Everything else in this shop is a camera hidden in an object somebody else chose. This is the range where you choose the object. You buy a module, a lens on a cable, a power source and a storage plan, and you decide what it lives inside. That makes it the most flexible category we sell and the only one where the buying decision is a build decision.
This guide covers thirty-four items from the DIY Spy Cameras range, $69 to $599: pinhole modules, wide-angle lenses, button lenses on cables, flexible-neck cameras, 4G SIM units, LawMate DVR kits and the power banks that run them. It sets out the four decisions that actually make a build work, and the New Zealand rules that apply once you have built it.
Is this legal in New Zealand? Building and owning these is lawful, and filming in your own home generally is too. Two traps are specific to DIY: a camera left running in a room you are not in records conversations you are not party to, which carries up to two years under section 216B of the Crimes Act 1961, and wiring anything into mains is prescribed electrical work: apart from limited work a homeowner may do on the home they live in, it must be done by a licensed electrician. Full detail below.
Contents:
Quick Picks
Eight builds that cover most projects. All thirty-four are in the comparison table below.
Start here: the $159 pinhole module
VIM-DIYWIFI, $159. A 1080p pinhole camera on a flexible cable, with video and audio, a rechargeable battery giving up to 6 hours of continuous capture, and microSD to 128GB. The lens lead is slim enough to feed through a hole you drill yourself.
This is the module to learn on. The flexible cable is the whole point: the body with the battery and the card sits wherever there is room, and only the lens has to reach the surface you are looking through. That separation is what lets a camera live inside a book, a speaker grille, a vent or a picture frame.
Don't buy this one if the site has no WiFi. It needs a network to show you anything live; for a site with none, see the 4G units below.
Best for watching from anywhere: the 4G units
VIM-4GV90, $290. 4K over a 4G SIM, invisible infrared night vision, a flexible camera cable for concealed placement, and 2 to 3 days on the internal battery. No WiFi network involved at all.
A 4G build is the answer whenever the site has no usable internet, or you do not want the camera appearing on somebody's router. A holiday home, a shed, a rental between tenancies, a construction site. You put a SIM in it and it reports to your phone from anywhere with coverage.
Eight more 4G units sit alongside it at $290 to $349, and the differences between them are resolution, lens type and battery. See the table and Lens Types Explained.
You supply your own SIM with a data plan. There is no subscription on top of that.
Best for 4K in a narrow gap, with one important limitation
PV-DY40UWW, $590. The LawMate wide-angle DVR kit. A 96 degree lens module on a flat ribbon cable, 4K recording, app control for live view, an RF remote for triggering, push alerts, and a 128GB card in the box.
The flat ribbon cable is the reason to pick this: it slides into a gap a round cable will not, which means the lens can sit behind a panel with very little clearance.
Be clear on the limitation before you spend $590. The LawMate kits connect wirelessly to a device nearby. They are not for viewing from another city. If remote access over the internet is what you need, a $349 4G unit does something the $590 LawMate does not, and that is not a fault in either, it is a different design. Buy LawMate for the ribbon cable and 4K on the card; buy 4G for the reach.
PV-DY40UW at $599 is LawMate's credit card sized 4K module, 10mm thick, with a narrower 66 degree lens for detail on one spot rather than coverage of a room, and a longer battery: 270 minutes in 4K with WiFi on.
Best complete kit for a first build
VIM-MINICAM6, $290. A pinhole kit with 4K at 3840x2160, a 120 degree lens, microSD to 256GB, a removable 2500mAh battery and an RF remote for one-touch control.
Two things make this the easiest kit to succeed with. The battery is removable, so you swap in a charged one rather than taking the whole build apart to charge it, which is the thing that kills most DIY installs after a fortnight. And the RF remote means you start and stop recording from across the room without touching the concealed camera.
Best for a tight gap: the button lens
VIM-4GV94, $349. A 4G DVR with a button-style lens on a 2 metre cable, 1080p, a backup battery giving up to 4 hours, and microSD to 256GB holding about ten days of footage.
Two metres of cable changes what is possible. The DVR body, the SIM and the card can sit in a cupboard, a ceiling void or the back of a cabinet, while the lens looks out through a screw hole or a seam in the next room. The other 4G pinhole modules share the 2 metre lead; this is the one with a button lens on the end of it.
For a WiFi version of the same idea, VIM-V94 at $289 is a button camera streaming 1080p with storage to 256GB, about ten days.
Best for a room, not a spot
VIM-MINICAM7, $139. 1080p streaming to your phone with 105 degree wide coverage, and invisible 940nm infrared reaching 6 to 8 metres in complete darkness with no red glow at the lens.
Most DIY modules are narrow, because a pinhole has to be small. At 105 degrees this covers a full reception desk or a whole small room from one position, and the no-glow infrared means it stays invisible at night, which is when a visible red shimmer would otherwise give away every concealed camera in this guide.
Best for deploying in seconds
VIM-WIMINICAM3, $139. 1080p over the site's WiFi, AI detection, invisible infrared, 12 days of standby battery and a magnetic ball mount that grips any ferrous surface instantly.
Sometimes the build is that there is no build. A magnet on a door frame, a steel beam, a filing cabinet or the underside of a shelf, aimed by hand in a few seconds, with no drilling and no cabling. For temporary placement, after-hours checks or anywhere you cannot modify the building, this is the practical answer.
VIM-MINIPIRCAM2 at $179 is the same magnetic idea without the network: a PIR thermal sensor to cut false triggers, 940nm infrared, and up to 30 days on PIR standby, recording to its own card.
Buy one of these with any build: the power banks
MSBANK-1000, $69, 10,000mAh. Or MSPWB-20000, $119, 20,000mAh.
Battery life is the thing that ends most DIY installs, and the fix costs less than the camera. Almost every module here will run from USB, so a power bank tucked in beside it multiplies runtime: 10,000mAh is five times a 2000mAh cell and more than thirty times a 300mAh one. A module measured in hours becomes a module measured in days.
See Powering a DIY Camera for how far this actually gets you.
All Thirty-Four Compared
Grouped by how the footage reaches you, because that is the decision that eliminates the most options fastest.
| Model | NZD | Reach | Video | Lens | Power | Storage | Shop |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Records only. No network, nothing to configure, nothing to find on a router. | |||||||
| VIM-V93 | $169 | Local | 1080p with audio, IR night vision | 120 degrees, PIR sensor | 1200mAh, 8 hours or 30 days standby | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-MINIPIRCAM2 | $179 | Local | 1080p, 940nm night vision | Magnetic mount, PIR sensor | 1200mAh, 8 hours or 30 days standby | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-USBCAM3 | $209 | Local | 1080p with audio | 80 degrees | 300mAh | microSD to 32GB, 16GB card included | View |
| MAS-CAM160 | $159 | Local | 1080p AVI with audio | On a long flexible cable | Up to 3 hours, remote included | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-USBCAM5 | $199 | Local | 1080p AVI | 60 degrees | 300mAh, or USB 24/7 | 32GB built in | View |
| VIM-USBCAM4 | $199 | Local | 1080p with audio | Fixed | 360mAh | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-MINICAM4 | $289 | Local | 3200x1080 at 30fps | Micro camera on a flexible base | 3000mAh, 6 hours, remote included | microSD to 256GB | View |
| VIM-MINICAM6 | $290 | Local | 4K, 3840x2160 | 120 degrees, pinhole | Removable 2500mAh, remote included | microSD to 256GB | View |
| WiFi. Live view on your phone over the site's network. | |||||||
| VIM-MINICAM7 | $139 | WiFi | 1080p | 105 degrees, wide | 700mAh, 3 to 4 hours, or USB-C | microSD | View |
| VIM-WIMINICAM3 | $139 | WiFi | 1080p | 110 degrees, invisible IR, magnetic ball mount | 1200mAh, 12 days standby | microSD to 128GB, cloud optional | View |
| VIM-DIYWIFI | $159 | WiFi | 1080p with audio | Pinhole on flexible cable | 6 hours | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-DIYWIFIN | $189 | WiFi | 1080p, night vision | Pinhole, slim lead | Internal, or DC adapter 24/7 | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-MINICAM3 | $189 | WiFi | 720p, IR night vision | 75 degrees, extension lens | 300mAh, about 2 hours | microSD to 128GB, cloud | View |
| VIM-V69 | $219 | WiFi | 4K live, 1080p recorded | Pinhole on a flexible cable, 940nm no-glow | 2000mAh, about 5 hours | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-V89 | $219 | WiFi | 4K, 2K or 1080p | Pinhole on a flexible cable | 600mAh, about 3 hours, or DC 24/7 | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-V70 | $199 | WiFi | 1080p | Pinhole on bendable cable | 3000mAh, power bank or DC | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-V89WIFI | $289 | WiFi | 1080p | Pinhole on a 2m lead | Backup battery 4 hours, or mains | microSD to 512GB | View |
| VIM-V90WIFI | $289 | WiFi | 1080p | Lens module on a lead, 90 degrees | Direct DC, or backup battery | microSD to 256GB | View |
| VIM-V94 | $289 | WiFi | 1080p | Button on a 2m lead | Backup battery 4 hours | microSD to 256GB, 10 days | View |
| VIM-MINICAM5 | $359 | Direct WiFi | 4K, Sony 8MP sensor | Flexible long-neck microlens | 5000mAh, up to 8 hours | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-MINICAM5C | $369 | Direct WiFi | 4K, Sony 8MP sensor, with audio | Flat ribbon, 135mm, 75 degrees | 5000mAh, PIR standby up to 9 months | microSD to 128GB | View |
| 4G SIM. View from anywhere with coverage. No WiFi needed, nothing on the site's network. | |||||||
| VIM-4G89 | $290 | 4G | 4K, motion activated | 90 degrees on a flexible cable | 5000mAh, 2 to 3 days | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-4GV90 | $290 | 4G | 4K, invisible IR | 90 degrees on a flexible cable | 2 to 3 days internal | microSD to 128GB | View |
| VIM-4GV89 | $349 | 4G | 1080p | Pinhole on a 2m lead, 3.7mm at 90 degrees | 1000mAh, about 4 hours | microSD to 256GB | View |
| VIM-4GV94 | $349 | 4G | 1080p | Button lens on a 2m cable | Backup battery 4 hours | microSD to 256GB, 10 days | View |
| VIM-4GV95 | $349 | 4G | 1080p, IR to 1m | Pinhole on a 2m lead, 90 degrees | 3000mAh | microSD to 256GB | View |
| VIM-4GV96 | $349 | 4G | 1080p, IR to 1m | Pinhole on a 2m lead | Backup battery 4 hours | microSD to 256GB | View |
| VIM-4GV97 | $349 | 4G | 1080p, Sony IMX323 | Pinhole on a 2m lead, 90 degrees | 4 hours, power bank, or DC 24/7 | microSD to 256GB | View |
| VIM-4GV100 | $340 | 4G | 1080p, live audio | Pinhole on a 16cm flexible neck, 55 degrees | 2000mAh | microSD to 256GB, cloud | View |
| VIM-4GV100W | $340 | 4G | 1080p | 90 degrees on a 16cm flexible neck | 2000mAh | microSD to 256GB, cloud | View |
| LawMate. 4K modules with their own WiFi hotspot for a phone nearby, not access across the internet. | |||||||
| PV-DY40UW | $599 | Nearby wireless | 4K | 66 degrees, credit card sized module | 2200mAh, 270 to 330 minutes | microSD to 256GB | View |
| PV-DY40UWW | $590 | Nearby wireless | 4K | 96 degrees on a flat ribbon cable | 2200mAh | microSD to 256GB, 128GB card included | View |
| Power. Buy one with any build. | |||||||
| MSBANK-1000 | $69 | Accessory | 10,000mAh | Recharges in about 6 hours | Accessory | Accessory | View |
| MSPWB-20000 | $119 | Accessory | 20,000mAh | Multiple input options | Accessory | Accessory | View |
Swipe the table sideways to see every column.
Prices are NZD and were correct when this guide was last reviewed in October 2026; the product page always shows the current price.
The Four Build Decisions
Every successful build answers these four in this order. Get them right and the price sorts itself out.
1. How does the footage reach you?
Local recording means the camera writes to a card and you physically retrieve it. Nothing on a network, nothing to configure, nothing anyone can find by looking at a router. It is the most reliable option and the cheapest, and it is the right answer far more often than people expect.
WiFi gives you live view and playback on your phone, but the camera has to be within reach of a network you can join. That is fine at home and a problem in a shed, a rental you do not control, or a site with no internet.
4G puts a SIM in the camera so it reports from anywhere with mobile coverage, using no local network at all. It costs more and it needs a data plan, and it is the only option that works where there is no WiFi.
2. What shape does the lens need to be?
This is the decision that separates DIY from everything else, and it depends entirely on the object you are building into. A pinhole on a flexible cable goes through a drilled hole. A button lens goes behind a hole that already exists. A wide angle covers a room. A flat ribbon cable slides into a gap. See Lens Types Explained.
3. Where does the power come from?
The most common reason a DIY install fails after two weeks. Internal batteries here run from 300mAh to 5000mAh, which is hours rather than days. If the camera is going somewhere you cannot easily reach, plan the power before you plan the concealment. See Powering a DIY Camera.
4. How much storage, and can you get to it?
Card limits run from 32GB to 512GB. At 1080p, roughly 1GB an hour is a safe planning figure, so 256GB is about ten days of continuous footage before loop recording starts overwriting. The harder question is retrieval: if the card is inside a wall, you need either 4G, WiFi, or a build you can take apart.
Lens Types Explained
The lens decides where the camera can physically live, which is the whole DIY problem. Five shapes in this range.
Pinhole on a flexible cable
The workhorse, and most of this range. A lens a few millimetres across on a bendable lead, with the body holding the battery and the card somewhere separate. You drill a small hole, feed the lens through, and hide the body wherever there is room.
Found on VIM-DIYWIFI, VIM-V70, VIM-4GV90 and most of the 4G units. Typical field of view is 90 degrees.
Button lens on a long cable
A lens shaped like a shirt button, which means it sits flush behind an existing round hole rather than needing a drilled one. VIM-4GV94 puts one on a full 2 metre cable, as long as any lead here, which lets the recorder live in an entirely different part of the room, or the next room. VIM-V94 is the WiFi version.
Wide angle
For covering a room rather than watching a spot. VIM-MINICAM7 at 105 degrees, VIM-MINICAM6 at 120 degrees, PV-DY40UWW at 96 degrees, and VIM-4GV100W on a flexible neck.
Wide costs you pixels per square metre and adds distortion at the edges. If the job is one door, one till or one drawer, narrow is sharper.
Narrow
PV-DY40UW at 66 degrees in 4K, VIM-4GV100 at 55 degrees, VIM-USBCAM5 at 60 degrees and VIM-USBCAM3 at 80 degrees. Narrow concentrates the resolution onto a small area, which is what you want when the footage has to be zoomed into afterwards to read a face, a label or a keypad.
Flat ribbon cable
On PV-DY40UWW and, at 135mm, on VIM-MINICAM5C. A ribbon slides into a gap a round cable will not, so the lens can sit behind a panel, a skirting board or a door frame with almost no clearance. VIM-4GV100 and VIM-4GV100W also run a 170mm flat cable behind their flexible neck.
Infrared, and why no-glow matters more here
Infrared support is spread across the range, and the distinction that matters is the wavelength. 940nm, described as invisible or no-glow, emits nothing a person can see. 850nm produces a faint red shimmer at the lens, which in a dark room is exactly the thing that gives away a concealed camera.
Since a DIY camera is usually looking through a small hole in an object, a visible glow at that hole is far more noticeable than it would be on a normal camera. VIM-MINICAM7 at 6 to 8 metres and VIM-V69 both use 940nm. VIM-4GV96 is honest that its infrared reaches only about 1 metre, which is close-range work rather than room coverage.
Powering a DIY Camera
The single biggest gap between how a DIY build is imagined and how it performs. Read this before you buy.
What the internal batteries actually give you
Internal cells across this range run from 300mAh to 5000mAh. In practice that is roughly 1 to 8 hours of continuous recording. The USB stick modules at 300mAh are the shortest, and VIM-4G89, VIM-MINICAM5 and VIM-MINICAM5C at 5000mAh are the largest.
Standby figures are different and much larger, because the camera sleeps until motion wakes it. VIM-WIMINICAM3 quotes 12 days of standby and VIM-4GV90 quotes 2 to 3 days, and VIM-MINICAM5C quotes up to nine months on its external PIR, the longest here by a wide margin. All three figures assume very little actually happens.
The power bank is the fix, and it is cheap
Almost everything here runs from USB, which means a power bank tucked in beside the camera multiplies runtime enormously. MSBANK-1000 at $69 holds 10,000mAh and MSPWB-20000 at $119 holds 20,000mAh.
Against a 300mAh internal cell, 10,000mAh is more than thirty times the capacity. Against a 2000mAh unit it is five times. Real-world figures depend on what the camera is doing, since streaming and infrared both draw more, but the practical effect is turning hours into days.
VIM-V70 and VIM-4GV97 both explicitly support this, and the 20,000mAh bank is also the practical way to run one of these for a long weekend somewhere with no power.
Mains power, and the New Zealand rule you must not ignore
Running continuously from mains is the best answer wherever a socket exists, and several units support it directly, including VIM-V90WIFI and VIM-4GV97 which will run 24/7 from a DC adapter.
Plugging a supplied adapter into a wall socket is fine. Wiring a camera into a building's fixed electrical installation is a job for a licensed electrician. Under New Zealand's electrical safety regime, connecting to fixed wiring, or working inside a light fitting, a switch, a socket outlet or a ceiling rose, is prescribed electrical work. Apart from limited work a homeowner may do on the home they live in, it must be done by a licensed electrician, who certifies it, and it is never allowed for tenants or in a workplace. That applies whether or not the work looks simple.
The practical version: build around a plug and a cable, not around a junction box. If your concealment plan requires a camera inside a light fitting or a mains outlet, get an electrician to do that part.
Removable batteries beat sealed ones
VIM-MINICAM6 has a removable 2500mAh pack, which means you swap a fresh battery in rather than dismantling the concealment to plug the whole thing in. On a build that lives inside something, that difference decides whether it survives past the first charge cycle.
Mistakes That Cause Returns
- Building the concealment before testing the camera. Set the module up on a table first. Connect it, record five minutes, check the angle, check the audio, check the app. Only then cut a hole in something. Almost every disappointing build skipped this step.
- Not planning the power. Covered above. A camera with a 300mAh battery inside a sealed object is a camera you will be taking apart in three hours.
- Buying a $590 LawMate for remote viewing. The LawMate kits connect wirelessly to a nearby device. They are not built for viewing from another city. If that is what you need, a $349 4G unit does it and the LawMate does not, regardless of price.
- Choosing the lens last. The lens shape decides whether the build is possible at all. Measure the gap, the hole or the panel first, then buy the lens that fits it.
- Forgetting the microphone. Most of these record audio, and a camera left in a room you are not in is recording conversations you are not part of, which is a two-year offence under section 216B. If you do not need audio, turn it off.
- Assuming WiFi reaches. A camera inside a wall cavity, a metal enclosure or a ceiling void loses signal badly, and a 2.4GHz module often cannot complete setup on a fibre router that merges both bands under one name. Test the signal at the exact spot before you seal anything.
- Using a standard microSD card. Loop recording rewrites the same cells continuously and kills an ordinary card in months. Use a high endurance card rated for continuous video.
- Wiring into mains yourself. Prescribed electrical work needs a licensed electrician, apart from limited work a homeowner may do on the home they live in. Build around a plug.
Key Specs Explained
Live resolution and recorded resolution are different numbers
Several units stream higher than they record. VIM-V69 offers 4K remote viewing while recording 1080p. If the file is what matters in a dispute, read the recording figure. VIM-MINICAM6 records 3840x2160, and the LawMate kits record 4K.
Sensor, which matters more than the resolution label
Several units name their sensor, and it is worth paying attention to. VIM-MINICAM5 and VIM-MINICAM5C use a Sony 8MP sensor, the IMX179 on the 5C, and VIM-V94, VIM-V89WIFI, VIM-V90WIFI, VIM-4GV97 and four more of the 4G units use a Sony IMX323. A named sensor is a claim the manufacturer has to stand behind. An unnamed "4K" is a number in a spec table.
RF remotes
An underrated feature on a concealed camera, because the alternative is reaching into your own concealment to press a button. MAS-CAM160, VIM-MINICAM4, VIM-MINICAM6, VIM-MINICAM5 and both LawMate kits include one.
PIR versus software motion detection
PIR is a physical sensor reacting to body heat, so it uses almost no power and does not false-trigger on shadows or headlights. Software motion compares frames, works through glass, and keeps the camera awake. On a battery build, PIR is what makes multi-day standby possible. VIM-V93 and VIM-MINIPIRCAM2 both use it, and VIM-MINICAM5C runs an external PIR that holds its 5000mAh cell on standby for up to nine months.
Storage ceilings
32GB on two of the USB stick modules, 128GB in the middle, 256GB on most 4G units, and 512GB on VIM-V89WIFI, the highest here. At 1080p, plan about 1GB an hour, so 256GB is roughly ten days of continuous footage.
Cloud storage
Offered as an option on VIM-MINICAM3, VIM-WIMINICAM3, VIM-4GV100 and VIM-4GV100W. Useful when the camera might be found and removed, because the footage is already off the device. Worth thinking about for exactly that reason.
4G bands and coverage in New Zealand
A 4G build needs a SIM with a data plan from Spark, One NZ or 2degrees, and it needs coverage at the exact spot the camera sits, which is often a shed, a basement or a rural boundary. New Zealand no longer has a 3G network, so there is no slower fallback: it is 4G or nothing. Band 28 at 700MHz is the one that carries furthest into rural areas and through building materials, so check that the unit supports it before committing to a remote site, and test with a phone at the spot first.
Choose by Project
Building into a household object
A clock, a speaker, a book, a vent, a picture frame. You need a pinhole on a flexible cable and somewhere to hide the body. VIM-DIYWIFI at $159 to start, or VIM-V70 at $199 for the bendable cable and power bank support. If the object already exists ready-made, check Hidden Cameras first, because buying one finished is usually cheaper than building one.
A site with no internet
Shed, garage, bach, boundary fence, storage unit, a property between tenancies. 4G is the only option. VIM-4GV90 at $290 for 4K and 2 to 3 days of battery, or VIM-4GV97 at $349 if there is power, since it runs 24/7 on a DC adapter or a power bank.
Watching one specific thing
A till, a safe, a drawer, a keypad, a single door. Narrow beats wide and detail beats coverage. PV-DY40UW at $599 for 4K through a 66 degree lens, or VIM-4GV94 at $349 if the recorder has to sit two metres away from the lens.
Covering a whole room from one point
VIM-MINICAM7 at $139 for 105 degrees and invisible night vision, or VIM-MINICAM6 at $290 for 120 degrees in 4K with a removable battery.
Temporary placement with no modification
A rental, a workplace, a site you do not own, or anywhere you cannot drill. VIM-WIMINICAM3 at $139 with its magnetic ball mount and 12 days of standby. Note that placing cameras in premises you do not control raises questions covered in Responsible Use below.
A build that has to look right under inspection
Professional work where the concealment will be examined. The LawMate kits, from $590, for 4K, an RF remote and, on PV-DY40UWW, the flat ribbon cable. PV-DY40UWW for coverage, PV-DY40UW for detail.
Cheapest way to answer one question
VIM-V93 at $169 with a PIR sensor and automatic night vision, or VIM-USBCAM3 at $209 if a USB stick belongs where it is going. Both record locally and neither needs setting up.
FAQs
Do I need to be technical to use these?
No. Most are a module, a lens on a cable and a battery, and the electronics are already done. What you supply is the object, a hole in the right place, and a plan for power. If you can drill accurately and route a cable, you can build with any of these.
What is the difference between these and the ready-made hidden cameras?
A hidden camera already looks like a clock or a charger. These let you choose the object yourself, which matters when nothing off the shelf fits the room. If a ready-made object suits, buy that instead: it is usually cheaper and there is nothing to build.
Can I view a LawMate camera from another city?
No. The LawMate kits connect wirelessly to a device nearby. They are built for image quality and concealment, not for remote access over the internet. For that, use a 4G unit from $290.
Do the 4G cameras need a subscription?
No subscription from us. You supply a SIM with a data plan from Spark, One NZ or 2degrees, and that plan is the only ongoing cost.
How long will one run on a battery?
Continuously, roughly 1 to 8 hours depending on the model. Standby figures are far longer, 12 days on the magnetic WiFi unit, 30 days on the PIR recorders and up to nine months on VIM-MINICAM5C, but they assume the camera is asleep most of the time. Add a power bank if the build has to last.
Can I wire one into a light fitting or a power point?
Generally not yourself. Connecting to a building's fixed wiring is prescribed electrical work in New Zealand. Apart from limited work a homeowner may do on the home they live in, it must be done by a licensed electrician, and never by a tenant or in a workplace. Plugging a supplied adapter into an existing socket is fine. Build around a plug and a cable.
Which lens should I buy?
Measure the opening first. An existing round hole suits a button lens. A gap with almost no clearance needs the flat ribbon cable on the LawMate. A hole you drill yourself suits a pinhole on a flexible lead. A whole room needs 105 degrees or more.
Will these work in the dark?
Several have infrared, and the ranges are short and honest: about 1 metre on two of the 4G units, 6 to 8 metres on the wide-angle WiFi unit. Choose 940nm no-glow infrared rather than 850nm, because a red shimmer at a pinhole is far more noticeable than the same glow on an ordinary camera.
Can I put one in a rental property I own?
Not inside a tenanted home. A tenant is entitled to quiet enjoyment under the Residential Tenancies Act 1986, and surveillance inside the premises breaches it. A camera in a locked owner's cupboard in a holiday home that sits empty between stays is a different situation.
Responsible Use in New Zealand
DIY carries two risks the ready-made ranges do not, and both come from the same source: you decide where it goes and it can go almost anywhere. The same law applies nationwide with no regional variation.
Audio is the trap that catches DIY builds specifically. Under section 216B of the Crimes Act 1961, recording a private conversation you are taking part in is lawful. Recording one you are not a party to carries up to two years, and disclosing it is a separate offence. A DIY camera is built into an object, left in a room, and walked away from. That is the definition of recording conversations you are not part of. Most modules here capture audio. If you do not need it, switch it off, and understand that leaving a microphone running in a room you have left is a different legal position from carrying a camera on your body.
Video has a hard limit. Sections 216G to 216J make it an offence to secretly record someone who is undressed, showering, using the toilet or in an intimate situation where they would expect privacy, typically in bathrooms, bedrooms and changing areas, and to record a person's intimate areas from beneath or through clothing anywhere. Up to three years, with possessing and publishing as separate offences. This applies in your own home and to your own family. Nothing you build belongs in those rooms.
Your own home. Filming your own living areas is generally lawful, and the Privacy Act 2020 largely does not reach purely domestic collection. That exemption falls away where the recording would be highly offensive to an ordinary reasonable person, so it protects a camera watching your own front door and does not protect one watching a flatmate.
Tenancies. A tenant has the right to quiet enjoyment under section 38 of the Residential Tenancies Act 1986. Building a camera into a property before a tenancy starts, or installing one during it, breaches that right and can support a Tenancy Tribunal claim.
Premises you do not control. A magnetic camera is easy to place in a workplace, a shared building or somebody else's property, and easy placement is not permission. Installing recording equipment in premises you do not control can be trespass, can breach an employment agreement, and where an organisation is involved brings the Privacy Act 2020 into play in full.
Employers. Recording as a business means you need a lawful purpose, collection that is not unreasonably intrusive, people generally being aware it is happening, secure storage and a retention limit. Covert workplace recording also engages the good faith duty in section 4 of the Employment Relations Act 2000 and rarely survives a personal grievance even where the underlying suspicion was correct.
Monitoring a person. The Crimes Legislation (Stalking and Harassment) Amendment Act 2025 came into force on 26 May 2026. Watching and recording a person are specified acts, and a pattern of them carries up to five years. Placing cameras to track an individual, particularly a partner, former partner or family member, is the conduct this legislation targets.
Electrical safety. Wiring anything into mains is prescribed electrical work. Apart from limited work a homeowner may do on the home they live in, it must be done by a licensed electrician, who certifies it, and it is never allowed for tenants or in a workplace. This is not a formality: unqualified work inside a light fitting or socket is a genuine fire and shock risk, is unlawful in a rental or a workplace, and can void insurance on the building. Build around a plug and a cable.
Publishing footage. Do not post recordings of identifiable people online. Even lawfully captured footage can engage the Harmful Digital Communications Act 2015 once published. Recordings go to the police, a lawyer, an employer or a tribunal.
Using a recording later. Keep the original file unedited, note the date, time and placement, and retrieve it before loop recording overwrites it. In a criminal prosecution, section 30 of the Evidence Act 2006 lets a judge exclude improperly obtained evidence, so how the footage was captured matters as much as what it shows.
This guide is general product information for New Zealand customers and is not legal advice. If a recording is likely to be used in a dispute, an employment matter or a court proceeding, get advice specific to your situation.
Related Guides
This guide is about building your own. These cover the alternatives.
- Hidden Cameras for cameras already built into clocks, chargers, smoke detectors and speakers. If a ready-made object fits your room, it is cheaper and there is nothing to build.
- Pen Cameras for the smallest finished object, when the camera needs to travel in a pocket rather than live in a wall.
- WiFi Security Cameras if the camera does not need to be concealed. Overt cameras deter, and they carry far fewer legal complications.
- Wearable Cameras for cameras that move with a person instead of staying in an object.
- Counter-Surveillance if you want to find devices like these rather than build them.
Shop DIY Cameras
The shortest path is three questions. How does the footage reach you, what shape does the lens need to be, and where does the power come from. Answer those and the build is decided.
Thirty-four items, $69 to $599, covering local recording, WiFi, 4G, the LawMate professional kits and the power banks that run them.
Browse all DIY Spy Cameras, see the smallest finished units in Mini Spy Cameras, or add storage from Memory Cards.
Last reviewed October 2026.