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Batteries

phade

By phade,
in Trail Camera Reviews and Info

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phade Mentor

phade

Posted
Posted (edited)

Batteries can be a sore spot for people who use trail cams. As such people fall into three or four camps:

  • Lithium users
  • Rechargeable users
  • External/solar users
  • Alkaline (both cheapos and brand name buyers)

I don't dabble in homebrews, but I run 8-10 cams a year. I once owned as many as 15 at a time. I've probably owned somewhere along the lines of 65-75 cams since I started with a Photo Hunter (very early on in the game cam market). I think one of the allures for me was that I was "growing up" both as a hunter and also going through high school/college/career at that time and tech was part of that, so the aspect intrigued me in a hunting setting.

I've been there done that with battery wars. No fit is perfect for everyone.

I transitioned away from anything other than AA batteries. Cams using C or D just are not fun to work with because of the cost and trouble finding deals. Rechargeables are OK, but again, it's too much tinkering. Plus, one thing I really didn't account for, is the fact I LOST quite a few of them. I'd throw them in my pocket in the woods at one set, check the next cam, and lose one or two when I bent over to check the cam. Or, I'd be unloading gear at the truck, and lose a handful in 3 feet of snow (Ever drop your keys after a good snow storm? Ugh), and I wouldn't find them until it melted.

Externals are nice, but are a big outlay upfront, and let's be honest here...they're stupid bulky to deal with on a tree. We don't plop a cam in front of a feeder or lick here as it is not legal. Unless you leave a cam in a single spot year round or maybe move it once, it's a pain to move and you reduce the number of trees you can easily set the cam on. It becomes much more troublesome when you mount cams high (6-7 ft. plus)

Lithiums rock in certain cams. No doubt, they have the longevity and cold weather markets cornered. But, realize almost all cams that have battery meters are not going to be realistic with lithiums installed. It'll say "full bars"....all the way up until it quits - it'll never give you an accurate battery reading for what users need. It's not going to read along the lines of an alkaline that loses power over time. Lithiums just quit - it works, then doesn't. You won't know it in the field until it's dead. I like to know that if my cam says 1 bar out of 3, then I need to toss in some freshies.There's also no real deals. Ebay has some for .50-$1.00 each, but quite a few people have reported they get more bad apples in the bunch than the traditional Energizer lithium pack purchases.

So, in my search for the best cost vs. real world use, I came across Utilitech batteries at Lowes. On Black Friday, you can buy 30 packs for $4. Normally, you can buy 100 packs for $22. They are alkaline and honestly, over the past 18 mos. I have significantly reduced my battery costs and I still get more than acceptable battery life and use. I bet I likely let cams soak longer than anyone on this site on average and I still don't feel like I need to worry about whether the cam will be dead when I arrive. Two xmas ago, I bought 4 30 packs of them on Black Friday. I ran 8.5 cams (I sold one midway) on that purchase for the entire year, save for two months where I pulled cams. I also had more than half a pack left, and I was not judicious when switching batteries as I likely could have let every single battery swap out go longer. The cams were 75% on video use and 25% on pic use...and video is much more demanding of battery power. I even went through most of the winter months with cams in the field. The cams seem to lock up before the batteries give way. Case in point, a Spypoint shut down for a few days with the cold temps this past month and the batteries were still reading full after 3 weeks, about 50 pics, and low single digit temps. Lithiums make an argument in super cold temps, and from time to time i'll use them if I need to for a specific purpose, but honestly, I'm not all that worried about Late Jan and Feb. images for my hunting purposes. These Utilitechs still work well in cold temps to the point I didn't use lithiums at all last year.

For $18 after tax, I powered all of my cams and had leftover batteries. If you use AA batteries in your cams, I'd consider these as a viable option.

http://www.lowes.com...eries=

Edited by phade
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fasteddie Grand Master

fasteddie

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Posted

My newer cams use the C & D batteries . I hate the cameras with the AA batteries and I had to change them too often . The "Wild View" cameras would eat the AA's and the cameras took 14 batteries each .

I have a Moultrie IR camera out that still has 65% battery life after 2 months in freezing weather and taking 3500 pics ( due to the camera being too sensitive and taking 3 pics on each trip ) . I started using the "Jobsmart" batteries from Tractor Supply and bought sever packs when they had them on sale ( $5 for 8 C batteries ) . The Fuji batteries at Big Lots also hold up great .

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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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I'll gladly stick with the AA batteries also. I'm just a piker when it comes to trail cams as I've only owned two and I still use them. I have one ScoutGuard and one Bushnell (same as the SG) and they both take AA's and last FOREVER!

trailcampics2009and2010008.jpg

Edited by Lawdwaz
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Lawdwaz Grand Master

Lawdwaz

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AA ALL THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! my cam (Spypoint IR-5) will go all most a year on one set of cheapo Tractor Supply Co JOBSMART brand batteries... takes 6 of em... works flawlessly in hot or cold weather...

I HATE C and D batteries!!!!! even AAA is not very nice...

Your very wise for your age. Joseph.

Edited by Lawdwaz
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