Good trail camera brands?

[RutnNStrutn]

I have nine of the Cuddebacks.  Going on year three with zero issues.   The only complaint I have is the pictures that are sent to your phone aren't the best quality, but they do that because of the data usuage.  The pictures on the cards are great.    A big advantage with Cuddeback is their  cuddelink system.   All nine of mine are under one cell plan.    You have one home camera and up to I think 23 remote cameras.   The remote cameras send their pictures to your home camera, and then the home camera sends them to my phone.   My cell plan runs $20 a month for 2000 pictures, and if it goes over that I pay $5 extra for another 2000.   And you can have the pictures sent to 10 different phones that doesn't go against your monthly count. 

If you wanted to see some test pictures, pm me your cell number and carrier AT&T, Verizon etc. and I would be happy to add you to mine for a couple days.   Good luck

Ronnie, how's your history dealing with Cuddeback customer service? I used to use their cams exclusively, but their customer service sucked to the point that I gave up on Cuddeback.

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[guesswho]

Years ago when the were Nontypical I had horrible experiences with them.   I refused to own another for a lot of years.   Then decided to give cell cams a try.   I knew I wanted multiple cams but didn't want to pay for multiple plans.   A buddy of mine got three of the Cuddebacks.   I waited to see how his worked.  After about six months a d no issues I decided to give them a try.  During to six months of watching his I gave their customer service several trial (fake) phone calls.   They were always helpful and English speaking.   I even told them on one of the calls that I had a camera six months old and it quit taking night pictures.   They emailed me an RGA and said they would either fix that camera or send a new one.  So I decided to give them a try.   I bought the starter kit that has a home camera and two remote cameras to try.  They worked well, so now I'm up to nine cameras and so far no issues other than the quality of the pictures that come to your phone.   They aren't bad, but not near as good as what's on the card.   I called them about that and they said they do that to cut down on the data usuage.   What comes to your phone is a lot smaller file than what's saved on the card.   PM me you cell number and I'll send you a couple sample pictures if you want to see them. 

[RutnNStrutn]

Years ago when the were Nontypical I had horrible experiences with them.   I refused to own another for a lot of years.   Then decided to give cell cams a try.   I knew I wanted multiple cams but didn't want to pay for multiple plans.   A buddy of mine got three of the Cuddebacks.   I waited to see how his worked.  After about six months a d no issues I decided to give them a try.  During to six months of watching his I gave their customer service several trial (fake) phone calls.   They were always helpful and English speaking.   I even told them on one of the calls that I had a camera six months old and it quit taking night pictures.   They emailed me an RGA and said they would either fix that camera or send a new one.  So I decided to give them a try.   I bought the starter kit that has a home camera and two remote cameras to try.  They worked well, so now I'm up to nine cameras and so far no issues other than the quality of the pictures that come to your phone.   They aren't bad, but not near as good as what's on the card.   I called them about that and they said they do that to cut down on the data usuage.   What comes to your phone is a lot smaller file than what's saved on the card.   PM me you cell number and I'll send you a couple sample pictures if you want to see them.

Thanks Ronnie!!

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[mountainhunter1]

 Alot of you are recommending the Tactacam Reveal. My question is which one do you like of the four available?

Will these cameras work A MILE from my house in small but very steep mountainous terrain (elevations of no more than 1600 feet)? And here is a stupid question but sincere question, what do I need besides the camera/ card (which card by the way?) and cell service to make this work from a remote location so that I don't have to disturb the area so much? I want to use these to monitor both turkeys and deer.

I see they have a reveal XB, a reveal x-pro, a reveal x, and reveal x generation. 2.0. Which ones of these do you guys like the best? Thanks - as this type of thread is awesome and I wish there were more topics like this on here on a regular basis.

[Tail Feathers]

I'm no expert, but the cameras come with a SIM card from a cell company you pick.  Choose one from a cell provider that works in your area.  Seeing as it works off cell signal, you could be in another state and it would send them to you.
It uses the cell data package you choose (based on the number of pictures it sends each month) and the unlimited costs about $20 per month.  The pics it sends aren't very big or high quality but they let you get a look at what's out there.  The camera also saves the pictures to a removeable SD card in the camera so you can pull that occasionally for a better look at pics and videos.

[squidd]

Reveal Tactacam!

Had two until one was stolen.

Plan on buying two more with GPS trackers.

[ChiefBubba]

I use Spypoint, Stealthcam and RevealX. I have by far the most Spypoints. They are a royal PIA I do like them. #1 reason is I can get the HD photos right to the phone I don't have to go in and pull the card to get them. Spypoint for me once you get them working right they're pretty good. Stealthcams are good but the photos are very low res so if you're looking at them on anything other then your phone the pictures are very grainy. Reveals I like but you have to pull the cards to see the HD pcitures. I will probably start converting over to the Reveals though. I thought about the cuddebacks and might go that way. Bubba

[Prospector]

Have tried all the mid price brands: Brownings have been the most reliable for me. Got a cellular Browning last year so can't say much yet....
Lithium batteries are the way to go
Change them as soon as they start to % dip( I actually spend less on batteries than when I used alkaline)
For deer, especially pressured bucks, hang at least 6 ft off ground and angle. You lose almost no coverage and you'll stop getting every pic of the deer looking at cam... if you don't have this problem then you aren't hunting pressured deer lol. Even with dark sight IR cams they hear it... why 6-8 ft up makes a difference I don't know but it does....

[Dtrkyman]

On a budget I would say Browning, otherwise Reconyx.

I managed properties for a while and had 35 or so Reconyx, only ever had a couple issues which were the LCD read outs not working, sent them back and they were repaired and good as new for 50$.

Had several cameras from 2007 that were still working as new! 

[Mountainburd]

I'm a big fan of Bushnell. I started using them in 2018. I run 5-6 of their cameras a season and get fantastic pics and reliable cameras. I also bought a cabellas camera last year and loved that as well. This is strictly non-cellular.