- Stock: In Stock
- Model: VIM-V93
You are away for the weekend and you would like to know whether anyone came through the front door. Stand this on a shelf, flick the switch, and forget about it. It sits there asleep for up to 30 days, watching for body heat, and only starts filming when a person actually walks in. Nothing to download. Nothing to pay each month.
Key Features & Benefits
- You will not be charging it every week. Left asleep on the sensor it holds a charge for up to 30 days, so a weekend away, a work trip, or a fortnight at the coast barely touches it. Each time it wakes you get about a minute of video.
- It wakes for people, not movement. Curtains in a draught and headlights sweeping across the wall will not start it.
- It does not glow in the dark. The infrared it uses at night is the kind you cannot see, so there is no ring of red dots giving the camera away the moment the lights go off. It lights about 2 metres, so put it where someone has to come close.
- Nothing to set up. No WiFi, no app, no account, no monthly fee. Put a card in and slide the switch. That is the whole thing.
- You will be able to tell who it was. 1080p at close range is sharp enough to make out a face, not just a shape moving past.
- Two ways to carry it: a clip that takes it outdoors and into the rain on a jacket, and a little stand with a sticky base that presses onto a shelf or a wall.
- It keeps filming while it charges. Plug it into a power bank and it will run all day.
- There is no microphone in it. You see exactly who came in and what they did, never a word of private conversation, and that keeps you on the right side of the toughest part of Australian surveillance law.
- Takes any microSD card up to 128GB. The bigger the card, the longer it runs between check-ins. Add one to the order, because the box does not include it.
Real-World Scenarios
- A weekend away. Press the stand onto a shelf that looks at the front door, set it to PIR Mode, and go. Whoever comes through the front door ends up looking straight down the barrel of it. Three days away barely dents thirty days of standby.
- A share house. Things have been going missing from your room. It sits on the bookshelf and stays asleep all day, so you come home to a handful of short clips rather than eight hours of an empty room.
- Someone working in your home. You have to let a tradie or a cleaner in and you cannot be there. Before you do this, read the Lawful Use section below, because there are rules about recording someone who is working in your house.
How It Works
- Push a memory card into the slot, anything from 8GB up to 128GB. That is the setup finished, because there is nothing to download and nothing to sign into.
- Pick a mode with the switch on the side. PIR Mode leaves it asleep until a warm body walks past. Manual Video films from the moment you set it. Power Off is off. Then either clip it onto something, or lift the tab off the sticky base of the little stand and press it where you want it. The head tilts and turns afterwards, so nothing has to be perfectly straight first go.
- When you get home, take the card out and read it on a computer. Every clip is stamped with the date and the time.
Worth knowing. PIR Mode is for a camera that stays where you put it. Clip it to your jacket and wander around with the sensor armed and it will trigger on you, all day, until there is nothing left in the battery. Anything you carry, film in Manual Video.
Technical Specifications
- Video: 1080p at 30fps, AVI format
- Lens: 120 degrees
- Audio: none. No microphone fitted
- Sensor: body-heat (PIR), detects to approximately 5 metres
- Standby: up to 30 days in PIR Mode
- PIR clip length: approximately 60 seconds each time it wakes
- Recording: 7 to 8 hours straight through, approximately 4 hours with night vision running
- Night vision: 6 infrared LEDs, no-glow, comes on automatically in low light, reaches approximately 2 metres
- Battery: 1200 mAh rechargeable, 5 to 6 hours to charge, keeps filming while charging
- Storage: microSD 8GB to 128GB (not included)
- Time and date stamped on every clip, visible when you read the files on a computer
- Water: weatherproof against rain, indoors, outdoors or worn. Not for submerging
- Port: USB Type-C, under a rubber cover
- Modes: PIR Mode, Manual Video, Power Off
- Size: 57 x 38 x 27 mm
- Weight: 60 g
- Connectivity: none. No WiFi, no Bluetooth, no mobile data
- Model: VIM-V93
Packaging Contents
- 1 x VIM-V93 camera
- 1 x clip
- 1 x adjustable stand with adhesive base
- 1 x USB Type-C cable
- 1 x user manual
You will need a microSD card, which is not included. Anything from 8GB to 128GB works. Go for a bigger one if the camera is going somewhere you will not check for a while.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. Do I need WiFi or an app?
No. There is nothing to download, nothing to pair and no account to make. The camera writes to a memory card and that is where the footage stays. It also means there is no monthly fee, and nothing sitting on someone else's server.
2. Will the cat set it off?
No. It wakes for warm bodies, not for movement. A curtain lifting in a draught, headlights crossing the wall, a fan turning: none of it registers. A person walking in does. A big pet close to the lens can too, so keep it away from where the cat sleeps.
3. Will I hear what they said?
No. There is no microphone in it at all, so you will see who came in and never hear a word of it. If sound is the point, this is the wrong camera. Filming has its own rules even without audio, so have a look at the Lawful Use notes below.
4. How long does the battery really last?
Three answers, because it depends on the mode. Up to 30 days asleep on the sensor in PIR Mode. 7 to 8 hours if you set it filming straight through. About 4 hours if the night vision is running, because the infrared draws power.
5. Can I watch it on my phone?
No, and that is deliberate. There is no app, no live view and no cloud, which is exactly what lets it run for 30 days and cost nothing per month. You take the card out and read it on a computer when you get home.
6. Is it hidden?
Not really, and it is better you know that now. It looks like what it is: a small camera. Matchbox sized, 60 grams, easy to stand somewhere out of the way. But the lens is on the front, the infrared ring is around it, and the sensor bulges out below.
Lawful Use
Buying this camera is legal in Australia; how you use it is on you. The rules sit in each state's surveillance devices legislation and they differ from state to state, so check the one that covers where you live before you point it at anyone. The line that holds everywhere: never a bedroom, bathroom, toilet or change room, or any other place a person expects privacy. Owning the house does not change that.
If a cleaner, carer or tradesperson works in your home, they are at work, and most states expect a worker to be told before they are filmed. If that is why you are buying, sort that part out first.
There is no microphone in it, so the stricter law on recording conversations does not apply to anything it captures. This is general information, not legal advice; if a recording might end up in a dispute, get proper advice before you rely on it.
