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SpyPoint IR-6 Review

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
I wanted to try out a new line of trail cams for this season so I went with 2- SpyPoint IR 6 cams. I must say that I am pleasantly surprised at the ability of these cams. I was able to get these cams in my hands at the end of June 2010 and had them in the field and ready to go starting the month of July 2010. These cams run on 6 AA batteries or you can use a 12V auxiliary power and a solar panel to power this cam as well as rechargeable lithium battery pack compatible. I chose to use the 6 AA batteries and I used the Duracell copper top. The setup on this cam is very user friendly and easy to do even without the instructions.

Lets take a look at this cam a little closer.

Below you will see the great camo pattern that allows this cam to blend in rather well. You can also see the 46 IR LED's.



In this picture you can see how the camera can actually be removed from the case.




Next we will look at the slide switches.



#1) The MODE switch will allow you to set the cam for Photo, Video, Set/Test, and View

#2) The DELAY will allow you to to change between 1-15 minutes between picture or video.

#3) This has 2 functions depending on the MODE you have your cam in. If your MODE is set for PHOTO you will use the Multi-Shot listed on the left of the slide switch. This will allow you to set the number of pictures taken and can be set to capture 1-4 pictures. If your MODE is set to VIDEO you will use the VIDEO LENGTH numbers on the right side of the switch. This will allow you to set the length of time your video will be recorded ranging from 10 seconds to 90 seconds.

#4) The ON/OFF switch

Now for the buttons.

These will be used to setup the MONTH, DAY, YEAR, as well as the TEMPERATURE to be changed from CELSIUS to FAHRENHEIT.

As stated earlier this is the IR-6 model and will take pictures at 6 megapixels and video will be recorded in 640 x 480 AVI. Your pictures and video can be saved to an SD / SDHC up to 32GB. Your pictures will be stamped with the DATE/TIME/TEMP/MOON PHASE. The detection range can be adjusted via a dial located on the side of the cam from 5' up to 50'(I have had this cam trigger past the 50' mark on occasion) The Trigger speed is fairly good at 0.8 seconds.

You will be able to view your pictures and video a few different ways.

1) Load the SD/SDHC card into a card reader
2) plug in the USB cable
3) video out cables to plug into a TV

Below are some sample pictures and video from my IR-6

[video=youtube;tIYeQMSX4dw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIYeQMSX4dw&list=UUupWLBS53K9R-N7e9kCsO8Q&index=2&feature=plcp[/video]

[video=youtube;w_V2KsY2oPU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_V2KsY2oPU&feature=related[/video]








Here are the numbers I was able to achieve from my IR-6 cams

Cam #1
1177 pics 304 - 10s vids and 55 - 30s vids = dead batteries

Cam #2
1310 pics 356 - 10s vids and 96 - 30s vids = dead batteries



Likes :

1) I love the fact you can remove the camera from the case.
2) The strap used to secure the camera. The length is great as well as a good buckle.
3) Battery life.
4) Cost
5) Video mode
6) Ability to have firmware updates done in the field via an SD card
7) camera size. 4.5" x 6.8" x 2.8"

Dislikes:

1) Trigger speed. It is ok but could be a bit faster.

I hope this helps out a little for everybody.
 

finelyshedded

You know what!!!
Supporting Member
31,855
260
SW Ohio
Wow what a great job Adam. Very informative. When picking up my next TC I will definitely buy one for myself. Trigger speed seems to be the biggest hurdle most brands stumble over. Thanks for the info.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Nice works Adam. You pretty much hit the nail on the head IMO. I'm running four of them and have been pretty happy with them so far...
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
Nice write up Adam. I am really liking my IR 5 . Spypoint is putting out some really affordable and good gear.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Nice! That's over 107 minutes of video and 1,300+ pics on six AA batteries.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I love my ir-6 but do have one issue with it. Sometimes I have to reinsert card few times before I can get light on front to blink. Anyone else having this issue?

They can be stubborn to get fully seated in the cam. I have to be careful to listen to the click or I'll not get it all the way in there. I have left a few cams with a card that wasn't locked in place before...
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Excellent review, Adam. I agree with pretty much all of it.

My only complaint with this cam, and it's really not a big deal, is the way the camera is "removeable" from the housing. I like the fact that it can be removed, however half the time I open the housing the camera just falls out, resulting in a near fall to the ground. If you're in a hurry and not paying attention, it'd be too easy to drop the camera out of the housing and jar something inside loose. I just wish Spypoint had a better design in holding the camera in the housing.

All that being said, it's an awesome little camera for the money. Great battery life, good-quality pics and videos, and it blends in flawlessly to the tree behind it. I would buy another for sure.
 

hickslawns

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
39,720
248
Ohio
My thoughts:
Picture quality- satisfactory
Battery life-better than expected. Good.
Ease of function- good
Recovery time- poor
Detection range- good AND adjustable
Flash range- good- above average.

Upon suggestions from TOO members, I changed to video mode to combat slow recovery time and found video mode very beneficial.

Overall opinion- a honey for the money!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
My thoughts:
Picture quality- satisfactory
Battery life-better than expected. Good.
Ease of function- good
Recovery time- poor
Detection range- good AND adjustable
Flash range- good- above average.

Upon suggestions from TOO members, I changed to video mode to combat slow recovery time and found video mode very beneficial.

Overall opinion- a honey for the money!

Sent from my BlackBerry 9630 using Tapatalk

Who needs recovery time when you can take up to 90 second video. :)
 

Milo

Tatonka guide.
8,184
157
I will say its been hard to NOT video now that i have used it. Way to much cool stuff happens that you would usually miss..
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
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North Central Ohio
Thanks fellas. I tried to do a good job on this and put as much information as I could into it.

Sometimes I have to reinsert card few times before I can get light on front to blink

I have had this happen as well. I put the SD card in and the display read " Locked " so I had to take the card out and put it back in until it read the card correctly.

I believe I will be getting a couple more of these cams next month.
 

"J"

Git Off My Lawn
Supporting Member
56,735
274
North Carolina
Good write up Adam.... I haven't run any other cameras these are my first, I bought three initially and now have two more..... yeah I'm addicted hahaha..... I've recently switched to the video mode and have realized how bad I've been screwing up now hahaha all those months of just pictures and missing a lot of other things that they do in between flashes lol....
 

Huckleberry Finn

Senior Member
15,973
135
First off, great write-up Adam. I'm not in the cam game yet, but when I am, I'm sure my first one will be a Spy Point.

Jimmy Jim Jim Jim....
My only complaint with this cam, and it's really not a big deal, is the way the camera is "removeable" from the housing. I like the fact that it can be removed, however half the time I open the housing the camera just falls out, resulting in a near fall to the ground. If you're in a hurry and not paying attention, it'd be too easy to drop the camera out of the housing and jar something inside loose. I just wish Spypoint had a better design in holding the camera in the housing..

Stupid suggestion, but I know that you (hillbilly) rig stuff, but how about some velcro on the cam and the housing?
 

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
J, The video mode is sweet. I like to run it in 10 or 30 sec. clips. Seems if I run it any longer then that I end up with a lot of extra emptyness lol. The deer only stick around for a few seconds around my cams for the most part because I set them up on active trails and catch them coming and going. If they stick around then I only have to wait a minute until the next cam trigger and get another short clip.

Thanks Huck. Like every cam out there you will run into some pic issues and the SpyPoint is no different. On occasion I have gotten a pic/video here and there that is messed up but overall I am pleased with the IR-6 cams I have.
 

cotty16

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
Well, I tried an experiment with Kody's deer head. I buried it in the back yard in early November with some lime in it with the goal of digging it back up around August to find nothing but bone.
The coyotes have found it. The head is still buried because its frozen in the ground but fur is everywhere and you can see where they've been digging and shitting.
I put the spy point on video mode for the first time just now with hopes of getting video and I'll be sitting on the deck this evening waiting on them. Hopefully I get a kill on video ;)
 
Last edited:

RedCloud

Super Moderator
Super Mod
17,381
193
North Central Ohio
Well, I tried an experiment with Kody's deer head. I buried it in the back yard in early November with some lime in it with the goal of digging it back up around August to find nothing but bone.
The coyotes have found it. The head is still buried because its frozen in the ground but fur is everywhere and you can see where they've been digging and shitting.
I put the spy point on video mode for the first time just now with hopes of getting video and I'll be sitting on the deck this evening waiting on them. Hopefully I get a kill on video ;)

It can be done lol. I did it with my 10pt buck this year using the SpyPoint IR-6 :)

I hope the yote don't get it dug up since the temps will be climbing back into the 40's tomorrow. Good luck Cotty.
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
First off, great write-up Adam. I'm not in the cam game yet, but when I am, I'm sure my first one will be a Spy Point.

Jimmy Jim Jim Jim....


Stupid suggestion, but I know that you (hillbilly) rig stuff, but how about some velcro on the cam and the housing?

The correct term is Redneck Engineering, Huck.... Dang kids. :smiley_armscrossed:







BTW, great idea. :smiley_clap: