Using a spy camera and capturing decent footage can be more difficult than you may think. Without some knowledge and preparation, you could end up with footage of peoples feet rather than their faces or a picture marred by poor light or a poorly placed pot plant. Here are the 6 essential tips you need to know to capture clear, unobstructed evidential footage with your spy camera:
- Do some practice filming. Testing your camera in the environment, you'll be using is the only way to ensure your footage will come outright. Practice at different times of the day to check the lighting and do a few tests to check the filming angle.
- Check the cameras field of view. This will determine how much of the room you can capture and how much of the rooms activity you can get on film without moving the camera. If you need help in the field of view, speak to a spy camera expert like the team at Online Spy Shop.
- Motion-activated cameras could help to extend memory and battery life. How much memory a camera has and how long its battery life is are both things that people forget when installing spy cameras. If you expect long periods of inactivity, you could be wasting battery and memory on hours of useless film in which nothing happens. Choose a motion-activated camera instead, and save both for when you need them.
- Placement is essential but tricky. Here are the three things you need to aim for when placing your spy camera firstly, it can film peoples faces and not just the top of their heads or feet. This means not placing it too high or low in the room unless the angle is right. However, a head-height camera can be more conspicuous, so you must hide the camera in a non-suspicious item like a wall clock or a lamp. Lastly, if your camera is peeping out somewhere and you'd like to re-arrange objects to disguise it, make sure you do so naturally and don't end up obstructing the view with your disguise.
- Getting the lighting right. Ideally, it would help if you aimed to place your camera facing away from natural light that shines into a window this will prevent lots of shadows from ruining the picture. You should also practice filming at the time of day you want to film to check for glare and the effect artificial lighting has on the image quality.
- Consider your needs when selecting image quality. When choosing your new spy camera, getting carried away with specifications is very easy. However, if you only want to keep an eye on a nanny or verify which people are in a room, you dont need the best video quality on the market.
Remember, the only way to guarantee the footage you want is to test, test, test it really cant be said enough!