Cheap is not always better!

Over the years, I have been fortunate enough to have tried out various trail cameras on the market. I have tried products from Bushnell, Cuddeback, Moultrie, Penns Woods, Wildview, and Stealth Cam. I have tried out various models from the old-fashioned 35mm to the new digital cameras. I have found out from experience that cheaper is not always better, and in the case of trail cameras, that is very true. Lower cost cameras are a way for manufacturers to sell to people not interested in spending a lot of cash. However, these introductory models do not contain the same level of quality components as the higher level, e.g. more expensive, models. A perfect example of this would be the time I bought a cheaper Bushnell camera. I did this because of tight finances. I had never used Bushnell products before and simply wanted to try them out. The camera I bought came as a kit that also contained a viewer and a mounting system. Well, the viewer did not work from the get go and the camera was horrible on batteries and had a very short flash range. Needless to say, I was very unhappy. I tried to return it to the local store where I purchased it only to be directed to Bushnell’s regional representative. I emailed the gentleman and received a quick reply. He was understanding of the situation and was determined to resolve the issue and satisfy this upset customer. He immediately went to the extreme and offered to send me a new, top of the line unit for no expense. He called and talked to the local store of my initial purchase and requested they refund my money. I did this fully expecting to never hear any more about it. I mean come on, how often does someone promise something that is too good to be true? Well, a few weeks went by and I received a package in the mail. Once opened, I determined that Bushnell really was determined to satisfying their customers. In the package I found a new top of the line model of Bushnell camera, along with a new viewer and a new camera mount. I was speechless. This type of customer satisfaction is unheard of these days. I applaud Bushnell for the efforts they went to in order to make me happy. Well, I must say that the top of the line camera works wonderful and I would highly recommend Bushnell products to anyone. Another quick example of introductory cameras comes from Wildview. I tried their first low-cost digital camera ($69) and was extremely dissatisfied. I returned the camera for a refund of money. A friend of mine has a couple of Wildview’s higher priced cameras and loves them. I have seen the pictures from those cameras and they do look good. The cheap camera I tried had about a 5 ft. flash range and was only 1.3 mega pixel, so the pictures were grainy. It also liked to eat up all eight of the AA batteries very quickly and I swear it took a whole herd of deer dancing in front in order to trigger it. In summary, I would recommend if someone only has x amount of money to spend, then save until you can afford a higher level camera. Do not waste your money too soon on a cheaper camera only to be disappointed.