Spy cameras (the historic kind)

The Black Oil

I've just watched the recent Pierce Brosnan film, November Man. It features a scene where someone takes photos (via smartphone) of printed photos. This got me thinking about older films and TV shows that depict spying trade craft with a concealed camera.

How much of this is Hollywood myth? What sort of quality images could an 80s spy camera take when sneaking about sourcing secret documents (seeing as this is what pop culture typically focuses on) in enemy territory? :pac:

Btw...

https://twitter.com/cia/status/489847359422341120

https://twitter.com/cia/status/618530281004343296

https://twitter.com/cia/status/633797856088862720

CabanSail

These cameras and the film would have been made for a specialised application. When spooks are involved the cost is not a barrier. They would have been able to optimise the specifications for task and get maximum performance. Commercial gear and film was made for more general applications.

You also need to remember that many operations were undertaken to provide a credible source of information for stuff they already had. If you look at the history of the Enigma Code you will realise that a lot of the intelligence was not able to be used or else it would alert the enemy that their code had been brokem.

The Black Oil

Sometimes, in TVland, the stakeout involves surveillance work at night - say, two detectives sitting in a car. The lenses required would need to have pretty decent f-stop range, right? Often the gear looks more consumer than pro.