James Bond fans are, no doubt, familiar with the tools of the trade, and Swann’s PenCam Mini Video Camera and Recorder could have come straight from a movie. The PenCam is a fully functional ballpoint pen that doubles as a hidden camera — a pinhole-sized lens above the pen’s pocket clip takes images at a low-end 1.3 megapixels and records video at 640 x 480.
The PenCam feels solid. The metal body has a glossy black finish that’s complemented by a colored trim which varies by the model – the 2GB PenCam we tested has a gold trim, while the 4GB model has a silver trim. Recording starts by touching a button on the top of the cap and the memory is housed in the upper half of the device, which affords a hefty and high-end impression. Transferring files is extremely easy via the hidden USB plug. It took the PenCam around two seconds to transfer a 9MB video file.
However, some missteps hamper the PenCam’s usability. When the pen is plugged in via USB, an LED indicator will show when it’s finished charging, but there’s no way to check the battery life while the device is in use. Plus, while it’s easy to record images or video, the tiny switch to toggle between each mode is nestled between the USB connection and the upper half of the pen, which makes it hard to access.
Because of the low resolution, images tended to be blurry and indistinct, but the camera worked better. The video and sound quality were good enough to make the PenCam perfect for discreet close quarters recording, but the microphone did have some issues. In a face-to-face conversation, the microphone worked fine in our quiet offices, but after moving several feet away from the other person, the sound began to cut out. Playback was smooth, though the low recording resolution resulted in washed out color reproduction. If the PenCam is outside, the camera’s performance takes a significant hit — as the sample video shows, the recorded audio is practically unusable.
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