I put 2 Moultrie I40's into use almost a year ago and have been very impressed with the results. That is after I updated the software. It seems there was some type of glitch in the cameras originally. They would produce a whiteout image when in the IR mode on some pictures. After downloading the update from the Moultrie website onto the SD card and then loading it in the cameras my units have performed very well for me.
The Moultrie I40.
The daytime pictures are some of the clearest I have seen from a trail camera. The 4 megapixel camera produces very sharp images.
2 turkeys in my food plot.
A doe in the plot.
The one feature I have mixed reviews on is the IR Mode of the camera. It was one of the reasons I had originally bought the camera. To get away from the flash going off in the woods and possibly scareing the deer. This model uses Infrared Illumination to capture lowlight and nighttime photos. A band of 72 IR bulbs glows red to take the lowlight pictures. These photos are black and white images.
This is not supposed to spook deer. I do catch some of them stareing at the camera while it is taking their picture. The bad part about this is it takes a lot of daylight to get the camera off of the IR mode. When my camera is in the woods 90% of the pictures are IR mode even in daylight. The only way I get color daylight pictures is to have my camera on a food plot or open field. The black and white images are great for just cataloging your deer and seeing what is out there. But if you want to frame some of the photos or show them off on your favorite website, the color pictures work much better.
Some of the neat features of this camera are:
1. 3 different still picture settings for picture quility.
2. 2 different video settings. (which I have to figure out so I can put my camera on some scrapes this fall)
3. Uses SD Cards, which most digital cameras use now. I use my camera to view them in the field.
4. A laser aim pointer to adjust where the unit is pointed.
5. Time, Date, Temperature, and Moon Phase stamped on the picture.
6. Uses 6 D-cell batteries that last a reported 150 days. I have had mine in operation for almost 1 year and am on my second set of batteries( still have 65% charge) Truely extended battery life.
7. Easy to set up and reset after checking.
Nice and simple to operate, not a lot of switches or buttons.
8. Does the scouting when you're not there.
Some things I would like to see changed:
1. The SD Card is in a very awkward place to get to. Unless you have very long skinny fingers. There are many other places this could have been put.
Here you can see the SD Card just to the left of the white label.
2. The unit is a big black box. A grey or softer color would not stand out nearly as much. Harder for the deer and would be thieves to see.
3. No real way to lock it to the tree.
4. It does make a bit of a click when the shutter opens.
All in all I have to say the pluses far outweigh the minuses on this camera. I am very happy with the service my 2 units have given me in the year I have had them. No problems at all after doing the original upgrade to the software. And I have not heard of another unit with the battery life of the I40. If you would like to try one of these out for yourself. They can be purchased right here on Bowhunting.com by following the link below.
