This guide was written by a voyeur who went under the name of Shadow. He is sadly no longer with us but I am posting it in response to many requests from members for guidelines on making hidden camera videos. Successful hidden cam projects address these issues (generally in this order as well.) CONCEALMENT, POWER, SIGNAL TRANSMISSION, and RECORDING. There are several threads which address these topics and they are worth ferreting out. Note that catching someone on a hidden cam is NOT easy and lack of care WILL GET YOU CAUGHT. Start out right...spend the time to really absorb the lessons here and you'll succeed. Skip some steps and get sloppy and you'll fuck it up ...

1. CONCEALMENT. The elements of Concealment are: Legitimacy, Accessibility, and Volume. Your concealment strategy and options change dramatically if you 'own' (i.e. control) the setting as opposed to a setting in which your object must be covertly inserted.

• A. Legitimacy. You can hide a cam in a spaghetti box but that doesn't pass well in the bathroom. A teddy bear might do well in the bedroom but not out by the hot tub. Invisible showed me a very clever cam and transmitter he built carefully into a toothpaste tube; great for the bathroom but useless in the bedroom. You need to select an object that is legitimate in the desired setting. A bathroom scale passes in the bedroom as well but in that setting you'll be disappointed in the limited viewing angles it affords. Since you've not hinted at your setting we can't discuss this any further here. Just remember that some objects (speakers, clock radios, the lights over pictures on the wall, etc.) legitimize the presence of wires and make it easier to use wired cams. Wired cams always have higher resolution and longer life. Remember also that it is much better to choose an object which you can duplicate. Make one with the cam and one without! Place the cam in position only part of the time. This goes a long way to preventing being caught.
• B. Accessibility. Can you get to the concealed cam to change batteries, adjust the viewing angle, remove it and replace it?
• C. Volume. Does the object have enough volume for your cam and power source and transmitter? Spend some time addressing the concealment issues and you may discover that the cam choices are much easier. After figuring out how to hide the cam. (Consider these; Clock radio, teddy bear, speaker, smoke detector, macramé' plant hanger, VHS tape, VCR, wall mirror, book, briefcase, potted plant, guitar, wine rack, microwave oven, porcelain statue, shoebox, puzzle box, computer monitor box, file box, coffeemaker, Kleenex box, laundry hamper, curtain fold, jacket pocket, etc.) You must address how you will power the cam and collect the signal. A quick sidebar..... Pinhole cams SUCK. And there are applications where they do a better job than anything else. In most cases it is possible to devise a concealment strategy which permits use of a much better cam. Small camcorders (sony and Jvc) will fit in speakers and see quite nicely through perforated metal grills. They have much better low light performance than pinholes and are much more flexible in terms of angle of view and focus. If you use a camcorder then the power, signal and recording issues are largely eliminated. For every one else they remain.(Since this was written pinhole cam technology has advanced hugely' and now produces pictures comparable with camcorders of previous eras. A good quality CCD pinhole WILL do the job and give great results.)

2. POWER. Most pinhole cams draw about 70mA at 12V DC. This means that a pack of 8 AA cells in a radio shack battery holder will run the cam about 15 hours. (Note that this is already about the volume of a small camcorder.) It takes a pack of 8 D cells - about the size of a small brick - to run it for a couple of days. And the cam will get hot; not hot enough to start a fire but hot enough to worry you. In some cases it will get hot enough - depending on your concealment object - to quit working. One way or the other you've got to get enough power to the cam to last from the time you turn it on through the time that you expect to have a target in sight. This is why wired cams are so much more useful.

3. SIGNAL Next comes signal acquisition. This isn't that hard....and it isn't that easy either. If you've handled concealment and power in a way that permits wires you just need to run a wire to your recorder. If your choices mean you're stuck with a wireless device (bad choices lead to bad options!) then you're going to be in for some frustration and expense. Cheap wireless cams advertise 100' range but don't expect more than 20'. That means you're going to have to conceal the receiver in a closet on the other side of the wall, in the attic right above the cam, under the bed, etc. before you'll get a useful signal. Then you have to connect it to (and conceal?) your recorder.

4. RECORDING. Seems simple doesn't it? All you have to do is run the wires to the inputs of the VCR...right? Right. Except that you now have to choose when you'll be taping, and what speed to use. Happily most 4 head VCR's have about the same signal quality in their EP (slowest speed) mode as pinhole cams. You won't lose any image quality if you stick in an 8 hour tape and set the timer to record an hour or two before and after your target's most likely time on cam.

Some generic thoughts about different hidden cam projects.

1. Voyeuring an unsuspecting sex partner. This is the easiest hidden cam project. You 'own' the setting and can introduce the concealment object. You know the timing of the action. Objects which work well in the bedroom are speakers, clock radios, teddy bears, etc. Hiding a small camcorder is better than a pinhole cam. The view angles are better, resolution is better and they work better in low light. And you're not worried about battery life. Finally, you can distract the victim from discovering your cam. Just don't you be so nervous that she begins to wonder why you're fixating on the teddy bear in the corner.

2. Voyeuring a guest in your house. Almost as easy as #1 because you own the setting and they won't recognize if an object got introduced before they got there. A bit harder in that you don't know exactly when the good action will take place.

3. Voyeuring at someone else's house. MUCH tougher.. You don't own the setting. Getting something permanently installed may work...some people have placed cams in their tenant's/girlfriend's/neighbour's homes...generally on a semi permanent basis (installed in an air vent or smoke detector, etc.) but you run the serious risk of being discovered and charged with a crime. Obviously wireless is essential to preclude tracking the crime back to you. Problem is wireless doesn't work very well over distances greater than 100 yards. Don't use a directional antenna at the hidden cam end; the direction it points will give you away. Damn near impossible to succeed at this.

4. Voyeuring at a dressing room. The guys who do it successfully either own the setting, have access to it, or use a shoecam/bagcam and take advantage of the gap under the stall walls. BE PREPARED TO BE THRASHED!

More to come later? feel free to contribute if you have anything to add to this guide.
RIP the Shadow
Shazza