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2011 Spypoint Tiny/Tiny W 38 count red flash 8 MP digital camera
review,---When we first heard about this camera we had
it added to our list of cameras we would eventually
review. The first item of interest was that the minimum
delay is one minute. The next Item was that the W
series is not functional in video or burst mode when the
box is used. With the Tiny without the black box the
burst (6 multi shot) can be used to help get around some
of that 1 minute delay but if that doe with the buck
following comes along about a minute later he would be
missed. If burst and video is important to the user of
the Tiny standard model should be your choice. The W
series will only work in the single exposure mode and
still transmit to the external box.
Technical Information
Resolution: 8.0 MP
Trigger Speed: N/A
IR or Incandescent: IR
Number of LEDs in Flash: 38
Range: 60 ft
Video: Yes
Video Resolution: 640 x 480 AVI
Internal Memory: Yes, 32MB
Memory Card Type: SD
Memory Card Size: Up to 32GB (approximately 200
5.0MP images per GB of storage)
Memory Card Included: No
Multi-shot: Yes, up to 6 shots
Weather-resistant: Yes
Menu Type: 2" LCD
Programming Remote: No
Viewing Screen: Yes
Battery Type: 6 AA
Batteries Included: No
Battery Life: N/A
Computer Requirements: N/A
Time and Date on Pictures: Yes
Temperature on Pictures: Yes
Moon phase on Pictures: Yes
Mounting Strap Included: Yes
USB Cable Included: Yes
TV Out Cable Included: Yes
Camera Dimensions: 4.7" x 3.5" x 2.7"
To explain a little bit about the W feature mode on this camera. The
camera is set up in the single picture mode and when a
picture is taken and written to the card, it is also
being wirelessly transmitted in a lower resolution to a
remote (within 50 feet) receiver which can be hidden.
Some may see this as a security feature where if the
camera is taken it may capture a picture of the thief
and transmit it to the hidden box. The other thought is
that you could just visit the remote box and retrieve
your pictures without accessing the camera and spreading
your scent into that area. Eventually you would have to
still clean the card in the camera to prevent the card
from being completely filled unless you have the camera
set in continuous mode in which case the camera
will overwrite the oldest photos and continue operating. The give away is that
there is an antenna on the camera, so those familiar
with cameras would know that the black box would be
hidden somewhere some where within 50 feet.
First we will talk about the standard camera even though both cameras
are the same except for the wireless version which has a
transmitter and antenna to the remote box and a built in
view screen. This is a small camera which is about 3.5
inches tall and four and a half inches wide. It sticks
out off the tree about 3.5 inches. The camera is in two
pieces which is a receiver (holder) which mounts on the
tree and the camera which slides down into the receiver.
This is a positive setup because once aim is achieved;
it will remain once the camera is returned to the holder
during card/battery change. It is no easy task to remove
the camera from the receiver because of the latch which
requires a rotating up to dislodge. The color is a nice
fall brown camouflage color and with its small size and
color it hides well except for the white arrays. The
front of the camera has two antler shaped arrays left
and right of the camera lens. Below that is the three
sensor PIR setup similar to the WGI 10 X and Ltl Acorn
setup. There is a 12v external battery port on the
bottom that must be accessed through the holder. There
is a pipe through both the camera and holder. This would
lock the camera into the holder to help prevent theft.
It would require the cable to be removed to access the
camera for service. These cameras are also available in
the flat black case. Once the camera is out of the
holder the back of the camera has a view screen (W
series) (2.4) and LCD (standard) series with a set of
programming buttons. There is also a on off switch
opposite the programming buttons. Even with a magnifier
I had a hard time determining the purpose of the
programming buttons. They are not marked very well.
A quick note about the tri-sensor setup, the cameras that have this
setup have side sensor which pre alert the camera of the
presents of movement off to the side of the camera. This
allows for a very fast trigger once that movement enters
the center zone. What if the movement is coming in the
center zone and never makes it to the side zones? This
has been tested on other brands and the trigger times
exceeded two seconds. We will see if that is the case
with this camera. Having that one minute delay really
makes repetitive tests a pain.
The simple task of installing the batteries in this camera is a bit of a
mystery. So let me just go to the book and figure this
out. Hmmmm that information is a bit lacking. If I fill
the battery holder and follow the markings on the tray
then how does the tray go into the camera? This question
came up because it can be installed either with the
batteries up or batteries down. One of these positions
will cause reverse polarity. By chance I installed the
tray so that the top of the tray (batteries showing) was
up in the same direction as the front of the camera and
this proved to be correct. What ever you do is when you
open the camera door to access the card or battery tray,
have the door pointed up or everything will just fall
out down into the ground and under the leaves. Alkaline
cells (AA) are recommended and rechargeable cells are
not. When external power is selected do not have
internal cells installed. Optional lithium battery pack
and charger are available.
Getting into the programming we see that there are three resolutions
which are 3, 5, and 8MP and one video resolutions of
640X480. There is an option for burst to a 6 count which
is 10 seconds apart but still will wait the full 60
seconds of minimum delay before entering the next
trigger. The PIR sensitivity can be set to high, Medium,
and low depending on needs. Side sensors can also be
turned off if desired. Video can be programmed to the
desired length 10 to 90 seconds. Flash can be shut down
to only I emitter for the purpose of using one of the
booster devices. Time lapse can be set from 30 seconds to 60
minutes with programmable start/stop times.
We have enjoyed for the most part reviewing Spy Point cameras because of
their function. These cameras are somewhat the same but
what needs help are portions of the Tinys
documentation. I have three versions of the manuals,
some of which were downloads and some are vendor site
downloads. I could not tell by the documentation that I
studied the facts about these cameras. Not until I
physically had the camera powered up and preceded
through the programming and function did I finally get
the facts. I had thought earlier that this was a fixed 8
MP camera with two video resolutions. Well now I know
that it has three picture resolutions and only one video
resolution. Then there was the battery tray
explanation.
This black box thing that is part of the W system needs to also be
explained. This is a small wireless system that
communicates in two directions. In the direction of the
camera it is a range signal test and in the direction
of the box it is a data receiver. And this data is in
the form of pictures. While the camera is busy writing a
triggered image to the camera it is also busy
transmitting a smaller version wirelessly to this black
box receiver. This little half of a coke can sized
receiver has its own SD card slot and runs off a set of
6 AA cells. This little receiver has its own antenna and
can be located up to 50 feet from the camera and if
everything is alright the cameras program under the
signal mode (next to view) will show a green signal
icon if the two devices are in contact with each other.
More than one black box can be programmed in if desired.
Both the camera and receiver are rated to take up to 32
gig SD cards. You had better have small nimble fingers
to remove the SD card from the black box because it is
down in a crack and I had to use my Swiss Army knife
tweezers to get it out because there was just enough
drag in the card slot to keep it from being bumped out.
In the lab the trigger times came out around 2 seconds for both day and
night. The flash range/8 plate test showed adequate
flash as long as there were reflecting surfaces like
small vegetation in the area. When there is just a
single target with no extra reflecting surfaces there is
that flashlight effect. Over all I would judge the flash
as good.
Sample pictures at the
HIGH setting came out sharp and clear with the color
being a tiny bit washed. The night sample pictures did
show some of the tunnel flashlight but still provided a
good deal of center illumination. Video mode was smooth
and clear with good detail. In this mode the flash
definitely takes on that flashlight effect more so than
the picture mode.
This
camera also will do time lapse. It is a single window
with intervals of 30 seconds and 1, 3, 5, 15, 30, 60
minutes. The time lapse resolution is 800X600 which
converts to .48 mega pixel. This is a very small file
compared to other time lapse cameras. We will post a few
sample TL pictures as time allows.
10-18-2011 update: Trying to figure out our
process and logical schedule on this camera again has
met yet another wall. There does not seem to be a
mention of the time lapse minimum interval or what the
camera resolution is during this function. If it follows
the 3, 5, 8 MP setting as with the picture mode then for
an 8 hour daily period the count would be 480 pictures
if this function follows the same 1 minute interval as
found being the minimum delay. This may be satisfactory
for monitoring a construction site but a food plot could
be crossed by many animals in that period of time
without ever being captured. The documentation does not
outline this function in good detail so we are going to
have to just set up and evaluate by actually getting the
settings off the camera and then measuring the pictures
to see what the resolution actually is. We also do not
know if the external black box can be used during the TL
mode. All these questions will be answered as we develop
time to look at it. This review is being slipped in a
hole in our schedule due to the late arrival of the BF
Hunten cameras.
10-29-2011 update: We had a note from the
factory people stating they were pretty unhappy with us
because of the negative review. I went back through and
could not find anything that could be related to what I
could call a bad report. Things like where we stated
that a knowledgeable trail camera person would know that
a remote black box would be hidden within 50 feet if the
tiny camera had an antenna caused some upset. This is
just fact and not anything negative. It would also
indicate that should you choose to hide your remote box
then do it well with this in mind. Other things like
flash are what it is and only tell the new user that
camera location and aim may be somewhat more critical on
this camera than maybe some other Spypoint cameras they
may be familiar with. This is a good company and has
good customer service so the choice is up to the
consumer.
We did a series of tests in an attempt to see how well
the three PIR sensors functioned. With side sensors
covered and with them uncovered the trigger times
remained the same. With the center covered and side
sensors open the camera would not trigger. When all
three are open and a very slow swipe across the PIR FOV
we got mixed results from 1 to 2.1 seconds. This
indicates that the report from the side sensors to the
camera to activate and get ready requires a degree of
time.
11-12-2011 update: After a couple days of
conversation with the company we finally found the
marking arrows on the side of the battery tray which say
up. What this indicates is the up is suppose to be
when the camera is laying on its back and then the up
indicates toward the front of the camera.
12-10-2011 update: We completed the battery
life on the Tiny and got under 300 pictures which means
there must be an issue with our unit. Also, after
finding that we had trouble with the transmission on the
Tiny-W to the black box, we returned these units to
Spypoint. At some point when we get replacements
we will retest these issues.
01-28-2012 update:
At the direction of the factory folks we are closing
this review not completed. They have stated that because
of the rapidly changing technology in their cameras the
version we were testing is not up to date and will be
replaced by a newer much improved version with another
letter other than the Wwhich was the designation for
this camera. When ever that happens we wil re open yet
another review on the Tiny camera.
Trigger Tests without side
PIR
(without flash 2.14s)

(with flash 2.25s) without
side PIR
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Flash Range
(camera only)

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Dead Pixel Test
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Day Range/8 Plate
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Video Samples

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