Moultrie M-880i Gen2

Discontinued Trail Camera Model

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2015 Moultrie M880i Gen2 Review

Model # MCG-12693  |  Moultrie M880i Gen2 Owners Manual

 

Pros

• Good battery life
• Vivid color daytime pictures/videos

Cons

• Very poor design on Python lock bracket
• Programming can be tricky

Trailcampro Analysis

    The Moultrie M-880i Gen2 is brand new for 2015 and comes with a complete redesign from last years M-880.  This is a no glow infrared trail camera, meaning the infrared LEDs are invisible to the human eye when taking a picture at night.  Structurally, this is the difference between the Moultrie M-880 and this camera, the M-880i.  The “i” stands for invisible.  Let’s take a look at the rest of the Moultrie M-880i Gen2 Review.

Quality of Design

Dimensions: 5.75″ x 4.75″ x 3.25″  |  Battery Type:  8 AA Batteries  |  External Battery Jack:  12 Volt

    The case design changed quite drastically from previous years.  The latch is huge, which so far is a plus.  It has been relatively easy to open and close even with cold fingers.  The buttons for programming and the battery eject tray are all positive and work well.

     The python lock bracket is an extremely poor design.  The loops are angled which makes the camera sit funny on a tree if you are only using the python lock and not the security case.  It would also be pretty easy to torque the camera in a way to easily snap the brackets.  We don’t like this design at all, the only way to truly correct this is to use the camera with a security case.

     We have found the programming to be tricky and not intuitive at all.  The programming from the 2013 M-880 was simple and easy to use, but ever since then the programming has grown in intricacy.  We have received quite a few calls from our customers needing help programming their camera (which is unusual for a non-cellular trail camera).  Here is a breakdown of some of the more popular settings:

• 1-3 multi-shot
• 5 s. – 90 s. video clips
• Time Lapse: 10/30 s. / 1/5/10/15/30 min.   1/2/3/6/12/24 hrs. w/ 1 or 2 prog. / day
• Photo Stamp: Time, date, temperature, moon phase and camera name
• Picture + Video Mode: No
• Start/Stop Time: No
• Password Protection: Yes
• SD Card Overwrite: Yes
• PIR Settings: Yes (High/Low)
• Flash Settings: Yes (Motion freeze on/off)

Detection Circuit     

Picture Trigger & Recovery Speed: 0.75 s. / 4.2 s.  |  Video Trigger & Recovery Speed:  1.39 s. / 7.8 s.  |  Detection Range:  50 ft.

      The picture trigger time is pretty quick at 0.75 seconds.  The picture recovery is 4.2 seconds is fairly typical of many modern trail cameras.

     This is the first year we are incorporating video trigger and recovery times into our rankings.  This will make the rankings even more accurate and stringent.  The trigger time for videos is 1.39 seconds (which is decent) and the recovery is 7.8 seconds.

     Detection range is right at 50 ft, just as the manufacturer claims.  By today’s standards, this is below average.  Overall, this detection circuit isn’t slow by any means, however, it would benefit from some improvement.

Picture Quality     

Photo resolution: 8 mpxl (Enhanced, High, Med. & Low)  |  Video Resolution: 1280 x 720 no audio  |  Flash Type:  No Glow Infrared

     2014 Moultrie models were severely out of focus.  It seems that has mostly been corrected with the 2015 models.  The clarity isn’t perfect, but it is a huge improvement.  Along with the improvement in clarity, the M880i Gen2 has excellent color.  They are bright, vivid pictures   These are some of the better pictures of 2015.

     The night pictures have good flash range but can be a bit grainy and blurry at times.  Overall, for a no glow camera we consider the night pictures to be good.

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     Day and night videos appear to be very good.  There doesn’t appear to be sound on the videos.

Battery Life     

Resting Power (on):  1.08 mW  |  Daytime Power Consumption:  2.09 Ws |  Nighttime Power Consumption:  7.17 Ws

      The resting power is extremely low, as is the daytime power consumption.  The night consumption uses a decent amount of power, but nothing overwhelming.  Overall, these are good numbers.

     While this camera can operate on alkaline AA Batteries, we greatly prefer Energizer Ultimate Lithiums in our cameras.  They are much more consistent and will last an incredible amount of time.  Even with the high nighttime power consumption, if this camera were to take 35 day pictures and 35 night pictures every 24 hours, this camera could last 8.6 months in the field (with lithiums).
   
     This camera will not work with rechargeable batteries.

Moultrie M880i Gen2 Review Conclusion       3.7 Stars

     Overall, this is a very solid no glow trail camera but it is not perfect.  The programming could be tough for consumers that aren’t tech-savvy.  Outside of that, we love the picture quality and the all-around durability of the game camera.

 

Additional Resources: Moultrie Game Cameras – an overview of the Moultrie game camera products we have reviewed for 2017.

Moultrie M-40i – Top-rated night pictures for a no glow trail camera.

Moultrie M-40 – Rated best red glow night pictures for 2017.

Moultrie A-30i – This is our highest rated $100 trail camera.