The present invention discloses a novel combination for low cost, stand alone video cameras with surveillance features. In the embodiments, the camera body can be manufactured utilizing inexpensive materials such as press molded plastic, the view finder can be a simple through-hole without a lens, simple indicator lights and buttons can be utilized for programming and status functions, and a removable memory card can be used as primary storage. The video camera can operate on one or more batteries or external power. The video camera can be embedded with surveillance functions offering a variety of programming modes for operating as a security camera. By providing only essential features and features that can be manufactured at low cost, the overall cost of the resulting camera can be kept very low.