Cursed trail cameras

[MeepDog]

I'm as my wits end with trail cams. I have no less than 8 cameras that will consistently fail to take any photos or videos and I'm blown away. I don't know what's causing it. Half of them are stealth cams, the other half are different Chinese ones off Amazon.

Fresh batteries every time.
Formatted SD card with camera
Formatted SD card fully with computer
Different settings of video vs picture
Different brands of SD card
4 different models of cameras
Different levels of sensitivity settings

Some of the cams will say "card protected" but I know about the switch and it's on the right setting. I'm at around 90 % failure rate over the last year and I'm sick of wasting fuel. If anyone has experienced or resolved something similar I'm all ears.

[jrebel]

Trails cams are no different than any other item out there......you get what you pay for.  Lots of guys buy cheap cams and love them.  I have never like a cheap cam.  Yeah...do they take pics, sometimes....even when they do, the picture is not great.  If you want cheap, buy a discontinued camera from a reputable manufacturer for pennies on the dollar.  I bought 200 dollar cams for 80 dollars because they upgraded to a new model.  I usually get 4-5 years out of a camera and I run them year round. 

[Ridgeratt]

It cost me nothing to field test them in my yard. Run them for at least a week. I'm really ok with a few photos of my "petite" form waddling around. I might even get a few of some misplaced deer or few pasture maggots.

[MeepDog]

I'm about ready to put all my cams through a chipper shredder. Or maybe hang them in places where cams get stolen. Let the thieves deal with them.

[b0bbyg]

As stated buy and test at home first, saves irritation.
I generally run Moultries which have done well, few other cheaper varieties had trigger issues and were given away at a garage sale.
Nothing worse than a drive, hike and return trip just to find out you have no pictures but all the bait or salt is gone.

[hunter399]

Mine are muddys,wildview,stealth  cams.
All relatively cheap ones.
Definitely look at how big of an SD it can take.
Some take 32,some 16,some older ones will only take an 8 GB.

[huntnnw]

I haven’t spent more than $50 on a cam in a decade other than 2 cell cams. I have 0 issues or failures. I run all wildgame innovations or $30 wildviews.

This is one of those crappy photos from a $30 cam . That cam is out 24/7 at 5,500 gets buried in snow and still takes pics every spring when it melts

[MIKEXRAY]

I have 4 Browning regular trail cams like $ 150 a two pack. Run 6 years all four, never an issue. Batteries last a year taking hundreds of pics a week. Never a single issue , maybe I'm just lucky. Good luck.

[Lumpy Taters]

Something definitely off.    Can you post everything specific for one camera?   Muddy, Stealth Cam, and Wildview are the same cheap cameras just with different names.    Run 18 cams year round and have only had one failure due to a bad seal letting water in.   I do test new cams at home before I put out in the wild.