Guest DoubleTake Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 I'm trying to find a good camera, and ive narrowed it down to these four. I need to figure out which one is better, any reviews would be appreciated. Moultree 4.1, Wildview Xtreme 3, Digital Ranger 6.0, Recon Talon Extreme. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest bowhunter56 Posted May 22, 2007 Report Share Posted May 22, 2007 well here is my opinion, having worked at basspro and selling them,i have 4 cameras, first buy the best one you can afford, get one with 6v. rechargable battery, try and stay away from using c's or d's unless you get a cutieback. i have a moultire 3.1, good camera, good battery life, good flash. of the 4 you have posted, i would either go with moultrie or recon,,again get the best one you can afford, and get digital not film..you should have a spare battery, spare sd=card, if you plan to leave the camera out, swap batteries and sd card, hope this has helped...Andy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 Welcome to the forums. Honestly would skip all those and go with a leaf river if you are going to buy a commercial cam. Digital is the only way to go as mentioned above. Cudde is not mentioned on your list, and with their poor customer service, I would not consider them. Moultrie has a reputation of having some issues too, and dont think I would waste my time on them, although the new 5.0 they have out now is supposed to be as good or better than homebrews with the claimed under one second trigger and 5 mp camera. I would be curious to see how they really perform. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TxBowHunter Posted May 23, 2007 Report Share Posted May 23, 2007 I have the moultrie and i like it! I havent put it out yet but have used it around the house to mess around with, good flash and nice quality. good luck in your search! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ravin R10 man Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 The Moultree 3.1 has been really good. Stay away from the 2.1 gamespy!!!! It EATS batteries the new Moultree 3.1 without camo is only $89 shipped at Bass Pro .com I tested it and it seems to be ok, and I get great Battery life with them and quality photos. I would stick with digital, and get extra cards and a card reader, which you plug into your tower and download right to a folder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckslayer Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Welcome to the forums. Honestly would skip all those and go with a leaf river if you are going to buy a commercial cam. Digital is the only way to go as mentioned above. Cudde is not mentioned on your list, and with their poor customer service, I would not consider them. Moultrie has a reputation of having some issues too, and dont think I would waste my time on them, although the new 5.0 they have out now is supposed to be as good or better than homebrews with the claimed under one second trigger and 5 mp camera. I would be curious to see how they really perform. I'm with William on this one....Cuddeback is not the way to go due to all their new model problems last year, and poor customer service. I went through it and will never again. I ended up doing the homebrew thing, and haven't been more pleased since day one. I get quality 4MP photos, 1 month battery life, great trigger speed, totally sealed case... Either way you go, good luck and I recommend buying from a store with 100% money back satisfaction guarantee like Cabelas. That way if it ever breaks (like my $400 cuddeback did) and the company won't deal with helping you, you can return it or exchange it at the store. Finally there are tons of camera review websites out there to aid you in your research so make sure you use those resources before you buy. Good luck!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 That way if it ever breaks (like my $400 cuddeback did) and the company won't deal with helping you, you can return it or exchange it at the store. This is exactly why I suggested leaf river. Vibrashine(leaf river) will not leave you high and dry. They are based in Mississippi, and you talk to good old southern boys when if you need customer service. Have a model dc2 bu from leaf river that has been in the field since I got the camera about 3 years ago with the exception of being pulled twice. Once for wires baring through the doors and once for the flash here back just this winter. The wires was a issue leaf river fixed free of charge and they changed the wiring through the doors and had my camera back to me in under a week. The flash fix cost me a total of $6 for shipping and $20 for the flash module making the fix $26, had my cam back in about 2 weeks from the time I dropped it off at the post office. That in my opinion is great customer service. Nice knowing a company will stand behind what they sell you and leaf river will. Cudde on the other hand had issues with leaks, and they were charging their customer $50 for the fix, on NEW cameras. Moultries like the old stealth cams, you never know, might get a good one or you might get a lemon. Guess if you dont mind being a guinea pig and returning stuff that does not work like it is supposed to and are not prone to frustration with something that might not work in the field like you expect, then those cams might be ok with you. got to say though when you set out a camera and get to it to find out that it did not work like you thought it would, it is terribly disappointing. That was my experience with my first trail cam, a 35 mm stealthcam which went back to wal mart after a couple of weeks in the field and scratching my head getting frustrated I finally figured out that it was not working right. Like buckslayer mentions, homebrews are the way to go if you are able. Have built a few here, and do not think I would ever buy another commercial cam. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ParrotHead2005 Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 Have you checked chasingame.com. They do reviews of all cameras. I was thinking of buy a cheap Wal-Mart camera to take with me in the field to check and see what was on my SD cards. I am going to try the new 99 Moultrie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerClay Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 This is exactly why I suggested leaf river. Vibrashine(leaf river) will not leave you high and dry. They are based in Mississippi, and you talk to good old southern boys when if you need customer service. Have a model dc2 bu from leaf river that has been in the field since I got the camera about 3 years ago with the exception of being pulled twice. Once for wires baring through the doors and once for the flash here back just this winter. The wires was a issue leaf river fixed free of charge and they changed the wiring through the doors and had my camera back to me in under a week. The flash fix cost me a total of $6 for shipping and $20 for the flash module making the fix $26, had my cam back in about 2 weeks from the time I dropped it off at the post office. That in my opinion is great customer service. Nice knowing a company will stand behind what they sell you and leaf river will. Cudde on the other hand had issues with leaks, and they were charging their customer $50 for the fix, on NEW cameras. Moultries like the old stealth cams, you never know, might get a good one or you might get a lemon. Guess if you dont mind being a guinea pig and returning stuff that does not work like it is supposed to and are not prone to frustration with something that might not work in the field like you expect, then those cams might be ok with you. got to say though when you set out a camera and get to it to find out that it did not work like you thought it would, it is terribly disappointing. That was my experience with my first trail cam, a 35 mm stealthcam which went back to wal mart after a couple of weeks in the field and scratching my head getting frustrated I finally figured out that it was not working right. Like buckslayer mentions, homebrews are the way to go if you are able. Have built a few here, and do not think I would ever buy another commercial cam. William is absolutely right! Go with a Leaf River!! And whoever said stay away from C & D batteries I must disagree. I have C's & D's in my Leaf River and they are the SAME batteries I put in the unit when I bought it last June. It has been on the same tree for 6 months and the batteries are still good. Send KTMmike a PM and compare prices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buckslayer Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 KTMmike was great to deal with, thats were I got my first camera from... he had some good deals if I remember right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted May 24, 2007 Report Share Posted May 24, 2007 he had some good deals if I remember right. Yep, KTMMIKE will hook you up on a good deal on a leaf river if you chose to go with one, he shot me some prices a good while back and his were the best I had seen at that time. Think he was also dealing with cudde, but as said before, would lean away froma cudde. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hoyt03 Posted May 26, 2007 Report Share Posted May 26, 2007 I have a wildview 2.0 and it works great and takes very nice pics. I did not want to spend alot of monet b/c of fear of being taken and I have been nothing but pleased with the wildview. Very easy to use as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Swamphunter Posted June 5, 2007 Report Share Posted June 5, 2007 Cuddeback is out Cuddebacks customer service is absolutely horrible...this is spoken from experience. I will never purchase another Cuddeback. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest thehairlessone! Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I have owned all of them. The leaf rivers are good cams but they are too slow on the trigger. The new cuddes are terrrible because of the case problems but the old cuddes were awesome. I have owned several moultries and had problems with all of them and sent them back. The new ones are supposed to be much better though. I recently got a wildview 3.0 and it has been great. I am very satisfied with it. The longer nite shots arent as clear as I would like due to a weak flash but that is the only complaint I have had with it. Great cam for $100. The daytime pics are great and the battery life seems great too. rick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoytguy08 Posted June 13, 2007 Report Share Posted June 13, 2007 I have owned several moultries and had problems with all of them and sent them back. The new ones are supposed to be much better though. rick The new moultries are much better, IMO. i just got the bottom of the line cam (gamespy d40) and it's better than any of their previous models, i've went through all of them as well. I think anyone interested in a new cheaper yet quality cam should look at the new d40!, and i promise i don't work for moultrie LOL Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bownarow Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 I have no experience with most of these. I just wanted to say I would stay away from the Cudde as well. Very, very, very poor customer service. IMO Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 I have to agree with everyone on cuddeback's customer service. It's pretty poor to say the least. However, as of last year their camera had the fastest shutter speed and best quality picture of the trail cameras I was aware of on the market at the time. I have 2 leaf river cameras and 3 cuddebacks. The leaf river cameras are way too slow in shutter speed and there is no comparison to the picture quality of a cuddeback. The approximate shutter speed time on a leaf river is 6.5 seconds compared to less than 1 second on a cuddeback. More often than not I had scenery pictures with leaf river cameras than critter pictures. Using a leaf river camera you really need to have some kind of bait in front of the camera to keep a deer or whatever there long enough to get a picture. They won't give you what you really want setting up on trails, rub lines, or scrapes. Their plastic cover over the camera lense also scratches way too easily. I also had breakdown problems with both of my leaf river cameras too but they do have very good customer service. A friend of mine got a $99 Moultree a couple of years ago. It's terrible. Ate up 6v batteries, real slow on shutter speed and poor heat/motion sensor IMHO. By comparison we put his Moultree on a salt lick and after 1 week he go 1 picture of a doe. We took his Moultree off and put one of my cuddeback cameras on the same tree on that salt lick and 6 days later I had over 40 pics. 2 prior sets with his Moultree produced 0 pics except for his face in the camera to make sure it was working. He gave up on it and bought a cuddeback this past fall. I can't say anything about the new Moultree cameras but after messing with his sick Moultree for over a month, I personally wouldn't risk spending money on another Moultree camera product. You know the old saying, fool me once shame on you...fool me twice shame on me. The bottom line is I'll deal with the poor customer service cuddeback has for the fast shutter speed and excellent quality picture their camera gives me over the others I'm familiar with until another camera comes out with a faster shutter speed and at least as good of a picture quality a cuddeback has (provided it's not a Moultree product). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 The approximate shutter speed time on a leaf river is 6.5 seconds That is surprising. The leaf river model dc2bu I have is not that slow. Granted it is not as fast as my homebrew cams that are triggering around 2 seconds, but it is definitely faster than 6.5 seconds, and I have used that camera on trails in the past and had it do just fine. I would have to question why you are seeing such slow triggers, weak batteries or high capacity low read/write speed cards could be potential factors. The picture quality comparisons, if you set the leaf river up in the highest resolution setting to take 4 mp pictures in my opinion is right there with the cudde, but most including myself do not regularly use the high setting due to it needing to use software interpolation to view the pics back. Actually I would guess that most users of leaf river cams set them up in the 2 mp setting or lower. Have seen plenty of pics from both, and the quality of the leaf river pics when set up right in the higher resolution setting is pretty darned good. To me customer service is pretty important, having confidence in the company you buy from and that being able to know they will stand behind what they sell is in a way a little more comforting than buying from a company that if you have problems you know will leave you high and dry. Guess to each their own. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted June 20, 2007 Report Share Posted June 20, 2007 That is surprising. The leaf river model dc2bu I have is not that slow. That's the same model I have too William...both cameras. Maybe that's something else I need to send those cameras in to check out besides the on switch that won't work on one now too. The test switch works but it won't turn on. I literally walked by one of my leaf rivers in the dark during the 2006 turkey season and after passing it I paused wondering when it would trigger. Then I walked back toward the camera when it finally went off. Next time I timed it and yep between 6 & 7 seconds. Can't be the cards either because I've used them in my cudde's with no such problems. Tried the high res setting once before too but it's not as good a resolution as the cudde's. High res pics in a leaf river take up a whole lot of memory in a card too compared to a cudde. I can only go by what I've experienced from owning both cameras. Maybe I just got a couple of lemons William. Cuddeback won't leave you high and dry William but they can be a pain and will charge you to fix a camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest boonerkiller Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 No soliciting allowed without permission Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest p&yfreak Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 wireless trail camera Please read advertizing rules.. buckee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wtnhunt Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 Maybe I just got a couple of lemons William. Don't know Al, only time I have had triggers with the leaf river to ever exceed 5 seconds was with weak batteries, you probably already know this, but maybe are overlooking that trigger times are counted from when the pir senses the movement and heat, not from when you think you are in detection zone walking through. The leaf river detection zones on their earliest cameras they put out was not as wide as it is supposed to be on the newer improved cameras either and that might be why you think your cameras are triggering slower. In the test mode, when does it pick you up, near the middle? Bet out to the sides where you may think it is getting you it probably is not. That was one thing I noticed on the leaf river when I got it right away, that the detection zone was narrower than I thought it would be. Think last year on vibrashines site or maybe it was somewhere else they said they improved the detection area on the newer model dc2bu cameras. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted June 21, 2007 Report Share Posted June 21, 2007 The leaf river detection zones on their earliest cameras they put out was not as wide as it is supposed to be on the newer improved cameras either and that might be why you think your cameras are triggering slower. In the test mode, when does it pick you up, near the middle? Bet out to the sides where you may think it is getting you it probably is not. That was one thing I noticed on the leaf river when I got it right away, that the detection zone was narrower than I thought it would be. Think last year on vibrashines site or maybe it was somewhere else they said they improved the detection area on the newer model dc2bu cameras. You could be right William. The particular time I walked past it in the dark I was taking a friend turkey hunting. Most forum members that know me know I get to where I want to be before the crack of dawn with time to spare so I had a couple of minutes to spare this particular morning. After we walked well past the camera and stopped we waited, I started to walk back and it went off. At the same time we looked at each other and both said that sucks. My buddy walked past it afterwards while I timed it so I could have started timing before the sensor actually picked him up. One thing is for sure, if it would have been a deer that walked by the camera he wouldn't have been there when the camera went off. About 20 minutes after flydown time that morning he missed a big gobbler that was strutting in on a string. Funny how little things like that help you remember the details of a mornings turkey hunt. I wasn't pleased at all with the results of pictures taken while set up on scrapes or trails though. About 1 out of every 3 pictures actually had a deer in it when set on a scrape. The rest were scenery after the deer or whatever had already moved through. I tried trails and there was a higher percentage of scenery pics then. It's fine setting up over mineral licks, baited areas, edges of food plots, or where deer will tend to linger in a spot but I was disappointed on other types of sets that I can do with the fast trigger speed of a cudde. I've actually gotten pictures of deer on the run with my cuddeback. You still have to angle it down the trail though. That never happened with my leaf river cameras. Just scenery pics when deer moved through too quick for the camera to trigger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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