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StealthCam MC2-GWM Trail Cameras
Trail Cameras Manufacturer: StealthCam
StealthCam Model: MC2-GWM
Review Category: Trail Cameras
Purchase: I purchased this trail camera from WalMart and have recently exchanged it for the Moultrie GameWatcher (review pending after I get to check it this week.)I have been reading some reviews on the StealthCam (on this site and others) and most of the reviews were rated low, b/c the camera would not rewind the film and the pictures were lost because they were exposed. Other's tried to manually rewind the film some worked, other's didn't. My story is pretty much the same. I had 24 exposure 400 film and all pictures had been taken and 19 events were recorded. I took the camera down excited and ready to get them developed but when I got back to the house to sit down and obtain the film, my heart sank as I opened the camera cover to see the film had not rewound. I quickly closed the cover thinking maybe I only lost the last few. I went into a dark room and removed the film and rewound it by hand. When I took it the store for processing none of the pictures turned out. They didn't charge me anything b/c they didn't print any pictures but I was extremely dissappointed. I bought some extra film and set out to test the camera that afternoon and night. It tested great but when the pictures were all taken and it didn't rewind the film I knew that I would be taking the camera back. At the 24th picture it kept trying to advance. When it tried to advance twice after the 24th picture I opened the camera and was able to manually rewind. I think because it didn't pull the film so tight that the gear could actually turn the wheel. I don't buy into the "Get what you pay for" saying b/c if you pay for a product it should work. The price is good for the camera if it were not deffective.
Things I like about the StealthCam MC2-GWM: 1. It is easy to use. 2. The front LCD is nice because you don't have to open the camera to check the number of pictures it has taken. 3. It detected motion consistently over 30 feet. 4. Price
What I don't like about the StealthCam MC2-GWM: 1. The camera would not automatically rewind the film. 2. When I tried to manually rewind the film it didn't work either. The reason I feel as why it wouldn't was because it didn't detect the end of the roll and kept taking pictures after the 24 exposures were used. It kept trying to advance the film after 24 pictures had been taken, pulling the film tighter and tighter. Then the manual rewind wasn't strong enough to loosen the tension created by this defect.
MC2-GWM quality: Contruction seems to be good. It is easy to mount but there is no way to lock it to the tree effectively, but if someone wants it bad enough they WILL get it.
MC2-GWM summary: I was very dissappointed to have the film ruined. I had 24 exposures taken and 19 on the counter, add it up and that was 43 events. I checked the trail for deer tracks and sign and there were so many deer tracks. A couple of substantial size compared to the rest. Not that there is any proven way to tell if it is a buck or doe, but the camera would tell me that. Overall, the camera would be good for the money, that is if it would rewind the film. The ease of use and the options it has are pretty good (especially the front Display), considering the price. If the rewind functionality would be worked on with no price increase I would definetly give the camera another chance. StealthCam would just have to acknowledge that the rewind functions were poor and they have improved them.
Rating for this StealthCam product: 2
Author of this review on StealthCam Trail Cameras: Keith
Date: 2005-01-16
Usefulness Rating: 4.33333 out of 5.
6 reader(s) voted.
This StealthCam Trail Cameras review brought to you by Hunting & Fishing Gear Review!
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