# Trail Cameras Review



## Slayer (Feb 3, 2013)

Wildgame Innovations vs. Stealth Cam vs. Moultrie

Anyone have experience with these and have a preference? Looking to buy a 2 pack of trail cams for ~ $100. Need some expert opinions as reviews online seem to vary. I have 2 old school moultries from 12 years ago... need some upgrades. 

Here are some models I am looking at:

Wildgame Innovations Cloak 14mp

Stealth Cam QS12 10mp

Stealth Cam XS14 14mp

Moultrie D-80 14mp


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## caddis8 (Sep 10, 2007)

Hey,

I've known all the designers and manufacturors for these cameras for a long time. I've tested most of these over the years and can give a pretty decent review of them.

First- Temper expectations. Two pack of cameras for $100 isn't going to be a great camera. That's ok. They'll be decent cameras, but the night images will probably not be great (grainy and limited flash distance). The components in the cameras just aren't that great- trying to meet a price point.

Wildgame Innovations. Decent set up. My lest favorite camera brand of the majors. I just don't think they make a great camera. They thrive in the lower price point cameras and have shelf space, but I have consistently had poorer relative results in sensor, image quality, and flash. 

Stealth- Overall pretty good camera. Very easy set up. Turn the dial and go. The flash is ok, and image will be decent. These guys have made significant improvements over the years. They used to be absolute crap, but turned things around and make a decent camera. 

Moultrie- Moultrie used to be great, made a change in who designed and manufactured the cameras, lost quality, realized it, and made changes. They usually have more options than the others, and have a decent camera. I haven't had great luck with their lower end cameras, but the guts in most of them aren't that different high vs low end except the image sensor. 

I would guess all of them have a native image sensor probably 1-3 megapixel because that's where cost needs to be. They then interpolate the image to get higher megapixels. The night images will probably all be lower megapixels because that's what the night image can do. 

Where you'll notice the real issues is if you want to zoom in and look at details. The regular images will be pretty decent, and probably good enough on them to look at daytime images and be happy. Zoom will make it grainy and pixelated quickly. 

Last advice. For the sake of everything that's holy. Use a decent SD card in them. Use a class 10 at minimum. Half the time the issues with people have with cameras are issues with terrible, cheap SD cards that don't record quality images or are corrupt. 

Use Lithium batteries also. They use 100% of the available power until they're dead. They also give more longevity to the camera. Alkaline batteries use maximum power of what's available. If there's 50% battery power, then you get 50% power output. This really affects flash range and video capability. 

I've known all the leaders of these organizations for years. Personal friends with them. I've designed cameras also so I have a pretty good understanding of the guts and components to the cameras. 

Enjoy. It's a terrible habit you're getting into. I have more fun with cameras almost as I do actually hunting critters. 

Ideas on camera set up- put them about waist high. Clear of grass and brush around the camera. Grass can get in front of the lens and you'll burn through a lot of images in a hurry. The optimal range for cameras is about 10-30 feet. They all tout flash range, but that's kind of a load of bull. Closer is better. Have the camera level if possible. If it's pointed down, then you'll get blown out images much easier as the flash bounces off the ground and back to the camera. 


Good luck!


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