Best Cell Camera

[VFL]

I'm looking for opinions on the best cell cam you have had experience with. I hunt over an hour away with usually a 2 mile hike in and I'd like to take a different approach this year using trail/cell cams a little more than in the past. Everything I've read online has varying reviews/opinions but ideally I'd like to hang the camera high in the tree so a good range and picture quality would be ideal. I am leaning towards getting a solar panel for it, as well so I don't have to swap out batteries often. Any other recommendations are welcome and encouraged.

Thanks and good luck to everyone that are turkey hunting!

 

[philsanchez76]

I have 2 flavors. Bigfoot cell cams and Spypoint micro links.

I have 4 Bigfoots that have been running on public land 24/7 365 for the last 3 years with no hiccups. Lithium batteries tend to last 4-6 month depending on amount of pics. Bigfoots have a wider lens so I put these in slightly more open areas like travel corridors so I can see what's going on in a larger area. The Bigfoots also allow me to control how high of resolution to email back to me. you do use more data for choosing high res, but it's really nice to see all the details.

I have 5 spypointn link micros that have all been functioning flawlessly for the past 2 years (24/7/365- I never take my cams down). These have much narrower lens so I am placing them over smaller features like scrapes or mineral licks etc, where I don't need that wide field of view. The pic quality that comes back to you remotely is also pretty low resolution but I know that going in and they are still worth it.

 

[philsanchez76]

Here is an example of what the Bigfoot cam sends to my phone. Pretty solid quality. Night time pics are good too.

 

[philsanchez76]

Here’s a SPYPOINT example of what’s sent to my phone. Sd card pics are normal 12 mb quality still.

 

[SoILslocker]

Heard a lot of good things about the Tactacam Reveal. Think they may be coming out with a new version. Never had one but thinking about trying a couple this year.

 

[VFL]

Heard a lot of good things about the Tactacam Reveal. Think they may be coming out with a new version. Never had one but thinking about trying a couple this year.

Same - it seems like it gets really good reviews and it's significantly cheaper than most. In another forum, a lot of people have been suggesting the spartan ghost, but I'm trying to figure out the difference between the two (other than price).

 

[MOtgrinMI]

So many good choices now days. It's best to just look at the cell cams that fit in your price range.

These are the best cams I've found in certain ranges:

• Low end: $70-150: Tactacam Reveal or Reveal X (IMO the best low end cam) , Muddy Manifest, Stealth Cam Fusion - did not like the Spypoints at all but others swear by them. Avoid the WGI cell cam at all costs! Have heard mixed reviews about the Moultries.
• Mid Range: $150 - 250: Tactacam Reveal SK is going to be hard to beat in this range when it comes out. Avoid the Bushnell Impulses like crazy. Cuddeback Cuddelink System is a really solid choice here too and has the most affordable cell plan of any cell company if you plan to run more than 3 cell cams since you only have to have one cell plan to get pics from all the cams. For example, a 24 cam system I run costs around $1 per month per cam because all 24 cams run off of one low cost cell plan through Cuddeback.
• High Range: $250+: Exodus Render, Spartan Ghost/Go/GoLive, Ridgetec Lookout, Reconyx Hyperfire 2 Cell - These are all awesome cams, cant go wrong with any of them but really delve into the features that are important to you before you purchase. For example, do you really need the ability to live stream from the cam? I mean its a sweet feature but if you really want to take advantage of it you better also purchase a solar panel because it uses a ton of battery power to have that capability. By the time you are done buying everything you could be looking at $600+ for the GoLive and solar panel set up. I will say the MAJOR advantage that the GoLive has IMO that is even cooler than live stream is that it can take AND send pictures and video at the same time. No other cell cam can do that as far as I am aware and this is HUGE for not missing pictures because the camera is tied up transmitting cellular data. For Exodus and Reconyx (lowest and highest priced cams in this range), they are really awesome at taking lots of clear pics, but lack on the video side (i.e., Render only allows 640x480 video over cell, don't think the reconyx does video at all but both of these cams feature a super quick transmission time and recovery time while some of the other high end cams have longer transmission times/recovery). Transmission and recovery time is really important not to miss pics on cell cams. The Ridgetec is probably the most well rounded of the bunch in balancing price and features. its got really quick recovery and transmission times, offers a remote comand function like the GoLive (you can use this to snap pictures on demand), but it doesn't offer live streaming or the ability to take and send pics/videos at the same time - which doesn't really matter if you don't need pics instantaneously.

Just a lot of rambling thoughts from a feller that has tried almost every cell cam available.

Would be more than happy to answer anyone's specific questions about cams. Just PM me!

 

[SoILslocker]

Same - it seems like it gets really good reviews and it's significantly cheaper than most. In another forum, a lot of people have been suggesting the spartan ghost, but I'm trying to figure out the difference between the two (other than price).

I'm sure the Spartan is nice but you could have multiple Tactacam's for the price. I am willing to sacrifice a little picture quality to have the opportunity for capturing more photos in different areas.

 

[MOtgrinMI]

I'm sure the Spartan is nice but you could have multiple Tactacam's for the price. I am willing to sacrifice a little picture quality to have the opportunity for capturing more photos in different areas.

It's nice but I agree with you regarding cost. If all you care about is getting decent pictures for scouting and don't need super high res ones to come via cell, I would say save yourself the money and get the Tactacam Reveal X for $100 when they come out in May. You'll be able to get many more eyes in the woods for the same price and the cell plans are very reasonable. Long term, the cuddeback cuddelink system will save you the most money regarding cell plan costs though. It seems not many people think about the longer term costs of the cell plans when they buy into a camera but that should be a big consideration IMO and Spartan/Exodus are right near the top in cost of cell plans unless you are able to take advantage of their Verizon connect program (where the cams can use the data off your cell phone plan).

 

[SoILslocker]

It's nice but I agree with you regarding cost. If all you care about is getting decent pictures for scouting and don't need super high res ones to come via cell, I would say save yourself the money and get the Tactacam Reveal X for $100 when they come out in May. You'll be able to get many more eyes in the woods for the same price and the cell plans are very reasonable. Long term, the cuddeback cuddelink system will save you the most money regarding cell plan costs though. It seems not many people think about the longer term costs of the cell plans when they buy into a camera but that should be a big consideration IMO and Spartan/Exodus are right near the top in cost of cell plans unless you are able to take advantage of their Verizon connect program (where the cams can use the data off your cell phone plan).

I agree, that's a good point. If you can spend the initial money on the cuddelink you will be saving long term. Do you know what is supposed to be different about the Reveal X?

 

[Loopwing]

The solar is a good idea, but I just pay the extra money for lithium batteries. I have a moultrie running right now. It has been going since February, I usually get anywhere from 5-20 pics a day. Just checked the battery level 96%. I will be back long before I have to worry about batteries running out. An extra solar panel to me is just one more thing to go wrong.

 

[MOtgrinMI]

The reveal x has been completely redesigned from the original reveal. Different manufacturing company, different internals, different case pretty much the whole shebang has been worked over from last years model. Now the only thing that gives me pause about the new ones is that they haven't had an opportunity to field test the camera with all these changes for as long as they did the original reveal so there is some worries about kinks in the process on my end but the company definitely stands by their products. One of the things that is supposed to be different is the PIR sensor is significantly improved (I have a friend that is actually a beta tester of the cam and agrees with this). Supposedly it is less particular about as precise of aiming as you needed for the original reveal to not to miss pics. It also has a live view feature over wifi on your phone (only works when you are close) to precisely aim your cam where you want it that is pretty slick!

It's supposed to have better battery, better trigger speed, better signal, better app features, better photo quality, HD requests, and real-time settings options per Jeff Peel at Tactacam but I would have to get my hands on one and do a comparison to test those claims. The better detection circuit, hd requests, and live view aiming are supposed to be the major improvements without any increase in cost.

I have linked to the user manual of the new reveal which will give you an idea of some other differences Reveal X User Manual

The SK is supposed to add a couple additional features like a built in solar panel, ability to connect to Verizon OR AT&T on the same cam and swap between the two if having connection issues or swapping farms, ability to send video, and a few other really nice features. I believe this version will be $200 though.

 

[MOtgrinMI]

I forgot to mention. The OP said they wanted to hang the camera high and angle down. This is something that most camera manufacturers don't recommend due the the nature of the PIR sensor to be parallel with the ground to get the widest detection area. I have attached a photo that demonstrates this below. Basically, if you hang high your aiming needs to be spot on and aim at the perfect spot to get pics of everything moving through the area. Even still there is a much higher risk of missed pics.

Now I realize that hanging high has its own benefits to prevent theft and detection by animals but of all the cams I have run this way the Exodus Renders are the only ones that performed really well at height. Like it simply didn't matter if I or an animal came in at the bottom right corner of the picture frame or the top left the camera triggered and got the pic. Exodus even recommends hanging their cameras 6 to 8 ft and angling down to prevent animals from picking off the camera. The Ridgetec lookouts also perform well in this regard.

Most other cams are simply not designed to do a great job detecting animals when the sensor/zone is not parallel to the ground and you will most likely miss some pics but two cameras really stand out in detecting at height well. If you must hang high and angle down, then I suggest not going much higher than 8ft off the ground to try to flatten out the angle for the PIR sensor/zone.

 

[hokiehunter373]

I've got 3 tactacam reveals and will be getting a couple of the X's when they come out. For $100 they're simply fantastic. For that price I'd get them even if they didn't send cell pics. The images off the SD card are fantastic and the cameras work perfectly. The cell images will not be as clear but they're good enough for my intentions.

Also, I hang all of mine high and angle down (thanks to @7mmremmag) and don't have any issues

 

[hokiehunter373]

Those are all examples of the cell pics. For some reason SH isn't accepting the images downloaded off the SD card.

 

[VFL]

I forgot to mention. The OP said they wanted to hang the camera high and angle down. This is something that most camera manufacturers don't recommend due the the nature of the PIR sensor to be parallel with the ground to get the widest detection area. I have attached a photo that demonstrates this below. Basically, if you hang high your aiming needs to be spot on and aim at the perfect spot to get pics of everything moving through the area. Even still there is a much higher risk of missed pics.

Now I realize that hanging high has its own benefits to prevent theft and detection by animals but of all the cams I have run this way the Exodus Renders are the only ones that performed really well at height. Like it simply didn't matter if I or an animal came in at the bottom right corner of the picture frame or the top left the camera triggered and got the pic. Exodus even recommends hanging their cameras 6 to 8 ft and angling down to prevent animals from picking off the camera. The Ridgetec lookouts also perform well in this regard.

Most other cams are simply not designed to do a great job detecting animals when the sensor/zone is not parallel to the ground and you will most likely miss some pics but two cameras really stand out in detecting at height well. If you must hang high and angle down, then I suggest not going much higher than 8ft off the ground to try to flatten out the angle for the PIR sensor/zone.

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Huge help! Thank you!

 

[VFL]

I've got 3 tactacam reveals and will be getting a couple of the X's when they come out. For $100 they're simply fantastic. For that price I'd get them even if they didn't send cell pics. The images off the SD card are fantastic and the cameras work perfectly. The cell images will not be as clear but they're good enough for my intentions.

Also, I hang all of mine high and angle down (thanks to @7mmremmag) and don't have any issues

About how high do you hang yours? Thank you!

 

[VFL]

Based on replies and research, I'm considering the tactacam reveal x, exodus render and the ridgetec lookout. Obviously the price points are on two different ends of the spectrum, but I need to hang them high (theft is bad here in NJ/public land). I really don't need any special features. I run a couple basic cameras and am only interested in pictures (unless someone can justify advantages of video). I'd like to extend battery life as much as possible, but also started leaning away from buying a solar panel and sticking with lithium batteries. If I don't get pictures "right away", that's fine - other forums discussed that some cameras have a setting to send a cluster of pictures at the end of the day (better for battery life?) and I'm interested in that.

Basically my needs are:
-hang high in the tree
-pictures>video
-reliability of taking/receiving pictures
-battery life

 

[VFL]

It's nice but I agree with you regarding cost. If all you care about is getting decent pictures for scouting and don't need super high res ones to come via cell, I would say save yourself the money and get the Tactacam Reveal X for $100 when they come out in May. You'll be able to get many more eyes in the woods for the same price and the cell plans are very reasonable. Long term, the cuddeback cuddelink system will save you the most money regarding cell plan costs though. It seems not many people think about the longer term costs of the cell plans when they buy into a camera but that should be a big consideration IMO and Spartan/Exodus are right near the top in cost of cell plans unless you are able to take advantage of their Verizon connect program (where the cams can use the data off your cell phone plan).

The more I read your posts, the more I'm leaning towards the reveal x!

 

[1simplemann]

What do you do if you have bad cell service? On my property, cell service varies from 0 to 2 bars. Mostly 1 bar. I have ATT & my partner has Verizon.