How Tiny Have Tiny Security Cameras Gotten?

Cameras, like any other technology, are improving rapidly. These improvements allow much higher quality images to be taken by cameras of the same size, or, in contrast, these improvements allow cameras to maintain the current image quality while becoming smaller and smaller. If you think that the widely available mini point and click cameras are small, just wait until you hear about these cameras!

Some of these cameras have gotten so small that they can fit inside of a pen, inside a watch, hidden in a pair of glasses, or even rest on the head of a pin! Some of these can be disguised so well that you wouldn’t know it's a camera even if you were looking directly at it. Take the watch, for example. Around the face of the watch, 4 numbers are specially stylized. The numbers 2, 4, 8, and 10 are all stylized, and due to the stylization, all of them have a circular or near circular hole in them. One of them has a camera hidden in that circle.

The one that has a camera is the number 2. It’s so hard to see that many places that sell it have to point out where the camera is before people realize that it’s there! This tiny camera can record standard definition (640x480) video for 20 hours before it runs out of space, and for a nominal fee, that amount can be doubled. Admittedly, the battery only lasts for 3 and 1/2 hours at a time while recording, showing that battery technology has not kept up with the rest of the available technologies, but that’s another story for another time.

Unfortunately, there is a downside to such amazing technology. In the hands of deviants, they can be used to violate your privacy without you even being aware of it. That is, however, the way of technology in general. As computers got more advanced and easier to use for the average individual, they also became a better tool for hackers, thieves, and criminals for gaining information about where you live and even when you’re going on vacation. That is also another story for another time.

However, the home security or store security implications of such tiny cameras are significant. You can keep a close eye on a particular object, like a safe or a cash register, without having an obtrusive camera clearly visible. The downside of that would be that there is no visible deterrent to prevent theft in the first place, but there’s a higher chance of the criminal getting caught since they are less likely to cover their faces if they don’t think a camera is nearby, and they certainly won’t know to disable the camera if they can’t see or find it.

That, of course, raises questions about whether such a tiny camera should be used for security. Is it better to use a larger and more visible, not to mention cheaper, camera? Is it better to use a tiny camera only in combination with other home security elements? Or is a larger camera always the way to go? All of that depends on your exact setup, and it’s practically impossible to give good advice on that specifically without seeing the setup that you have. However, Total Home Security does offer a good amount of information about all kinds of home security devices so that, if nothing else, you will be aware of your options.