Invisible camcorders for covert shooting

The camera of covert surveillance is becoming increasingly popular among modern residents of big cities, and this feature is quite easy to explain. Firstly, it is a simple and relatively inexpensive way to secure your home. Secondly, it is a convenient opportunity to constantly monitor everything that happens in the room where video surveillance is conducted.

Where and in what cases is video surveillance installed

Mini camcorder is a fairly common passive safety solution. Surveillance with surveillance cameras is conducted in most offices, warehouses and other protected objects. Installation of specialized equipment for monitoring and recording events is applied wherever it is needed. There are no restrictions on the type of activity for which it would be impossible to organize video surveillance. A clear confirmation of this is the whole. network of city cameraswhich are established in parks, squares, entrances and on carriageways of busy highways.

Modern video recording technology is able to work at high and low temperatures. Often, most outdoor cameras have a waterproof case as an option out of the box, but in some cases the camera is placed in a special waterproof box.

Sometimes it is necessary to organize a video. perimeter of a private house and his chambers. In this case, a single receiving unit is deployed, which receives information from all video surveillance cameras. The main reasons for the organization of permanent and periodic video surveillance in the apartment there are concerns for the safety of the safety of their property, as well as the prevention of unlawful actions against the owner. Sometimes it turns out to fix an offense or even a serious crime with a surveillance camera, there are cases when a hidden camera helped law enforcement agencies to catch criminals using a gadget installed in the corridor on the landing.

Video equipment can be installed both by specialists and independently. In the latter case, it is necessary to take into account that for cable pulling it will be necessary to have basic wiring skills.

Camera Types

The miniature video camera of covert surveillance can have different shapes and dimensions, as well as differ in a variety of characteristics and parameters. To date, it is customary to single out three main areas in which these devices are developing.

Wired camera

The classic version, which is often used for non-residential premises, offices and shopping centers. For the installation of wired miniature video cameras, coaxial cable or twisted pair cable is required if more modern equipment is meant.. Often, for these purposes it is necessary to carve the walls, and after laying the wiring to putty and paint over anew, which leads to considerable additional costs. It is not always possible to let the cable through the cable channel or in the plinth opening.

Wired models are not the best choice for flush mounting. Most often they are used for open video recording, when people know that they are being watched.

Wireless camera

Wireless models are more technological than the devices from the previous paragraph, but also not without some drawbacks.

1. The first and most obvious disadvantage of such a CCTV system is lack of autonomy. This model is tied to the outlet much more than it might seem at first glance. However, this option is most suitable for the home, because it allows you to exclude wires that can attract the attention of intruders or compromise the gadget itself.
2. Another significant disadvantage of wireless technology is signal transmission distance from the camera to the receiving unit. Unfortunately, the range of such models, as a rule, is limited by the reception range of bluetooth or Wi-Fi signal. In this case, the advantage on the side of wired counterparts. If you need to organize video surveillance at a great distance, it will be easier to stretch the wires.

The advantage of wireless cameras in digital processing and signal transmission, more modern optics, which allows you to shoot high-resolution video. Most often, it is the wireless models that support Internet broadcast technology with IP address assignment. Ip video cameras They have wide integration with cloud storages, as well as modern cross-platform operating units. Those, in turn, if necessary and technically possible, can be connected to older CCTV systems.If you have the necessary adapters, you can connect a wired one to the network to a working wireless video camera, the question rests only on expediency.

Standalone cameras

Oddly enough, but this species is the least popular. Standalone hidden camcorders are most often used. for mobile covert surveillance, covert shooting during interviews etc. Standalone cameras are often resorted to by secret buyers who make test purchases and fix it on camera for reporting.

The apparent design flaw of such a hidden camera is its working hours - it is limited by the power source. Despite the existence of autonomy, it nevertheless remains very relative, and it can hardly be attributed to the advantages of this type of camera for covert surveillance.

We choose a video camera for covert surveillance.

Even if there is a clear understanding of which of the three types of cameras should be purchased, there are a number of technological parameters that must be taken into account in order to acquire a truly high-quality device.

Resolution

As for the maximum resolution of the matrix, nothing has changed here since the time of the most ordinary video camera. The higher this parameter, the better the picture will be displayed.

True, there is one very significant nuance: the better the resolution, the more space on the hard disk will be occupied by the captured information. Ultimately, the hard disk will fill up faster, and less information can fit on it.

Digital models are ready to offer solutions with boards that have a resolution of 5, 8, and even 12 megapixels (HD-format). Much depends on how the device will be operated, and, of course, on the financial capabilities of the buyer.

Sensitivity parameter

The video industry has not been able to develop a uniform standard for sensitivity measurements. Since such a parameter does not exist, it is customary to take as its basis the level of illumination and the ratio of the signal and noise, as well as the exposure time. This is an important criterion for those planning to carry out night filming.

Viewing angles

There are models that support the ability 180 degree panoramic view. It all depends on the operational features.

1. If the CCTV camera is planned to be operated only indoors, Fisheye is definitely not needed. For small and well-lit rooms of the apartment, you can use the device with small viewing angles (140-160). This will significantly save on this parameter without overpaying for a function in which there is no urgent need.
2. For an object that is on the streetThe classical formula is valid: the larger the viewing angle, the greater the capture of the area fixed by the lens.

Color rendition

Enough controversial point. In most cases, you can safely do without color pictures. True, despite this, most store owners prefer to install hidden cameras that can fix color picture. This is due primarily to the fact that the readings from color video cameras are more readily accepted in law enforcement agencies and the court, as more substantial evidence, since they convey more details.

Cameras equipped with a color matrix are much more expensive than monochrome analogs.It is important to remember that the need for such devices is often exaggerated. It can be justified in places of large crowds of people, where there really is a need to highlight features among a large number of details. In case it is planned to install a hidden camera at home, then it is quite possible to confine usual black and white model. Often more important is the correct viewing angle, giving the correct viewing angle of the lens.

Memory card

Writing to a memory card is relatively simple. No type of CCTV camera is equipped with a full-fledged hard drive for video recording. For this, one would have to sacrifice a place in the corps, which is already small. Here it is important to consider two aspects.

1. Number of supported memory card formats. The larger it is, the more choices there are.
2. What class of memory cards does the device support?which is planned to buy. The higher the class of the memory card, the faster the transfer of data from the device to the carrier and back. This is a very important point, as it allows you to significantly save time.

Microphone

A good recording technique is quite expensive.Models without sound recording will be much cheaper. In addition, if you want to get a camera with the ability to record sound, remember that it only makes sense when recording in a small room with certain acoustic parameters. For high-quality recording of sound on the street you need a professional-level technology. Micro-video cameras of this parameter are often deprived.

In general, the sound parameter remains quite a compromise, since the first item is the task of observing, not listening. The microphone is additional, and not at all mandatory option, without which you can completely do. However, in some cases it can be extremely useful.

Additional functions

There are a number of parameters that are not put in the forefront, but may be in demand as auxiliary.

1. Model with motion sensor can notify its owner on the phone of any change in his home. The disadvantage of such devices is frequent false alarms.
   

2. Some models have built-in Wi-Fi support, which greatly simplifies the transfer of data, allowing you not to use wires.Payback for convenience is the low autonomy of the device.
   

3. IR illumination photofixation and a number of other properties may be useful, but only if the user really understands why he needs them.

Where better to place a hidden camera

The main purpose of the device - the implementation of covert surveillance. Even if a small camera is noticed, it can lead to damage or other negative consequences. That is why manufacturers work with the dimensions and form factor of the devices in order to make them easier to hide.

Portable stand-alone camcorder for covert shooting is best disguised. Optimum secrecy is achieved due to the small size and lack of wires.

Regarding the installation site of the camera hidden surveillance, you can give a few of the most common examples.

1. Computer desk. If the camera is portable or small, it will be easy for it to get lost among the multitude of wires and devices: speakers, a monitor, a system unit, etc.
2. In the closet. If you leave the door ajar, as if by chance, and throw some clothes on the body,You can easily hide the fact of video surveillance. Even an experienced person dealing with video surveillance will not immediately guess.
3. Ceiling mounting. Here the choice is somewhat greater. You can position the optics in the corner, in the chandelier. Someone manages to place a miniature camera between the joints of the ceiling tiles or between the suspended ceiling and the wall. In any case, the ceiling is a very good place to disguise.
   
4. Installation below eye level. As a rule, a person rarely carefully examines the details that are below the level of his eyes. So, being in the room, the observer will rather be enthusiastically consider the details and attributes located at the table level and higher, rather than prefer the joints between the baseboard and the wall. In the summer, an excellent option is to install between sections of the heater. The main thing is not to forget to remove the camera from there before the start of the heating season.

It is important to remember that the most obvious at first glance place always remains less noticeable.You should not try to disguise the camera deliberately sophisticated, it, on the contrary, may attract unnecessary attention. In a room where there is a hidden observation, everything should look as natural as possible, without giving out the fact of video filming.

As for the installation of a stationary camera for covert surveillance, here the most relevant recommendation is the masking of a coaxial cable or twisted pair. It is not necessary to make walls under the cable channel, you can do much easier. If in the room where you plan to shoot, there is a stationary PC, the wires can be thrown into a common pile, thereby hiding them from prying eyes. It is unlikely that someone will find out from where and where each posting leads.

Important! Installing a hidden camera on the street, you need to make sure that it is able to withstand the temperature range in which it is planned to operate.

The legality of covert surveillance

Imperceptible digital cameras can be dangerous not only for criminals who risk falling into their lens. The danger may threaten the owner of such a device. In Russia and the CIS countries, there is a rather vague interpretation of the law on video surveillance.From it it becomes clear that the video fixation of people and objects allowed in public places provided that they do not have other amendments and additions regulating such activities. In the case of covert shooting is necessary cover faces or any other details identifying people, property (including intellectual), which did not give consent to it, but also did not express a refusal of video recording.

The edge of what is permitted and forbidden is quite transparent, and in various situations it can be interpreted in different directions. For example, the video was recorded actions that have signs of a crime. And although the video participant did not give consent to the shooting, it will be evidence, not a violation of the law on privacy.

Hidden video filming is allowed in full on private property / territory for personal storage and provision of information to law enforcement. It is important to remember that any video and photographing will not be a violation of the law, if it is carried out at home, in the garage or cottage. But if the user performs a hidden shot, speaking as a mystery shopper, his legal situation is not as safe as it may seem at first glance. If the seller or a representative of the company he is filming for a hidden camera did not give written consent to perform such actions, this could lead to serious consequences.

Important! In Russia, there is a ban on the sale of hidden surveillance cameras outside certified stores that are licensed to carry out such trade. Simply put, ordering a pen with a hidden camera on some popular Internet site, its future owner risks getting a real time.

Conclusion

Video surveillance firmly entered the life of the modern metropolis. Hidden cameras look at visitors from the ceilings of shopping centers, offices and storage facilities. More and more people are installing such devices at home, and this is fully justified, because any reasonable person wants to feel safe.