new cam. buyers remorse.

[deaner]

so i decided to try out a new kind of camera.  big game eyecon mantis.  havent even tried it out yet and already dont like it.  absolute pain to get the batteries to stay in, and can barely get the sd card out without tweezers.  so far so bad.  also there is not an option to format your sd card with the camera, like on my bushnells.  so can anybody tell me how to format an sd card so i can try this thing out?

[OutdoorFreak97]

You have to re-format the SD card if its been used in another camera

Make sure to save everything you don't want gone from the card BEFORE you re-format

To re-format you have to use a computer, look it up online on how to re-format a card.

[deaner]

okay i got it formatted, thanks, and i am not impressed with this camera at all.  says its 9mp but the pics look like crap     waste of $150

[OutdoorFreak97]

okay i got it formatted, thanks, and i am not impressed with this camera at all.  says its 9mp but the pics look like crap     waste of $150

9MP should make a decent quality picture, mess with the setting on the camera if there are any.
Like switching from regular to HD

Try enhancing the pictures with a photo editor?

Edit:
I just looked them up, and from cabelas website, I see 3 bad reviews (best was 3 star)
Return the thing a buy something that has been bought, tested and proven.

Do some web surfing and find one you like that's in your price range.
To be honest you can probably find a camera that's better for around $90.00 on sale.

[deaner]

i put it on the highest setting and the pics are just crap.  my 6mp bushnells have WAY better pics than this 9mp cam, go fig.  and like i said the sd card is a pain to get out and the batts are a pain to get in.  just figured i should post up my thoughts on this new cam before anybody else goes out and buys one.  i wont be getting this brand again.

[deaner]

okay, so trial run is over.  i put this up, on 3 shot burst mode, on the same post as my cheapo $99 walmart bushnell that was chewed up by a bear this spring.  the winner?  the bear chewed walmart special, by a landslide.  the big game eyecon mantis gave me pics 4-84 as solid jet black pics.  must be what they advertise as the "invisible blackflash night vision" because every other pic, all 2000+ of them, were all false triggers in broad daylight.  not a SINGLE night time, dusk, or dawn pic.  my bear chewed walmart special bushnell got plenty of buck pics, doe pics, etc.  so in short, absolutely everything about the big game eyecon mantis sucks. also i turned this cam on at 7pm on sept 9th, and it somehow turned itself off at 2pm sept 10th.. do not buy the big game eyecon mantis, unless you want to get rid of $150 and dont even have a match handy.  absolute waste of money.  im just going to put mine on a tree somewhere obvious, and have one of my real cams hidden facing this one, so i can bust a thief.  about all it can possibly be good for.

[bowhunterforever]

That sucks, I will not be buying one of those

[deaner]

That sucks, I will not be buying one of those

good call, i just went on their website and did the customer review thing.  here is a copy paste of what i put in there for them.

im contacting you to complain about the big game eyecon mantis trail camera i recently purchased.  bear with me while i list al of my complaints.  lets start with the two problems filling out your form online here. 
1: this product is not listed under model number.
2: i no longer have the box, but the spot that says "serial number" under the flap that covers the buttons, is blank.

    now on to my complaints about the product's performance.

3: i posted the camera at 7pm september 9th, removed it 3pm sept 13th, however my last picture was at 2pm september 10th, meaning cam only ran for 19 hours.
4: of the 2067 pics i got (in 3 shot burst mode) pics 4-84 were solid jet black.
5: i did not get one single night time photo, every pic was broad daylight, and all except a couple pics of me dumping feed were false triggers.

    now ill complain about the products design

6: have you ever tried to put ten batteries in this thing?  its like a damned popcorn popper, almost impossible to get all of the batteries in before others fly out all over the place.
7: there is no small picture to indicate which direction the sd card is supposed to go in, like every other device ive ever owned that uses an sd card.
8: removal of the sd card is extremely difficult due to how recessed it is, and its close proximity to the hinges.
9: the little latches that both close the screen cover securely, and hold the pivoting portion to the battery housing are extremely difficult to fully engage.
10: the slot where you put the strap will not accommodate a cable lock, and there is no place to put even a padlock to prevent somebody from messing with your sd card, if they decide not to steal the cam.
11: although i havent had THIS cam chewed on yet, i can almost guarantee that it will not stand up to even the smallest bear cub messing with it.  and if you think that my complaints about no pics are NOT the fault of your inferior quality product, i had a cheapo $99 walmart model bushnell, which was chewed up by a bear, mounted inches from this cam, and it got lots of pics during this time period, of multiple bucks, does and fawns.  your cam got pics of NOTHING but me, just a couple thousand false triggers.

  to sum up my complaint, ive decided to get on every hunting website i can and tell people NOT to buy this product.  in fact ill just copy this in every trail cam section of every hunting forum ive found.  thanks for putting out an absolutely horrible low quality product and thus relieving me of 150 hard earned dollars.

[deaner]

and i forgot to tell them that the lack of a format option on the unit is a huge pain in the ass.   the bushnells have it, but for this cam you have to format on your cpu, which takes a long time.

[bobcat]

Sounds like a terrible camera. I have never even heard of that brand. I thought I'd heard of them all, so it must be relatively new. I will stay away from them for sure.

As for the lack of a formatting option, I have at least five cameras that do not have that option- two Tasco's, two WGI's, and a Primos 35. It has never been an issue. It takes about 3 seconds to do in my computer.

Are you using quick format?

[deaner]

no im not using quick format, guess i should, except that i wont be formatting anything on my cpu again, since i wont bother putting this cam back up.  so looking at the times, the pictures 4-84 that were jet black, were all at night, so it DID trigger pics at night, only the screen is just completely black.  and it shut off after 19 hours, and it had something cvlose to 700 false triggers in that time.  man.  wish i had the receipt / packaging.  btw big game is apparently a tree stand company that recently started making trail cams.  but i sure wouldnt trust my a$$ in one of thier treestands if theyll willingly put such cheap junky products on the shelves

[deaner]

okay so ive been in contact with the company via email, and theyre offering to take the mantis back and send me their newest model, the storm.  anybody use these yet?  i hadnt even heard of them until now.  they use c batts for some reason,  but i looked at bass pro and the retail is $230.  just curious if anybody has any personal experience with it

[boneaddict]

Thank you Deaner for sharing your experience

[bobcat]

A review on chasin game:
http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=265

Sounds like it has a water leak issue.

[deaner]

A review on chasin game:
http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=265

Sounds like it has a water leak issue.

yeah when they offered to send that cam to me i found that review, and sent it back to them, saying it didnt sound like something i want, and their response was as follows.

 

This review was created last year when the cameras were initially released. Our cameras are not meant to be completely dunked in water, and we had made contact with this reviewer.

We have completed even more testing for 2013 than ever before and have had very good feedback from customers using the 2013 models. This is what you would receive if you wanted to proceed with us.