The idea of a hidden spy cam is pretty scary, but let’s be real — an undetectable decoy photo tool is a pretty awesome concept too. The creativity and imagination that has to go into creating these things — along with the technological innovation — can excite anybody. Here are 13 of the best cameras you never noticed.
Hamas claimed in 2010 that its members were spied on by Israeli intelligence using this seemingly innocuous box of tissues. This is why you carry a handkerchief.
Photo: Khalil Hamra/AP [clear]
That businessman at the train station might be a KGB spy from the 1960s who time-travelled to spy on us all. Or he might just be tying his shoe.
Photo: Martin Meissner/AP [clear]
Can you trust that guy you hired to change out your smoke detectors? Maybe… but be a bit sceptical.
Photo: Steven Senne/AP [clear]
It’s a mystery how pointing a gun at someone is supposed to be a subtle way to take a photo. But whoever had the idea to hide a camera in a fake gun back in 1882 is awesome.
Photo: Jacqueline Arzt/AP [clear]
Now, if you saw someone pointing a car’s keyless entry remote towards you, you wouldn’t think twice. Therein lies the genius of this hidden cam.
Photo: Spyville[clear]
Before spy planes and drones, how did the CIA get secret aerial shots? Pigeons. It could be a better weapon — nobody looks up in the sky and wonders if a bird has a camera attached to its chest. Of course, a drone is a little easier to train to get the exact visuals you want.
Photo: CIA[clear]
The watch cam is the archetypal hidden camera. One used by German spies in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the Steineck ABC wrist watch cam was quite stylish. The lens is not discreet, and there aren’t any, you know, hands, but other than that it blends right in.
Photo: International Spy Museum and Cristina Arias/Cover/Getty Images[clear]
Normal non-spies pull wallets all the time. So why would anyone suspect anything? If an East German STASI spy picks up the tab, look out — he might just catch you on his wallet cam.
Photo: Live Auctioneers[clear]
What is more unsuspicious than a rock? Seriously, who looks at a rock and thinks “this rock might contain technology to invade my privacy”? Maybe you should. It’s 2012, and you need to be scared of everything.
Photo: Spyville[clear]
Hiding a Cold War-era Soviet camera in a bra seems like the perfect spy solution, except that there’s no place the average male is more likely to look. Whatever. Most guys probably still wouldn’t even notice.
Photo: Seduced By Secrets[clear]
…On the other hand, stick the camera into the coat of some burly dude, and chances are most people won’t look at his chest long enough to spot the lens.
Photo: International Spy Museum[clear]
Remember that brooch pin grandma always wore when you were a kid? Maybe your grandma was a commie spy, firing off eight surveillance photos each time she clipped it to her blouse. Think about it.
Photo: Live Auctioneers[clear]
Spies can be fancy too. Case in point: this ring cam balances the illusion of opulence and the power of reconnaissance. Just a giant gold ring, folks, nothing to see here. Click.
Photo: Live Auctioneers[clear]