Topic: stealth video-taping made easy

[saxophone]

check it brah

http://www.target.com/gp/detail.html/ref=br_1_16/601-9279271-6004923?%5Fencoding=UTF8&frombrowse=1&asin=B0007QN8AG

[itook2much]

10x Optical Zoom/100x Digital Zoom   
 
Provides incredible zooming ability. Variable speed control is activated by automatic sensing of the amount of pressure applied to the zoom tab. 
 
MPEG4 Video Clip Recording
 
Record an MPEG-4 digital video clip, which has high picture quality and takes up little memory space. Video can be stored directly to your Memory Stick or transferred to your PC via USB. 
 
680K Movie Optimized CCD
 
Delivers high-resolution video images with superior color resolution and detail. It surpasses the conventional camcorder with digital quality and its high performance PC interface. 
 
Suitable for outdoor activities
 
Camera body is pocket-size and offers a non-slip surface. The included external remote lens offers wide-angle capabilities, is weather-resistant, and allows for hands-free shooting. 
 
Multi Function Capabilities
 
MP3 Player, Voice Recorder, Data Storage, Web Cam. 
 
Electronic Image Stabilization (EIS)
 
Minimizes unwanted picture shaking caused by hand movement during recording. 
 
Photo Mode Function
 
Allows for easy picture taking (800 x 600 resolution) and the ability to save still pictures into Memory Stick or Memory Stick PRO. 
 
512MB Built-in Memory
 
Allows you to take photos and MPEG4 movies more conveniently. Combining built-in memory and Memory Stick PRO allows you to store your still images, MPEG4 movies, and important documents and files allowing you to review them anytime, anywhere. 

http://product.samsung.com/cgi-bin/nabc/product/b2c_product_detail.jsp?eUser=&prod_id=SC-X105L%2FXAA

[Depechemode1993]

is that good? I would definately buy if so. I don't know much about cameras.

[seethreepo]

anyone know the highest capacity memory stick you can buy ?

a quick search found 2 gig cards for 300 bucks ..  how much video would this hold?

 

[Ed.]

i think a 60 minute mini dv video transferred to your computer is around 10gigs.  (maybe not that much, but its pretty big)  you then encode it to mpeg2 for dvd, i'd imagine mpeg4 quality isn't as good as normal dvd quality then.  kind of the mp3 of video.

[GNRArnold]

Size of these things is never the issue, keeping it out of the eye of security and getting good shots is always the hard part.

[Ed.]

i think sony makes a great little mini dv cam which is great for stealth video.  I honestly haven't looked at any of the mem stick cameras cuz of their compression.

as for hiding it in the first front rows, it can definitely be done.  sitting in the front row might make it easiest as all.  just hold it in your lap with a sweatshirt or bag or something over it with only the lens sticking out.

all of my stealth video is usually done from the balcony of places, where i just throw it on the ledge and put a hoody over it.  however, i usually never zoom in or move the shot around.  i figure if i'm the only filmer, its better to get all the action rather than just the lead singer and whatnot.

[Simp-Dawg]

i picked one up on a whim (fopr $530) to try to shoot panic at red rocks...definitely not gonna cut it if you want a quality shot, not to mention some other downsides.  however, it is definitely a cool little (and i mean small!) toy for low-quality, non-professional applications.

first off, it fits in the palm of your hand, and i mean just the palm, not the fingers too.  it's tiny.  has a little 2" lcd that swings and swivels so you can see what you're shooting.  no viewfinder though.  the external lens is slightly bigger than a mic in diameter and about 3" long.  there's a little power button on the external lens and it takes AAA batteries (2).  everything is rubberized and there are only a few buttons on the main unit...which i didn't think the functions of them were all that user-friendly in the couple minutes i actually used it.  but the build quality was pretty good, ergonomics weren't bad.

battery life is pretty week...even with the optional larger capacity battery, which i didn't have, you only get about 2+ hrs of recording, according to the manual. 

it takes memory stick pro which i don't like cuz only a few devices work with it...i thought it was sd cards which i liked at first because my camera tkaes those...but no.  1gb was $129 instore and that much storage only gets you about an hour of record time, even at the lowest settings.

the low quality is definitely low...even high quality is pretty bad on a larger screen.  this is not professional photo/videography.  the internal lens is better than the external, and you can zoom only with the internal.  external is pretty grainy looking and you won't get a lot of detail out of a tape made back from the section.

the external lens uses the only i/o port (besides a dock/power cable port) to connect, so there's no hooking up external mics.  maybe you could from the little docking station it has that hooks up to the dock port, but i didn't try that.  anyway, the built in mics are pretty worthless for music.  you'd have to mix in a tape later.

as far as stealthing it, it is tiny...and you could easily disguise it as a mic if people aren't looking for it....maybe even if they are, if you cut a hole in a windscreen i guess.  you could easily mount it in an AT8410.

there's about 5-6 feet of cable between the cam body and external lens...not too shabby.

anyways, recapping the major downfalls:
1. subpar video quality
2. short battery life
3. uncommon and expensive media
4. no audio inputs

that said it still would be a cool toy to have, maybe i'll keep it if i can get my friend at the retail store to get me a deal on another one...if not, i'm taking this back as it's not quite worth what i spent on it, to me, if it doesn't perform to my liking for taping applications.

[Nick's Picks]

I was thinking about this...

what about a PC based camera?  like some USB or firewire job on a long cable.
hoist it up on a mic stand...camo it.  run the audio feed and video right into laptop.
synch it later..or on the fly if possible.

that would probably fly.  i'll poke around and see whats out there for usb cameras

[The Kilted Taper]

Out of curiosity, can you post a sample of the video, just so we can see the quality, or lack of.

[Simp-Dawg]

i suppose i could use yousendit.com to email it out....pm me your email addy if you'd like to see the clip and i'll do it tonight.

[Chad817]

I was thinking about this...

what about a PC based camera?  like some USB or firewire job on a long cable.
hoist it up on a mic stand...camo it.  run the audio feed and video right into laptop.
synch it later..or on the fly if possible.

that would probably fly.  i'll poke around and see whats out there for usb cameras

probably possible, but webcams are usually pretty awful in low light, not to mention they don't zoom (at least to my knowledge).  I doubt the results would be worth the effort.

[Nick's Picks]

i'm not talking some shitty webcam. 
I'm sure there are better video cameras out there w/a PC interface of some sort.

[Simp-Dawg]

i'm not talking some shitty webcam.
I'm sure there are better video cameras out there w/a PC interface of some sort.

if there are i haven't seen them.  the external lens on this thing may as well be a web cam i think...i will try it once more, hopefully tonight at mule from a closer distance and see how it turns out.

[bossanova]

Thanks for the posts on the SAMSUNG, I had thought about buying one,
but ruled it out due to the poor image quality, and battery life.
COSTCO had them online for about $599 so I was going to just buy one
and try it out, return it if I didnt like it.

Regarding methods of stealth taping, I have done the following,
successfully from the 2nd row, with security all around me.

My camcorder is a JVC DVM-5U, bought it in 1998.
It is the 2nd or 3rd generation of the paperback book style camcorder from JVC.

I taped it in black electrical tape, to disguise it as a pair of binoculars.
I made sure there was no silver color, or led red lights showing.
I also created a dummy fake 2nd lens from a bottle cap, to make it look even more like a pair of binocs.

I held the camera sideways, like holding a pair of binocs.
I was able to tape the whole show from 2nd row with security on both sides of me.
I was a little worried that people would think I was kind of close to be using binoculars,
but noone bothered me.

Since the camera is turned on its side.
The picture turns out sideways, but you can rotate it using Ifilmedit or other software,
since it is digital

In future I'd like to get a SONY HC90, and paint it all black,
or disguise with black tape.
This camera is much smaller and looks like a pair of binoculars,
or monocular.

My other idea for stealth video, is using the "Howie Mandel" glasses,
to a DVR.  The quality is not great though, only 380 lines of res,
and no zooming, so only good for 1st row, but then you dont need zoom.
Camera sees what you see.
Low light is prob not good either.
Also very expensive.

There are also button, and hat CCD cameras, and other glasses cameras.
They would be mostly stealth, with wires going to a portable DVR.

Hope this gives people some ideas on how to do stealth.

Looking for other peoples ideas on how to disguise cameras,
hide them,  etc.