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SpyPoint IR-7 Review

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
Thanks to a well timed rain last night, I was able to get out and check a couple of my new SpyPoint IR-7s and let me tell you, these things are awesome!!! I've been running four of the SpyPoint IR-6s for close to a year now and I have been very pleased with the results I have been getting from them. After seeing the IR-7 would have the ability to record sound, I knew I had to have a few considering it was essentially the IR-6 with a great new feature! A few years back I mentioned the idea of sound recording to another trail camera company and the idea was essentially laughed at, but I knew it would be a great feature to have on a camera. Now that I've seen the results from a camera with this capability, I feel like a kid on Christmas who just received the greatest toy ever!!!

There is no sense in me reinventing the wheel when it comes to a review on these cameras, so I'll point you towards the great resource of YouTube to a video done by Stick'em Archery. What I will do is share a couple of things about the SpyPoint cams that I have grown to love, then show some of the latest results from the IR-7s. This is the short video from Stick’em that touches on the highlights of the IR-7...

[video=youtube;26epvlotu0g]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26epvlotu0g[/video]

After close to a decade of running trail cameras, I've owned cams from 8 different manufacturers ranging from one end of the cost/quality spectrum to the other. It is no secret around here that I was involved with BuckEye Cam and have long been a proponent of their cams. If money is no object, then owning a fleet of BECs is certainly a great option for your game monitoring needs. However most of us are on a tight budget when it comes to our hunting expenditures and this is where a company like SpyPoint really shines in my opinion. I feel very confident in stating that the SpyPoint cameras I own give me the most bang for my buck of all my trail cam purchases over the years, and the same argument could be made and them in relation to the entire market of trail cameras. TrailCamPro.com conducted a "Trail Camera Shootout" this year involving 24 cameras from various manufacturers and the SpyPoint Tiny Wireless took second place. This is evidence that the SpyPoint cams are well engineered and built to do the job. Confidence in our equipment is everything and after a year of running these cams, I am confident they will do the job I require from one of my most essential hunting tools.

With that being said, a couple of the features that I love most about the cams are their compatibility with Python locks and the removable "guts" as I call them. Being able to securely lock up my cameras is a critical requirement for me and very few cameras offer the peace of mind that I get from the SpyPoint after locking them up. Having the lock through the housing, and then through the door makes for one secure camera! I have not owned another camera that I felt was as secure as these without buying an aftermarket safety enclosure for them. This is additional, and unnecessary money to spend on a camera in my opinion and the SpyPoints design eliminates this need. However if you still feel the need to own an enclosure, they are available for all SpyPoint models. Another thing SpyPoint offers that is unique is the ability to by “dummy” enclosures. Buying a cheap enclosure to aid in capturing a thief is a great option to have and SpyPoint gives you that ability at a reasonable price.

The removable guts are something I was unsure about at first, but have grown to love over time. One negative I have with the SpyPoint is the strap and how the cameras themselves hang at times. They can be difficult to get positioned exactly how I want them, so once I have a camera right where I want, it is nice not to remove it from the tree to check it or change setting. It is also nice not to need to bend down or get at an awkward angle to make changes to the settings as it can be with other cameras depending on placement. By removing the guts, I have easy access to everything from the settings to the SD card. It may seem like a simple feature, but it really is something I think most people will grow to love.

One final thing of note is the test mode setting on the camera. I rarely use this on my cams, but it is a great tool for fine tuning placement of the cameras. With the adjustable sensitivity and the test mode, you are able to "tune" these cameras for maximum performance at any given location. The more I use this feature, the more I realize it is something I should do every time I hang a camera.

Without any further ado, here are the results from Week 1 of running the IR-7s on our farm. Sadly, I am still getting the short end of the stick on big buck pics and videos, but I did get some videos this week that are instant classics in my book!!! Make sure to turn up the volume...

Fawn Nursing

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

Family Group

[video=youtube;i5c0LlggMqQ]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i5c0LlggMqQ&feature=plcp[/video]

Family of Turkeys

[video=youtube;mFOV2JAuhWg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mFOV2JAuhWg&feature=plcp[/video]

Rowdy Fawn

[video=youtube;9J1xAI-P53k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9J1xAI-P53k&feature=plcp[/video]
 

jagermeister

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
18,060
223
Ohio
Great stuff, Jesse. That Rowdy Fawn clip is hilarious! I think it's going to be really hard NOT to run these IR-7s on video 24/7.

Out of curiousity... How do these clips with sound compare in file size to the IR-6 video clips? What size SD cards are you running in them?... I'm thinking of getting 8 gb cards... Would those be ok, do you think?
 

Fluteman

Senior Member
Supporting Member
7,094
146
Southeast Ohio
Dangit man, quit posting videos, your making it hard on a brother! Great review Jesse, can't wait to see some video of a buck working a scrape, or a couple bucks sparring!
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
Hey guys, I received my spypoint IR-7 and got some good videos on the first night. The problem is I cant see the time the videos were made. I clicked on "properties" of the picture and every one of the videos said 11:38 pm.

Is there a way to set this camera so that the time and date are present while watching the videos?

I have tried what the directions say and cant get anything to work. Does anybody know what to do here?
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
It won't show on the video itself, but if you view the videos on your card in Explorer, you can click on each one and the properties display at the bottom of the page. That's how I check mine. I would post a screen shot, but I'm on the road...
 

Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
Ok, i will look for that. I clicked on properties, it did show 11;38 pm, but every single video sequence showed the same time, that's where I'm having the problem.

I will look around some more.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Ok, i will look for that. I clicked on properties, it did show 11;38 pm, but every single video sequence showed the same time, that's where I'm having the problem.

I will look around some more.

If your windows explorer is set up to view details you should be able to see it next to the video. On windows 7 it's at the bottom of the window when you click on a video. For xp and the other go to the view menu and click details.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
Yea, checked the properties and they all say the same time....wtf?

Are they on the card. Or did you transfer them to your PC? Where in properties are you looking?


If you moved them to the PC it's the modified date. Not the created date as that will be the day you moved them to the PC.
 
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Gern186

Dignitary Member
Supporting Member
10,171
201
NW Ohio Tundra
Are they on the card. Or did you transfer them to your PC? Where in properties are you looking?

I just plugged the sd card into my computer to view the videos.....at the top there is a tab called "info". It gives the date and time. The problem is I have 20 videos from one night and they all say 11:38 pm.
 

Jackalope

Dignitary Member
Staff member
38,841
260
I just plugged the sd card into my computer to view the videos.....at the top there is a tab called "info". It gives the date and time. The problem is I have 20 videos from one night and they all say 11:38 pm.

What OS are you using?