suck. Been fairly reliable. 6 cams or so sample size. Their app sucks


Muddy and Spy point cams, not even worth time to type how big a piece of crap they are. Sample size about 3 each



Spartan Go cams, decent in all respects. worth considering if you can add them to an att or Verizon plan. If you’re using their plans with credits ect …forget it overly complicated and expensive. The app is decent. Had three. Picture and video quality is good to very good across the board.


Reconx, most reliable and trouble free cams made at this point. The data plans are fair and so is the app. Picture quality is on par with Spartan and Wise eye. They shine in detection and reliability. A negative is 12 batteries like the Tacacams. If your not on a tight budget they are no brainer. We have 10

Wise eye been a sleeper for me, I have 4 data cams and mini. And I just ordered 4 more data cams. Pictures are excellent across the board. Settings are responsive. Video fantastic. Easy to set up. Best App of all I ever used. Best tag system. The data plans are phenomenal. I can’t speak for battery life and reliability yet but if it’s good I can seen them replacing everything except the reconx

any update on Wise eye, performance and batt life? thanks

 

[swavescatter]

Tagging in.

Got my first cameras - Spypoint flex G36 or somethings. Free data is nice but otherwise they kind of suck.

 

[rodney747]

Spartan Gocams for years. Had to buy new cameras for 5G. Battery life is plenty long and pictures good quality. I do not use the video feature. Customer service has been good to.

 

[DKennedy951]

Used Tactacams for the last few years after switching over from spypoint. I just got 3 of the Moultrie Edge in the mail yesterday from Prime Day deal. I'll put them out this weekend. A few friends run them and love them.

 

[LostArra]

Wise Eye here. My first cell cam. No complaints. I bought it from Mike at Herd360. Great customer service.

 

[stv117]

try the Spartan cameras and you can turn the data on and off on them. You can just turn off send mode and it will save the pictures and videos to the SD card just like a traditional camera.

 

[Kwandog]

I have 6 Moultrie edge cameras and I have had multiple instances where the camera will make a loud clicking sound and spook deer. I’ve recently bought reveal tactacam 2.0 cameras due to Moultrie edge spooking deer. Setup with the tactacam were not nearly as easy but I’m hoping that they won’t have the same issue.

 

[Meyerske]

I've used Tactacam, Covert, Spypoint, WiseEye, Reconyx and Black Gate. I prefer Black Gate over all of these. Reliability, performance, data plans, and customer service are all excellent.

 

[Skibness92]

Tactacam has worked well for me. I would say mine last 3 +/- seasons and they need to be updated for one reason or another. I hear and see a lot of good things about spartan game cameras that will be the next brand I try. Good luck!

 

[MIbowhunter4954]

I'm switching away from tactacam. I've had a handful of issues over the years (sudden loss of night time range, missing deer, taking nonstop pictures even when sensitivity is at its lowest).

The last straw for me was their "repair" procedure. Had a Reveal X that had never been in the woods but was out of warranty. Taking nonstop pictures. TC CS says put it in a dark cabinet, if it takes a bunch of pictures it's defective. Failed that test.

Their repair offering is basically pay $20, if we can fix it we will, otherwise we'll charge you to upgrade. I agreed.

My issue is that before the camera even arrived, I get an automated email saying it's not repairable and they're charging me the $100 bucks or whatever to upgrade. Not sure what parts they're salvaging from old cameras, but they must be making good money offering basically no discount on a new camera, and getting a core.

Seems dishonest. Based on failure mode, they know if it's repairable. Just be honest.

I swore off moultrie after the debacle with the launch of the delta camera. But people seem to have good luck with the new edge cameras, and I got the edge 2 for less than $50 per camera on sale. We'll see how they do.

 

[Waterboy]

I used to be a huge fan of tactacams but have had issues with about 5 of their cameras now. Tried to do the upgrades they list to do and still not working. Frustrating for sure...now we are also running into an issue with a few of them where the batteries are dying in days not months with very few pictures...that is beyond a pain in the butt! Trying to decide whether I want to buy any more which brought me to this thread...anyone else having these issues?

Same here. I got three years and it’s always had the tactracam solar panel.