# Digital Trail Cams



## WIUHunter (Jan 26, 2007)

Just curious if any of you use these for scouting out coyotes? If so anyone have an opinion on the best digital trail cam for a decent price?
Thanks for the help


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## Kelly Hannan (Jan 9, 2007)

don't buy a 35mm. buy digital.


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## SHA (Feb 11, 2007)

I have tested the stealthcams, who also make the wildview cams. The stealthcams are menu driven and the wildview are toggle driven - easier to use for somebody who hates the lcd menu selection process. I agee with the previous poster that its just easier and cheaper in the long run to use a digital over 35mm film - even if you build your own 35mm camera.

As towards price point, both of these series seems to be less expensive than the cuddlebacks, recon, etc. And I assume you are interested in the scouting cam as a descent pic to view, but not interested in the 5 megapixel for framing. Moultrie and bushnell are also comparable to the price of stealthcam and wildview.

I have used and tested the stealthcam AD2-b and the WD1. The AD2 is a 2. mp and a 90 foot flash. The WD1 was listed as 1.3 mp with 30 foot flash. The WD1 was actually a 1.2 mp. And I could not get an effective flash beyond 12 feet with the WD1. The WD1 was a great day time cam and the pictures were very clear, the night time pics were lot of JUST white eyes beyond the 12 feet. The AD2 was great at night and day, with better pictures. I use this mostly for deer, but can say i've got a few coyotes at night as well. The flash makes the night time pics as clear as day with teh AD2.

The AD2 is the old body form of stealthcam, but still use as their 90 foot flash. Their current model is the I390, but they sell factory new AD2's for like $100 still. The WD1's sell for about the $120 in a combo kit which includes the lock at many major stores. The AD2 is a 6 volt using 8 D cells and the WD1 is a 12 volt using 6 c's. All of these have a alternative lead cell battery option for longer life, and rechargeable. You can also hitch up a solar panel to these to recharge.

These models also have an flash memory attachment. The AD2's take Compact Flash and the WD1 take Secure Digital. The Secure Digital is a new flash memory and much more available in local stores. The Compact Flash is the older slower version and harder to find. The AD2 have a limit size on the CF they will take. But the 512mg is big enough for like a 600 pictures. and its cheap on line thru the major estores.

As good question is if you want to spend a lot more money for the ifrared flashes. But i've used these on the burst mode and have not seen anything so frightened that they run off in the sequential follow up pictures. But As deer tend to meander around for multiple pics and the coyotes are passing thru following the deer. you do not get many pics. And if they are passing thru, I do not think the flash is going to bother them either. But again I more interested in capturing the deer.

The wildview use just the SD cards and both the stealthcam and wildview cameras alllow a high size memory for the SD models. Again they are the same manufacturere The wildview is usually less expensive than the stealthcam.

I personal opinion is that the 1.3 up to 2.0 megapixel cams take good enough pictures for getting a good view of what's hitting the area. I've even used the lower resolution on the 2.0 camera to get more pictures in the memory. The PIR - motion sensor was comparable to both . I only did not like the WD1 camera because the flash was not long enough. The flash did not go out to the trigger point of the camera. I tried all kinds of setups - heights and angles, but nothing got the flash to work to the specs. The manufacturer did not know why and offered to replace it and they had no answer as to the below standard megapixel. I may have gotten a bad one. So you might get one where the 30 flash works and is sufficient. I can say that the AD2 with the 90 flash, will trigger at the 30 feet and let you what is 60 behind what triggered it. So is its winter time and coyotes are running in a loose pack, You will see the lead and the followers.

I have also got pictures of birds and squirrels. the trigger works on small body animals as well.

If you like to see the type pictures i've gotten with these two cams. I will gladly send or post here for those that would like to see the difference.

One more note, If you are placing this in a dense area on a run, then the 12 foot flash would be sufficient, my particuliar placement was in an overgrown field under a couple old apple trees.

Hope this helps with the cam questions and specifications - I know its deficient on the actual coyote information.


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## poutpro (Mar 8, 2006)

lets see the pics


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## WIUHunter (Jan 26, 2007)

SHA,
Thanks for the very thourough answer. It was alot of info to absorb and i've been checking out a few different ones.
So let me narrow this down a bit. Best deal for $100 or under bucks... digital of course.
I'd also be very interested to see the pics from the AD2 if you have at night i'd like to see how it does especially.

If anyone else has an opinion feel free to share it
Cheers


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## bigpuddin43 (Feb 13, 2007)

i tried a moultrie and took it back in a week!! they are way to slow!! i could walk in front of it and it would be like 15 seconds before it would take the pic!! Lets face it moultrie makes its money off feeders so theirs are set up to be cheep to watch your feeder!! I got 2 pictures in a week with lots of blanks!! and both pics were in the middle of the day feeding in the edge of a field!! if you want to catch something moving go with something more expensive!! im looking into a cuddeback right now u can find the excite usually 299 for a little less than 200 new on ebay if you hunt around a little!!


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## 1shot1yote (Dec 23, 2006)

I disagree with you. I have a moultrie and I think for the money they are a very good camera. Mine seems to take pictures just fine. Plus the laser aim is nice. I would upload some pics from mine but I don't have the usb cable for it.

Justin


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## bigpuddin43 (Feb 13, 2007)

which moultrie do u have? i had the 100 i wanted the 200 but bass pro was sold out when i went to get it!! Maybe the 200 is a lot better than the 100 but mine was terrible!!


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## 1shot1yote (Dec 23, 2006)

I think it's the 100. Either way mine seems to work fine.

Justin


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## koyotekid (Feb 21, 2007)

just by chance this winter while trying to get a buck on my trail cam i got this guy on there checking out my peas. it is a pic from a moultry digital camera.


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## koyotekid (Feb 21, 2007)

just by chance this winter while trying to get a buck on my trail cam i got this guy on there checking out my peas. it is a pic from a moultrie digital camera.


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## SHA (Feb 11, 2007)

let me apologize for getting this on the forum so late. I have tried to find pics at the same time for comparison of the resolution. A lot of the pics are second burst shots after i have passed to retrieve the cam. Thus they seem ghost shots since i passed so close in front of the cam. I was out of the frame before the follow up shot occured. But this provides a good comparison between pics looking at the same foreground. The flash pics are night and day as you can see. And I added a couple with deer and a coyote. The pics have been renamed to include the model of the cam, hi or lo resolution, day or night. These pics were place in an old apple orchard to insure traffic for my testing. I think the pics actual size will be reduced by the format of this thread. You will see how the 1.2 mg(WD1) compares to the 2.1 mg (AD2). My earlier thread contains much more detail. An after note was that i was able to obtain two 512 memory cards at newegg for $4.50 each for the AD2.

First pic is AD2 hi resolution day

I cannot insert the pictures directly into the thread. if anybody is interested in seeing these pictures, I can email or message them to you. The summary is that i went with the AD2 cam.


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## SHA (Feb 11, 2007)

within the name of each pic is the camera used AD2 or WD1, hi or lo resolution, day or night, flash range of camera AD2 is 90 feet and WD1 is 15 feet. tried to find pics in the same time of light for a good comparison

those with blue lettering are teh WD1 and the black letterings is AD2

hope these help with your selection


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