For years I used some old Primos 35 TruthCams. Talk about a bulletproof camera. I left them in the field and ran them 24/7 365 for years to monitor game on my land. I guess they lasted 6 maybe 7 years. They did not have the best image quality, but it was good enough. They just worked dependably. Finally, they gave in to dust, wind, sun, and rain and died on me last year. So I went on the search for a new game cam. The first thing I noticed is that I could not find a single camera anywhere that had a good rating. The more expensive model had worse ratings than the cheaper models. So I started buying cameras and testing them. Every stinking one of them seems to have a defect here or there. This one takes too many pictures of nothing, that one misses animals that the other picked up, this other one has horrible night time images, another one sucks batteries dry in a week, so on and so forth. But the main problem that all of them seem to share, corrupted video files.

I have tested over a dozen game cameras in the last 15 months and all of them seem to have trouble with video. These problems are not consistent. There may be multiple different problems from videos out of the same camera. The main problem that I have found is that videos only play at high speed and freeze up about halfway through.

What I am wondering is why this is? Obviously, if you read reviews, you find millions of people saying the same things. What is the deal? Why can't someone produce a decent game camera these days. I am not talking about something you have to mortgage the house to buy, because it does not seem to matter how much you spend. My brother has a $400 Moultrie that he absolutely hates. I have tried $200 cameras that were way worse than my $60 cameras. I never paid more than $50 for any one of my Primos 35 TruthCams, and they were awesome.

Has anyone figured this out?

I was thinking the same thing this morning. I use 6 at feeders and 2 no flash around the house. I’m going to hunt up some old time Moultries. They’re easy to set and they work. Just hope they still make them.

This thread reminded me I need a new game camera.
Over the past nine years I had good service from two Wildgame Innovations cameras
so I bought another one. I like the bottom loading hatch.
Wildgame Innovations Terra Extreme Trail Camera – 14 MP

Browning strike force is awsome great pictures and you can set the sensitivity. It also has a very fast shutter speed. my has taken some pictures of birds mid flight. Also, they take pictures from a descent distance off. Can't say enough good things about it. I leave it out year around. 4.5 years and going strong.

I've noticed the same thing about reviews. They are all over the map and some of the bigger names have some of the worst overall reviews. I have a Moultrie A30 that I bought 2 years ago, and so far it's been a good one. It wasn't that expensive and it's pretty basic, but it's still working and I only have to change the batteries 2-3 times a year max. It was only about $75 when I bought it and it's still under $100 on Amazon.

They're not, but you are buying what they are marketing and if they have to sell it without word of mouth, it's probably not that great

Check it out, both main beams are broken

https://youtu.be/28kAIrz4Djs

Downloaded thru the app and uploaded to YouTube

Tip: Ridgetec

/thread

One of my oldest cams is a Primos. Same as you - low resolution but zero problems. I think mine is over 10 years old and still going strong.

I've tried many different brands. Interestingly, it seems the more I spent on the game cam (except Spartan) - the more issues it has.

This is what I've tried:

- Primos that's at least 10 years old.
- Two Moultrie that worked for ~7 years. They worked when I took them down but after sitting for a few years - they won't turn on.
- Two Stealth Cams. The more expensive model had problems the first month that we're solved with a firmware update. The cheaper one has a simple menu and zero issues. Bought summer 2018.
- 3 pack of Wild Game Innovation cameras at Academy for $99 and have had zero issues. Bought during November of last year.
- Browning that works great with awesome picture quality, but I feel like it's aging fast (faded plastic and the latch is about to break). Bought in December of 2018.
- Spartan Cam I bought in the Spring of 2019 and one that I received as a gift end of September. Both zero issues so far. These were most expensive because of the cellular capability.

Apart from the Spartan and the Browning... the trend I see personally is the more complicated the camera... the more prone it is to failure.

buy some Browning's and turn that frown upside down

I had some Cabela's cash a few years ago & purchased a Cuddeback Game Camera. Couldn't even tell you which one it was. It does not get used much. Too complicated!!!!

Ours seem to last 3-5 years. Some longer some shorter. Wood peckers are hell on ours.

I gave up on them. I just go sit in my pop up blind and decide if I want to shoot the deer I see. Life is simpler.

I use my game camera to scout for hog corral locations and to monitor the trap until I'm ready to spring it.
120 hogs and counting. It also tells us what is working and what we should do differently.

Also to monitor dead piles and see when the coyotes are showing up.

Plus I enjoy the photographs. One dead cow had five coyotes in one picture.
Sometimes it is magical.

Three words: Made in China.
I don't care who's name is on the outside, once you get down to the board level, they all say the same thing: Made in China!

The problem with "Made in China" is this:
When you send stuff to China to be manufactured, they don't just run the contracted number.

If the customer wants 1000 cameras, they will make 2000.
The extra 1000 that "didn't pass QC" gets sold by the manufacturers cousin, BIL, etc. on ebay, amazon or alibaba as original equipment because they are identical to original.
They factories that manufacture the stuff are allowed to sell the rejects to cover losses and the product may or more likely may not be listed as "refurbished" when sold.
It sucks when your brand new, just released product is met with duplicates flooding the online sales sites for less than MSRP when released.
It gets really bad if there is a ton of refurbs hit the market and customers assume your product must be crap and had to have lots of re-dos to get right.
It is a game that more and more US businesses are learning about, some too late to save their companies.

I like the old Tasco cams. Finding SD cards they can use can be a chore, but they work 24-7-365.

I have tried a variety of brands and models since 2008. Every brand makes some good models and some bad models. I now refuse to buy expensive game cameras unless they are cellular. I try to not spend over $60 for a game camera and usually come out alright.

When I started, 3 megapixel cams were high dollar and had great images. Now you can get 16 mp, which is great, but for photos out to 100 feet, it is sort of overkill unless you are really into saving and/or printing your images for decoration. If there is a setting, I usually run mine at no more than 5 mp and the images have all that I need and don't fill up the SD card so fast.

Have thrown out a dozen cams that quit working, usually the expensive ones. Like others, I now buy the cheaper ones, not the cheapest but close. It seems the least amount of options and internal circuitry that gets banged around, turned on and off, sits in the sun, wind, rain all year round is better for longevity.

They could make them wherein they would last a lifetime, but then they wouldn't get much repeat business. They need them to break.

Are we just talking about game cameras now?

Truth

My new Wildgame Innovations camera has a tripod mount female threaded receptacle on the back.
That is something I wished that my other cameras had. It is my understanding Moultrie has them too.
The receptacle can be used with many types of mounting systems, including Ram mounts, not just tripods.
It tremendously increases mounting options and flexibility.

I've said this several times. Put 2 of them watching a feeder. They will seldom agree.

threw the years I`ve bought and tried many brands some lasted years and some not so much , now I just catch the ones on clearance sales at wally world and wherever I can find them that way it doesn't bother me when they crap out on me I just toss it and wait for another sale ,caught a wildgame innovation last week at wally for 20 bucks.

X2

I second the vote for Browning. Strike Force is good and if you want get the Dark Ops the game cannot see a flash. Only issue is birds somethings peck out the film covering the "lense" of the camera. They are replaceable and Browning has sent me replacements before.

up-graded to Browning's - very satisfied