Another bad camera thread

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
I guess I am going to give up on game cams. Seems none I try last. This time it was a Browning. Been working fine for about a year and taking good pictures. Moved it before I went out of town last week. When I picked it up yesterday the 2 gig card was full with 1400 pics taken. When I started looking at them, it appears that the cam began to malfunction as soon as I turned it on, taking a picture about every minute, which was the delay I had it set to. I see no "reset" on it anywhere and naturally, there is no telling where the receipt is. Already called Browning and got the standard "LarryR" response. Any new suggestions?
 

nckeith

Ten Pointer
Yes, my suggestion is stop buying game cameras. I stopped the insanity about 4 years ago after my most recent batch of cameras were stolen by a crackpot anti-hunter. They can be fun at times but between thieves and malfunctions I would rather throw a few hundred into the collection plate at church then have them break or ripped off in the woods. I am firmly in the camp that what will happen will happen despite not having intel on the deer.
On a related point, I also feel the damn things are made like absolute garbage and in the day and age of $100 point and shoot cameras with Lithium ion batteries and great lenses, there is no reason to pay for overpriced pieces of garbage that these game camera companies release. if Canon or Nikon pulled the guts out of the plastic shell, you'd be looking at a $10.00 CVS digital camera. No way they are worth half of what they charge for them. Then when you move up to the Reconyx range, they are decent but nothing compared to a $500 prosumer digital camera. Then again who wants to spend or leave out a bunch of $500 targets on trees anyway. I would look for signs of deer and then sit.
 

QuietButDeadly

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
Is there anyone on here that makes the homebrew trail cameras....buys the various components and assembles them?

I have tried several of the name cameras including Cudde and they are all junk IMO and their return policies suck.
 

Jack's PA

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I buy $39 cameras from Dick's and if I get 2 years out of them I am happy. So far the five I have now have been going fine for three years. All is good!
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
I understand your sentiments Keith. My primary reason for the cams is just to get pictures of stuff, not just deer. I don't rely on the cams for location anyway. Just love to see the the neat shots of a hawk defending his supper against a dozen buzzards or the occasional bobwhite that wanders through. I do agree that they are overpiced and not very dependable on the average.
 

labrown83

Spike
Hey if it is a browning, Slide out the battery pack and there is a reset button just inside the hole. little black button on mine. Hope that helps!!
 

dearl

Four Pointer
I have been through this with Browning several times, but I will say this, I cannot complain about their customer service. I had bought 2 - 8mp cameras together, and before 1 year was up both were eating batteries to the tune of a set a week. I returned them, they said they were fixed, got them back, run them for 6 months then they wouldn't stay on. Returned them again. They sent me 2 brand new 10MP models, no problems yet. I currently have 2 more cameras at Browning now being repaired. These wouldn't take night photo's. I e-mailed them, received a response next day. The Lady I have been working with so far is on top of things as far as I'm concerned. She did tell me that once I return a camera, the warranty starts over so if I got to send them in every year I will, cost 9 bucks to ship 2 cameras.
 

Harpoon

Guest
BROWNING customer service was much better than the dead end I got with COVERT, thats a fact.
 

KTMan

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I understand your sentiments Keith. My primary reason for the cams is just to get pictures of stuff, not just deer. I don't rely on the cams for location anyway. Just love to see the the neat shots of a hawk defending his supper against a dozen buzzards or the occasional bobwhite that wanders through. I do agree that they are overpiced and not very dependable on the average.

If this is what you what out of a camera I would suggest a plot watcher. It is the only camera I use and I love mine. I've gained more knowledge as a hunter using these than any other tool. Mainly because they are taking constant pictures and I learn from things I see way off that a regular game camera would not capture.


The only negative is no night time pics. Which I don't care what's coming in at night anyhow.
 

MJ74

Old Mossy Horns
Just about all game camera brands have problems.
Unless you pay big money for the high dollar ones.
I have been pretty lucky with most of the cameras I have used and they were all cheap ones from Moultries and WGI.
I still have a Moultries flash camera that uses 6v lantern batteries that takes great pics. I just don't use it much due to its size and the battery life.
 

darkthirty

Old Mossy Horns
I just bought a promos proof cam a month ago to put on our place. Other than getting 700 pics of a clump of Johnson grass on a windy day, I've been impressed. I'm not really looking for deer but my wife and I enjoy watching all the critters that roam behind our barn.
 

Billy

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
I guess I am going to give up on game cams. Seems none I try last. This time it was a Browning. Been working fine for about a year and taking good pictures. Moved it before I went out of town last week. When I picked it up yesterday the 2 gig card was full with 1400 pics taken. When I started looking at them, it appears that the cam began to malfunction as soon as I turned it on, taking a picture about every minute, which was the delay I had it set to. I see no "reset" on it anywhere and naturally, there is no telling where the receipt is. Already called Browning and got the standard "LarryR" response. Any new suggestions?

You're probably more careful than I am, but I inadvertently left mine on "time lapse" (plot watch) mode once or twice and got those results.
 

Jlewis74

Old Mossy Horns
IF you register your cam with browning when you buy it you don't need the receipt. That being said I have 6 of them I am running 2 of which are 3 years old now and never had an issue. One got filled with ants and quit working, I cleaned it out, put new batteries and its still going. I also have Moultrie that are 5 plus years old with no issues. The only cams I have had issues with constantly and are now on the "Do not Buy" list is Wild Game Innovations.
 

FishHunt

Old Mossy Horns
BROWNING customer service was much better than the dead end I got with COVERT, thats a fact.

I've bought few Covert cams over the years and got the Covert run around also. They don't want to fix any camera for YOU but they do want you to mail your old camera in and buy a newer model at a slightly reduced cost. I do have an MP8 Black Covert that has taken great pictures for 2+ years and has never malfunctioned.

I purchased a Simmons black flash camera at a pawn shop about 2 years ago (for $20) just expecting to use it looking closely at a feeder in my backyard. I was pleasantly surprised at how well it works and how well the nighttime pics looked. It has been tens of thousands of pics reliable.

I have an oldie but goody 1st or 2nd generation Bushnell that still sees a lot of use. It is a great cam if you keep the rising/setting sun from pointing directly at the camera.

<>< Fish
 

lasttombstone

Kinder, Gentler LTS
Hey if it is a browning, Slide out the battery pack and there is a reset button just inside the hole. little black button on mine. Hope that helps!!

So that is where they hid that sucker. Thanks for the info and that seems to have done the trick. Ran it for an hour in an unused room and it took zero pics.

As for all the other info, thank you all. Everything was useful and informative. I have 3 plotwatchers going and wouldn't trade them for anything.

I'll probably go ahead and pick up a couple from Dick's after Pa's testimonial.
 

Jlewis74

Old Mossy Horns
So that is where they hid that sucker. Thanks for the info and that seems to have done the trick. Ran it for an hour in an unused room and it took zero pics.

As for all the other info, thank you all. Everything was useful and informative. I have 3 plotwatchers going and wouldn't trade them for anything.

I'll probably go ahead and pick up a couple from Dick's after Pa's testimonial.

the plot watcher feature on the Browning is pretty slick
 

btsharky

Twelve Pointer
As stated above, the cheaper the better for me. When it screws up or walks away it doesn't hurt so bad.
 

deerslyr30-06

Old Mossy Horns
I've got a few cheap wildgame cameras that have worked just fine for me. Some are 3 years old or older and still running strong.
 

poppop

Old Mossy Horns
Contributor
My Coverts for the most part are still doing good and some are 3 years old. Got one of them, that started taking dark pictures but you can see the outline of deer in the picture. I noticed a limb in the picture just above the camera that (may) be the cause of that. And the same camera is giving me blurred pictures (moisture I think) in the early mornings. I do keep the seal cleaned really good on all my cameras and I put some of the waterproof divers silicone around the seals to.

My Moultrie cameras all seem to be doing extra good, but most of them are the Generation 2. I agree that homebrews from someone that knows how to build a good one is the best bet if you have a safe place to put them.

And I buy extra warranty from Square Trade on all my cameras. I will check the serial number on the Covert that is giving me a problem this weekend and see if it is still in extended warranty.
 

GSOHunter

Twelve Pointer
Contributor
My Moultries are all doing fine. I had issue with one of them last year but it seems to have decided to work for the most part. They were $50 a piece on sale so if they die it is no big deal. My USA Trail Cam wireless is running strong after a year. The batteries weren't lasting more than a few days because of the crappy signal so I hooked up an external batter. It has been over a week and the battery is still at 100%.
 

rustvyper

Ten Pointer
I'm pretty happy to get 3 years out of mine.
I mean, they are out in the wind, sun, rain & snow 9 months of the year.
That's a pretty good beating for a Chinese electronic device.
 

catfishrus

Twelve Pointer
I'm well pleased with bushnell trophy cams...I got some at least 6 years old maybe 7...I hunted Ohio for 5 and I had them before I went there...this year would be 6 in Ohio. Yesterday dad and I went to bait a stand on our club that we usually hunt every year. Took a trail camera with us and a bag of corn. Heck we got there and somehow I forgot to take down the trail camera last year...it was still there. I took it down and put up another one. Today I replaced the batteries and the old one is working like a champ. One of these day I will post my Bushnell Trophy cam took a dump but its not today. I got one out right now the ants are invading...I got to move it.
 

blackheel

Twelve Pointer
I have had good luck with the Stealth Cams. I now have 3 of the same model (original purchase then a gift and Cabela's display model). So far been very pleased. Good luck lasttombstone!
 
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