- Stock: In Stock
- Model: VIM-MINICAM5C
You can buy a finished spy camera, but you never get to choose where the lens looks from. This one comes apart: the lens is a black head on a 135 mm ribbon, and the recorder is a small case you put wherever there is room. Pick the gap, feed the lens into it, and hide everything else behind the panel. It shoots 4K on a Sony sensor, shows you a live picture on your phone, and starts on a key fob press from across the room.
Key Features & Benefits
- Live View On Your Phone - the camera makes its own WiFi network and your phone joins it, so you can frame the shot and check footage standing near it, up to about 8 metres away
- Start It From Your Pocket - the key fob has two buttons, A to begin and end recording and B for WiFi, so nothing has to be touched once it is in place
- Records Sound With The Video - it captures audio as well as picture, which is worth knowing before you place it, because recording conversations carries its own rules separate from filming
- Sony IMX179 Sensor, 4K Video - you can look this sensor up, which you cannot do with the unmarked chip in a cheap module. Wide dynamic range keeps a face readable against a bright window
- The Case Covers The Board - the card slot, the buttons, the USB and TV sockets and the lights are all openings in a moulded shell, so you are handling a finished part rather than a naked circuit board
- Lens On A 135 mm Ribbon - the head is about the size of a shirt button on a flat flexible tail, so it slips behind a louvre, into a cable hole, or through something you drill yourself
- Motion Sensor Standby Up To 9 Months - it sleeps until body heat crosses the sensor. That ceiling assumes almost nothing sets it off, and every minute of actual filming comes out of the same pack
- Sensor Plugs In Separately - the motion sensor is on its own lead with its own switch, so you can point it at a doorway while the lens looks somewhere else entirely
- Four To Eight Hours Per Charge - the 5000 mAh pack runs four to eight hours depending on what you are recording, and fills again in five to seven
- Plug It In For 24/7 - it carries on recording while it charges, so a USB lead turns the same kit into something permanent
- Turn Every Light Off - a long press on the photo button kills all three indicators, and the camera remembers that choice the next time it powers up
- Watch It Back On A TV - the AV lead plugs into a television or recorder for live picture and playback, and it is also how you reach the settings menu
- Takes A 128GB Card - any Class 10 card from 32GB up. You buy the card yourself, and the camera has to format it before you shoot anything
- Saved As Short Clips - recordings write as three-minute pieces, and the menu lets you pick one, three or five minute segments, so finding a moment means scrolling a list instead of scrubbing one huge video
- Indoor Use Only - there is no weather sealing and the body warms up while it films, so keep it inside and do not bury it under insulation or fabric
- Anti-Shake In The Menu - one of a dozen options on the built-in settings screen, alongside time-lapse and the date stamp, all reached through the TV lead
Real-World Scenarios
- Keeping an eye on your own home. You want to know what happens in a room while the house is empty, without a camera sitting on a shelf announcing itself. The lens goes into a vent or a gap in the joinery and the rest lives out of sight behind it.
- The garage or the shed. Tools go missing and there is no power point where a camera would need to sit. Run it on the battery with the motion sensor armed and it waits, rather than filling a card with an empty doorway.
- A holiday place you leave empty. A house that sits unused for weeks with nobody nearby to look in on it. Plug it into USB and it records the entry around the clock, with the lights switched off so nothing draws attention.
How It Works
- Fit - Push the lens head into whatever opening you picked, then tuck the case, battery and sensor out of sight.
- Connect - Hold the WiFi button for three seconds, join the camera network from your phone, and line up the picture.
- Watch - Pull the card into a laptop, or run the AV lead straight to a television.
Technical Specifications
- Model: VIM-MINICAM5C
- Sensor: Sony IMX179 8.0 MP with wide dynamic range
- Audio: records audio together with the video
- Video: 4K 3840 x 2160 at 25fps, 2.7K at 30fps, 1080p at 60fps, 720p at 120fps
- Stills: up to 30 MP interpolated JPG, from the 8 MP sensor
- Compression: H.264, MP4 container
- Lens angle: 75 degrees
- Minimum illumination: 1 Lux (no infrared, no night vision)
- Battery: 5000 mAh, 4 to 8 hours recording, 5 to 7 hour charge
- Motion sensor standby: up to 9 months
- Power: DC 5V/1A via micro-USB, records while charging
- WiFi: direct hotspot to phone, up to 8 metres; the app pairs one camera per phone
- Storage: microSD 32GB to 128GB, Class 10 FAT32, not included
- Video out: AV cable to TV or recorder
- Remote: 2.4 GHz two-button key fob
- App: free smartphone app (iOS and Android)
- Dimensions: 50 x 40 x 15 mm case, 135 mm ribbon lens
- Weight: 48 g
Packaging Contents
- 1 x Compact spy camera module in case
- 1 x 5000 mAh battery pack
- 1 x Motion sensor on a lead
- 1 x 2.4 GHz key fob remote
- 1 x Micro-USB cable
- 1 x AV cable
- 1 x User manual
Not included: microSD card. Anything Class 10 from 32GB to 128GB will do, but let the camera format it first.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How does a spy camera work?
A lens feeds a small recorder that writes video onto a memory card. On this one the two parts are separated by a ribbon, so the lens can sit in a tiny opening while the recorder, battery and sensor stay hidden behind whatever you have put it in.
2. Can a spy camera work without wifi?
Yes. This one records to the memory card on its own, and the WiFi is only there for lining up the shot and reviewing clips on your phone. Leave WiFi off entirely and it still records, still triggers on motion, and still runs from the key fob.
3. Is a spy camera legal?
In your own home, generally yes. Filming anyone in a private space, bathrooms and bedrooms included, is illegal everywhere in Australia. This camera also records sound, and the rules on recording conversations are stricter than the rules on filming, so check your own state or territory.
4. Can I see it from work?
No. The camera makes its own WiFi network rather than joining the one in your house, so your phone has to be within about 8 metres to connect. If watching from another location matters more than concealment, a 4G model is the right choice instead.
5. Do I need to buy a memory card?
Yes, and it is the only thing missing from the box. Anything Class 10 from 32GB to 128GB works. Let the camera format it before you shoot, because a card it has not prepared makes the unit buzz nonstop instead of filming.
6. Can I use it outside?
No. Nothing on this kit is weather sealed, and the recorder gets warm while it films, so it needs air around it. Keep it indoors, or inside a housing you have made yourself that stays dry and is not packed tight against the case.
Lawful Use
Keep it to your own home and property. Bathrooms, bedrooms, anywhere a person expects privacy: filming there is illegal right across Australia. Sound recording carries its own rules again, and they vary by state and territory, so check yours before you install.
