Good sale on browning cameras right now.

[phade]

1 hour ago, Bucksnbows said:

I wouldn’t be surprised if the Duracells outlast the lithium by Energizer.  Someone would have to show me a scientific study to prove that one way or the other. But I agree with your second statement about going to an external power supply. I have a good friend running 54 cell cams on his lease in Kansas. He just got back to NJ after deploying them for the rest of the year and all are on 12 volt batteries. I’m only running four right now and will bring two more to NY when I’m up in May for turkey season. 

Cost per picture with alkaline is cheaper when using discount / value alkaline. 100 AAs for $20 dollars is all it takes to beat the price per photo, especially with the cost of lithium being higher nowadays.

I studied this heavily around 2012-2013 and had articles published on it in hunting rags. But, set for set alkaline do not last as long as lithium as they contain more mah power supply (3000 vs aprox 2000 in copper tops) and they are less impacted by weather. The cost benefit required more frequent battery changes using the value AAs. Alkaline are water based and begin to be impacted below freezing with sub 20 degrees materially impacting performance. 

All in All Duracell copper tops will get 60-70% of the lifespan of the Energizer Ultimate Lithium when all else equal. The challenge is environmentally the performance can be greater in favor of lithium due to wider operating range. Plus, cameras perform less than max performance as voltage drops. You may miss a trigger with alkaline but get it with lithium using equally drained batteries. I have zero doubts ultimate lithiums would outlast copper tops. 

[Belo]

23 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

His words “amazing turn in the industry”.    Doesn’t bode well for regular cams.

I enjoy pulling cards and viewing at home, kind of like Xmas morning if’s ya know what I mean.

My only experience with cell cams is my one and only Spartan Ghost, I just haven’t felt the love.  Plus, not to be a tight ass, the cost of 12 (twelve) lithium batteries and the cost per month gets old come January.  

consider that you can always use a cell cam like a regular cam. I have 7 or so up right now just waiting out the batteries to die as I wouldn't use old batteries to start next season and on Saturday the boys and I took a hike and did some shed hunting and like you said "old school card pulling". None of them are active with a cell signal, but still taking pics. 

[phade]

1 hour ago, mowin said:

54!!!!  That's a bill I don't want to see.  I've got 6, and it's the monthly charge that stops me from getting more. 

I have a customer who runs as many as 144. As shocking as it can be, it’s always a reminder that it may be a drop in the bucket for them. He runs most on externals but I’d say a fair number of them on internal AAs and rechargeable packs as he moves them more often.

I run 40-60 but usually 10 of them are for testing and brand familiarization purposes. Case in point I have 5 running now and it’s more for business than personal use. A lot of times that ends up being due to app updates - customers getting stuck on stuff so using the updated apps keeps me current.

Also, don’t forget that volume users can often get a discount when working directly with the company. I know a few do that, personally.

Edited March 18 by phade

[Belo]

12 minutes ago, phade said:

Cost per picture with alkaline is cheaper when using discount / value alkaline. 100 AAs for $20 dollars is all it takes to beat the price per photo, especially with the cost of lithium being higher nowadays.

I studied this heavily around 2012-2013 and had articles published on it in hunting rags. But, set for set alkaline do not last as long as lithium as they contain more mah power supply (3000 vs aprox 2000 in copper tops) and they are less impacted by weather. The cost benefit required more frequent battery changes using the value AAs. Alkaline are water based and begin to be impacted below freezing with sub 20 degrees materially impacting performance. 

All in All Duracell copper tops will get 60-70% of the lifespan of the Energizer Ultimate Lithium when all else equal. The challenge is environmentally the performance can be greater in favor of lithium due to wider operating range. Plus, cameras perform less than max performance as voltage drops. You may miss a trigger with alkaline but get it with lithium using equally drained batteries. I have zero doubts ultimate lithiums would outlast copper tops. 

when lithiums went through the roof, I went with energizer max. I seem to get real good life out of them compared to other brands I've tried. 

[2BuckBizCT]

you guys should look into the solar panels, especially those of you with farms/food plots with open sun. Reveal sent me a solar panel and I've been using in for a couple of months now. Works perfect, 100% battery in the hardwoods. Not sure if that will hold up when all the leaves are on the trees, but again for those who have open fields/food plots it's a no brainer. No money wasted on batteries and maybe more importantly no time wasted driving and walking to and from to change batteries. 

Edited March 18 by 2BuckBizCT

[phade]

48 minutes ago, 2BuckBizCT said:

you guys should look into the solar panels, especially those of you with farms/food plots with open sun. Reveal sent me a solar panel and I've been using in for a couple of months now. Works perfect, 100% battery in the hardwoods. Not sure if that will hold up when all the leaves are on the trees, but again for those who have open fields/food plots it's a no brainer. No money wasted on batteries and maybe more importantly no time wasted driving and walking to and from to change batteries. 

Reveal will always tell you it is 100%. No matter if it’s 25, 56, 78, or 100%. Always 100%. Cam recognizes external and lists 100%.

The scenario you need to pay attention to is whether the internal battery is sufficiently powering the cam for images over night. In some situations the solar charges the battery but not fully and the battery wears down at a certain point, missing pics, and then gets recharged starting the process all over again.

In some circles people prefer the external battery because you have power or your don’t. And not stuck in this weird - you don’t know you don’t know.  People tend to catch it with feeders and corn on the ground disappearing in successive photos.

Edited March 18 by phade

[Lawdwaz]

25 minutes ago, phade said:

 People tend to catch it with feeders and corn on the ground disappearing in successive photos.

That’d be a bummer for sure.  

 

[fletchny11]

I enjoy the regular cams. I do not want the hassle of plans and all that. I also don't want the scenario where I basically have a security cam view of my hunting property. At some point it crosses the line of fairness for me and I don't want to go there personally. Kinda like some of the fish finder equipment now.

I have had great luck with Browning and believe it or not I run my cams on amazon batteries and they last  half a year or more on cameras I get lots of pics on.

[G-man]

4 hours ago, mowin said:

54!!!!  That's a bill I don't want to see.  I've got 6, and it's the monthly charge that stops me from getting more. 

I run 36 non cell, won't get cell due to crappy service and cost of plans  3k- 10k plus photos a week on cards now

[Robhuntandfish]

I buy mine on Amazon and haven't gone to wireless.  I have to keep my job 6 more years so getting pics of a monster buck while I am work doesn't work out for me.  

I don't put my cams out til labor day weekend and then just check them during season as I am out there.  I do have 3-4 real cheap ones I use mid summer just for fun and leave them out a month at a time. But I'm over there to mow trails or whatever and change cards.  

I have 11 garde pro cams that I use during season and they are all set on video.  I prefer video so much more over pics.   And I pull cards while I am out there hunting so it's no extra work.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18 by Robhuntandfish

[2BuckBizCT]

2 hours ago, phade said:

Reveal will always tell you it is 100%. No matter if it’s 25, 56, 78, or 100%. Always 100%. Cam recognizes external and lists 100%.

The scenario you need to pay attention to is whether the internal battery is sufficiently powering the cam for images over night. In some situations the solar charges the battery but not fully and the battery wears down at a certain point, missing pics, and then gets recharged starting the process all over again.

In some circles people prefer the external battery because you have power or your don’t. And not stuck in this weird - you don’t know you don’t know.  People tend to catch it with feeders and corn on the ground disappearing in successive photos.

Hmm that's strange because my Reveals always slowly go down in battery and then i start getting texts when it's down to 10% left and 1% left. Or do you mean using the solar? So far with the Solar it is taking both day and night pics. 

Edit - just realized you meant external/solar always shows 100%. 

[Nomad]

One non cell camera that comes down before the season , I just walk in and hunt . Odd I know .

[Buckmaster7600]

2 hours ago, Nomad said:

One non cell camera that comes down before the season , I just walk in and hunt . Odd I know .

I have none, I also just walk around and hunt. 

Edited March 18 by Buckmaster7600

[phade]

5 hours ago, Lawdwaz said:

That’d be a bummer for sure.  

 

People who run cams on feeders probably consume 75% of my troubleshooting time. It ludicrous.

Edited March 18 by phade

[phade]

4 hours ago, 2BuckBizCT said:

Hmm that's strange because my Reveals always slowly go down in battery and then i start getting texts when it's down to 10% left and 1% left. Or do you mean using the solar? So far with the Solar it is taking both day and night pics. 

Edit - just realized you meant external/solar always shows 100%. 

The panel can sometimes be insufficient to charge the battery fully in a day when conditions are not optimal.

So you could have a cam with a battery, say half charged or less. At midnight it’s exhausted its power, and you miss images. When the sun comes up and charges battery the cam starts working again. But the whole time the cam says you’re at 100%. In many instances you never know this, but occasionally you’ll see it with corn at feeders or in snow with tracks. People then think the cam sucks because it’s not sensing regularly. But it’s really because you have insufficient power supply