Moultrie Camera Review Page

Please keep in mind that even though we make recommendations for game scouting cameras, they are based on the results obtained from the particular cameras we tested with.  Our main focus is to perform the testing, thus we urge you to make your own decision on a camera purchase.

Moultrie

Digital Game
Spy 100

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

Click here to view a simple camera mount project you can do yourself!

 

2/25/06 - Read This Statement to Moultrie before Continuing!

This camera is one of the cheapest yet performs very well.  The camera uses a 6 volt lantern battery which will last a couple of months on standard resolution (10 to 20 pics per week) and with a rechargeable lead acid battery and available solar panel (aimed at the morning sun) should go all year.  Battery life will decrease with the high resolution setting and when the majority of the pictures are at night using the flash.  The camera is easy to program and set up.  The trigger time is about 3 seconds and the flash is marginal.  Again this camera should be aimed up or down the trail for a longer sensing time.  This camera really shines with its daytime pictures. 
The camera's manual is written with the thought that the user has a general knowledge of how digital cameras and such work. Even though this camera is straight forward in its programming methods, some might like a better outline to follow to complete the time date and ID functions. A small instruction sticker on the inside of the door might aid folks in the field without their manual.

10-05-05 update:

We spent about 30 minutes on the phone with the tech folks at Moultrie this morning and we discussed the system operating versions of the cameras. The Game spy and Game watcher 100 cameras have had three different versions. The 2.32 v is the oldest and this was followed by the 1.2 and now the 1.5 versions. The newer cameras do not have the solar panel terminals on the outside of the case. They recommend that you use the rechargeable batteries and just hook the solar panel alligator clips to the battery springs and close the door. There is no software upgrade available by the factory for the older software versions. The customer service number is 1-800-653-3334 8 to 5 CST M thru F.

12-7-05 update:

 We had one of our Moultrie 1.3 cams  that we had nicknamed the “the Moultrie Extreme”. The reason for this was that it had a tendency to be over sensitive and take pictures untill filling the SD card and run down the battery. Even though it would do this on occasion, it would still sense and take pictures of animals. On 1 December 05 I wrote a letter explaining the fault and returned this camera along with the letter for repair. Today is 7 December and UPS just brought me a box containing a new camera. It is not a replacement Spy100 it is a new 3.1 Game spy 200. This proves that this is an exceptional company and they have not only an excellent customer service they have a very good repair and return service. Another reason for keeping this camera company's products on top of our recommended picks.

03-20-2006 Update on Moultrie GS-100 and GS-200:

The following is a list of things that we have learned by way of E mails, Outdoor Forums, Phone conversations, word of mouth and from our personal experience. I will say that the cameras that we purchased and tested seemed to perform very good until recently, we have had one of the GS-200s to show some signs of problems. (SD card lock and White out)

  • Poor sensing.

  • SD card locked indication on LCD but camera functions normally.

  • Bad battery life.

  • Severe difference in trigger time from day pictures to flash pictures.

  • Whiteout pictures randomly.

  • Moon phase quits being displayed on pictures.

  • Flash pictures have saucer eyes.

  • Limited sensing range. (sometimes corrected by the “fix.” (sensor lens replacement)

  • Camera just dies and will not boot up with fresh battery. 

Most of these problems were discussed with a Moultrie management person and we were promised an answer by E mail last week. As of yet we have not received any word. Bill

 

Trigger time is 3 to 4 seconds
Flash Tests
Sample Photos
 
Movie Sample (windows media format)

Note: These sample pics are unmodified.  They are original size and may take a while to download on a slower connection speed.

 

Moultrie

Digital Game
Spy 200

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

Click here to view a simple camera mount project you can do yourself!

 

 

 

Another Simple Mounting Bracket Idea:

2/25/06 - Read This Statement to Moultrie before Continuing!

Model MFH-DGS-200 Game Spy 200

This is Moultrie's latest camera rated at 3.1 MP on its highest setting. The three settings for resolution are 640X480, 1204X768, and 2048X1536 enhanced. The AVI movie setting is 320X240 at 10 seconds. Out of the box, the first thing that struck me is that the manual was just one sheet folded up. This took me back to my first encounter with the Leaf River. First impressions are often wrong because the programming is very straight forward and easy so the instructions were more than adequate. Having just over a 2 second trigger time at 80+ degrees says that this cam should perform very well in the field when the temps are 50 and below. No external solar panel terminals was one of the few things that appear to be a negative. The factory folks say just hook the solar panel clips to the battery springs and close the door. (I personally am going to file a small notch for the wires to exit)  I tried the factory method and the case crimped the wires so I would be sure to take care and see that the panel wires exit the case at the bottom and are not crossed  to prevent the possibility a short and of moisture getting inside the case. There is a little different switch/button arrangement between the 100 series and the 200 series with a big dummy button above the mode button that I seemed to want to push to change modes. We are looking forward to testing this cam and it should be chasin game this weekend (November 12, 2005).

03-20-2006 Update on Moultrie GS-100 and GS-200:

The following is a list of things that we have learned by way of E mails, Outdoor Forums, Phone conversations, word of mouth and from our personal experience. I will say that the cameras that we purchased and tested seemed to perform very good until recently, we have had one of the GS-200s to show some signs of problems. (SD card lock and White out)

  • Poor sensing.

  • SD card locked indication on LCD but camera functions normally.

  • Bad battery life.

  • Severe difference in trigger time from day pictures to flash pictures.

  • Whiteout pictures randomly.

  • Moon phase quits being displayed on pictures.

  • Flash pictures have saucer eyes.

  • Limited sensing range. (sometimes corrected by the “fix.” (sensor lens replacement)

  • Camera just dies and will not boot up with fresh battery. 

Most of these problems were discussed with a Moultrie management person and we were promised an answer by E mail last week. As of yet we have not received any word. Bill

 

 

Trigger time is 2.5 to 3 seconds
Flash Tests
Sample Pictures

More Samples on the ChasinGame Gallery!
 

(sold by WalMart, dubbed the
Wally World 100
)

Moultrie

Digital Game
Watcher 100

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

WW 100 (Wally World) Moultrie Game Watcher 2.1 MP
Out of the box this cam resembles all previous Wally World models. A plain black box and no solar panel terminals. When you open the case the only difference in appearance is the LCD screen which has printed indicators for different functions like battery condition and amount of pictures taken. Programming this camera was somewhat different than its predecessor but easy and the manual is easy to follow.

***The “Sure Shot”  function that Moultrie has incorporated into this camera is a pain in the foot. It takes two motions to set it off. The first motion does nothing but if the cam senses a second motion the picture will be taken in under one second.

Put on a feeder or mineral lick this camera will do a fine job. If positioned across a trail it would probably miss the first deer but catch the second animal within one second. This being the case aiming this camera up and down the trail would be mandatory. Flash range is good to 40 feet and the same as all other Moultrie's tested. Cost on this camera with tax was $106. The camera comes with the normal cables and a couple of small bungee cords. No means of security for this cam was in the box also. I am working on a new design for securing all of the Moultrie models and should have pictures posted soon. This camera will be placed on a feeder this afternoon and will have an old standard black DGS-100 Moultrie V 2.3 with it for a side by side evaluation.

08-06-06 Update:  We had four cameras looking at the same feeder. There were two IR cameras and two Moultrie 100 cameras. The two IR cams took 150 pictures each and neither Moultrie took pictures. Thinking that we may have done something wrong, we re-programmed the Moultries and put them back out. One of the troubling things we found with the Moultrie (Wally World 100) was the LCD display. The new display has the numbers letters in a very fine script that is super hard to read unless the light is exactly right. This time we were sure that the “ready” indicator was on before we set the cam out. Trying to program this cam under a tree in the early morning would not work out very well unless you had a third hand to hold a small flashlight. We will have results to post in a couple days. This cam is definitely on its way back to Wally World for a refund.  

The over night test proved that we must have had a little bit of dumb azz when we did the first set up. 57 pictures and no white outs yet there was evidence of the flash going off in the early afternoon. The pictures were sharp and clear for the MP rating. We might hang on to this cam for another week just to make sure that what we previously experienced was us and not the camera. The test goes on.
 

Part 2 of this dumb azz review will find both Anthony and myself going back to basic camera review school. The other DGS 100 that we were running parallel with this cam failed to take pictures also. Closer review of that cam found that we had chosen a very anemic battery which lasted long enough to turn the camera on, but not long enough to take any pictures. Everything has been put back to square one and the field tests re started. Of the group of pictures that were taken last night the flash seemed to do a very good job and reaching far out past the feeder illuminating small deer that was 40+feet away.

 

We have completed the review of this cam and our last (part 2) findings are that this camera has very acceptable pictures. The sensing ability seems to be on par with out Moultrie GS-200 "NV". The battery life seems to be somewhat of an issue. Our fully charged 6 volt lasted two days and we had less than 40 pictures. This camera will be a very good candidate for the old hook up the solar panel and run the wires out the bottom and close the door as we had to do with the early models of the GS 200. We are waiting for our rep to bring us one of the new Game Spy 2.1s to see if we get similar results. 

 

 

Trigger time is around 1 second***
Flash Tests
Sample Pictures

Moultrie

Black Moultrie GS-100
Model MFH-DGS-100V2

(Late 2006)

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

 

Plain Jane Black Moultrie GS-100 review (late 06)

Basically the same camera as the Wally World camera tested earlier. I was curious just what was better about the Game Spy over the Game watcher. This model also does not have the solar terminals and programs the same as the Wally World GW-100. Triggering on this camera is different on this camera. When left dormant for a while with out activity the camera will go to sleep and it takes a 3 second window to wake it up but once awake will trigger within one half second, and after the delay will trigger again under a second if motion is still present. Every time I pick up one of these Moultrie cameras I have a habit of inspecting the seal to see if there is any defects. The reason for this is we had one of our forum members who had a Moultrie in a creek bottom and a flood came and the camera was under water for several days. The camera had no ill effects other than being covered with mud. Try that trick with any of the 06 Cuddebacks and see what happens. The 2.1 MP rating is in order for most tasks in the scouting camera arena. Properly situated this camera will handle most field tasks very well. Knowing the ability and quirks each of these cameras have a person can pretty well situate the camera in such a manner that it will perform well. We have always loved our Moultrie cameras and the way the company has supported its customers. There was a down period in 05 where there seemed to be many things that caused all the outdoor forums to light up with complaints but this company stuck right in there and kept replacing cameras until now days I rarely see any problems mentioned. This camera can sell any where from just over a hundred dollars to around one hundred forty dollars depending on the source. In high risk areas where there is a chance of theft many folks seek out the less expensive cameras and use some of the security measures mentioned on this site. This camera has features like the laser aim, no loss of program during battery change, front viewable status which we wished we could see on some of the other comparative priced cameras. Trigger time is under one second after wakeup and flash looks to be the same as the Walley World 100 but I will re do this test in the morning to confirm. We just have to get a set of field test pictures and see how good they are. Flash range tests show good flash to 40 feet and this 50 degree morning this camera would sense me at 40 feet also. The sensing range and flash range seem to be very well matched on this camera. As with the Wally world cam this camera has the hard to read LCD screen. The new fine print makes it hard to read in low light conditions like early morning under the canopy of trees. Once we get some test pictures the plan is to match this camera with the Wild view 2 and Bushnell 119200 if our Bushnell is returned from repair in time to do this test in a timely manner.

 

Trigger time with out flash
Trigger time with flash
Flash Tests
Sample Pictures
Standard resolution
High Resolution
Movie
Click Here


Moultrie

MFH-DGW-4.0 (2007)
4 MegaPixel

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

Moultrie MFH-DGW-4.0 (D-40) Review 06-09-2007

This is Moultrie's low end camera that appears to be packed with a great deal of high end features. In appearance it looks like the 05 and 06 cameras less the solar panel terminals. The addition of an external battery port is up on the right side of the camera which is covered by a rubber plug. When the case is opened the inside of the camera is removable from the outer case. The bottom rear of this inside camera has a removable slide plate to access the battery compartment (6 D cells) which holds the batteries very secure once the cover is reinstalled. The SD card slot is easily accessed on the front right of the camera. A well designed single switch will move you through the functions while a separate set of buttons gives you the up, down, delete and select options. A pushbutton on off switch is at the top left of the front panel. There should be no problems in the winter, even with gloves on. I did not find any problems with the water seal gasket on this camera, it remained in place through testing. All the previously designed security brackets for the 05-06 cameras will work with this camera. The claim of 60 day battery life is assumed to be what they call “normal conditions” meaning no extreme temperatures and probably using the lower rez settings. This is an area of high interest to most users. Trigger time (unofficial) looks like between 1 to 2 seconds and on the medium setting the color flash pictures were a bit grainy. First impression is that this is going to be a very easy to use and nice camera to have for the price. Using a large capacity 12v SLA external battery and a high capacity card (up to 4 gig) should allow some extended field deployments if desired. The outside pictures taken on the high setting at 0800 in the morning were still a little fuzzy but very true in detail and color. I would have no problem owning one of these as my field scouting camera with its $100 price tag because it will do just about everything that I would need. Flash range and sensing will happen tomorrow morning and trigger times will follow after that.


06-10-2007 Update:  Did the flash range tests this morning and as advertised it is to 50 feet easily. The sensing range at 71 degrees this morning was 35 to 40 feet. We will get the trigger time tests and then to the field for all the movie and sample picture examples.
 

Note: One strange thing that I noticed. To simulate battery life I installed a set of used batteries which gave a reading of 80%. The camera would turn on but shut itself off before I could make it flash. We are going to have to determine if there is a threshold of battery strength which shuts the cam down. I installed one new battery which brought the level to 85% and the cam worked just fine. Long term battery life is advertised as being 60 days, so we will run the camera and monitor the battery level to see when it starts to shut down. During these tests I found that the camera when working would give me what appeared (unofficial) trigger time of around 1 second. I did not experience any of the sleep mode issues that were talked about in some of the early news leaks.
 

06-17-2007 update:  This cam had been in the field for about a week and monitored closely. With a setting of low resolution, the flash and picture quality with flash are both just fair. This test will now be revisited with the high settings. Daytime pictures are much better. Setting side by side with a Stealth I-450, this camera matched pictures one for one as far as sensing so us knowing that the WD series stealth cameras have always had very good sensing this $ 100 camera seems to function very well. Pictures were caught of fast moving deer crossing in front of the camera. These pictures were blurry but show that the trigger time is also very acceptable. Bang for the buck we find nothing wrong with this camera. Back to the tree for the picture quality test set on high.
 

06-23-2007 update:  One thing that we failed to mention is the automatic sleep mode when the camera is idle for a period of time. It takes a couple of seconds to get the first picture then it is in the fast trigger mode. This is the statement from the pamphlet:  To maximize battery life the camera "sleeps" when no activity occurs for 2 minutes when you enter the delay mode. It takes a couple of seconds (flash will be slightly longer) to "wake" the camera when activity occurs. ONLY AFTER THE CAMERA WAKES will game movement result in a picture.


 

Trigger time with out flash (1 second)
Trigger time with flash (1 second)
Flash Tests
Sample Pictures
low resolution
High Resolution
Movie

 

 

 


Moultrie

MFH-DGW-4.0 (2008)
4 MegaPixel

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

 

08 Moultrie D-40 MFH-DGW-4.0 4 MP white flash camera revisit review 08-15-2008

Being we did a revisit on a couple of the of the I series cameras and found that they fell on their face this year with some bad trigger times and some issues with the whiteout problems. I had a hard time locating one of these cameras in the normal system because they stay sold out. This morning I visited one of the stores looking for another item when they were stocking the shelves fresh from the factory cameras. I gobbled up one but had to leave it lying around for a while until I could get a Bushnell and another camera on its way to Anthony to do his part. With 6 new batteries in its stomach the cam fired up and allowed me to program it up in about a minute or two. With the function switch in the setup mode and a good long hold down of the on power switch I was able to use the up/down and select switch to get everything done. Back to the off position and the function switch moved to the auto position and the countdown started. Of course I had already installed a good clean SD card in the appropriate slot. I set the cam on the bench in front of the trigger time clock and with a couple layers of blue masking tape over the flash I did some unofficial trigger tests. All came out at one second and I about fell out of my chair with this good news. Now I left it set up and headed in for a sandwich so I could look to see if this sucker would go into that dreaded sleep mode. About a half an hour later I made my way back to the cam without it seeing me and waited for the clock to hit the twelve. The flash went off and the time recorded (Less than two seconds), even in the sleep mode this camera is over a second faster than those high classed Moultrie’s. This camera now has a couple years under its present design and so far seemed to function very well. The sales in this area show that it is one of the most popular cameras around. Wal Mart had 24 Remington Ghosts and zero D-40s The Ghosts have been there for over two weeks and not even one was sold. With the two second wake up time and the one second trigger for every picture after that makes this a very usable camera. Big black and ugly camera is the description one fellow who was asking to buy one from the store clerk who replied “you mean the Moultrie digital”? The fellow said “Yea that’s it” when the D-40 came off the shelf. I spent a little time with him and he became a programming champ in a very short time and he headed out of the store to the club to hang it on the tree. I think he just got a little of that addiction that has been rumored around the forums. I am not going to go through all the description and measurements because that is all in the original review last year. We are going to get some flash tests and sensing tests before moving to the hill for the pictures. For those potential white flash fans who are waiting to see what the Cudde Capture is going to do might just want to buy two of these for the same price. The cudde has what appears to be better pictures and maybe a little faster trigger but it has not been out there successfully for two years. We hope it is but we don’t know as of now. There is just not a lot of fast white flash cams out on the market this year.

08-16-2008 update:  The flash range testing went well and the white flash reached well past forty feet. The sensing range is also forty feet for this 71 degree morning. Compared to the I and M series 2008 cameras we tested this year this camera has it all over them with the exception of picture quality. You could have a stack of these cams for the price of one of the 60 series cams.

 

08-27-2008 update:  Well all you Moultrie I and M series cameras that have a 2008 birth date you need to hang your head in shame. Your little brother just put all you to shame. The pictures in our sample tests are pretty good for a sub $100 camera. The official trigger time came out to be around a second (2 seconds after sleep). Even when the camera went to sleep it still wakes up and snaps a picture more than a second faster than its more expensive siblings. This camera is being pumped out by some vendors for as little as $69 and as high as $99 for other vendors. This means that you could have two of these cameras and not put the same dent in the wallet as one of those new Capture cameras. The D-40 also has more features and a company that has stuck behind their products. We are very happy with this camera and it will be added to our stack of long term cameras to hold a spot in our inventory of cameras that will stay in the woods.
 

 

Trigger Tests
with and without flash 1 second after sleep mode
Flash Tests

Samples High Res




 

 


Moultrie

I40 IR flash 4.0 MP

(2007)

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 


 

Security:  I made a 7 ½ X ¾ X 1/8 inch bar (see picture) and drilled a hole in each end to slip a Python cable through and it appears that this will work just fine for most security situations:


 


Side view with battery plate removed.  SD card and accessories cables plug in here:



Card Puller
: A three inch piece of good electrical tape, folded in half and stuck to both
sides of the SD card makes card removal easy in the new M and I series Moultrie cams.



Potential Leak Issue
 

1/2 inch piece of 2X4 cut to a length of 4 3/4 inches and beveled on the end to 45% provides enough support
to the back of the case so over tightening will not warp the case and prevent the front of the battery compartment
from a possible water leak on the I and M series Moultrie.


A simple tin rain guard for I and M series Moultrie cams:


 


IR Stealth Option:
(see 06-17-07 update)

A small piece of smoked clear plastic 3 1/2 X 1 1/4 inches set in front of the IR emitters inside the case will possibly
do two things:
 
1. Tone down the red glow when camera is triggered to prevent from someone seeing the camera and spooking game.
 
2. A well camouflaged camera would still have the bright white square of IR emitters that would give away its location to that possible trespasser. Covering up the the emitters in this matter will help conceal the cam.
 
We made a similar cover for the Leaf River IR camera and it worked very well and we did not see any noticeable amount of loss of IR light in our tests. Our test camera was placed in an area which had a lot of passing traffic and the camera was never detected.

MFH-DGS-I40 IR Flash 4 MP camera review 06-09-2007
Having just gone through its big brother the I-60 this camera possesses many of the same features.  Lacking are the higher MP rating, remote feature, and some of the eye candy that is printed across the bottom of the picture. It has the same amount of IR emitters so the flash is the same and the case is black but maintains the same dimensions. There is three rez settings which are low, medium, and enhanced (interpolated) to reach the 4.0 MP high rating.

Both cameras function the same as far as flash range, trigger time and sensing range.

Coming out of the box this camera had the sticky gasket problem that was mentioned in the 6.0 review. When packed at the factory the front cover wants to stick to the gasket in some areas and when the cover is opened it tends to slightly lift the gasket out of its grove. If this was missed and not slid back in place it could result in a water leak. Once the gasket was put back in place we did not experience it becoming loose again during the many times we opened the case. This appears to only be the case when it is opened fresh out of the box. I did water leak tests as I did with the Cuddeback cameras and found no leaks once the gasket was properly re-installed.

The 7 ½ inch bar described for use with the 6.0 will also work for this camera’s security.

Packing a $100 dollar cheaper price tag than its big brother and me being more in favor of cameras that take very good low MP pictures (smaller file size) makes missing those bells and whistles seem less important. If camo is important to you, just get a roll of that camo cloth tape that is used to make archery equipment look like a tree and use it to hide your camera. Just don’t do to good of a job because this camera does not have that beacon feature and you cant call it up from a distance.

Finally things in the trail camera business have brought the suppliers to the point where all the desirable features are there and the choice gets harder.
Moultrie has began to rock the industry for the second time (excluding early 06) with this years new cameras. Having trigger times just over a second and a selection of features that have been talked about here over the past three years. These appear to be very good cameras. With all fingers crossed we are hoping that everyone’s field experience does not uncover some hidden difficulty. The sleep factor that was rumored to affect these cameras, did not surface during our testing but we will be putting one in a situation for a day plus situation without being triggered and see if we can sneak up on it and catch it in a nap. The camera is presently deployed on a very sunny open area with a corn feeder and in about week we will be able to provide some sample pictures. Our private purchase of these same models through normal channels found no differences in function than the ones that came straight from the supplier. This is a test that we must do to prove that by chance we might receive cameras that may have been gone through prior to us receiving them. This would make it unfair to the average buyer. To date we have only on one occasion had this happen with a small company that now seems to feel they are better off dealing with the industrial research folks than the hunting sports folks.

With all the information being put out about good rechargeable batteries and with the new solar panel (available this fall from Moultrie), this camera with a 4 gig card should be able to stay out for a very long time without any maintenance. The next option would be to use the external 12v SLA battery with a 12v panel hooked directly to the battery. Caution: Do not exceed 15 volts when doing this according to the folks at Moultrie. 

08-14-2007 update:  This is another camera that made it to the field without getting its trigger time tested. The field results are very impressive and the more we look at this camera the more we would probably choose this one over its big sister the I60 because we see no need for that tiny view screen and the remote feature has not been needed for way we do our scouting. Being cheaper is also a reason to choose this camera. I have been so totally impressed by the function of the I 60 that I was not really paying much attention to this camera. Just having a black case and basically much of the rest is the same, leaves operational functionality the only issue. Well this camera passed with flying colors. I do not need a 6 MP camera with those large file sizes to do my scouting. I cannot say anything bad about the I 60 because it also works very well but it also costs more. The sleep mode that we kept on looking for is just not there. These cameras will latterly last a couple months on a set of batteries and take thousands of pictures. The I 60 has been out over two months and taken over 3k pictures and 200+ movies and it is still on the hill banging away right now. The I 40 is there, also, just not as long. Picture quality is very good and we can not fault this camera in any way on that point. We have some more rez settings to go through plus the flash and trigger tests to do and we can go on with the battery life testing.

 

08-19-2007 update:  This can came off the hill just long enough to get its trigger time tested (less than 2 seconds) and was put right back out at another rez setting . We are liking about everything about this camera. Both the day and night pictures have good quality. Three things about this cam that are needed, 1st do not tighten the strap to tight when mounting, 2nd build yourself a locking bar for using a Python lock to secure this camera, 3rd cross your fingers and hope that Moultrie gets off their duff and supplies us with a downloadable update to help with the whiteout issue. With all that in place this is going to be one hard camera to beat.

 

08-20-2007 update:  The flash range testing was done this morning and as with the I-60 this cam proved to have very good illumination past 40 feet. I was doing the Wildview 5 test at the same time and it was remarkable just how much faster this camera is on trigger time and delay time. I found the delay time to be a little less than the advertised 1 minute. Sensing range was out past 35 feet which surprised me because the WV-5 could only see me at 25 feet. 76 degrees and sensing testing makes for some difficult times in most cases but this cam passed with flying colors.

09-22-2007 Moultrie Firmware (whiteout update) internet download review:  On one of the outdoor forums there was a comment about this new download to correct the whiteout issue. This fellow said “I hate to admit this but Moultrie did a good job putting this together”. Well, We do not hate but are glad and happy that this has finally been accomplished. It is obvious that these folks did their homework and put together a download that does work.

There was only a couple of minor issues worth mentioning about the whole process:  At one point, the instructions tell you to connect the USB cable and then copy files onto camera SD card. At this time they make no mention of the number of screens that must be clicked through in Windows XP to accomplish this while XP recognizes the new hardware.  These instructions are very precise and must be followed exactly to the letter. One small glitch occurred twice while we followed the instruction correctly.  This was when we activated the firmware level 1 update, we got the message "FILE NOT READY".  We got this message 2 to 3 times but just kept trying and it finally loaded the level 1 firmware correctly.

The overall process is 5 steps for the I series and 4 steps for M series. Step 3 has you download the firmware files from the Moultrie website onto your computer.  Steps 4 and 5 walk you through loading the firmware onto the camera and activating the "firmware update" process.  We found the process easy but make sure you follow the instructions exactly.

09-29-2007 update Moultrie whiteout upgrade M and I series:  This past year we have seen where companies have outsourced their production overseas are starting to see problems arise. The pre production units seem to work just fine but when the post production units start to hit the market there seems to be a margin of difficulties in function that the users are finding. We do not know that this is the case with the new I and M series Moultrie’s but it is suspected. When these cameras hit the market they seemed to be exactly what many folks were wanting. We really liked all models and still do but now that we have gotten deep into the testing we see that the original problems dealing with the whiteout issue has mushroomed into a new set of difficulties with these cameras. Most folks felt that it was more of a hardware issue dealing with the light sensor than a software issue. This may be true but Moultrie has attempted to correct this through a firmware upgrade. We have seen a degree of improvement with the I series but no change with the M series.  We cannot exactly duplicate the light conditions of the pre download, but we can get close. With the I series we see a definite improvement in amount of whiteout, but in this process this firmware update has created another problem. This problem is the lack of color pictures during good light conditions. It takes some pretty strong sunlight before this camera will switch to color. On an average we are seeing color pictures between 11 AM and 4 PM. During this period we see that the cameras will sometimes switch back and forth between monochrome and color. We have seen some reports that some folks feel that the picture quality has also been degraded somewhat. With our cameras we cannot state this because of the varying light conditions on the pre and post pictures. Moultrie engineers have done lots of work creating this download but we feel that it is still lacking and still has to be tweaked. The M series is a total disappointment and just has not been fixed. We are still getting more than 50% whiteout pictures. On one of our M-40’s it seemed to get worse after the download. What it has come down to is that both the I and M series cameras must be taken out from under the forest canopy and put in the bright sun in order to work properly. Reports that the trigger time was also affected has not been proven in our tests. We hope that Moultrie takes notice and does a little more work on these great cameras.

**The reviews on the 2007 Moultrie cams will be on hold pending further feedback from Moultrie concerning issues with the recent firmware upgrades.

03-16-2008 update: 
This review was put on hold waiting for some data from Moultrie so we could complete the review. They have failed to answer our requests so we will close this review.  

 

Trigger time with out flash (1.5 seconds)
Trigger time with flash (2 seconds)
Flash Tests
Sample Pictures
Low resolution
High Resolution
IR Photos


Color Photos
Movie Samples

 

 


Moultrie

I40 IR flash 4.0 MP

(2008 REVISITED)

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

 

Moultrie I 40 revisit review 06-15-2008

Last year we did a review on this cam and all the basics remain the same. We will be only looking at those areas that may have changed in this new look at this camera. We liked this camera from the start and wrote it up as a good camera. Then the multitude hit the field and the problems started to show up under long term use. Things like black out and white out and other issues were seen. This did not hold true for every cam out there but that select few took their toll the popularity of this cam. The factory folks finally got off their duffs and put out some firm ware fixes that eased the situation somewhat. This is not a perfect cam by any means but has worked well enough that it has become the most popular camera sold in 07. We have scheduled some shoot out types of reviews coming up as soon as we get a handle on all the new cams that we have to review that are new for this year. This required us to have on hand a new this years model of this cam to put along side a few of the $200 cameras when we get to those shootout reviews. In the mean time we will put this camera through a few paces to see if there are any issues that have not been corrected. I went out and purchased a fresh from the factory I 40 for this purpose. This is a non cherry picked cam and is just off the shelf like any normal purchase. The firm ware on this cam is L1_11037, L2_40704 and the new batteries are energizers. Trigger times show that is average of 3 seconds. We have been spoiled by the new tiny Scoutguard cameras and when we get hold of this big old cam and hang it on the tree it is a little cumbersome. We recently started a review on one of the new Leaf River cams and it has an external on off switch which makes it nice when we need to do a card change. With this cam we have devised a locking bar with a Python cable for security. When we do the card change we have to remove the cable all the way and open up the front of the camera and then turn off the switch. Then we need to open the battery compartment to get into the card during the change. Then we have to reverse the procedure to secure it back on the tree and re aim. Not a big price to pay but aggravating none the less. Even with these minor issues we still like this camera so far and it has worked well for us. We are going to take a very close look to make sure 08 is a better year for this cam and see if we can say “we really like this cam”.
 

Well I just got the data to fill in the above slots for trigger time and Houston we have a problem Things have gone south with this cam. A solid 3 second trigger time is what is happening now. That puts this cam back out in the league of the slower cameras but still fast enough for some applications as long as you know its speed the cam can be placed so the slower trigger time will still be effective. This is not the first time we have done are visit and found that what was a fact originally is now gone to hell in a hand basket. These areas are not constantly checked by the receiving folks that supply us and the factory folks will slip some stuff into the system thinking they will not be caught. Well they just got caught.

06-21-2008 update:  We had some friends down the road who has some of these new cams to take a look at theirs for us so we could get a broad spectrum look at cams that were out of a different lot number. The results were the same and we now know that this camera has a solid three second trigger time and still hangs onto that black and white thing with the pictures until it is very bright sunlight. One of our favorite cams has slipped down hill a bunch. The factory folks are still taking a look at this and we have not heard any of the feedback that we have requested from them.

 

06-29-2008 update:  The reports just keep on coming about this cam. More and more we are hearing the same about the three plus second trigger times. Now comes the next issue involving this camera. (See examples) This camera will run well into the morning (9 to 10 O clock) with out ever switching to color. This is happening every day. We have tested many cameras here including some of our original I 40s and they had some whiteout issues early on but still switched over at the correct time. Right now I am going to have to say that I would have a very hard time recommending the 08 I-40 camera. If you should be one of the lucky 07 camera holders and it is working without issues, hold on to it because that has proven to be a great camera. The $ 200 camera shootout that was planned will probably not happen because one other of the contestants failed miserably with the trigger time tests and now has a battery problem. That leaves the Scoutguard sg550 that seems to be getting on in the field just fine.


 

Trigger time
3 seconds
Samples
note:  these pics should be color but are still black and white.  Look at the times on them.

 

  

 

Moultrie

I60 IR flash 6.0 MP

(2007)

http://www.moultriefeeders.com

 

Security:  I made a 7 ½ X ¾ X 1/8 inch bar (see picture) and drilled a hole in each end to slip a Python cable through and it appears that this will work just fine for most security situations:


 


Side view with battery plate removed.  SD card and accessories cables plug in here:

 


Card Puller
: A three inch piece of good electrical tape, folded in half and stuck to both
sides of the SD card makes card removal easy in the new M and I series Moultrie cams.



Potential Leak Issue

1/2 inch piece of 2X4 cut to a length of 4 3/4 inches and beveled on the end to 45% provides enough support
to the back of the case so over tightening will not warp the case and prevent the front of the battery compartment
from a possible water leak on the I and M series Moultrie.



A simple tin rain guard for I and M series Moultrie cams:


 


IR Stealth Option:
(see 06-17-07 update)

A small piece of smoked clear plastic 3 1/2 X 1 1/4 inches set in front of the IR emitters inside the case will possibly
do two things:
 
1. Tone down the red glow when camera is triggered to prevent from someone seeing the camera and spooking game.
 
2. A well camouflaged camera would still have the bright white square of IR emitters that would give away its location to that possible trespasser. Covering up the the emitters in this matter will help conceal the cam.
 
We made a similar cover for the Leaf River IR camera and it worked very well and we did not see any noticeable amount of loss of IR light in our tests. Our test camera was placed in an area which had a lot of passing traffic and the camera was never detected.

5-26-2007 First look at the new Moultrie I 60 IR flash 6.0 MP with on board viewer. This is a very impressive looking camera and new for this year they have chosen to do a all new case design. The massive IR array appears to be of single focus compared to the Leaf River array which uses different focus IR emitters in their arrays. This 72 count array should do a good job in the illumination area and is advertised as being good to 50 feet. Our tests will take a close look at this. This camera can be set up in any one of 4 resolutions from VGA up to 6.0. New for this year Moultrie has included a built in viewer for those folks who wish to see the results of the cameras performance in the field. I want to take a close look at the color day and IR night functions of this camera because it appears it is being done through one lens. This may incorporate a mechanical filter to accomplish this task. It will be interesting to put it to task in the field. Pictures will be stamped with the standard time and date along with temperature, moon phase and barometric pressure. External power port is also incorporated which is a big plus and this can also be used with the not yet available solar panel which is suppose to maintain six rechargeable D cells if you chose to go that route. Moultrie advertises this camera as being able to perform up to 150 days on 6 good alkaline batteries which is some very good news. Grape vine has it that this is accomplished by having the camera to go into a sleep mode with a 1 to 2 second wakeup time then the camera will go into the instant trigger time mode. This is one of the areas that seems to be of great interest to a lot of folks so we will be paying close attention to this detail. 

With all the information being put out about good rechargeable batteries and with the new solar panel (available this fall), this camera with a 4 gig card should be able to stay out for a very long time without any maintenance. The next option would be to use the external 12v SLA battery with a 12v panel hooked directly to the battery. Caution: Do not exceed 15 volts when doing this according to the folks at Moultrie. 

The built in security feature and remote beacon feature is also a plus for this camera. I am going to be doing a lot of work to come up with some type of extra security for this fine camera to insure that it doesn’t get legs and wander off with one of the occasional uninvited visitors to our properties. Being this cam is so very new and has a lot of features this review will probably be very long and intense, unless we have some type of an unanticipated failure.

06-09-2007 UpdateThe OD green case measures about 11 inches tall and is 6 ½  wide with a depth of about 4 inches. A single thumb screw will open the case that is hinged in the top. This front cover has some sort of detent built into the hinge to hold it in the open position for programming. The right side of the case has a removable cover 5 ½  by 2 ½  inches that is held on by two more thumb screws. Under this cover is the battery compartment which has a hinged retainer for the batteries which also has another thumb screw.

Just in front of the battery compartment is the USB, SD card, and TV out slots. Once the batteries are installed there is only a small recessed area (see picture) to access the SD card slot. Winter time installation of the card would be impossible with gloves on. I can see that folks will probably do the same with the card with the tape trick or tweezers as we saw on other cameras which had card access issues.

Mounting the camera is done by a narrow strap (provided ) through two slots in the back of the cam. There is an adjustable thumb screw at the top of the back of the cam which has a point to hit the tree and allow for angle adjustment for aiming. Bad news when we opened all of our cameras up and found that the small rubber seal that is suppose to be the water seal, has a tendency to stick to the front cover when the door is opened it gets pulled out of its small track which it is suppose to be seated in. We had to very carefully reinstall this seal on each camera. Once put back in place, it appeared to stay in the track. We will have to see what happens when the camera has a prolonged stay in the field and is opened up for the card and battery change. Folks should with new cameras should inspect this seal and make sure it is in place and not twisted in order to insure water tightness. 

As we suspected the color day and IR night pictures is accomplished with a mechanical filter that worked very well with no hang-ups like we experienced in the 07 Bushnell recently tested.

Programming is very much like all the older models and is easy and straight forward. Playing around in the yard with my wife’s flowers in the background proved that this cameras daytime pictures on the low setting produced very sharp and clear pictures. When we did a quick check of the trigger time in a dark hallway we concluded that this camera is pretty fast. This was judged buy seeing how quick the IR array came on and not by the clock. We found on a previously tested camera that just because the IR array was on that did not mean the picture was being taken during the first micro seconds of the flash. This will be done in front of our testing clock soon. Because of this narrow access to the SD card I had on two occasions failed to have the card fully seated and after extensive testing I had to access the internal memory in order to view the results. Care must be taken when putting the card in and insure it is seated all the way in.

The view screen is inside the front cover and is very small and we found it lacking when trying to see detail in the field.

The flash range tests showed that this large array lit up the world out to 60 feet easily. The sensing range on this 72 degree morning was 40 feet and during the day, which was 96 degrees it consistently would catch me walking across at 20 feet and pretty well center me in the picture. The burst mode (3 pictures) were 10 to 13 seconds apart.

Providing security for this camera is greatly on my mind and presently looks like a 1 inch wide bar through the strap slots with holes in the end to accept a python cable is going to be our approach. I will work on this today and try to get some pictures out. The normal security code can also be programmed in for those who still have enough memory to use it. Me I would forget the code and loose my note telling me what is was supposed to be. Some folks call this as having a senior moment.

The documentation (10 pages) is well written and easy to follow. We were able to do all the programming and changes without having to refer to the booklet. I will say that so far I am extremely impressed with Moultrie's new cameras. They are fixing to put a hurtin on a lot of competition if the trigger times prove to be as fast as we think they are and because the picture quality and functionality of this camera is definitely there. It is hang it on the tree time.
 

06-17-2007 update:  Before and after tests using this cover showed that the IR light was noticeably decreased on the Moultrie but was not as noticeable on the Leaf river. Flash was still good past 30 feet but the background foliage was very dark. It would still be a good idea to use this when a higher degree of camera concealment is needed.  (see comparison photos below)

07-13-2007 I-60 remote featureTo test the remote function of the I-60 I went into the program and selected handheld and remote. I set the cam on a stand watching a small fountain on my back deck just outside the sliding glass doors. During the hot afternoon sun the finches really like to come and take a bath. As they would arrive I would hit the capture button and the picture would be taken. I then selected 15 second movie and put it back on PIR just to see if the camera would see the birds and trigger a movie. Well, it worked great. I was assuming that the movement of the water would also trigger the cam but it did not. This widens the use of this great camera. You bird watchers need to go to the local sporting goods store and ask for a Moultrie I-60 and get yourself set up for some great fun


Use the I60 and the remote to capture stills and movies of birds at your bird feeder or bird bath: