Money no object Trail camera

[trainerdave]

My lovely wife has given me the green light to spend up to 750 on a Trail Camera. Does anybody out there feel that I should just get a Reconyx and say thanks? I have a Primos which is o.k. but misses shots and is a pig in the cold. The Bushnell H.D. I got last year is o.k. as well but does not work as well at night. We have plenty of night around here...The model I was looking at was a Reconyx Pc800 and has a flash range of 70 feet,2 year warantee,semi covert(my primos is not covert and does not seem to spook the bucks) and works to -40. Any body else like Reconyx if money was available? And yes , I would be using lithium 12 aa.
Thanks.

[AMisler]

750$ is a heck of alot to spend on something that is an increasingly stolen item, even on "private property"

[jip911]

If I had that budget I would pick up 5 LTL Acorns off ebay and spread them out... Actually 4 and security boxes/cables...

J

[TBark]

What jip says.
I have 2 Acorns, one got a bear claw thru the lens and doesn't work any more.
But the other is just fine, I even adapted a 1.3 Ah lead cell 6 volt, wired to the battery compartment. It runs steady for 1-2 months + even in this weather. I was tired of tossing Lithium AA's.

TBark

[trainerdave]

I have a few other cameras and they all seem to miss or work lousy in the cold. I just want the best, theives will always be out there and I will not cheap out for their sake. Reconyx cameras come with a code which makes them useless to theives as the functions would be locked. Unlike my other cameras which don't take pictures when they should.making them at times also useless to theives and me.

[trainerdave]

Thanks for the suggestions. An external power supply and a bear box may be a good idea also...

[Kolt30]

If I had that budget I would pick up 5 LTL Acorns off ebay and spread them out... Actually 4 and security boxes/cables...

J

x2

[trainerdave]

Thanks for your direction. I am stepping out for a while now to do some chores. I am not ignoring you and appreciate your feedback. I will catch up later, thanks...
Dave.

[Ruko]

I have two of the Reconyx HC500 which is the cheapest of the Reconyx line and all I can say is they are amazing. I have had other cameras and none compare. They have now been out for over 6 months with well over 10,000 pictures each on the same batteries, and I am only using regular Duracell alkaline... not the fancy lithium ones. The picture quality is great... they have never shut down due to cold.. there is an animal in every picture... There are some new cameras from other manufactures out there that I have never used that may also work good but as far as I am concerned these are by far the best I have seen and well worth the money.

[trainerdave]

Thanks Ruko... Is yours the stealthy flash model or the semi stealthy flash. I know the black flash IR only models are stealthier ; but when I looked up their power consumption ,the dark flash only IR models used about 2x as much power as the semi. The semi also had a 70' flash vs a 50' flash. I have heard the Reconyx cameras go a long way on their batteries-but that is pretty incredible. My primos is an older camera with the white IR's and does take great pictures when it is warm on the 4 d cells. I have many pictures of deer pretty close to it and they don't seem too bothered by the red. The bushnell hd with the black flash takes good pictures during the day and when it is warm too, but sucks the power big time and misses a few or has a slower trigger speed as I get a few deer rears. Definitely fabulous picture quality during the bright and warm conditions. Better than the primos but more than 2x the price. Both of the above cameras I have noticed tracks on pictures in the snow which were left by animals the cameras did not capture.

[LCCFisherman]

Reconyx x10. Great customer support and warrenty. Will never buy another camera.

[Stinky Coyote]

x1000 on reconyx, use the nimh rechargeables batteries, easy 6 months plus on set, just take out a fresh set of charged ones every 6 months and good to go, and i dunno how many pics i get in 6 months but i have to change cards long before i need to change batteries, and i think i'm getting around 3500 pics per 2mb card, i have 3 reconyx, that gear that is trouble free and works as it should and then some....you've heard of it and maybe even have gear like that....thats what reconyx is...do it right first time

[Reel Time Rut Outdoors]

Have a Reconyx HC500 and HC600, awesome cameras, they are ones that I keep on trails as I am confident they will catch whatever walks by, put energizer lithium ultimates in, been over a year and a half and both are still going strong on the first set of batteries

[sunsetrider2011]

For 7 or 800 bucks you could Buy 8 or 9 wild game innovations cammeras,, and they work great,, and dont break the bank.

[FishHunterPro]

I have 2 reconyx hc600 and my friend has 1 and the worked awesome since Spring so far . I order one of the 500 models and tested it out and sent it back in a hurry though and swapped it for my second hc600 because I felt the infrared on it was the brightest I've ever seen on a camera and they call it a semi covert. Hc600 is a true covert though. Just pull the trigger and try one out your not going to regret it

[trainerdave]

I was worried about the 600 using too much battery vs. the 500. I was also contemplating going to reconyx and buying a p800 or p900 because they have a better warantee and work to - 40. Have any of you had a problem with the 500 or 600 in the cold. They only rate them to - 20... and in Alberta,-20 is not that uncommon...
Thanks.

[FishHunterPro]

I'm sure the 800 or 900 would be amazing! If they are full covert then do it. The 600s been using the same batteries all year so far and they all were still showing over 50% life left. I haven't check them in about a month so I'm heading out thursday to pull them for the season and see who made it through hunting season

[Kevwood]

I was worried about the 600 using too much battery vs. the 500. I was also contemplating going to reconyx and buying a p800 or p900 because they have a better warantee and work to - 40. Have any of you had a problem with the 500 or 600 in the cold. They only rate them to - 20... and in Alberta,-20 is not that uncommon...
Thanks.

The HC600 fires at -40 fine and all you can use in them is lithium(buy off e-bay) Reconyx is the best that I have used or seen...the only drawback is the price and since that is a non-issue for you... everything else is top drawer, you will not be sorry getting one. I have had 1 600 for 2 years and another for 1 year, both have functioned flawlessly...Awesome camera!!!

[trainerdave]

The 900 is fully covert-but if the 600 works at our temps I may go for it as it is cheaper and the difference would allow a few extra options...
Thanks for the advice...
Dave.

[Kevwood]

The 600 is pretty covert...rarely see an animal notice the camera. Here are a few samples of the quality of pics daytime, dusk & Night...
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[Stinky Coyote]

I have two older ones and one of the newer ones, pretty sure it let me choose what type of battery I was running, mine has done easy 5 month stretch over the long cold winter we had a couple years ago, no sweat, nimh rechargeables, cheap, last and last in the cold, I'm sure the liths do ok too but when I had trouble with alks in my first cam (cuddeback) research led me to the nimhs, haven't looked back, hope it helps

[Kevwood]

I have two older ones and one of the newer ones, pretty sure it let me choose what type of battery I was running, mine has done easy 5 month stretch over the long cold winter we had a couple years ago, no sweat, nimh rechargeables, cheap, last and last in the cold, I'm sure the liths do ok too but when I had trouble with alks in my first cam (cuddeback) research led me to the nimhs, haven't looked back, hope it helps

You are right...nimh or lithium...I just meant to say you cannot use alk's...

[Homesteader]

You guys are all running modern Reconyx, I'm still running some of there first I believe, they are the RM45's. These cameras have been nothing short of awesome, they have outlived every other camera I've had. Yes they were expensive, but after this much time they're money in the bank compared to the others.

When I get another camera I'm pretty sure it'll be a Reconyx.

[dgl1948]

You will find this fellow makes some of the best out there.

http://www.monarchimages.com/

[Wolverine Boy]

There are of course a million opinions but I have run about half-a-dozen different makes over the last few years and I would have to agree with those voting for the Reconyx model(s). Mine was purchased primarily for a security camera at a gate and it works very well.

A lot of it depends on your needs - how fast a trigger, day vs night, video ability, battery life (how long between checks), etc..... I've had great pics taken by all kinds of cameras.

Absolutely get a bear box! Bears are brutal for damage as are the occasional antlers! Get a camo box from one of the companies that custom make these - in the right place they are not easy to spot against a tree.

I also have a cheaper camera mounted with a view of my Reconyx in the event someone should see it and take a run at cutting it open. If you're in an open area where theft might be an issue consider a Spypoint. They have a remote receiver that will store images on a separate SD card.

Good luck and have fun!

[Stinky Coyote]

You guys are all running modern Reconyx, I'm still running some of there first I believe, they are the RM45's. These cameras have been nothing short of awesome, they have outlived every other camera I've had. Yes they were expensive, but after this much time they're money in the bank compared to the others.

When I get another camera I'm pretty sure it'll be a Reconyx.

ha, thats what my first two are, and could not agree more, i have no idea how many pictures they've taken or months they've sat out, they have payed for themselves and then some! i forget what my newer one is but was comparable to whatever replaced the rm45, its going on couple years itself and no signs of slowing down on all three

[trainerdave]

I am not using the video mode at all on my other cameras, so I don't need that feature. I just want a reliable camera. I have not totally given up on the other trail cameras- they are fine in the summer. I may use Lithiums with the Bushnell HD I own to see if that helps.
The Primos Runs on D cells (the biggest x 4) and even with new ones (Energizers) when it is very cold the night pictures are black. I have not seen lithium batteries in D size-although they probably would be $$$ if they made them that big. It also gives me plenty of empty,wierd or pixellated pictures or misses animals in the cold. When it was warm it took many pictures and most of them were with something in the frame. The trigger speed was very slow, but when the animals were anchored if front of the machine it worked pretty good. It probably would be fine in the warmth over a food source where the game is moving slowly.
The Bushnell took some great quality daytime pictures but nights were not great and it took very few pictures in the cold. Considering how few pictures it took it killed the 12 aa's in a hurry. They were the top alcaline duracells (the ones with the built in testers) from Costco-so they were fresh-and it was not super cold when I pulled it before the end of Nov.
The standard (white) flash cameras take great color photos, but it looks like most of the deer photographed are looking at the camera flash. That does happen occasionally with the Primos;which has an older style infrared array-I have not noticed that with the Bushnell-which is supposed to have an invisible flash- except once with a speedy little spiker who was frozen looking directly in to the camera at 30 feet or so-then the next picture was void of deer-likely he noticed something as he was standing comfortably and then gone. This tells me even this supposed invisible flash camera must be doing something. It is very quiet at times deep in the bush, so perhaps it spooked him. Thanks again for the advice and sharing your experiences.

[Ilikemoosemeat]

I have four Rconyx 900's. They have taken an average of 2400 pics each and are on the SECOND year of battery life. They are left out year round so they see some pretty long periods of cold weather.

I sure recommend them.

[trainerdave]

By the way, if anybody has Reconyx hyperfire cameras there is a software update on their website which apparently was done last July to further improve your cameras performance. Actually may be prudent to check all your game cameras out there to see if your manufacturer offers this too.
Just saying...you never know, they may offer this too.
Dave.