Lifespan of a camera

whchunter

Senior Member
What's the lifespan of your cameras and which ones last the longest?
 

1gr8bldr

Senior Member
I don't expect to get more than three seasons out of them based on past experience. I don't pay more than 180 for any cam any longer because I know that when it breaks, I chunk it. No more time spent with sending it back. Hard to say which brand because to know it has lasted 4 years means you have no idea about the current offering from that company. And I have found that just because one company's specific model was good, does not mean all theirs current or old, was good. My current longer lasting..... and I will say best I have had so far for catching everything, is my Bushnells. my prinos are still kicking however i know they miss half. i can walk right by one on the way to a stand and once the card is pulled, I'm not there.
 

Doolydawg03

Senior Member
Browning Strike force models have all been great cameras for me i have 7 of them 2-3 yrs old nothing wrong yet they have clear pics, have great battery life, they take great videos, they are on the smaller scale, have fast trigger speed, blank pics are almost non-existant thru their life span they have been great cameras. I have tried cuddeback, wild game, moultrie, bushnell, primos, stealth, tasco, spypoint and have had horrible luck with all them.
 

JustinR06

Member
Got a panoramic Moultrie I've been using for 5 years now and two of the Moultrie m-888s that are 3 years old and they all work just as good as the day I took them out of the box.
 
I have had 5 wildgame cameras all great cameras first one was stolen I bought 1 about 3 yrs ago maybe 4 and it still works but doesn't like most memory cards right it will only accept one of my memory cards but I just bought 3 terra 10 cameras and they seem pretty good but only time will tell
 
N

NantucketShedHunter

Guest
The Moultrie M80 is THE best trail camera the Chinese ever manufactured. Mine is going on 7 years of 24/7/365 use. Never had a problem with it.
 
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spencer12

Senior Member
I prefer bushnell. I have one of the original Trophy Cams that is still going, however has recently started to not like the "high" sensitivity. It has to be over 6 years old. It stays out about 9 months a year for all those years.

I plan to get another and when I do it will be a Bushnell.
 

billc

Member
Reconyx

I have the very first Reconyx no-flash model. Has been on the same tree about 11 years straight. Just change batteries and the big old fashioned flash cards. Have one of the newer HC 600 Hyper fire that's been on it's own tree for about 5 years straight. Cost 2 to 3 times as much but when I bring a card out of the woods, I know it has pictures on it.
 

nmurph

Senior Member
I have 5 RC60 and pick them up as I find them.

They were introduced in 2008 and replaced in 2010 by the Hyperfire.
 

Beagler282

“Rabbit Man”
I'm still running the first ones I ever bought HCO Scoutgard. I would say they are around 10 yrs old. All That I have bought since then are still working. Little acorn,Cuddeback,Bushnell and Browning strike force.
 

GADawg08

Senior Member
I'm not one to spend a whole lot of $$ on trail cams, as they tend to grow legs and walk off. Most expensive cam I have was $60 and its not even the best one I have. I have a $50 tasco that's probably 5 yrs old that has held up well.
 

marknga

GONetwork Member
Browning Strike force models have all been great cameras for me i have 7 of them 2-3 yrs old nothing wrong yet they have clear pics, have great battery life, they take great videos, they are on the smaller scale, have fast trigger speed, blank pics are almost non-existant thru their life span they have been great cameras. I have tried cuddeback, wild game, moultrie, bushnell, primos, stealth, tasco, spypoint and have had horrible luck with all them.
I have some Brownings that are 3 years old.
Before them I had a couple Moultries and Wildgame that made it a season.
 

HunterD15

Member
Browning Cameras

IMO the Browning cameras are the best purchase for a trail camera that anyone could make. We have a Browing StrikeForce that we bought the first year it came out and it has been functioning flawlessly ever since. Just bought another on a black friday deal and it is takes great pictures.
 

Stryker

Senior Member
I'm still running the first ones I ever bought HCO Scoutgard. I would say they are around 10 yrs old. All That I have bought since then are still working. Little acorn,Cuddeback,Bushnell and Browning strike force.

I have a Scoutgard that's still working that's over 10 years also. The Bushnell Trophy cameras and aggressor series have been my go to for years but the Browning HD's have been superior to them. For my money Browning would be the choice.
 

Luckybuck

Senior Member
Of all the years my intro Browning cameras provided best service but just recently had 2 start giving issues, but they are anywhere from 3-4 years old and I have literally thousands of pictures with them. Still have one primos 35 and had one primos die on me. Moultries lasted for about a 1.5 year and had several intro models that all bit the dust. Unless you pay high bucks I am of opinion if you get 3+ years out of low budget camera you have gotten about all you can expect. I know TC take a beating when left in the eliminates year end and year out. Will not pay high dollars for a camera that appear to grow legs and leave, you know what I mean. To date I like the Browning for the money and service I have received but even these will quit.
 

whchunter

Senior Member
Loved those Scoutguard cameras. I had about 6 at one time and now down to 1. They lasted longer than any I've ever had and had great quality and simple to use. The killer was usually a discolored lens creating foggy pics or shutter and trigger problems. I wish I could fix them or buy more. I even bought 2 metal boxes for them.
 

EAGLE EYE 444

King Casanova
There is no secret in my world that I ONLY use WGI over the past 9 plus years now because they have worked excellent for me and I have posted hundreds of my photos here on GON during this time. I have had a wide assortment of various models during this time and currently, with the longest continuous performing camera has been in service since 8/24/2013 and it is a Model #W5CA, 5 MP. Each afternoon, this camera is always in direct sunlight for about 2-3 hours each day BUT it has worked well for me BUT I also know that it will need to be replaced sometimes in the near future due to this heat issue.

Of course, there have been some cameras that have worked for only 3, 4, and 5 years or so and when they failed, I took the time to actually work on them to find out what the problem might be and some of them ultimately may have worked for another year or so when I deployed them later. During the summer months is always the toughest time because of possible moisture build-up on the inside of the cameras due to being cooler in the mornings and then being super hot inside during the late afternoons and then cooling back down when it gets dark again. I have taken lots of my cameras apart over these years and packed them full of "white rice" and sealed them inside a one gallon Zip-Loc bag for a month or so before checking the contact points again with my voltage meter and I have been able to keep several of them functioning because of this.

I also keep very accurate records on every one of my cameras from the time that I purchased them and begin to use them. I also keep a very detailed record of every set of batteries that I install in my cameras well so that I actually know every detail and the exact date that I change out the batteries and I also know what level of energy (voltage) is remaining in the batteries that I give to a local recycling place. All of this information is kept up to date into a file for my records.

Without a doubt, it does take a lot of time to keep up with this trail camera endeavor but I enjoy it as it keeps me much more relaxed as it lets me enjoy nature so much more.

I think that my posted photos here are very high quality and it has helped that I have never paid more than $100 for any of my 86 WGI cameras that I have purchased over these years.

In fact, I just posted some updated photos from pulling the cards from my cameras yesterday afternoon. You can also view them here in the Trail Camera Forum by clicking on this link:

http://forum.gon.com/threads/trail-camera-photos-up-close-and-personal-this-week.942590/
 

Mark K

Banned
Brownings are all that’s lasted for me. And my Spartan that’s going on 5 I believe.
My Browning’s are out now taking inventory.
My Spartan is watching a couple of traps off my main line.
As stated Moutries and Primos lasted a year...maybe 2 then just decided to either start taking black pics or not working at all.
I get 2-3K pics a month on the Browning’s too.
 

280 Man

Banned
The Moultrie M80 is THE best trail camera the Chinese ever manufactured. Mine is going on 7 years of 24/7/365 use. Never had a problem with it.

I have one these M-80's as well. Ive had mine for 5-6 years and like you it stays "in the woods" 24/7 and it is still going strong. I also have a couple of Moultrie M-40i that are pretty good cameras.

I have also owned a couple of Bushnell cameras and while mine have taken really good pics they really struggle when they are placed in deep shade. The ones I had were the Essential E2's and when placed in deep shade they would not cycle out of infra-red causing the pics to be washed out. Guess the camera thought they were in the dark...
 
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