Needed! Scouting Camera Advice - I'm ready to buy

[Patriot]

Hey everyone,
I'm (finally) in a position to afford a scouting camera.  Lots of questions of course.  Please weigh in!
 
What a better group of folks to get advice from!
 
1.  What is the best brand for the money (include cost if known)?
2.  Flash or no flash?
3.  How often do they need to be checked (ie. how much battery life is there)?
4.  Tips and tricks (ie. memory cards, settings)
5.  Are there any out there that take the picture and download it online, so I can view from home without physically checking the device?  If not, I'm sure it's in development.
6.  Ease of use comments
 
Thanks!!

[Goose]

Heres my 2 cents,
I have an old cuddeback reg. flash digital camera that does not work anymore. i bought a moltrie I40 this July off of ebay for 199 with a remote,6 batt. and a 1g card. My brother has a cuddeback thats about 4 yrs old.
My cuddeback is older and for some reason just flashes whenever it wants for minutes at a time. So obviously I wasn't happy with that. My brothers works perfect and takes some great pics.
My moultrie(no flash) works good for the money I think. It takes allot of pics with nothing in them so I think its pretty sensitive but Id rather have that than not sensitive enough. The batteries in the moultrie last twice as long as my brothers cuddeback. The moultrie has the info strip on it which is nice because it gives you the time,date,moon phase, and temp. The cuddeback is time and date.
Flash vs no flash- Its up in the air for me, I like my brothers nighttime pics allot more than mine with the no flash. The racks are white and if they are in front of the deer or a tree or something they blend in with the object so you really cant see the rack real well. The deer still see the red flash and know that there is a camera there. I really don't believe the flash spooks deer that much and if it does I think the red flash on the infrared would spook those deer as well. The one thing that is nice about the no flash is the video at night but I don't use the video feature to often. If I were to buy another camera I think it would be a flash camera just because Id rather get one nice color pic of the deer than a couple that you cant make out the rack on. Another thing about the moultrie is that it takes 3 pics in a row if you want which is nice if theres more than one deer.
In conclusion if I would be buying a camera i think I would look at the new cuddeback with the easy set up. Its a good price and I think the pics are allot better with a flash than no flash.
And yes you can get cameras that you don't have to check. One is the Smart Scouter that runs like a cellular phone and you have to pay a monthly fee plus the camera is like 800ish.
Buckeye cam also offers some models that send it to you but once again very pricey.
Good luck and let me know which one you go with.

[bigwisconsinbucks]

I wouldn't recomend buying a WildView. I am currently on my 5th wildview camera. The main problem I have had is the flash. The flash quits working so I send it back to Texas and they send me a new one. Also, the trigger speed is very slow and the battery life is only a few weeks. The quality of the pictures is very good, but I wouldn't buy another one.  When I get the money I would like to purchase a Cuddeback or Moultrie.   Also, I would go with a flash camera. All of the bucks I have gotten on camera don't seem to be afraid of the flash.

[OHhunter]

I only have one camera, so don't know how much help I'll be.  I have a moultrie gamespy, 3.1.  It's very easy to operate and didn't cost the much.  If I remember right it was about 150 dollars three years ago.  I use it all summer long and havn't had any problems with it.  It requires a 6 volt battery, I use rechargable one, it last about 3 months on one charge.  Mine has a flash but in the future I think I'll go with IR, some deer seem to spook from the flash.  Checking pictures is as easy as pulling your memory card out and sticking it in your computer to view pics. I alternate memory cards so I always have one in the camera.  I usually check mine every week or two during the summer and when ever I walk past on my way to a stand in the fall.

[ReflexHunter]

I have a 2.0 megapixel Stealth Cam with flash and I really like it.  When I first got it I put it out just after Christmas which is the dead of winter here in WI.  The batteries lasted for well over a month in below freezing temps. and it usually took 40 pictures a day.  The price has come down on the model that I have so it is very affordable, I think about 120 dollars.  I am also looking at getting another camera and I would definately go with Stealth cam again but I will probably go to the infrared model with more megapixels.  Overall I am very satisfied with my current camera.  Hope that helps you out in choosing a camera.

[69Viking]

I think you'll get a lot of advice with this one! 
 
I've only bought two cameras so far, a Wildview and a Moultrie D-40.  The Wildview is older and not as good as the Moultrie. 
 
The Moultrie D40 is an excellent camera for the price, $99.99 at Bass Pro.  It takes 6 D batteries and lasts for a couple months unless you get a lot of deer activity.  The last time I had it out for approximately 2 months it took over 330 pictures and still had some juice left.  It's 4MP pictures are clear and the flash is excellent.  I have pictures of deer as far as 50 feet away in the dark.  It also has the option to hook up an external battery or a solar panel to keep rechargeable batteries fresh.  You can use memory cards up to 4G for picture storage. 
 
You're going to get advice from a lot of people who have good cameras.  If you're like me it came down to the best rated camera for the price.  A website for reviews I used and really like is http://www.chasingame.com/home.htm   Check that website out and go with their recommendations and the recommendations from this post and you can't go wrong.  Good luck, let us know what you get and how it works for you.  

[vipermann7]

i have 3 wildview digital cameras, wont buy another one though, they havent lasted me long. one shorted out after a rain storm and is completely broke down, wont even power up. another one, a no-flash version, worked great for about 2 months. then all of a sudden it stopped working, i have no idea what happened. the third one i have still works, but it is the cheapest model of wildview available and i dont like the picture quality, so i dont use it. over all, they are cheap, but i wont buy them anymore, i dont think they are durable or reliable.
i have 2 moultrie D-40 cameras, i love those cameras. i have had the one for a couple years and have had flawless performance. they are about 100 dollars a piece and work great. easy to set up, they have excellent range, i too get pictures of deer at night 50 feet away. i just bought another one a couple weeks ago and have had no problems. my batteries last about 3 months, and i get at least a couple pictures a day under normal conditions. when it is real rainy or stormy i dont always get as many, but point being that i have found the battery life to be very good. i would like to try a cuddeback, but even the cheap ones are a little pricey for me right now. but i have had zero problems with my moultrie cameras, and that's all i have tried.

[vipermann7]

i also like to read the product reviews on cabelas website, you can get all kinds of feedback ideas from people who buy them and then leave their comments. from what i have read, seems like some of the stealth cam models arent very good, but ive never actually used one, so i dont personally know.

[8uck5nort]

I bought my first. A wildview 5. Love it. Battery life is about 2-3 weeks with fresh and known good batteries.
Picture quality and price are acceptable. I paid 100 buck for mine, but I have seen them as low as 80 on sale and w/rebate.
Here is sanple of some pics: Two good ones and just so I am fair one not so good, but hey I know it is a buck and was in the area.

[Patriot]

Great, great input everyone!  Thanks.  Not too many comments about Cuddeback.  I figured there would be more with all the ads they have in D&DH.  Is it due to cost?