After having used most all of Moultries game cameras starting with their original 35mm unit I must say that I am really shocked that they are still making and selling so many of these units, especially today with game camera prices lowering. Every Moultrie unit that I have used has had problems or just flat out not worked. The original 35mm destroyed batteries, it would be nothing to get four days of use out of a fresh set of batteries before it died. That is of course the one of the two units that actually worked, the other instantly started snapping photos when film was loaded. Then came the Moultrie 1.3. The photo quality was terrible with distinct lines through the photos and a purple hue to all pictures. Along with this came the problem of destroying batteries, roughly a week and the battery would need replaced. Next came the 3.1 megapixels, problems with camera snapping photos back to back until the batteries died. Battery life and picture quality did improve. Next was the Moultrie I60, this unit cost $300 so it isn't exactly the cheap low range camera that Moultrie was known for. Well, my I60 worked pretty well for awhile, the battery life was great and color picture quality was awsome. Now the problems, this is a huge/akward unit and the mounting strap was junk. The unit would barely stay in place when attached and if the wind was blowing the unit could actually tilt or slide down the tree a bit. Next is the location for the SD memory card slot, it is in the battery compartment. This meant that when I checked the camera I had to open the front panel, shut the camera off, then I had to unscrew the two latches for the battery compartment and take the lid off, and that was just the start off it. The slot was located between the hinged battery door and a corner of the panel making it nearly impossible to get to if you have big fingers or gloves on, I actually had to carry tweezers to pull the card out. Along with that, the gasket around the battery compartment lid was pretty cheap and would constantly try to fall out. The camera would also hardly ever take colors photos during daylight, there might be a 45 minute period during mid-day where I would get color photos and the rest were black and white. After about a month the unit crapped out and would take pictures that looked like they came out of a acid trip with neon green and purple colors. Now I have two I40's that both have the same problems as the I60 (except for the neon colors) but after less than a week of use, the screens died. I cannot change any settings or even tell how many photos it has taken. I always enjoy picking up new cameras to try out every year but I am finally convinced that Moultrie is never going to make a quality unit and will no longer try out any of their new products. I had hope with the I series but was severly let down. I am either going to give Cuddeback another try (both my C3000's died but that was after over a year of solid use) or I am going to step right up to the Reconyx, if thats the path I choose and the Reconyx craps out for some reason then I will just start building my own.
