Investigate Unit

[detroitsprings]

We are starting a investigate team and I am going to be involved as the photog. For those of you that already do investigations, can you advise what kind of hidden cameras you use, how well they work, and where do you get them from (online). We have a spy shop locally we use time to time.

What type of camera works best, and what is the best versatile camera. We have a few GoPro's we could also use.

Anything else you can advise or provide will be helpful.

Thanks!

Adam

 

[svp]

Search all the surveillance cameras on B&H. Button cam and a pen cam are a must. You'll pay much more at the local spy store than online. GoPro's can be used and often times you iPhone camera may turn out to be the best option. Sometimes you can get good undercover stuff from the phone without anyone knowing. Clock and teddy near cams work well to document hospital and nursing home abuse. Of course, a great long telephoto lens will always help.

 

[Latin Lens]

I am the investigative photog out here in Vegas at the ABC affliate and we are using the PV-500EVO portable digital video recorder. Its a law enforcement grade and it has worked pretty well for me in the past. Its versatile as it comes with an array of button cams to use with it. You'll just have to find a button-up shirt that you can manipulate in order to use it. But I've been satisfied with the video but there was a learning curve in the begining with placement of the button cam on the shirt and shooting angles. Audio is pretty good too...but since we subtitle everything out of the hidden cam its not that big a deal but it has okay sound capture. We also purchased the fake unisex glasses but you'll obviously need someone with long hair as it has wires that you'll need to hide. At the time of our purchase of these they only had SD versions...I believe they now have HD glasses available for it. We bought ours at some spy/law enforcement supplier out of Phoenix, AZ. Don't remember the name but I'll try and track that down and PM you with it when I hopefully get that info. Any other questions feel free to PM me or ask here.