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2010 Spypoint IR6 6MP
46 count Red Flash Camera Review
Built in the same style as the previous cameras this
little four and a half by six and three quarter inch
camera comes in both black and camouflage colors.
Keeping with the same style this is a camera in a box
design. This means that the camera case can be mounted
to the tree and when the door is opened the whole camera
can be removed and serviced then returned and the aim
will be maintained. Flash range has not been an issue
with these cameras and the 46 emitters will pump enough
light down range for most conditions. Good tight latches
and a weather sealed door will keep things dry inside
during foul weather. External sealed battery port will
allow hookup to their external battery system. Most of
the previous cameras have not had any issue with trigger
times so we think this camera will be the same. These
folks operate much like Leaf River and do updates un
announced through out the year plus provide down loads
when necessary to keep all cameras that are out
operating to their very best. This camera is said to be
able to take a 32 gig card (I would hate to have to by a
half dozen of them at one time) for memory. Video
resolution is fixed at 640X480 AVI. Typical TV out and
USB ports are available for hookup. The sensitivity is
adjustable for those extreme temperature swings. This
camera operates off 6 AA style batteries rechargeable or
lithium/alkaline standard cells. There is a low battery
indicator to let you know when to replace or recharge
the internal cells. The switch style programming has
gained favor with a great many users because of the fast
simple means of setup. Only the date/time needs to be
entered through the LCD and programming buttons. Most
Spypoint owners are very happy with their cameras and we
have heard good things about their customer service. Off
to the tables and testing center for a little deeper
look at this camera.
08-23-2010 update:
A big hole opened up once we got rid of all that load of
BTC mess and now we are moving at the normal rate
through the reviews. The trigger times are very good and
just over a second at 1.38 for both with and without
flash. The flash range is exceptional at 70 feet.
Sensing was 38 feet at 82 degrees. We slid the cam over
immediately after the sensing test on the feeder and
within an hour we had some visitors which allowed us to
get both day and night samples all within hours. The day
pictures are a little over saturated to the point when
zoomed to the 8 plate there is distortion due to color.
Most would probably like the pictures that way until
they needed to get some fine detail by zooming on a
particular area. The light sensing hung in there and
kept the camera from whiteout but it got close for a
couple of pictures during the transition. This camera is
much like the WGI IR-8 with its flash. The flash is very
strong and will produce IR burn at 20 feet on animals.
Being this camera has good adjustable sensing you could
move this camera back away from the target area and it
will do very good. It pumps light down through the woods
past 70 feet so flash is not an issue as far as amount
of light being delivered. We did see occasional head and
leg blur which is expected and was not an issue.
This camera is just a
tad bigger than that ill fated BTC XLT that most are
familiar with. It has a very course textured camouflaged
color finish that is some of the best case work we have
seen in the industry. There is no reflection and the
array is also broke up by a grill. The PIR sensor lens
is an over sized round multi zone inch and an eighth
type. Inside the camera is a full set of switches used
to program. The very first thing I noticed that I did
not like was the delay switch only goes down to that
Moultrie/Stealth one minute time. This can be worked
around with the up to 4 burst mode on this camera. Most
every one likes that 15 second minimum or lower and
where the delay only goes down to 30 seconds at least
have a burst 9 to take up the slack and catch that buck
following the doe scenario that everyone uses, lets hope
the burst 4 is enough. The first switch is the
photo/video, test (program and walk test), view (check
picture count). Then that other switch I talked about
above next to the burst up to 4 switch. Video length is
the last switch up to 90 seconds with the popular 10
second at the bottom. Selecting menu will allow the
setting of the high/low resolution and allow access to
setting date/time. The battery compartment takes 6 AA
cells under a cover to keep them secure.
This camera is the
cam in a box design as mentioned above but it is also a
cam on the ground if you are not careful. The little
latch that is suppose to hold the cam into the box when
the door is opened is for some reason not catching the
assembly and the cam will fall out if bumped. I studied
the latch and all seems fine but when fully assembled
and the door is closed everything fits great. Pop the
door open and swing the cam open (cam is in the door)
and out comes the camera without any effort at all. The
bottom of the camera has a tri-pod insert and two jacks
for external battery and solar panel for those long
deployments with a king sized card.
This
is a really great camera with the exception of the delay
feature but with the burst 4 work around we will see how
well it works and the time it takes to accomplish a full
run through of that feature. The price is from $169 to
$199 depending on where you shop. This puts it in the
same running as the BTC but the comparison cannot be
made because of the difference in features. What I could
say is that this camera does work and does work the way
they say it should.
08-28-2010 update:
We are running a little out of sequence with the data
here but we will work around until we get it all
incorporated. We pushed hard to gather the sample
pictures and believe me we got a bunch. With the
afternoon storms and dark conditions this camera did not
get any white out pictures. All pictures had animals and
they were mostly centered in the pictures. The IR burn
on close targets is a problem so this camera must be
backed back away from the target area to prevent this.
This camera will be very high competition to the BTC if
the delay was lowered to at least 30 seconds. What this
camera does, it seemed to do well.
08-29-2010 update:
Video mode with this camera seemed to be a tiny bit
fuzzy but still above average. To make it past the
transition period and not have issues is saying a lot
because we have had several recently that could not make
the cut. If they can modify the burst/delay a little as
we suggested privately, they might have still again a
better product. That would cut the delay period to about
30 seconds when the burst 4 was used. This we feel would
make this camera much more attractive to the “trail”
users. As time allows we will be slipping through the
other resolutions to show sample pictures there.
09-25-2010 update:
The one minute delay kept the picture count down but we
still have a full battery indication and 303 more
pictures. We still get some day/night blur but for the
most part the pictures are good. The good black and
white in the night pictures makes them show pretty well
except for the leg and head areas where they are moving.
It looks like it will be a while before we start to see
any degree of battery use.
10-27-2010 update:
Our animal population have gone in hiding since the
season opened and our picture count is way down so we
pulled this camera and set up inside in order to get on
through the battery life.
11-20-2010 update:
This little old cam kept holding on for the longest time
and we almost thought it had locked up but it finally
gave up its las bit of battery power and we got a total
of 3474 pictures and 95 videos over a total of 89 days.
This little cam has served us well. We can now close
this review.
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