Spy Cameras Introduction
A spy camera is an optical or digital device to capture either still or moving images of a subject without them knowing.
Spy cameras are probably the most common form of surveillance equipment around these days. Once upon a time (in the early 1990s), spy cameras cost several hundred pounds, but nowadays you can purchase a wired pinhole video camera for just £15. The relatively low cost of spy cameras is mainly due to the low production and shipping costs from Asian countries. Since spy cameras are so cheap, it means that privacy becomes an issue as cameras can easily end up being concealed in places they shouldn’t be.
Different Types of Spy Camera
There are three distinctly different types of spy camera, and all other spy cameras are a variation of one of these types.
Optical (i.e. Analogue)
This is an old-fashioned type of spy camera associated with the world wars and the cold war. The Minox is an example of this type of camera which uses a very small film format which is just 8mm x 11mm, first designed by Walter Zapp in the 1930s.
Minox, a German company, is also well known for producing binoculars and 35mm film cameras. These cameras have also made appearances in films such James Bond movies. These cameras are not used a great deal these days, but are worthy of a mention.
Video Spy Cameras
Video spy cameras are what you might consider to be the first generation of electronic spy cameras. These devices have a very small video camera device that produces a video signal when given a power supply. This video signal is analogue in nature and can be fed into composite or scart socket of a TV or video recorder. The wired variety of video spy cameras are identifiable by having 2 or 3 wires, namely power, video and optionally audio. The wireless variety of video spy cameras have the same connections available on the wireless camera receiver.
Video spy cameras are currently the most common type of spy camera, and are definitely the cheapest. These are the cameras you are going to find on most spy websites and on eBay.
The electronics required to create a video spy camera are relatively simple compared to its digital counterpart, lending themselves to miniaturisation. Typically covert spy cameras measure just 20mm x 20mm in cross-section, but models that are just 15mm x 15mm also exist.
Video spy cameras come in a number of flavours, such as wired, wireless, wide-angle, pinhole, colour, monochrome, night-vision types and covertly concealed. These are covered in more detail later.
A small spy camera with a standard lens that easily connects to a TV, VCR or other security system. Barely larger than your thumb, it is also equiped with a sensitive electret microphone. There are a range of telephoto and wide-angle lens available too, so that you can match it to your security requirements.
Digital Spy Cameras
Digital spy cameras have a very small video camera device that is able to record images and video to a digital storage device like a memory card. To retrieve the captured footage requires that you connect the storage device to a computer and access the video and images as files.
Digital spy cameras cost in the region of £100 or more, so are notably more expensive than the video spy cameras. Current digital video recording devices can only exploit memory cards up to 2GB due to storage addressing limitations when using the file storage system FAT (File Allocation Table). However, using video codecs such as MPEG4, this translates to several hours of footage.
Spy Camera Lens Types
Standard Lens
This appears to be a large lens compared to the pinhole lens. However, a larger lens allows more light to hit the video sensor, therefore the quality of the image is much higher.
If a camera with a standard lens is concealed in such a way to avoid drawing attention, then it’s worth using for the improved image clarity.
Pinhole Lens
As the name suggests, pinhole spy cameras have a very small lens no more than 2mm in diameter. This allows pinhole cameras to be hidden covertly very easily in other objects and even clothing.
The very small lens makes it very difficult to see the camera at a distance of a metre or more.
Screw Lens
This is a pinhole lens with a fake pozidrive screw head over the top of it.
The intention of this camera is to allow you to hide it within furniture that already uses screws without drawing any attention to its presence.
Button Lens
This is a pinhole lens with a fake button over the top of it.
This allows you to hide the camera within clothing to obtain video footage without drawing any attention to the camera. It’s easier to place a button camera in plain sight as buttons are typically located somewhere centrally on clothing.
Wired v.s. Wireless
A wired spy camera is where cables are used to connect the camera to the recording or viewing device. A wireless spy camera is where the video signal is transmitted over a radio frequency. The video receiver is then connected to a recording or viewing gadget.
The advantage of a wired spy camera is that only you are able to view the video footage using your viewing equipment. However, since a wireless spy camera transmits a video signal over radio waves, anyone with a compatible wireless receiver can also view the signal.
Furthermore, if the frequency of the spy camera was known, it would be possible to jam that frequency and prevent you receiving any useful video footage. On the other hand, wired systems are limited with how long the cables can be. With a wireless system, you can cover large distances just by using the appropriate directional aerials.
Wireless spy cameras are available on a number of frequencies, and models using frequencies within the 900MHz, 1.2GHz, 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz bands all exist. The cameras using 1.2GHz are the cheap wireless spy cameras that you see on eBay all the time. The 900MHz models aren’t really available these days, and 5.8GHz is very much a new frequency band. Only the 2.4GHz and 5.8GHz frequency bands are available for use in the UK without a licence. Use any other frequency, and you risk being prosecuted!
A sleek-looking portable wireless spy camera receiver cable of receiving up to 4 different spy camera channels. It comes with a built-in rechargeable battery and large 2.5 inch screen. Great for spy cameras that also have microphones as the receiver comes with a built-in receiver for audio monitoring too.
Covertly Concealed Cameras
You can get spy cameras that have already been concealed in an everyday object if you’re willing to pay a premium. You can get cameras concealed in mirrors, alarm clocks, teddy bears, lighting systems, smoke alarms and virtually everything else.
An incredibly small pinhole spy camera that has been crafted into an earphone! Even more surprisingly it features a tiny microphone too.
A high resolution spy camera for serious video security solutions. Standard video systems use just 380 TV lines, whereas this camera has 450 TV lines. The 4.3mm lens gives a wide viewing angle too.
CCTV and Spy Cameras
CCTV stands for Closed Circuit Television and refers to any always-on security system using video cameras. Regardless of the type of camera, its considered to be part of a CCTV system if the video footage is permanently being recorder and monitored. However, the cameras used for security systems have a much higher resolution than cheap spy cameras since the video footage is being stored for use as evidence if required in a court of law.
