Probably need about 4 of them so what to optimize "bang for my buck".
No easy answer. "It depends." It depends on how good of a camera you need considering image quality, shutter speed, flash distance, battery life, long term durability / service life, initial cost, and replacement cost iff theft is a concern. Likely everyone you talk to is going to push their favorite without understanding their own needs, never mind yours.
For me the requirements were maximum range for detection and flash, best picture quality, best battery life, then then balance of trigger speed and recovery speed vs cost. The cream of the crop is Reconyx but they were running around $650 when I was shopping. I "settled" on Covert Extreme Black 60s at 40% the cost, equal performance otherwise, but a 1.4 second trigger / shutter / recovery speed instead of 0.2 seconds. It was an ok tradeoff for me. I wound up with a dozen Coverts at one time, bought a couple here, couple there as money was available, for from $195 to $215 each including a 32G SD card which did not come with the camera.
I have 7 left. 1 was lost to theft. 3 had shutter failures ... stuck in the shut position. 1 had a sensor failure. Both of the first 2, purchased in spring 2014, are still working. The newest is about 4 years old. I expect the rest to drop off in the next couple years. I don't have what I consider a good replacement candidate picked out.
For people who are setting them up where theft or vandalism is more likely, lower cost is better. Likewise, if you're visiting your cameras more often than me (I get back to them 1-2 times per year max) then having a failure isn't as big a deal, not as much info lost. If you are not carrying them in as far to set them up, then lugging in a replacement isn't as big a deal. Ifyou are not leaving them out over winter under snow at sub zero temperatures as I did, then durability may not be as big a factor.
You have to figure out what works for your situation, what factors to consider, what weight to give each. Best advice I can offer is to check a site like trailcampro.com for reviews, both comparisons of technical features, and the reviewers impressions.
Tom
