bghunter777 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I am buying my father a trail cam for Christmas I am leaning the cuddeback 5.0 IR. does anyone have expierience with this product or would like to suggest a better camera. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flintlock1776 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 I have not purchased a Cudeeback so I can not offer specific comments. I have Moultrie, Stealth Cam and Wild Game. All but one is still functional. What I have notcied with most brands is the megapixal capability has increased; some have audio to go with the video and the fancy ones can ever (for a big fee) send the info wirelessly to your PC. What I have noticed about Cuddeback is they have not stepped up on their megapixel capability or other features for a long time. Perhaps their deal is OK I just find it surprising that have not offered some significant upgrades to their deal. Overall, trail cams experiences I have had left me less than a raving fan. If you do get a trail cam I'd recommend any IR over flash camera. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoosierhunter Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 The IR version does not take very good night time photos. If the animal isn't extrememly close or moving slowly it will be blurred. I would recommend the flash version as the pic quality is awesome. Also the one drawback to a cudde is only one picture every 30 seconds. You don't notice until you have a camera, like a reconyx, that takes multiple pics extremely quick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhino Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 The IR version does not take very good night time photos. If the animal isn't extrememly close or moving slowly it will be blurred. I would recommend the flash version as the pic quality is awesome. Also the one drawback to a cudde is only one picture every 30 seconds. You don't notice until you have a camera, like a reconyx, that takes multiple pics extremely quick. Ditto to what Pat said here about the Cudde and Reconyx. Pic quality on a Reconyx is very good too. The only negative is price but a deer can't get past their new Hyperfire cam without getting his picture taken no matter how many deer there are traveling together through a spot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TBow Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Last year my friend's wife asked me if I could pick up a trail cam for her husband, as she was looking for a b'day present for him. I did the posting queries on a few sites asking about trail cam experiences and did some research via the internet too. There were some issues with the Cuddeback at first with battery life, but apparently a software upgrade has corrected that. The Cuddeback did get good reviews in regards to picture quality. The flash unit was reported to give significantly better quality pictures during nightime shots, but some expressed concern over spooking deer with the flash, resulting in keeping deer away. That last concern is pure BUNK! Here's why I say that: Here's a pic of a buck my friend got at night two weeks ago: He also got pictures of the same buck that same night, but a couple hours later. He shot that same buck the next week in the same spot: He has had several other experiences in other locations with bucks that just keep coming back time after time and he has experienced NO spooked bucks. He loves the picture quality of the flash Cuddeback. I will admit though, that a lot of his pictures are single shots of the animals, so you might want to research that aspect on other trail cams. If you desire the video function as well, then that's something to research as well. As for trail cams overall, I have observed several friends who now use them, and they tell me they have as much fun checking their cameras, and look forward to getting out to check them, as much as the actual hunt itself! TBow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msman825 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 Dont waste your money on the IR version if you just got to have a cudde back get the flash like mentioned above, but for 100 bucks i reall like my ole stealth IR here's a few pics from a cudde IR and a stealth IR and the truthcam 60 you be the judge lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mach1 Posted November 9, 2010 Report Share Posted November 9, 2010 In our experiences, Cuddeback's customer service is terrible. My brother has two Cuddeback's and neither work. He has attempted to contact customer service by phone and email multiple times over the last couple years and has not been able to get an email response or talk to a live person on the phone. One of the cameras had also been sent in and repaired once before and even then the customer service wasn't great. They do take really good pictures when they were working though. My brother had a Stealth cam that didn't work well at all, so he returned it. He had a Wildview that wasn't great either. My brother now has two Bushnell Trophy cams and they take really good pics if the deer aren't moving. Movement causing the pics to be blurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jorden Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 In our experiences, Cuddeback's customer service is terrible. My brother has two Cuddeback's and neither work. He has attempted to contact customer service by phone and email multiple times over the last couple years and has not been able to get an email response or talk to a live person on the phone. One of the cameras had also been sent in and repaired once before and even then the customer service wasn't great. They do take really good pictures when they were working though. My brother had a Stealth cam that didn't work well at all, so he returned it. He had a Wildview that wasn't great either. My brother now has two Bushnell Trophy cams and they take really good pics if the deer aren't moving. Movement causing the pics to be blurry. There is an update on Bushnells website that will supposedly fix the blurry images. I downloaded it but havent put the camera out yet. Cuddebacks are not worth it in my opinion. Ive never had a cuddeback go more than a year without having to send it in for repairs. They tried to charge me $80 to repair one of the metal pieces that hold the batteries in place. I then informed them that I would never again be purchasing another cuddeback camera. Picture quality is good but that alone wont get me to buy another one of their cameras. I love our bushnells and Ive heard good things about the Wildgame Innovations cameras. If you have the money I would go Reconyx...I will in the the future if I have the money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toddyboman Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 i have been very happy with all my cuddeback cameras. Picture quality it great. Flash range it great. Trigger speed is great. Customer service was great for me. Here was my experience with there customer service! http://www.realtree.com/forums/showthread.php?t=88231&highlight=cuddeback+customer+service Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bghunter777 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Thanks guys for your input i am considering all of it in making my decision! I am still not decided as to what i will go with! If you have anything else to add please feel free! I think the reconyx seems to be top notch but at 4 and 500 dollars it had better be triple dead bolted to the tree. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Kid Posted November 10, 2010 Report Share Posted November 10, 2010 Thanks guys for your input i am considering all of it in making my decision! I am still not decided as to what i will go with! If you have anything else to add please feel free! I think the reconyx seems to be top notch but at 4 and 500 dollars it had better be triple dead bolted to the tree. mine doesn't take to bad of photos in the dark I dont belive here are just some picks http://www.realtree.com/forums/showthread.php?t=101002 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
N10sivern Posted November 12, 2010 Report Share Posted November 12, 2010 Thinking of Buying a Cuddeback need opinions? I have a wildgame innovations x6c that has done a good job this year. Go to chasing game web site for reviews of trail cams. Lots of good info there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pointing_dogs_rule Posted November 12, 2010 Report Share Posted November 12, 2010 I have a WILDGAME INNOVATIONS that was broke out of the box. "It took one month for them to send me a new camera after 3 phone calls....BEWARE!!!!!!!" I agree go to the following site: http://www.chasingame.com/ I would also skip the IR.... only have more problems to deal with. good luck to all the dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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