Ok, I've been using Moultrie Cameras for a long time and have had luck with them with the exception of one LCD screen going out and the promptly took care of it.

I decided to try a Cuddeback and bought a Capture IR on Amazon and have had it out for about 5-6 weeks. It takes great pictures.........for 2-5 days and then it stops and says Battery Low! It takes only 150-170 pictures and it is done. They claim on the literature on this camera that at room temperature it should take about 2,000.

Have any of you had the same problem with this camera, and if so, did Cuddeback take care of this problem like Moultrie would?

I had to send mine back to Cuddy twice. They will take care of you just call em.

I had that problem once when I set it out. Make sure that the batteries are in straight and are making good contact with eachother. Spin them around a bit after you insert them. If the batteries don't have good contact it will make new batteries drain in a few days. Thats the problem I had and I haven't had any since I figured that out.

Hate to hear that, but it really dont surprise me at all!

I am not a fan of any of the IR models from any manufacturer! Just seems like they all have waaaaay more problems than the flash models!

On the other hand I have 3 of the Capture flash models and my dad has 2 and we have had zero problems with them in the two years we have had them! And they really do take 2000 pictures with out replacing the batteries!

Update:

I called Cuddeback and they had me download the latest firmware version even though my camera was showing that it was up to date. I did it and heard the camera click internally. I then installed a fresh set of batteries and it took 400+ pictures over a 2 day period at my house. I set it up last week in and in 6 days it took over 200 pics with no problem at all and did not show a low battery so I left it out Sunday when I left the ranch. We'll see Friday if she's still taking pics.

Sure hope it works cuz I dont feel like shipping it back to Cuddeback to have them fix it!

My only other complaints on this camera is there is no battery meter like other cameras have to see what % your batteries are at and I wish they had a multi-shot option on their cameras so that you could take two or three pics when the motion sensor is activated instead of just single pics! Other then that it takes good pictures and seems to have a heck of a trigger on it!

I have 2 and have had 0 problems out of either.. other than not setting the sensitivity right but that was operator error

How do you adjust the sensitivity on it???

There is a little piece of plastic that doesnt look like it belongs there pull it out and there will be either 2 or 3 brass prongs look in the owners manual and it will show you how to replace the plastic to set sensitivity. I have mine set on high sensitivity and they run a while..

Thanks, I'll check it out next time I'm at the lease. The feeder it is on has a ton of activity and it seems to be taking very good pics so I'll probably leave the sensitivity alone for now.

So far the camera has taken about 500 pics on the set of batteries in the last two weeks and I left them in so when I go back in two weeks to stick a pig I'll see how they are holding up.

Next update on this camera:

When I went back to the lease the camera had less then 50 pictures on it and actually stopped taking pictures the 1st night!!!

I decided to put another set of batteries in it and give it a try and figured I could live with 500-600 pics off a set of batteries. Didn't happen!!! 180 and it quit again! Tried one more time and got 173.

I finally decided after wasting about 24-28 D cell Duracell batteries I had enough of this horse s--t! I called Non Typical Inc. again and told them my problem. The technician asked if I still had the last set of batteries in the camera and I did. She told me to take one out and wait 20 seconds and put it back in and try it. Unbelievably it came back on and took about 70 more pictures before I boxed it up and took it to Fed EX to ship it back to WI to them! I inserted a very nice 2 page letter explaining the problem and that they had better not even think of shipping it back unless the problem was found and corrected or they sent me a brand new replacement.

I will update when I hear from them or I get it back and let you know if Non Typical stands behind their product like Moultrie does!!!

Get a reconyx and don't worry about a problem again

amazingly, my new flash model wildgame has been replaced once, and is going back again. i get about 25 or so photos before the batterys are drained, thats one evening...the IR just keeps taking them

i have 2 cuddebacks with no problems, that is why I dont like IR and y like it when color pics r better quality anyways. I had one problem when I first got my NO flash 4 years ago and I mailed them my reciept since it was less then 1 year old and they promptly shipped a new one back that has been working ever since.

Well, hopefully Non Typical will stand behind their work and either get me a camera that works or find the problem with this one and fix it! I do agree that it is simple to use, takes good pics, has a great trigger!!! But, it also lacks some simple features that most, if not all, other brands have that are very nice to have such as a battery meter so you can see what level your batteries are at anytime you want, a multi-shot burst, and a picture count on the LCD screen! Bottom line is that I don't care if a camera takes pictures so clear you can blow them up into a billboard, or if the trigger is 1/1,000,000 of a second if 4 D cell batteries are only going to give me 170-180 pictures!

both my cuddebacks tell me in increments of 25% how much life my batteries have. 25%, 50%,75% and 100% full!!!!!! I can get 2-3 weeks easy on one set of batteries. have gotten up to 1100 pics on one set during summer when deer were actively hitting protein.and it has a picture count on it too just have to take cover off and go thru settings which takes like 15 seconds. I have amazing pictures with my cheapest cuddeback. the cuddeback expert. $200. if i could buy 10 more i would. thats how good they r. I have pics out to 60-70 feet with deer in them

Go with the Bushnell Trophy Cam instead.

yeah I have a hunting buddy that just bought one, he said its good so far. only been 2 weeks tho lol

UPDATE - 02-09-10

OK, I shipped this camera back to Non Typical Inc. on Wendnesday, Jan 27. I received confirmation that they received it at noon on January 29.

I recieved a call from them on Wednesday, 02-03-10 and they said that they had set the camera up in one of there test rooms for 7 days and it had taken approximately 200 pictures without any problem whatsoever. Nice! Well, where I went to school January 29 until Feb 3 is not 7 days so I caught them in a lie right there! After discussing with the lady on the phone, they graciously offered to either ship mine back or send me another one that is approximately the same age as mine! In other words, somebody else's camera that was sent in just like mine, WITH PROBLEMS!!!

I asked them to please set it up outside in the woods and test it so they said that they would. I recieved a voice mail yesterday, 02-08 that it took 98 pictures and works fine. So I called them back this morning and they said that it had now taken approximately 500 pictures or so with the same batteries I shipped it back with so they could find nothing to repair and that their offer was to still either ship mine back or replace it with another (used camera somebody had sent back). I do NOT want somebody elses problem and told them this and I also told them to ship mine back. I told them I would go purchase another set of batteries and another NEW SD card to see if this would help although I seriously doubt it since I had a brand new Sandisk in it from day 1!

I also told them that I was in no way impressed with the way they handled this situation and that if the camera did not work properly this time, I fully expected them to stand behind their product and replace it with a new one if this happened again! If they do not, I would never, ever, in a million years buy another Cuddeback product.

IMO, just flat out poor customer service! Moultrie wouldn't have batted an eye. They would have kept this camera and sent a brand new one, NO QUESTION about that!

damn thats BS, I believe when I sent mine back they sent me a new camera that worked awesome. I forgot bc it was 3-4 years ago but it has no problems, it might have been refurbished. I would have raised hell right there and talked to the head guy and explain the story.

I did ask to speak with the Chief, and think I did but you can never be sure who they put you through to at those places. And trust me, I did raise hell with them. I flat out told them what I thought about their customer service and told them where their company would end up if this is how they treated people that have problems! I'm not one to mince words and didn't in this situation. I also told them that I had contact with lots of different hunters on both here and when I guide and if they didn't stand behind their product and take care of this, I'd let everyone know how they operate.

In saying this, I'll give the benifit of the doubt and maybe they couldn't get the camera to 'act up' while up there. I find it hard to believe since it did it to me every time except once. But, you never know! If I put another new card in the camera and this happens again, I will ship it back. If they do not either fix it or send me a new one I will start a new thread on here (in several different areas) posting a link to this thread and say exactly what I think about it!

for sure, they will have to honor it if you push hard enough and raise enough hell lol. Is your receipt less then a year old? Because as long as it is less then a year old, they told me its under warranty. Or return it to where u bought it. Like bass pro usually takes back their cameras with a reciept

Yeah, 10-4. I bought it on Amazon back in Sept and sent a copy of my online receipt with it when I shipped it two weeks ago. Thanks for your help ccbaseball!

no problem man, thats y i never buy online bc u can never return. bass pro/academy u can always return w a reciept. idc how much cheaper it is online, bc that option is a life saver

Update, 02-18-10:

I got the camera back 6 days ago and put the same batteries it came back with it back in. It has been on my back porch strapped to a post taking pictures now for 6 days. It has taken around 350 and seems to be working fine. I set it back out last night to see if it continues working right. If it does, we may be heading to the new lease in Sonora this weekend and if I do I'm going to set it up at a feeder I put out and see what happens as we will probably go back the 1st weekend in March.

They said that they didn't find anything wrong with it or fix anything but it sure seems to be working correctly now........go figure!

I have the same problem with one of mine. The IR pictures are horrible too. It probably reaches out about 15yds max and it is not cear at all you can make out if it is a deer, hog, cow, etc. and thats about it. My brother has the flash one and it has worked great.