Anybody tried on of these yet? If so, feedback?
https://e.moultriemobile.com/5H3D-E3TT-25FB3C374BC8550D3TARGH9C3ECF95EE3400E6/cr.aspx
https://e.moultriemobile.com/5H3D-E3TT-25FB3C374BC8550D3TARGH9C3ECF95EE3400E6/cr.aspx
Moultrie Delta
- Thread starter Knothead
- Start date
BSK
Well-Known Member
Video sent by cell. That's interesting.
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2020
- Messages
- 6,690
We sure do have some choices now!
Camera is $99 everywhere, but ole Dicks has for 79 and a 90 day return. Plans are not bad. You can add 50 videos for a buck.
https://app.moultriemobile.com/
https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/...Wukf7VJ1WtnBf49oR4BoCtFwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
Camera is $99 everywhere, but ole Dicks has for 79 and a 90 day return. Plans are not bad. You can add 50 videos for a buck.
https://app.moultriemobile.com/
https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/...Wukf7VJ1WtnBf49oR4BoCtFwQAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
- Joined
- Jun 4, 2020
- Messages
- 6,690
$79 at Bass Pro and Cabelas starting June 10 for Fathers Day sale.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
Thanks, I'm giving one a try. Saved my family from having to find me a father's day gift!
I've been very pleased with the functionality and pic quality of my other 2 Moultrie mobile cams.
Also, I like being able to activate my cameras for a few months of deer season, then halt plans and payments for the rest of the year.
I've been very pleased with the functionality and pic quality of my other 2 Moultrie mobile cams.
Also, I like being able to activate my cameras for a few months of deer season, then halt plans and payments for the rest of the year.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Moultrie has really picked up their game the last couple of years.
This technology should not be all that difficult to implement. It is basically strapping a cell phone to a tree and having it submit photos/videos like the 200 million Americans do daily with their smartphones.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Agree.
But sending video clips via cell cam isn't new, just new for Moultrie.
I do it some with my Brownings, which can use 64gb (and larger) SD cards in
You may find that 32gb or smaller SD cards will not hold enough for the cam to go unattended very long when in video mode.
Don't know about this new Moultrie, but many cams will not accept an SD card larger than 32gb (and you need at least that to use in video mode imo).
BSK
Well-Known Member
Learned that the hard way late in the season last year. Didn't get out to visit my cams for 3 weeks, and the 32 GB card on one was full. Missed a couple days activity from that camera.
This coming year, I'll upgraded to all 64 GB cards. For 20 second HD videos, that will hold around 640 videos.
Another thing to consider is speed of the card. For 4K video it is recommended to use cards that can perform 120 m/s write speeds. With HD video, my cards are 90 m/s and I didn't experience any dropped frames.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
The less you need to visit a cam site, the better.
An advantage of cell cams beyond the obvious is that you also near immediately know if something goes wrong with the cam (like a full SD card, dead batteries, etc.)
At least if you do something stupid like I've done many times, ie, not even turning the cam on, with cell cams you realize this quickly, not weeks later.
With the advertised even greater battery life of the new Browning cell cams, I'm hoping may be able to go from September thru January without needing to swap an SD card nor replace batteries. And doing that while getting a ton of pics and videos uploaded frequently.
This likely necessitates going to the 128gb SD cards.
The good news is card prices have dropped dramatically over the past year, and they are no longer ridiculously expensive.
An advantage of cell cams beyond the obvious is that you also near immediately know if something goes wrong with the cam (like a full SD card, dead batteries, etc.)
At least if you do something stupid like I've done many times, ie, not even turning the cam on, with cell cams you realize this quickly, not weeks later.
With the advertised even greater battery life of the new Browning cell cams, I'm hoping may be able to go from September thru January without needing to swap an SD card nor replace batteries. And doing that while getting a ton of pics and videos uploaded frequently.
This likely necessitates going to the 128gb SD cards.
The good news is card prices have dropped dramatically over the past year, and they are no longer ridiculously expensive.
Easy solution that most cellular cameras offer today is "SD LOOP" (basically overwriting data) where the SD card never fills up. The newer data (pics/videos) just overwrite the earlier data from 2-3 months ago and the camera keeps on going as long the power source is good.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
That may be typically better than not recording the most recent events, but I prefer to retain all on the card, as there may be some key pics at the beginning.
Another issue, as you set your cam on say 3 pics per triggering event, are you uploading all 3, or just 1 of those 3? I don't know about the new Tactacams, but this was one of the "issues" I had with them, in that they would only upload 1 pic when I set the cam to take 3 pics per triggering event.
If you're only upload 1 of 3, you never know just what you may have missed until you check the card. For that reason, I like to upload all of whatever I take, but the higher resolution images still remain on the card.
BSK
Well-Known Member
To add to that, some cell cameras only upload a downsized image, to reduce transmission time/data usage. You have to pull the card to get the full-resolution images.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I agree with everything you said Wes. Cell cameras are the way to go for many applications and for many reasons.
I just don't personally use them on my own property for a couple of reasons:
1) Poor cell coverage. I can only get a cell signal at the tops of the highest ridges on my place. If I used cell cameras only, that would greatly limit where I could place them.
2) I like to use a lot of different camera locations over the course of the season. Running 6-8 cameras on my place, from early September until mid-January I may use 40-50 different locations. A few cameras may stay at the same location all season, but other get moved every time I check the cameras.
3) Cost. The service plans for a whole lot of cell cameras would really add up over several seasons. Currently, all I have to pay out of pocket is the original cost of the camera (and non-cell cameras are cheaper), and batteries. Luckily, because I do this for a living, I can write off all the travel time/mileage needed to constantly visit the site.
Of course, using non-cell cameras DOES have the major downside of having to visit a camera site repeatedly, greatly increasing the risk of deer avoidance of the location. However, I've found ways to greatly mitigate that risk which appear to prove effective (no statistical decline in deer visits over the course of the season).
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
This may actually be the case with MOST cell cams.
But most will allow you to then "request" a higher resolution image regarding a specific pic. Most of your transmitted images really don't need to be high resolution, but you will want as much resolution as possible on some, so you "request" them.
"Requesting" those higher resolution images frequently is where some of the up-front lower-cost cell cams make their money more "after" your purchase.
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
When the idea of cell cams was starting to gain traction a few years ago, I was fortunate in getting to experiment with a couple.
To my sad surprise and frustration, I was having having to visit these cell cams much more frequently than a similar non-cell version of the same exact cams! And, the battery life was just pathetic!
I decided to wait a few years before trying cell cams again, i.e. let someone else work out the kinks!
Started again in 2019, and many those earlier issues had been resolved, in 2020 everything became greatly improved, and it's now looking like 2021 will continue the improvements in cell-cam technology.
Like BSK, I still have some areas where cellular service is too poor to be using cell cams, but hey, cellular service may be getting better as well.
Another easy solution that some cameras are offering. Once you see the random cellular pic you are highly interested in, request the high definition (HD) version of that pic to be transmitted to your app for keepsake, analysis, etc. This is just one new offering on the new Tactacam Reveal X. The idea is most hunters get thousands of pics of does, fawns, coyotes, raccoons, etc, when they really only care about the 5-10 pics of mature/good bucks they get each month. Request those in HD and if you must retrieve one, or a series of pics, from the SD card, you typically have weeks/months to do that before it is overwritten.
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Every cell camera I have setup has gotten 1-2 bars better service than my iPhone (currently iPhone 12 Pro). I am talking the older Coverts and the newer Tactacams. The foot long antennae will get service in places you would not believe, and are far superior to the "no external antennae" smartphones we all use as a measuring stick. You have to see it to believe it. With that said, there are still some places in the wild where no cell service exists, regardless of the antennae on the camera/phone.
Worth mentioning is I setup my Tactacam Reveal (1st Generation) right next to my Reconyx HC600 last summer to make sure the Tactacam was triggering enough to satisfy me and help build my confidence in it. I left them deployed for two weeks before pulling SD card from Reconyx. Much to my surprise, the Reveal triggered at the same rate as my HC600, step for step. That was as much of a confidence builder as I could ask for.
JCDEERMAN
Well-Known Member
Interesting - very good to hear!
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
That's very encouraging, but my Reveal didn't keep up with the Browning cell cam with both mounted beside each other (same tree, same everything).
Another issue, and a big one for me, the Reveal would ONLY send (upload) a single pic per triggering event. When I talked to Reveal about this, they told me this was a "feature" to obtain better battery life.
Often, I would set these cams to trigger say at 1 or 5-minute intervals, and to take 3 pics per triggering event. The Browning would send me 3 pics per event, on top of having more "events" (even with identical cam settings).
We finally figured out the "recovery" time on the Tactacam was slow compared to the Browning, as to the Browning having more "events". But bottom line was the Browning was sending 100% of the pics taken, while the Tactacam was at 1 out of 3.
Interestingly, the Browning still had longer battery life on 8 batteries than the Tactacam on 12. So for me, considering I was reliably getting more "events" and 100% of the pics taken transmitted, the Browning cam was the better value (even though it cost $100 more up front), but then ends up the Browning cost less over the 1st 12 to 18 months of operation due to a less costly monthly cell plan and longer battery life.
BSK
Well-Known Member
Here's my problem; I need EVERY pic in High Definition. EVERY pic has to be analyzed.
BSK
Well-Known Member
I use cell cameras (owned by family members) as my measuring stick. Really struggle to get a signal even on ridge-tops. Many locations on ridge-tops they simply can't use their cell cameras as cell cameras (just as still cameras). Valleys, impossible.
But TheLBLman is right. Cell services is slowly, slowly improving as more towers are being built. 5 years ago, there was zero cell coverage in my area.
I see this as a big advantage (sending all 3 pics), BUT only for 1-3% of the photos taken on my camera setups. I do not care for all three pics of fawns, does, coyotes, coons, opossums, spikes, fork horns, etc, only the mature distinguishable bucks that I might pursue. Furthermore, I see it as a potential money grab from the service provider because the "unlimited data plan" will almost certainly be required with that many photos and data transmission.
How many photos are you averaging transmitted per month per camera (for those on 3 shot burst sending all 3)?
Can you change the settings to only send the middle photo of a 3 shot burst? (end user has full control)
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
Andy, the Brownings have much more settings options, and can be changed more easily, more frequently, and more reliably. Right now, I change my Browning settings twice daily (once in the am, and once in the pm). During the rut, I often change settings on particular cell cams several times in 24 hrs. I've not been able to reliably do that with the Tactacams.
Since I'm varying the settings so much on the Brownings, not sure what I've been averaging. But for months, I had one of them beside a Tactacam, and the Browning was transmitting about 500% more pics than the Tactacam, due to it's transmitting 100% instead of 33%, as well as the faster recovery time of the Browning.
Recovery meaning that if the cam was set on 1-minute intervals between triggering events, the Browning might trigger on 5 events in a 6-minute time horizon, while the Tactacam (also set for 1-minute intervals) might trigger only twice in that same 6-minute interval. This is a big difference, and the Browning was getting lots of activity the Tactacam was completely failing to get, not just failing to cellularly transmit (upload).
In all fairness, maybe that particular Tactacam was made on Monday, but the other one I have seems to have similar long recovery times between events.
Since I'm varying the settings so much on the Brownings, not sure what I've been averaging. But for months, I had one of them beside a Tactacam, and the Browning was transmitting about 500% more pics than the Tactacam, due to it's transmitting 100% instead of 33%, as well as the faster recovery time of the Browning.
Recovery meaning that if the cam was set on 1-minute intervals between triggering events, the Browning might trigger on 5 events in a 6-minute time horizon, while the Tactacam (also set for 1-minute intervals) might trigger only twice in that same 6-minute interval. This is a big difference, and the Browning was getting lots of activity the Tactacam was completely failing to get, not just failing to cellularly transmit (upload).
In all fairness, maybe that particular Tactacam was made on Monday, but the other one I have seems to have similar long recovery times between events.
megalomaniac
Well-Known Member
My Moultrie delta came in yesterday... set it up in the backyard. Interested to see the quality of photos day and night....
BSK
Well-Known Member
Please share!
philsanchez76
Well-Known Member
Yes please post a pic or two. I just got sucked into the $79 special from Bass Pro. I mean $79 for a cam that can send video?!
TheLBLman
Well-Known Member
:)
But if you actually use that cellular video mode, what's it going to cost you monthly, plus the larger capacity SD cards needed for video?
Weigh out all the costs ongoing, not just the upfront cam cost :)
Video mode also requires more frequent battery replacements.
