smithhunter1975
Active Member
Looking to get into the cellular trail cam game this year and seems like Tactacam is the way to go. Is Reveal X or X Pro the way to go?
Reveal X vs X Pro
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Well they certainly are cheap. Beyond that.... Def not that great.
Id say for the money...Cuddelink is far and away the best bang for the buck when talking cell cams. You can run 24 cams on one $40 unlimited cell plan per month. Are they the best out there, no. But you can cover a lot of ground with 24 cams and only pay $40 monthly. They do the job well in being able to keep cams out in the field and not have to check them most of if not all of season.
I have some Reveals also. They are not bad but @ $13 per cam/per month, it adds up fast.
They do have a nice feature where you can upgrade a thumbnail pic to HD and it makes a huge difference in being able to see up close!
I have some Reveals also. They are not bad but @ $13 per cam/per month, it adds up fast.
They do have a nice feature where you can upgrade a thumbnail pic to HD and it makes a huge difference in being able to see up close!
CurtisWalker
Moderator
They work, I run them, I’d spend the little bit more for a Spartan though.
After my Tactacams die I’ll most likely replace them with Spartans.
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After my Tactacams die I’ll most likely replace them with Spartans.
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There are certainly other options, but here is a 5-year cost comparison between Spartan & Tactacam. There is little doubt Spartan is a far better camera. Month 16 is the break even point. After 5 years the "cheap" tactacam ends up costing $220 more.
Hardwood11
It is going to be a good fall!
If my wife saw that chart x 10 …she’d faint !
Word.
I should add if your running 10 cameras Spartan comes out to $6/mo each so spreadsheet tilts in spartan favor even more.
smithhunter1975
Active Member
Reading all this makes me have reservations about the cellular game! Data plan plus more expensive cards, plus more batteries, adds up quick for multiple cams!
Rjack
Moderator
Tactacam has multiple plans. The $13 is pro plan and each extra camera is $12 for unlimited pics The intermediate is $8 and $7.50 for each extra camera and is 500 pics per camera - and those are pooled. So, 4 cameras cost $30.50 and has 2000 pics to share across the 4. The base plan is $5 each camera and has 250 pics that are pooled as well. I run the base plan most of the time. And if I run out of pics, I can bump to intermediate or pay for extra pictures. I also only run then around 5 mints a year.
I compared unlimited plans.
Not factored into chart is the fact that tactacam is HIGHLY unlikely to make it to 5 years before breaking. It seems 50% are dead by year 3.
I have never ran a spartan, but currently deploy dozens of cells cams. Reconyx, cuddelink, moultrie, and the reveals. Have a few Exodus to try this year for the first time. This is a slippery rabbit hole and no matter what you claim, there is going to be another guy that comes out of his seat against it. There are pro's and con's to them all, but from my experience with the list above:
Cuddelink (K, J, G & now L) - Cell plan is great. I use them for larger network, owned property because of that, but they no doubt miss things and are incredibly sensitive to angle/position. Do not do well at all on a field edge for some reason unless a deer is right in front of it. I fell in love when they first came out, but other brands have passed them by since inception. They also use a ton of battery and after all of the external power items needed, it quickly washes most of the cell plan savings. Have had many die off just after the 2 year warranty it seems. They do take great pics and the customer service is great though.
Reconyx - In a different league but who can afford to cover a property with them at 600$/ea. It also costs me $10/cam per month to run.
Moutrie - Save your money. Got rid of them all due to lack of reliability.
Tactacam - Very, Very skeptical when they came out. Did not buy the Gen 1 because of it. How could a $100 cell cam be worth a nickel?
Now I have around 30 and not one single small issue yet. 15 have been out 3 seasons running flawlessly. Use the rec'd U3 SD and reputable (Duracell, rayovac) AA's and dont put them on a feeder and you will be pleased. They run July-Feb on Alkalines for me, but I am putting them on trails, scrapes, edges so maybe a couple dozen pics/day. Put Lithium's in a few far away ones and they will run 1 year+. It's $5/mo and the pics pool together, so when I have them out in full force its never a problem staying out of data overage. I also don't have a ton of deer so again, pics arent crazy high. They are VERY sensitive and way more reliable than any cell cuddeback and definitely moultrie. Probably the same as reconyx detection wise. If you are hanging them at proper height/angle, I have total confidence that anything walking by will get a pic taken. Have seen it over and over. I hunt a lot of little one and two cam thickets and hedgerows, so they are perfect for that application for me. Will they die in 5, 6+ years, maybe?? Time will tell but at $119/ea (sometimes 7-80$ on Wally World rollback), how can you beat it?!
Exodus - Will deploy in July but haven't heard a bad word about them ever. 5 year warranty tells me it must be greatly quality. We will see!
Cuddelink (K, J, G & now L) - Cell plan is great. I use them for larger network, owned property because of that, but they no doubt miss things and are incredibly sensitive to angle/position. Do not do well at all on a field edge for some reason unless a deer is right in front of it. I fell in love when they first came out, but other brands have passed them by since inception. They also use a ton of battery and after all of the external power items needed, it quickly washes most of the cell plan savings. Have had many die off just after the 2 year warranty it seems. They do take great pics and the customer service is great though.
Reconyx - In a different league but who can afford to cover a property with them at 600$/ea. It also costs me $10/cam per month to run.
Moutrie - Save your money. Got rid of them all due to lack of reliability.
Tactacam - Very, Very skeptical when they came out. Did not buy the Gen 1 because of it. How could a $100 cell cam be worth a nickel?
Now I have around 30 and not one single small issue yet. 15 have been out 3 seasons running flawlessly. Use the rec'd U3 SD and reputable (Duracell, rayovac) AA's and dont put them on a feeder and you will be pleased. They run July-Feb on Alkalines for me, but I am putting them on trails, scrapes, edges so maybe a couple dozen pics/day. Put Lithium's in a few far away ones and they will run 1 year+. It's $5/mo and the pics pool together, so when I have them out in full force its never a problem staying out of data overage. I also don't have a ton of deer so again, pics arent crazy high. They are VERY sensitive and way more reliable than any cell cuddeback and definitely moultrie. Probably the same as reconyx detection wise. If you are hanging them at proper height/angle, I have total confidence that anything walking by will get a pic taken. Have seen it over and over. I hunt a lot of little one and two cam thickets and hedgerows, so they are perfect for that application for me. Will they die in 5, 6+ years, maybe?? Time will tell but at $119/ea (sometimes 7-80$ on Wally World rollback), how can you beat it?!
Exodus - Will deploy in July but haven't heard a bad word about them ever. 5 year warranty tells me it must be greatly quality. We will see!
CurtisWalker
Moderator
I will say Spartan has one downfall I wish they’d fix. Delayed sends.
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