I'm looking at a Moultrie Game Spy M-80X MINI CAM INFRARED M80X

The specs say

Time-lapse plot camera
Plot camera by day, infrared camera at night

Is this accurate? I spent most of last night reading up on trial cams, and it gave me the impression you were either time laps, or motion activated, but not both.

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I'm not dead set on any brand/model or price. I'm also looking into the option of going with a higher priced cam as long as it has the function to send me an alert when/if a theft is attempted. I'm currently reading up on the spypoint live website.

Black flash (less detectable) is more important to me than range.

I'm extremely interested in the option to go time lapse by day, and still have some function at night, all in one camera.

The option to cover an area from a distance, at least by day, is important. That's why I'm also looking at the Day 6 Plottspotter pro.

Welcome aboard! I don't have an M-80 but it seems most are happy with them. I can tell you that the new Bushnell 476 is supposed to have time lapse twice a day, (such as morning and evening) with times set by you. And it will still pick up anything with the motion sensor, even if its between time lapse events.

I'm still very shaky on terms and such. When you say it's "time lapse twice a day" you kind of lost me.

Would I be able to set it to take a picture once every (for example) 20 seconds? And still take pictures in the dark with the IR?

I'm more interested in the black flash over IR, I don't want my camera to do anything to draw attention to a potential thief. Does the Bushnell 476 offer black flash?

The bushnell 2011 466, and 2012 476 and 477(color viewer) all are low glow. Low glow is they can't see any thing at about 10' but only if you are looking directly at it.

_________________
2010 Bushnell TC 119435CN
X2 2011 Bushnell TC 119466CN
2012 Bushnell TC 119476C HD MAX
2012 Uway VH200B
2012 WGI Elite LightsOut 8
2012 LTL Acorn 5210A
2012 Covert Black 60
2013 Bushnell TC 119576C HD MAX
2013 Bushnell Natureview 119439C HD MAX 1080P
2013 Covert Black 60 HD

Hi and welcome to the foum

The Bushnell 476 is a black flash type camera - It is new on the market for 2012 and a couple of guys took a chance and got one.
last years favorite best working black flash was the 466. Stay away from the 467, it had poor pictures some say.

The New 2012 Moultrie M80 comes in two models Red flash and Black flash - Price wise these are very reasonable.
See the link on here for Custom 1, a vender that advertises on here. he has them on sale right now. viewtopic.php?f=14&t=26954

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(1) 06 Cudde No Flash red
(1) 09 Bushnell Trophy Cam red
(1) 08 WGI S-1.3 white
(2) 10-11 Uway NT 50 B -Invisible Flash BF
(1) 11Truth 60 Black Out BF
(1) 11-M80 red
(1) 12-M80 BLX BF
(1) 12-Primos BlackOut CR BF
(1) 12 WGI Red 4 4NE
990I

Welcome to the forum.

_________________
DLC Covert Prostaff
https://www.covertscoutingcameras.com/

Monster Raxx Field Staff
http://www.monsterraxx.com/

I am a Pro Tester & User of;
Uway,HCO,LtL Acorn,Primos,Spypoint,Covert,Bushnell & Scouting Assistant.

Wildlife Reduction Specialist.

Thanks for the worm welcome guys. Without the experienced help I think many people would be buying almost at random.

I'm still considering all my options.

Does anybody have any insight on the more expensive models that can send me an alert if somebody tries to steal my Camera?

For me to spend the extra money, it would need to be a hybrid time lapse during day, Black flash at night.

Time Laps or as some call it Plot Watch became popular last year and most new cameras have that feature although the format can be slighly differant from camera to camera.

Some do only day - some do a photo repeatedly and you set the duration. Some also will take a photo out of sequense if something sets off the motion detector

What kind of time laps are you looking for?

Go to this link and start reading

http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=2

_________________
(1) 06 Cudde No Flash red
(1) 09 Bushnell Trophy Cam red
(1) 08 WGI S-1.3 white
(2) 10-11 Uway NT 50 B -Invisible Flash BF
(1) 11Truth 60 Black Out BF
(1) 11-M80 red
(1) 12-M80 BLX BF
(1) 12-Primos BlackOut CR BF
(1) 12 WGI Red 4 4NE
990I

Welcome to CG.

If you found a cam that met all of your needs except for black flash, you could always block off the built-in flash and use a black flash booster or extender.

As far as I know, right now the only MMS (cellular) cam that will send a message if someone tampers with it is the Spypoint Live. I suppose if someone moved it very carefully, they might be able to make off with it and not trigger an alert, but really getting away with that would probably require opening it up and shutting it off.
Custom1 has security cases for the new Spypoints, which would help keep it right where you hung it as well as keeping anyone from getting inside the cam.

I figure the Live is out of my price range, so I haven't read up on them enough to know if it has time lapse. I do like the idea of an accelerometer inside a cam, to detect "unwanted attention."

Even having the thief's picture logged onto another device would be acceptable, but I do like the idea of being able to use it as a "security guard", sending me a message or image to alert me to activity.

I think I'll delve deeper into the spypoint cams.

Definitely a plus, if you have good enough cellular coverage where the cam is, so it can reliably send pics. Even if local law enforcement can't get there fast enough to prevent a break-in or vandalism, they might still be able to block a getaway.
Photo evidence is right handy, too, especially if it leads to admissions or confessions.

Something I noticed about the LIVE this morning is that the "grillwork" over the flash array could make it tough to attach a flash booster to that.
Spypoint hasn't answered an inquiry I sent them about another product, so maybe I'll call them sometime and ask about the possibility of making future cameras with a jack for simpler connection of the transmitter for their wireless booster.

I'm having a hard time making a final decision. It seams there is something for every scenario.
I'm thinking about maybe starting out with a cheap Time lapse camera until I can be sure I know what brand/model I'm spending on.

Does anybody have any opinions on a cheap time lapse cam? the Day 6 Plotwatcher pro seams to be the best but It comes with a high price tag. I'd just like to start out with something real cheap and reliable.

I see mentioned in another forum a guy bought 4 of the moultrie time lapse cams, they are on sale $50 each. Not sure on reliablility though, and welcome to the forum.
http://www.moultriefeeders.com/productd ... mfh-dgs-ps
The review
http://www.chasingame.com/index.php?id=199

_________________
2010 Bushnell TC 119435CN
X2 2011 Bushnell TC 119466CN
2012 Bushnell TC 119476C HD MAX
2012 Uway VH200B
2012 WGI Elite LightsOut 8
2012 LTL Acorn 5210A
2012 Covert Black 60
2013 Bushnell TC 119576C HD MAX
2013 Bushnell Natureview 119439C HD MAX 1080P
2013 Covert Black 60 HD

Unfortunately..... real cheap and reliable are not two things that go together with trail cameras .

_________________
1 Spypoint 2012 BF-7
1 Reconyx 2011 HC 600
2 Moultrie 2011 M-80


1 WGI IR-4 ( dead )
2 Stealth 1540 ( dead )