For covert surveillance recording, the turbo PIR motion sensor DVR hidden camera is a good bet. It is a total security system with a DVR, a built-in color camera, completely portable and wire free.

It can be used in the home, office, property or land or even a nanny camera. You can either use the motion detection function or scheduled time recording. Though it comes with a 1 GB SD card, its memory can be expanded to 32 GB. Though it comes with an AC adaptor jack, if you use 4 AA batteries, you can record up to 17 hours in stand-by mode or 12 hours of continuous recording if you use lithium-ion batteries.

With the extra extended memory, you can use it for almost two years of continuous recording (though you would need to change the batteries or if you use electricity it may go off if there is a power cut). It comes with a time and date search function as well and record very high resolution images, though you can change the resolution according to your needs.

But this type of camera may not be suitable for serious covert stuff even though the camera is hidden because the item needs to be planted in an open area and may not entirely avoid detection for someone who knows a thing or two about spy equipment and they may be able to guess that it it may hide more than it may appear at first sight, but it could still do a good job for everyday operations. Click for the product page

The Zippo lighter is an innocuous item which anybody (who is a smoker or pretends to be one) can easily carry without it being obvious. But under the lighter is a hidden camera which also has a colour and sound digital video recording system.

It is so simple to use that it has only one button to stop and start recording. The recordings are time and date stamped. And the covert camera can be charged via USB cable through your computer or laptop – two hours of charging gives one hour of recording.

It gives excellent resolution for video recording and comes with a 2 GB memory card. So if you fancy yourself in the spy mode, or you have a real reason to do some short-term recording, you could get yourself one of these nifty lighters, which is simple to use, but does require your presence for recording, though you could switch it on and leave it someplace and retrieve it after an hour.

What’s good about this product is that it looks a very standard lighter, nothing fancy, which is good given that it is supposed to be a covert piece of equipment, however, its not so reasonable from a price perspective as similar devices are available for a lot less, even if they are not as quite as good as this one, but then again, perhaps the higher quality and very discreet nature of the product is worth the extra price.

Its available from SpyCatcher for just under £225.

The Wireless Shoe Covert Camera by Omejo is actually a sports shoe which is fitted with a camera and it is not exactly wireless either, because there is a wire which leads to a transmitter and which will go under the trousers.

The receiver also works as a tri band GSM cell phone and the camera records in real time and records audio and video, with a date and time stamp. The wireless video signal can be recorded from 250 feet away and can be viewed on a 3” display screen.

It comes with 1 GB built in storage and an SD card reader. What’s more you can listen to music on it as well. All this for $329, which is not cheap by any standard.

What boggles the mind, however, is what you can record with a shoe camera – its angle of vision is upwards after all. Covert spy operations? Unless you want to record something from ground level upwards, or record audio (and there are many other gadgets available for that) it seems to have little more than novelty value, unless you are recording up women’s dresses – and that can surely get you arrested!

Also, the camera lens is on the top of the trainers which can look slightly abnormal even though its very small.

A Sony clock radio which looks like a regular one, but functions as a covert spy cam, this one can record high resolution video or still pictures night or day. With motion detection sensors which can detect motion up to 30 feet away and automatically switching on when it is dark, the Sony cam offers more features than many similar spy cams. It can also help in assess your sleep patterns if you have any sleep disorder.

For instance, you can set it to come on at specific times on specific days only, or when it detects motion or record continuously if that is your requirement. You can also set it to ignore unwanted motion like a fan. It transfers all the images on to an SD card which can be between 1 GB and 16 GB.

The SD card can then be attached to a monitor or television with the cables the device comes with for easy viewing. The beauty of this piece is that it is quite innocuous – a commonplace item which everybody has.

However, at almost $600, the Sony Dream Machine Camera is an expensive piece of equipment. You can probably get a cheaper spy cam with similar features if you do some research.

However, I must stress that, despite the quite discreet nature of this gadget, I have seen products that serve the same purpose that are much more discreet looking when it comes to secret audio/video recording in the home. This looks a bit too high-tech/gadgety in my view and therefore loses a few marks in that innocuous department.

Another from SpyequipmentUK. It is a wrist a watch; it is a camera; it is a mobile phone; it is also a video and music player. It has a touch screen and is Bluetooth compatible as well. It also has a hands free kit and on board speakers.

The GSM watch is not only a new gadget but also a covert gizmo. The camera can take still photos or video and as it is Bluetooth compatible, you can use that to make and receive calls. All the data can be transferred to a computer via a data cable which comes with the kit.

The watch comes with 128 MB of flash memory and has multiple tone settings. It is light in weight despite all the features that it has, weighing only 55 gm. This multiple use device is a handy gadget to have because it has many ‘normal’ functions as well as function as a covert spy gadget.

A lot of watches designed to be spy gadgets are not very fasionable looking and some may not want to be seen wearing them, but this one definately looks pretty good.

If you have a large enough outdoors area, particularly with some lawn and perhaps some flowers, you can easily put in a bird feeder spy camera which will blend in with the surroundings. The SecureShot “Yard Guard” Bird Feeder Camera/DVR is just such a gadget that is totally wireless, totally self sufficient.

It has a weatherproof, highly sensitive digital video recorder which works on motion sensor technology. It can detect body heat up to 30 feet away and can record high resolution video. Before and after the camera comes on after motion detection and does its covert work, it goes into standby mode so that the battery lasts longer.

The battery is lithium-ion, rechargeable and gives enough power to record for 20 minutes. It comes with all the necessary peripherals. And the best part is that it is custom built to a user’s specifications, so it takes a few days to be made. This outdoor camera can help strengthen your security and increase your safety, particularly catching any intruders or criminals in the act.

Though it specifies that an order is custom built, it does not go into detail as to exactly what will be customised. I am assuming its the technical parts such as the camera rather than the design of the birdhouse itself. At $699 or the equivelant of just under £430 (at the time of writing), this does seem a little on the expensive side, but can provide good deception in the backyard when blended in with lots of greenery. It would definately make more sense than installing a standard security camera if the idea is to be covert.

If you must capture something covertly, you can do it innocuously thanks to your shirt button. Not just an ordinary button, this one is a video spy cam cum digitised video recorder which has all the cables and kit attached along with a pocket sized DVR which can go into your pocket.

Colour video and audio can both be recorded for later viewing. It comes with a 2” LCD screen so that you can check the scene to be recorded before hand. This spy button camera can be attached to a shirt or jacket.

The best part about this is that it is not just any button because obviously you cannot put a button which does not match the other buttons on your clothes. It comes with a variety of buttons in different sizes and colours and if they still don’t match, you can even paint them.

It has a built in 45 MB memory and works on rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. It comes with a USB interface.

It looks like an innocuous gold band, plain and simple, but it can activate a camera when the ring is moved near it. You may look a like a magician, unless you can do it very discreetly. Somehow the ring activates the camera which starts recording.

The camera itself is a separate gizmo, which captures 1200×1600 images and 608×488 video (at 15fps). It has 4 GB of memory and can take still or motion pictures with sound. It comes with a rechargeable lithium ion battery and is compact enough not to draw attention to itself.

The spy cam will attach to your shirt where it will be not too visible, especially if you are somehow able to wear it inside with the lens showing through like a black button – obviously you need to have similar buttons on your shirt. You will also have to anchor it carefully otherwise the shirt may sag with the weight and you don’t want it to be noticeable, because it is, after all, a spy cam. And then you activate and deactivate it with the magic ring!

This ring to control the camera is not really an earth shattering concept, its much like a remote control but designed to look like a normal ring. But the camera-ring combination may work quite well as the camera itself is very small and the ring is not a real giveaway thus providing quite a deceptive hidden camera/video surveillance.

ooking something like a battle tank, the SRV-1 Mobile Surveillance Robot can trawl around your home or any other place you want to keep an eye on and capture footage of whatever is happening. It can pass obstacles with ease and move like a fancy toy car, but it will be taking video feeds of everything that it passes while doing so.

This mobile robot features a mini video camera, the Omnivision OV9655 1.3 megapixel camera with 160×128 to 1280×1024 resolution so it gives good resolution of footage, and you can decide what resolution you want and program it accordingly.

The SRV-1 mobile robot is powered by a 1000MIPS 500MHz Blackfin BF537 processor. It is controlled via a web browser so you need to have knowledge of how to set up the software to be able to move the robot and get the feeds. You also need to know java, networking and the command line software to be comfortable using it. Because of its web browsing software, it can be operated remotely from any part of the world. You can also archive the feeds for later viewing.

The robot is fully programmable for remote operation and you can schedule the movements as needed. It moves at a speed of 0.5 mph. It comes with all the hardware and software that is required and you can also get third party software support from http://www.roborealm.com/help/Surveyor_SRV1.php ; http://www.surveyor.com/MSRS.html and http://www.cyberbotics.com. Though it looks like a great little moving toy vehicle, it does much more than just looking good. It comes with a battery pack and a charger.

The robot is not really covert because the camera is a dead giveaway, although it can be used in a covert nature in vast open areas where people will be unlikely to take notice. In any case, this is still a very cool robot, especially given that it hasn’t been given a fancy exterior which makes it more appealing and looks like it would be something out of robot wars.

If you ever need to spy on someone to confirm any suspicions you may have, then this innocuous looking car key fob has not so innocuous functions and be of help to you. It has a high quality digital video recorder which can also record still pictures of very good resolution. It not only looks like a car key fob, but also comes with a fake key to pass off as one.

It has a simple one button operation and can hold up to 150 minutes of video or 400 still pictures and that is a lot of memory (2 GB) for such a small gadget. It can be placed anywhere in the home or office and set to take pictures covertly, so that it can record evidence of any wrong doing.

The car key fob comes with a charging cable and works through USB so that you can download the pictures or video recording to your computer. And if you do capture some evidence you can use, think of how much money you saved by not having to hire a detective! However, at £395, it is not inexpensive.