Iowa Wildlife Habitat Services    |     Home                                                    Game Camera Page This is a new page dedicated to trail camera insight, info and review.  Please, email us any real-life user input you have with any camera you are using and we'll probably post it.  With more info, we all will learn which cameras are the "best" for the way we want to use them! These are the things we like in a camera.   LONG battery life, first and foremost -- we want our cameras to take a minimum of 2,000 photos on a set of batteries during the summer months -- preferably more.  Cameras should be able to take at least 500 photos during the coldest portions of the winter.   Relatively low megapixal count: 2-4 megs is about right.  Any more than that and too much storage is required and not enough pictures can be captured on a card (even a HUGE card).  The recent trend of high megapixal cameras is silly and is a marketing gimmick.  The small sensors on trail cameras are not capable of delivering super high resolution with a high megapixal count camera anyway - and who needs it?  Even a 1-megapixal trail cam, with a good sensor, will deliver excellent 3 x 6 computer images -- which, we're guessing, is the way 99% of most folks view the photos. Durability -- Some cameras we've seen are just plain junk.  A camera should be capable of taking tens of thousands of photos and last for at least a few years without problems or it is junk in our view! We also like a fast triggering camera!  When you walk through the sensor area it should take your picture before you are out the other side! Other things like attachment method to a tree (most of our cameras end up being bungee'd to a tree after the camera strap breaks),  what kind of card it reads (SD or CF -- I still prefer the CF cards!), or if it is camo or just a normal dark color, like green, gray, brown or black (who cares -- if it is hidden good, any of these colors are fine for keeping them hidden from trespassing thieves) are rather insignificant to us.   Plenty of folks like the IR cameras.  They are good if you need them to keep cameras hidden and people not seeing the flash.  I don't believe the flash of a "normal" camera spooks deer, however, and we prefer the flash models because flash stops motion.  From what I've seen of images from the IR cameras at night, there are a lot of blurry photos!  With flash, much of that is eliminated! What cameras fill the bill?  The original Cuddeback digitals (the ones they stopped selling a few years back).  I have not tried the 2008 Cuddeback models but the ones produced in 2006 and 2007 where no where near as good as the old ones in terms of battery life or ease of use!  We've gone away from Cuddeback because they have left me standing by a tree with a camera and dead batteries too many times the last few years -- we were getting 60-80 shots with the new cameras while the old ones where getting a couple of thousands shots!   The old Leaf River Digitals   These cameras had around a 2 megapixel rating and are not fast with the trigger but they have proven themselves reliable.  And the battery life is incredible!  It is common to run these cameras many months (even in winter) and get many thousand photos on a set of batteries.  The original Cuddebacks have slightly better image quality but the Leaf River wins in battery life (though the original Cuddebacks are good on batteries as well). The Moultrie cams are good -- at least the ones I've tried recently (we have not tried them prior to 2007).  The new models touting 150 day battery life seem to do what is advertised and we are getting a couple thousand or more photos on a set of batteries in the summer with these things.  These cameras are user friendly as well, though they are a bit big and heavy.  We do like them a lot and they are becoming our favorite cameras because of what they offer for the price.  We like the temp, barometer and moon readings that stamp on each photo along with date and time too.  That is nice!  The cheaper Moultries touting 60 day battery life are okay but not great.  We are sticking with the 150 day battery models.... What else?  We hate cameras that cost more than $250!  I know, the original Cudde's were far more than that but technology has come a long way since that time.  Unfortunately, their cheaper and newer models have not proven themselves in the field to us!  This price point, with the features we like, is easily achievable by the manufacturer's because the Moultries are doing and it and Leaf River used to before technology was this advanced. In the end: Moultrie is our current camera of choice for the reasons outlined.