James Bond madespy techpopular on the full-grown blind , but cool gadgets are n’t just the stuff of fiction . Hidden equipment have long been used to covertly collect information in genuine life , and such devices are nowreadily availableto any unpaid sleuthhound in the form of common object . For the burgeoning undercover agent looking for something a bit more rarefied , a curing of vintage spy aim are being sold in theImportant Camerasauction at Bonhams this workweek .
Two of the more interesting objects useable are products commissioned by the United States government : acamera disguised as a Lucky Strike coffin nail packand a light meter disguise as a boxful of matches , both developed for the U.S. Signal Corps around 1949 . The Lucky Strike tv camera features a 16 mm metal trunk that fits into an actual cigarette pack , with a four - speed shutter , four - position aperture , and film advance . With the 16 millimetre picture , a undercover agent could take up to 18 photos during his / her faux smoke breaks . Bonhams notesthat there were only two such cigarette gang cameras made , and that neither was actually used by the U.S. Army .
The light time and camera , which are being sold together , are expected to trade at the December 3 auction for between $ 41,000 and $ 65,000 . Other objects in the auction let in hidden camerasshaped like guns , a cameraembedded in a watch , and another tv camera thatcollapses into a pocketwatch .
Spy cameras have been around since at least the thirties , when inventorWalter Zapp created the Minox subminiature . The thick model wasused by government around the worldfor decades , and was also featured in the Bond filmOn Her Majesty ’s Secret Service(1969 ) . Minox even formulate a range of accessories for the television camera , includingflashes , mirror , and binoculars , and office developedspecial cases meant to conceal it — prove , along with the Lucky Strike plan , just how far some will go in the name of stealth .
