2010 Moultrie MFH-DGS-DIR50 5MP 28 count red flash Camera Review

We now have a ton of feed back asking for particular data to be readily displayed to save time for those who are shopping. We have never leaned towards charts or graphs because we spend a great deal of time testing and writing and those charts would just be glanced at and the text would never get read. In Moultrie’s case I am going to make an exception and post one of the main factors that is looked at. This camera has a minimum of one minute delay. For those who are turned off by that then go on to the next review that may be of interest to you. 

So far Moultrie has not made it around the bases this year with any of the cameras we have tested up to this point. This camera has not been announced or published anywhere and it just showed up hanging upside down in one of the Walmarts I visited. I had known about this camera due to some overseas connections and at least one report of one being used here in the states. I viewed the pictures that were posted on our forum and could see that maybe there might be a slight chance than Moultrie may have something that would give both good day and night pictures in the IR family. This cam measures about four and a half inches wide and seven inches tall it is somewhat smaller than all the other cameras coming from this company. It sticks out from the tree about two and a half inches and the case is a satin textured black. There is a 28 count array at the top front with a small LCD and camera lenses below. You note I said lenses meaning there is no IR filter to clunk. PIR sensor lens is the bull’s eye type which is centered on the cameras front. Two small indicators are located to the right of the camera lens and they are the status indicator and low battery indicator. At the bottom of the camera there is a external battery port and tri pod insert. This camera is very much a Wildview look alike because the door and switch setup for programming is all the same style. The back of the camera has strap loops for tree mounting with the supplied strap. No internal memory or TV out setup is incorporated into this simple plain Jane camera. 

The gasket sealed small door covers the switches and battery compartment. The switches are the on/off and just below is the three switch setup that controls functions like IR aim, setup, auto, delay, and resolution. On the other side of the PIR lens is the programming date/time buttons. Across the bottom front is the four C cell battery holder. SD card slot (up to 16 gig) is located on the slope beside the sensor. 

Powering it up with new cells was easy and programming went very easy until I shut it off and lost that setting. I again tried and the programming was lost again. I once more attempted the program and then decided that easy enough to do I could possibly have to do that each time I deployed the camera. I shut it down and started getting the review pictures. The next time I turned it on to re program the time/date it had held that setting. This told me that the by installing the 4 C cells and waiting a while that the internal memory battery will charge and hold the program. I checked out the bubble pack and they use the words “quick response time” which could mean many different things. If it was response time for a camera return that could mean a week might be considered a quick response time. If they are referring to the time that is spent from when the PIR sensor tells the camera that there is something in front of the camera and when the camera actually takes the picture that is called “trigger time” so the play on words like last year when they used “virtually invisible flash” does not work here. They build these cameras and they should have enough pride to say that “this camera has a XXXX trigger time” and we are sure that they have the facilities to test and prove the trigger time and if they don’t then it is time that they do and not be afraid to post those figures accurately. The other specifications are high rez is 5 MP and low is VGA. Video is set at 620X440. The flash is rated to thirty feet but I am having a hard time believing that because this is a 28 count IR array and should reach 50 feet very easy, if it don’t then there is something very wrong. 

We are headed out to get some of the basic tests done and then we are going to have to slot this camera into the stack for its turn on the range. If there is anything to crossing ones fingers then maybe this camera will fly and Moultrie will have at least one IR camera that functions well with the exception of that delay issue.

The trigger time bench was not very kind to this camera and it turned in a day time of 2.23 seconds and a with flash of 3.02 seconds which looks very much like the trigger times we found on the 2010 May + BTC. Well I guess we will have another chance next year to see if this old company can pull things back together. The day range and 8 plate were faded and lacking contrast and there is an overriding haze on the pictures. This finding makes those WGI cameras look very attractive for cameras in the $100 price range. Last year the D-40 pulled it out for Moultrie but this year things have slid somewhat. We will gather some night flash range pictures but this is going to be another very short review.

08-08-2010 update:  Working overtime we slipped this cam into the bunch on the hill and got some flash range and sensing tests done. The sensing was about 40 feet at around 80 degrees. The flash range was about 40 feet and the picture was a very blurry washed out picture. The $100 price tag really makes this camera seem very over priced compared to offerings from some of the other companies like WGI who for less money have much better pictures and delay features. With this last test we are going to do so we are moving ahead and close this review and move on to more credible cameras waiting to be done.