Motion activated Internal Hidden Camera?

KylieNotMinogue

Hi. 

Can anyone recommend a hidden camera for using internally.

Prefer one that I can also use WITHOUT wifi and app (so SD card recordable in a format that is usable). The position that I need to place it in means that the wifi signal is not always great and furthermore the apps seem to  be very hit and miss (more miss) and there are also "privacy" concerns as many seem to be random chinese apps with no stated data protection etc.

Also I need one that ideally I can set the activation time so it is not triggering times when it is not necessary (for example on from 9am-5pm) and then not triggering during the evening and through the night.

Lastly it needs to be a hidden camera so not really obvious. The one I sent back was disguised as a clock - which wasn't a bad idea. it was just rubbish (would not connect to the wifi unless it was practically on the modem hub and even that was randomly dropping out).

Hope this is not too much to ask. Will consider all budgets as you get what you pay for I suppose (one I sent back was 60pounds but seems like something that should sell for 20 pounds max).

[Deleted User]

I think you are looking for a bit of a unicorn product here. Always better to state what you are trying to achieve and ask for solutions rather than coming up with a very specific technical design and wondering why you can't find one.

1. Without wifi and an app and only an SD card make it really unusable as a product - how do you know it has been activated? You will need to remove the SD card every day to check. 

2. How do you know it is set up properly and recording if you can't easily check with an app? If it is battery-powered, how will you know it has a low battery? If it is mainly powered, how will you know when it has lost power?

3. How can you set time/sync to only record in the day if it isn't accessible via wifi?

3. Most hidden cameras on a low budget are just gimmick devices, you need to spend £100's to get a decent one that will record usable footage good enough to identify faces, and it won't match your requirements.

Unless you have a really specific reason for covert surveillance, then a visible camera is more useful as acting as a deterrent against criminal activity, and moreover having wifi/cloud / PVR recorder to store the footage in a different location to the camera is vital so it can't be stolen with the camera.

SiliconChip

[Deleted User] said:

I think you are looking for a bit of a unicorn product here. Always better to state what you are trying to achieve and ask for solutions rather than coming up with a very specific technical design and wondering why you can't find one.

1. Without wifi and an app and only an SD card make it really unusable as a product - how do you know it has been activated? You will need to remove the SD card every day to check. 

2. How do you know it is set up properly and recording if you can't easily check with an app? If it is battery-powered, how will you know it has a low battery? If it is mainly powered, how will you know when it has lost power?

3. How can you set time/sync to only record in the day if it isn't accessible via wifi?

3. Most hidden cameras on a low budget are just gimmick devices, you need to spend £100's to get a decent one that will record usable footage good enough to identify faces, and it won't match your requirements.

Unless you have a really specific reason for covert surveillance, then a visible camera is more useful as acting as a deterrent against criminal activity, and moreover having wifi/cloud / PVR recorder to store the footage in a different location to the camera is vital so it can't be stolen with the camera.

Whether it's possible in a hidden camera I don't know but everything you object to is indeed feasible. I bought wildlife cameras to use on an allotment to try to spot vandals, they didn't have wifi or apps so while we did have to remove the card to check what it had recorded that doesn't sound like it'll be a problem for the OP who may well have access to do that outside the recording times. And setting recording times was a trivial activity done on the camera itself, as we only wanted to record overnight.

KylieNotMinogue

SiliconChip said:

[Deleted User] said:

I think you are looking for a bit of a unicorn product here. Always better to state what you are trying to achieve and ask for solutions rather than coming up with a very specific technical design and wondering why you can't find one.

1. Without wifi and an app and only an SD card make it really unusable as a product - how do you know it has been activated? You will need to remove the SD card every day to check. 

2. How do you know it is set up properly and recording if you can't easily check with an app? If it is battery-powered, how will you know it has a low battery? If it is mainly powered, how will you know when it has lost power?

3. How can you set time/sync to only record in the day if it isn't accessible via wifi?

3. Most hidden cameras on a low budget are just gimmick devices, you need to spend £100's to get a decent one that will record usable footage good enough to identify faces, and it won't match your requirements.

Unless you have a really specific reason for covert surveillance, then a visible camera is more useful as acting as a deterrent against criminal activity, and moreover having wifi/cloud / PVR recorder to store the footage in a different location to the camera is vital so it can't be stolen with the camera.

Whether it's possible in a hidden camera I don't know but everything you object to is indeed feasible. I bought wildlife cameras to use on an allotment to try to spot vandals, they didn't have wifi or apps so while we did have to remove the card to check what it had recorded that doesn't sound like it'll be a problem for the OP who may well have access to do that outside the recording times. And setting recording times was a trivial activity done on the camera itself, as we only wanted to record overnight.

That was my thinking. I am hardly asking for the moon on a stick. The required things are all very basic functions that have been around a long time, and as you say any budget trail camera. You can set the time on any basic clock, so a camera that is essentially also a digital clock should not have any problem with being able to input start and end times with having to go through an app.

Ideally I need a trail camera in a radio or clock. 

I might have to try and get one custom built as reading the specs on anything sold on Amazon or otherwise it seems that none would be suitable. And as I said in my OP - the wifi ones seem to be monitored live from China (where data protection would also be an issue) without being able to take control yourself via mico/SD card - even any mico/SD footage needs to be accessed through an app.

[Deleted User]

SiliconChip said:

[Deleted User] said:

I think you are looking for a bit of a unicorn product here. Always better to state what you are trying to achieve and ask for solutions rather than coming up with a very specific technical design and wondering why you can't find one.

1. Without wifi and an app and only an SD card make it really unusable as a product - how do you know it has been activated? You will need to remove the SD card every day to check. 

2. How do you know it is set up properly and recording if you can't easily check with an app? If it is battery-powered, how will you know it has a low battery? If it is mainly powered, how will you know when it has lost power?

3. How can you set time/sync to only record in the day if it isn't accessible via wifi?

3. Most hidden cameras on a low budget are just gimmick devices, you need to spend £100's to get a decent one that will record usable footage good enough to identify faces, and it won't match your requirements.

Unless you have a really specific reason for covert surveillance, then a visible camera is more useful as acting as a deterrent against criminal activity, and moreover having wifi/cloud / PVR recorder to store the footage in a different location to the camera is vital so it can't be stolen with the camera.

Whether it's possible in a hidden camera I don't know but everything you object to is indeed feasible. I bought wildlife cameras to use on an allotment to try to spot vandals, they didn't have wifi or apps so while we did have to remove the card to check what it had recorded that doesn't sound like it'll be a problem for the OP who may well have access to do that outside the recording times. And setting recording times was a trivial activity done on the camera itself, as we only wanted to record overnight.

Trail cams are a bit different in the sense that the user is just trying to capture some wildlife and it's ok to come back a week or a month later to retrieve the footage and you don't need to be alerted to movement as it happens.

It is really unusual to use a covert camera internally, you can normally only do this on your own property, therefore OP is likely to be monitoring people with access to their property covertly. I can't see much use for intruders, a visible external or internal camera is much more useful for that scenario as it acts a deterrent before anybody enters the property and you would definitely want to be alerted to motion in the event of an intruder rather than finding out later when you check the SD card.

Anyway, unless the OP shares what they are trying to achieve or is flexible on the exact requirements, I don't think there is much left other than as suggested a custom built device.

SiliconChip

[Deleted User] said:

SiliconChip said:

[Deleted User] said:

I think you are looking for a bit of a unicorn product here. Always better to state what you are trying to achieve and ask for solutions rather than coming up with a very specific technical design and wondering why you can't find one.

1. Without wifi and an app and only an SD card make it really unusable as a product - how do you know it has been activated? You will need to remove the SD card every day to check. 

2. How do you know it is set up properly and recording if you can't easily check with an app? If it is battery-powered, how will you know it has a low battery? If it is mainly powered, how will you know when it has lost power?

3. How can you set time/sync to only record in the day if it isn't accessible via wifi?

3. Most hidden cameras on a low budget are just gimmick devices, you need to spend £100's to get a decent one that will record usable footage good enough to identify faces, and it won't match your requirements.

Unless you have a really specific reason for covert surveillance, then a visible camera is more useful as acting as a deterrent against criminal activity, and moreover having wifi/cloud / PVR recorder to store the footage in a different location to the camera is vital so it can't be stolen with the camera.

Whether it's possible in a hidden camera I don't know but everything you object to is indeed feasible. I bought wildlife cameras to use on an allotment to try to spot vandals, they didn't have wifi or apps so while we did have to remove the card to check what it had recorded that doesn't sound like it'll be a problem for the OP who may well have access to do that outside the recording times. And setting recording times was a trivial activity done on the camera itself, as we only wanted to record overnight.

Trail cams are a bit different in the sense that the user is just trying to capture some wildlife and it's ok to come back a week or a month later to retrieve the footage and you don't need to be altered to movement as it happens.

It is really unusual to use a covert camera internally, you can normally only do this on your own property, therefore OP is likely to be monitoring people with access to their property covertly. I can't see much use for intruders, a visible external or internal camera is much more useful for that scenario as it acts a deterrent before anybody enters the property and you would definitely want to be alerted to motion in the event of an intruder rather than finding out later when you check the SD card.

Anyway, unless the OP shares what they are trying to achieve or is flexible on the exact requirements, I don't think there is much left other than as suggested a custom built device.

While it would make life easier if the OP is willing to share the reason for the covert camera I can certainly see circumstances in which an alert or a deterrant might not be needed, for instance if a cleaner is suspected of theft while the home is otherwise unoccupied the home owner may want to confirm what is happening.

RumRat

I've installed one of these Tapo camera in the office of a charity I help out at.
If you don't subscribe to the cloud storage option it just records to SD card (which are viewable in the app) and can send clips to you when movement detected if you want that, if not, it can be turned off. It can be set to record at convenient times and the in app alerts can be turned off and on as required.
It didn't take much brainstorming to hide it. It's in an office box file that we cut a convenient hole in. If people are up to no good they rarely spend time looking other than a cursory glance around the room.
The quality of the recordings is really good and you can view what's going on at anytime via the app.
Worth a try for twenty quid.