Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig – they all have used spy cameras at one point of the movie or another. Have you ever watched a James Bond movie and thought to yourself that it would be so cool to have a gadget that does amazing stuff? Well, this is your chance to own a spy camera. For those of you who do not know what a spy camera is, it can defined as any camera which can be used for taking pictures or video of a scene or a person without their knowledge. If you have watched “Candid Camera”, you would know that people tend to be amusing when they are not aware that a camera is capturing their moves. History has it that the Second World War was the first time when people used spy devices to wander into enemy territory and take pictures of structures, plans and blueprints.
Nowadays, these cool gadgets are available to the consumers for their own use. It is impressive the way you see them are incorporated in normal objects that you use in your daily life. The cameras are camouflaged by regular objects like calculators, sticks of gum, cigarette packs, tie pins, pens and alarm clocks. James Bond always uses pens or tie pins or the bow to record conversations and scenes. Typically, anything that is big enough to house a small camera can be used as a camouflage for it. One look at the different types of spy cam-objects will reveal that there is no piece of household equipment into which the spy camera cannot be impregnated.
Ok, you’re a regular person, not a detective, and certainly not 007, what could you possibly need a spy device for? It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’re paranoid, but people have been known to set spy cameras on their property as an add-on to the burglar alarm. This especially helps if you live on a large property. The older huge security cameras that always keep moving are not really helpful because burglars have learnt to stay away from their moving line of sight, but with this, they don’t really know where the camera is, or even if there is a camera or not. It would also help in circumstances if you’re a concerned parent leaving your child under the care of a nanny. Yeah, but it is better not to let the nanny know about this because she is not going to feel right about somebody monitoring her activities especially if she is straight and honest.
Who hasn’t always wanted to be a paranormal investigator? If you have an idea that the paranormal entity might be getting smarter at not showing activity when a real camera is around, you could just go throw a pot of plant or a stick of gum in the room with cameras and maybe your video could go into the repository of true scary videos.
Have you seen “Law Abiding Citizen”… the interrogation scene? Remember when Jamie Foxx switches off the recorder and the camera to get Butler to confess? Well, policemen and spies could benefit from spy cameras and even solve a few cases by getting prisoners to confess in a fit of rage or remorse. If you have just opened a new office or even built a new house, these could serve as your immediate and cheapest security options till you install security cameras and sentry men. You could have your own prank-show with security cameras at your school or college or even your workplace. Some delicate applications of them are a test for your spouse’s fidelity and voyeurism. Make sure the latter is legal in your country before installing them in anybody’s private spots.
It’s obvious that the whole concept of special gadgets, spy cameras and playing Bond is really cool. The thrill and excitement when you record people doing stuff without them knowing that there is a camera in the midst is beyond comprehension. Maybe you could even get your friends extremely drunk and record their rants and raves.
There are different spy cameras available, the modes and features of each of which would be individually astounding. The basic spy camera is just a camera incorporated into objects that would otherwise not be checked. Night vision would be something that you can add to the list of features that are available. It is even possible for you to get surveillance cameras which are motion-activated or voice-activated. Sometimes, all it takes to start recording to its inbuilt flash drive is just a wave of your hand or saying the appropriate word. There are other types of spy cameras which are inaccessible to us civilians; they are exclusively used for spying and transmission of videos. They can either be short-range transmission or long-range transmission, and the best part is that they can be made smaller than your normal spy cameras because they do not need to have a flash drive to record. It can transmit the video through the air in the form of waves.
The cost of these things vary from brand to brand, but on an average, if you talk about a regular basic spy camera which can just record videos and later play it back when you connect the output to a computer or a TV, it could cost you anywhere between $125 to $150. Add features like night vision and motion sensors, it could cost you about a $100 more. The image clarity and the object fidelity play an important role in the pricing of spy cameras. If you want better camera clarity, you better be prepared to shell out extra. On the other hand, there are cheaper-grade cameras which you could get for as low as $75. The size of the camera is a determinant of the price of the camera.
The spy camera is pure fun and the price is not a problem because you choose what you want. What might stop you from getting a spy camera might be the laws in your country. The Anheuser-Busch incident is a prime example of what might happen if you decide to go ahead and install a few hidden cameras in your workplace. In most states in the US, you’ll be penalized with a fine of over $2000 and a couple of years in prison for violating laws associated with spy cameras. Unauthorized installation of spy cameras could lead to condign punishment. Unfortunately, in some areas where the legal precedent in the issue of spy cameras is absent, the employers are free to install hidden cameras in any portion of the workplace including the restrooms and there is little the employees can do about it. Maybe you would want to live in such areas if you’re an employer and a control-freak.