Trail Camera Battery Life

[KimberRich]

I'm wondering what everyone's getting for battery life out of their trail cameras? 

I havea a moultrie D40 and i'm getting right around a month with it taking from 50-150 pictures.  I'm pretty happy with it but I see other people saying they had the same camera up for like 4 months and had 600 photos and it was still at like %89?

I saw that this was a thread last year but when I tried to post to it it said "This post is over 120 days old you should consider starting a new topic"  What's that general rule around here?  Do you guys post to the old one or start a new one?

[brianb231]

I have 2 D-40's and I am getting about 5 weeks out of the batteries and about 800 photos.

Just an FYI.

[KimberRich]

I have 2 D-40's and I am getting about 5 weeks out of the batteries and about 800 photos.

Just an FYI.

So it sounds like mine are about the same as yours..  That's good.

[fishcrazy]

I figure about 1 month with my D40's. I know one thing. I'm done with the old cams like the D40. My buddy has a      I-5.0 and the batteries are still at 85% after 2 months and lots of pics. I think it is worth the extra cost. You will spend it on batteries. I think the flash is also more likely to give the camera location away to possible thieves.

Kris

[KimberRich]

Your right on about the flash and alerting people to where they are..  I've heard that the newer cameras are easier on batteries.  I was told it was because the IR uses less juice than the actual flash but not sure? I would like to have a couple more that eat less batteries..  What's the I-5.0 running?

[byrdman]

Your settings will also affect battery life. Things like delay and multi-shots. Not to mention the temperature and the quality of the batteries you buy.

 

[One Horned Spike]

i have a i-40 and the batteries lasted 11 months. and took lots of pics

[fishcrazy]

My buddy picked up his I-5.0 from Cabelas when they had a buch in the bargain cave earlyer this summer. I think he paid $140.00

I use CHEAP batteries. I pay $1.00 for 2. They last just as long as the expensive duracells. I was surprised to find that. I found them in a local grocery store and figured might as well try them. I figured I could just replace them more often but was surprised to find they last just as long.


Kris

[CoryTDF]

Some of the cameras have a solar panel that you can hook right to the camera, my little brother has one, they seem to work very well. We have gone months and filled up a 2gig SD card. With that system battery life is never and issue.

[gkowen]

I have a Stealthcam I540 (I think that is what it is).  When I am testing at home, I just use an external solar panel. I take the batteries out. The solar panel has a battery pack in it. It has gone a week without failing to catch me testing it and still says 100% charge on the solar panel. The problem is, its hard to find sunny spots in the woods but it can be done.

[bow4elk]

I use CHEAP batteries. I pay $1.00 for 2. They last just as long as the expensive duracells. I was surprised to find that. I found them in a local grocery store and figured might as well try them. I figured I could just replace them more often but was surprised to find they last just as long.

I saw a detailed study on battery brands, and they reported the same thing - that they all pack the same punch.  Lithium batteries are defiintely a step above but you can't beat the dollar store for regular alkaline batteries.

[murphyranch]

Some of the cameras have a solar panel that you can hook right to the camera, my little brother has one, they seem to work very well. We have gone months and filled up a 2gig SD card. With that system battery life is never and issue.

I found a solar charger in the bargin cave at Cabelas and hooked it up to my D-40 and it has ended the battery use so far been 5 or 6 months and they are still at 90%. With solar charger plugged in it always show 99%. It was well worth the money.

Bruce

[fishcrazy]

murphyranch what voltage is the charger you found? I have thought of doing the same but didn't know what voltage would work on the d-40. Great idea. I have seen some go really cheap on ebay.

Kris

[lilswab]

I have been using Duracell and Energizer batteries in my two Stealth Cam I540IR trail cameras.  The battery life has absolutely amazed me!  We have had the cameras in the woods since the beginning of July and about 800+ pictures.  I always check the battery indicator and it still says full battery with the original batteries.  My cameras do require 8 c-cell batteries to operate.  Large camera and expensive to buy 8 every time to exchange but I'm still very impressed.

[murphyranch]

murphyranch what voltage is the charger you found? I have thought of doing the same but didn't know what voltage would work on the d-40. Great idea. I have seen some go really cheap on ebay.

Kris

Kris I bought the 12 volt one that moultrie sells for the D-40. There were 2 of them in the bargin cave think I payed 45 bucks for it. It has built in batteries as well as the solar charger. I had to do a little modification to it. I had a hell of a time with the plugin for it so I fixed that real quck other wise it is great well worth the money even if you have to pay full price.

http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productdetail.aspx?id=mfh-cpp

Bruce

[KimberRich]

murphyranch what voltage is the charger you found? I have thought of doing the same but didn't know what voltage would work on the d-40. Great idea. I have seen some go really cheap on ebay.

Kris

Kris I bought the 12 volt one that moultrie sells for the D-40. There were 2 of them in the bargin cave think I payed 45 bucks for it. It has built in batteries as well as the solar charger. I had to do a little modification to it. I had a hell of a time with the plugin for it so I fixed that real quck other wise it is great well worth the money even if you have to pay full price.

http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productdetail.aspx?id=mfh-cpp

Bruce

I would gladly pay $45 for the solar charger if I found them for that price.  Sounds like you hit Cabelas at the right time.

A buddy and I have 4 D-40's set up right now over in the Okanogan and I'm really curious to see what battery life is left when we go check them on the 19th.  Most of theother set ups we have done over there were later in the year and the weather was much colder so I'm sure that effects battery life also.

[KimberRich]

I started this topic because of a moment we had a few years ago.. Guess I should have put it in the first posting.

We had a camera set up on our best spot a few years back and had planned to leave it for about 5 weeks before checking it.  It was during the rut and the best time of year to catch a decent buck or ?? moving around. 

After 5 weeks with a ton of anticipation we started hiking up the trail to where the camera was set up and immediately came across a set of Moose tracks in the deep snow.  It was leading directly towards our camera!!  We were excited to see what we had on film.  I've gotten tons of animals on the cameras but never a moose.  The tracks lead directly in front of the camera and it stopped and took a leak and milled around for a bit and then moved on.  It was obviously fresh since it had been snowing almost every day for a month and the tracks had not been filled in yet. We were so excited to look at awesome shots we had gotten!   

Upon pulling the SD card and putting it in my camera to scroll through, we found no Moose photos???

There were some deer pictures from the day before but apparently the camera battery had died right after taking those photos and the moose had apparently walked by after the fact!!! 

[fishcrazy]

Murphy,

Thanks for the info.

Kris