radio-active asks a good question--wish we had more info on specs, such as battery details and run time. Photos of the board are posted on this page: https://www.alwaysinnovating.com/products/mecam-photos.htm although both sides are inexplicably labeled "top".
More and more invention companies are getting really good ideas and turning them into profit. Most of these ideas are good if and only if the end use does not change (we are all good civilized honest hard working people right???). Does anyone here remember when cellphone cameras did not make a noise when snapping a picture. Did you wonder why the sound effect was added? Some states even have laws where a cellphone camera has to make an indicating noise of snapping a picture to inform people around it. Yes kids were getting these cameras and snapping pictures in the bathroom stalls, Gym dressing room, showers, pool and everything in between. Today it's still misused. We tolerate it more and are more aware of these devices however snap of the moments catching you in a bad situation are way too common. How much worse will it get with cameras on a flying platform? Forget the privacy fence at your pool now you will need a privacy roof and kind of takes the fun out of bathing in the sun.
And yes If I see any camera chopper pointing at my yard my shot might stray and hit it by accident (even if it's still in your yard) the only upside with me is "I promise to use a bbgun instead I'm that good a shot with those things"
not for myself of course (ahem!).... (note: that the end of humor for this post.)
Then I saw the comments, especially from the guy who already has some neighbor flying his spycam over the reader's home swimming pool. Presumably, the reader has daughters....
The reader mentioned something about a shotgun. I'd seriously consider taking that bird down one way or another. a 410 should do, but probably not in anything but a rural setting. Campus cops on at the small college near where I grew up were reported to carry salt guns. I don't know how much they cost or how loud their report, but they might do.
Finally, these copters can't get much altitude and still acheive the video resolution desired. Maybe you could get a fruit netting (e.g. to keep birds off fruit bushes & small trees, tie some weights around the edges and learn how to toss it in the air effectively.
A Long Postscript:
This reminds me of a company called X10 ~10-15 years ago. I learned of them because they sold some kind of PC/RS-232-controlled power switch, I think.
What sticks in my mind about the company though, is that the main image on their website advertised their remote control panning webcams. (this was in the pre webcam days, but that's basically what they were selling.)
Anyway, the site invariably had some (adobe) flash video of what a camera might see as it panned across some zone of property.
I_n_v_a_r_i_a_b_l_y, the panned region included a not-quite-scantily-clad-yet-way-far-from-dressed-for-winter (or even a warm autumn) teenage girl. By teenage, I mean maybe 15 or 16.
There was nothing in words to substantiate this, buy X10 clearly marketed these things at either teenage boys or heterosexual pedophile men.
I always surmised that the X10 CEO (or any management, for that matter) were men who either didn't have daughters, or didn't have families who knew how they sold product.
Conclusion:
I have no sympathy for these things or people who operate them. Any voyeur tools coming near my property would be looking for trouble. And, I'd make sure that other neighbors became aware of the perps tools and activities.
I know gun enthusiasts love to come up with applications for their weapons to show skeptics that they relly need to own them. (This case would present a great argument for being able to keep a .50 caliber machine gun in your yard. Maybe even an anti-aircraft missile.) However, before shooting down the little spy craft, have you consulted an attorney as to whether you have any legal recourse? Not so much fun as shooting your guns, but a bit more consistent with a civilized community.
I'd be willing to bet that as soon as someone "technical" in the porn industry gets a whiff of this device, the managers of those facilities will be on the phone w/ their cadre of attorneys figuring out how they can adapt this technology for their own sordid purpose!!!!!
The prospect of widespread consumer use of these mobile cameras will intensify the privacy discussions already taking place around the domestic use of drones.
While I can envision some fantastic opportunities for productive uses, I think we can all imagine the more base uses for which these will certainly be used. And it is those invasive/exploitive uses that will drive outrage, reaction and legislation and test our individual rights.
For example, if one of these is flying around your head while you are out in public spaces, recording your every move without your permission, do you have the right to swat it out of the sky to protect your privacy or even the quality of your life? Or is that destruction of property?
As one commenter suggested, can you shoot one out of the sky over your property? There will most likely be products designed to counter this unwanted surveillance, i.e. mini anti-aircraft batteries that shoot paintballs to coat the camera lens, or epoxy to gum up the rotors; or even search-and-destroy aircraft of the same scale. Will it be legal to use these products to thwart the would-be chroniclers of your life? Or again, would it be destruction of property?
We may soon look back nostalgically to the days when mosquitoes were the most annoying airborne pests...
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