Building this surveillance system is literally a matter of a few minutes. Different camera modules can be used here.
I've picked an extremely low-budget, low-consumption black/white system, but basically any module that delivers a composite video signal (i. e. 1V p-p 75 Ohm) is appropriate.
The camera lens has to be manually adjusted for low-budget systems.
For displaying (and recording) the video signal on a PC I use the "Hauppauge USB-Live 2" converter. There exist many alternatives, such as putting in use an old TV etc.
Current consumption for my configuration (with 12V power-supply unit and L7805 voltage regulator):
- 23 mA for the black/white camera
- 11 mA for the (optional) LED
as you can see on the Amperemeter. Thus power consumption equals around 0.4 Watt in this case what is well below other comparable camera systems.
Details
Example recording (lens is not yet perfectly adjusted):