720p Spy Pen Review (2012 h.264 Version)
Sunday, October 14, 2012 at 6:09PM ;)
Here is my review of the first 720p h.264 HD Spy Pen. This covert camera records pretty decent footage, and is leaps and bounds ahead of the 1280x960 mjpeg 'HD' Spy Spy Pen that I reviewed a couple of years ago. The live video-out function might also result in this camera getting some use outside of its intended (and unlikely) spy pen purpose.
I believe that this pen is related to the 808 #18 camera from the fact that it is distributed by the same sellers on ebay. It is therefore likely that the firmware could be updated, and the small time stamp removed, although at the time of writing I cannot confirm this.
If you buy this pen and want to change the time, it uses the familiar technique of copying a text configuration file to the built in memory. You can dowload an example file here. All you need to do is edit the contents to show the correct time and date and then copy your updated file to the pen. The time is updated when the pen is next switched on.
I mentioned in the video that this was a difficult review to shoot because I kept accidentally pressing the on/record button in transit and filling the memory up with footage of the inside of my bag or pocket. Every time this happened, the day's shoot had to be abandoned so I could return home, attach the camera up to my computer and empty the card out. After this happened twice I ended up taping a protective cap over the pen to stop it happening again. This is the only time that I've had a problem like this with a camera, and it was caused by the fact that the camera only needs one brief tap for it to both switch-on and automatically start recording. The fact that the memory can't be removed or swapped out also contributes to the problem. There is also no way to tell if the camera is on or off by looking at it. I know that this is so that it can't be detected as a camera....but it also makes it very hard to use as well.
If you want to buy one, here are a few links to stores on ebay.
Reader Comments (16)
Love your sense of humor :)
Does the camera charge and record at the same time ?
I know you tested this while you were streaming, but i'm not sure if the camera was really charging while recording.
Thx a lot
Regards Sam
Does the charging USB cable work to charge and record with the Y3000 ?
Still looking for a fuctional cable for the Y3000, so maybee this will work.
Thanks a lot
It does charge and record at the same time. It's not possible to power it without also charging it. As far as the lead fitting the Y3000, my Y3000 was tested to destruction a long time ago and I don't have it any more, but I'm pretty certain that its plug was smaller and squarer than this one.
Hey man, any chance you could take a picture of the pen beside some normal pens? These things always look so huge in pictures and video, but I'm not sure if they actually are as big as it seems. Something I've been curious about for a while.
Nice review Techmoan, but does it work as a pen? ;-)
It will write, but due to the size of the ink cartridge, not for very long.
Did you see this techmoan? Looks interesting. I wonder if its an actual 1080p camera or if it has 720p 60fps capabilities...
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-FULL-HD-1080p-Key-Chain-Camera-720P-60-1080P-30-DVR-Time-Track-no-/150924507954?pt=US_Surveillance_Digital_Video_Recorders_Cards&hash=item2323cd3b32
I'm pretty much done with the Keyring cameras now. They could put a 4k sensor in there and it wouldn't attract me. I think the keyring case design is an anachronism now. I communicated with the manufactures two years ago who advised that they were going to start putting their cameras in sensible cases, but instead they just keep changing the insides. The 'Spy camera' design makes even less sense now that many Chinese companies are no longer allowed to sell any spy gadgets. What they should do is put their cameras in a torch style case like the ACT20. The ACT20 has a great case but a crappy sensor. By the way, I have another video about the ACT20 coming soon.
Why arent chinese companies allowed to make spy cameras any more? What is this pen if not a spy cam?
You might want to email the Chinese government that one, I'm sure they'll be happy to give you a response.
I mean - where did u get that info from - ebay is full of chinese spy stuff
I've been doing this stuff for a while now. A couple of years back Chinese retailers were forced to remove the spy equipment parts of their site.
Here is a news article about the ban.
Cody, I was following the discussion on keychain cameras pretty closely a few months back. There was a 1080p / 720p60 model at the time and I think this is probably it. It did seem to be genuine 1080p though obviously the quality doesn't match more expensive cameras. There was also an encoding issue experienced by many users which is hard to explain in few words but resulted in inconsistent video quality. This issue would seem to be the reason this cam didn't really take off and unfortunatly it might be insurmountable considering the limtations of these cheap componnts. H.265 might change this, but for now 1080p just doesn't seem doable for under sixty bucks. The 720p60 mode was found to just duplicate every frame, so file size doubled but playback was no better than 720p30. It might not be the same camera and firmware might have fixed these issues by now, but I don't think either is likely.
Just so you know, absolutely nobody will EVER notice you are wearing a pencam, as long as you look 'nerdy' enough, I guess - I've used my pencam scores of times, even when I happened to bump into somebody I knew and talked to them for a few minutes (and the pencam was in my shirt pocket, already on), they didn't notice. But the thing that most tells me that nobody will ever notice it is the fact that even when I'm wearing one and filming, I have never, not once, looked at anybody else and looked at any pens they might have in their pockets, and thought 'Is that a pencam'?
These things are pretty amazing, and very useful for covertly recording the police when they are, how shall I say it, overstepping the mark with members of the public.
Have Amazon uk Same These Produces<<plz whats name salesman <<< First Real HD Spy Pen (h.264)
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You've got useful reviews, but I want to add some tips about this pen. First of all, it can be disassembled. The first ring on the top covers a spring. You can stretch it to make it harder and avoid casual activation and the ticking sounds that you mentioned and. My pen also had some videos recorded casually during delivery :) The second ring on the top hides the device itself. You can move it out by pushing on the usb cable (not pretty much easy but possible) and you'll see a 130mah battery and a 4gb kingston TF card which can be replaced with the one of larger size (but the TF slot is not standard, the card is kind of glued from the top of it with a kind of sticker). However, I don't suggest you to open the pen without a reason because all this stuff is so small and fragile and can be damaged easily. The other thing is that the writing part is replaceable. Just unscrew it with the appropriate philips ("+") screwdriver, shake it off and replace it with a new one (it's standard but short, so you can use a one from an old pen with little ink left), then screw it back to its place. Have a nice spying time! Personally I like 808#16 more because of better video quality and a standard usb cable, but unfortunately they don't produce them as pens.