spy & camera museum

As the name suggests this will interest you if you are into either spies, cameras or both. Although there is a self guided option, choose the guided alternative. Michael is very knowledgeable, making what could be a fairly straightforward museum into something much more interesting. We found his views about modern corporate behaviours a little unexpected, and a bit preachy. But I guess you would not want to preserve history unless you had some strong passions. Well worth visiting.

Just visited this museum and really lost track of the time I spent. Fascinating collection, the last thing I expected to find in such a remote part of Australia. Unique and rare photographs and equipment. Nice to come in contact with the spy camera used by "James Bond" in Dr No, I think?Michael, the proprietor was a genial and most informative host. I thoroughly enjoyed the visit and would recommend it to everyone.

This little museum is full of intriguing and interesting cameras and more.We took the guided tour, .Michael,s knowledge is worth it ,he will tell stories about the exhibits and the tales about the cold war were worth the trip alone.A true treasure of a Museum in the lovely town of Herberton.

We really enjoyed our guided tour of the Spy Camera museum. The guide was so very interesting to listen to and explained all about the exhibits with personal knowledge and pride. We were tempted to just pay for the look around but decided to pay extra for the tour and it was so worth the extra money.

We visited the Spy and Camera museum with two nine year old budding inventors.They were fascinated, we all were. The talk was very interesting and well worth it.Michael gave us a lot of information and kept it interesting by varying the talk with Spy cameras, early photography techniques, movie cameras, projectors and samples of photos taken with the cameras.It was great for the kids to see how photography was invented and how it has changed over the years; especially since at 9, they only know digital. They don't see mechanical camera's any more and had no idea about the chemical reactions involved in getting images onto film and then paper.The kids loved the spy cameras, they could relate to them since they have been reading kids spy books. It was fascinating for us too, to see the kinds of gadgets they had in James Bond and Get Smart were real.It was $40 for a family ticket which I thought was quite reasonable considering they wouldn't have a high turnover, and that is quite comparable to other high turnover attractions in the region such as the Kuranda wildlife places. I see some people complained about it not being slick enough. I liked that the place had the character of an authentic eccentric collectors horde rather than a slick glass and chrome display.

We stopped here as part of a tour (fee included admission, so I didn't know how much it was). We enjoyed our tour and guide, fascinating information! I really wondered how he go so many spy cameras. A bit of fun, a bit of history, it is worth the stop.

Ahhh, my first (hopefully last) "Terrible" review. Ho hum, everyone has an off day. You caught me on such a day. Apologies. As for the 4 lost customers, consider this a half price voucher if you ever return!! Michael Petersen

Two years ago on a trip up Cape York my partner and I saw a sign for the Spy Camera Museum nailed to a tree somewhere and both thought "Hey, that sounds interesting" but a few more kilometres down the road we both completely forgot about it.Fast forward through time to last week and once again, we're back in the area and see the sign again and decide this time we should go to Herberton and check it out even though neither of us have a particular interest in spying, cameras or spy cameras.The museum is an interesting place to say the least.Michael, the proprietor, is an interesting mix of raconteur and conspiracy theory nutjob (but in a nice way) and has a passion and knowledge for his collection that engages even the most casually interested people like us. The $15 tour lasts about 45 minutes and is very informative. There isn't much in the way of signage in any of the exhibits so, unless you already know loads about cameras history and all that, nothing would mean much to you but Michael’s commentary tells you everything and, pretty much all the exhibits have some story behind them. There are some interesting examples of very old technology from the 1800's which is still working today and doing a better job than some of the more modern devices. The Canon EOS you just bought? Pah! Have a look at what can be done with a bit of clockwork and some wood!You will leave the museum thinking “Wow, that was quite interesting” but you will also be carrying a sneaking suspicion that you will have been secretly photographed ready for the next visitors to be shown how easy it is for a spy camera to be hidden and to demonstrate just how good some of these cameras are. :)

Interesting collection and interesting owner. I love people with passion for what they do. probably needs bit of work but even now interesting tovisit

We were visiting Herberton and were interested in the museum but not sure if it was for us until we were told by another tourist about how interesting it was and the owner gave an excellent commentary.We are both interested in photography and thought it would just be old cameras on display. But we found so many interesting spy cameras, an old and rare collection. Mike is the owner and he gave us a guided tour and he has so many interesting stories to tell.We would recommend the tour even though it appears to be a bit expensive, it is well worth the admission price.

We arrived in Herberton late afternoon with not enough time to do the Historical Village. As a fall back option we visited the Spy Camera Museum and were treated to a guided tour by Mike. He was a fount of knowledge of all things camera, spy, Herberton, Australia, global. Fascinating stuff. Thanks, Mike. We visit again next time we're in Herberton.

Our family went to this on a recent holiday. It was an awesome place to visit. There were lots of different cameras - old and new. The guide was really good and told us a lot about the different cameras. We felt we could take our time looking at the cameras and weren't rushed. It was a personalised tour as it was only us and the guide. Recommend it to anyone who likes cameras (normal and spy) and photography.

We stopped at this little museum as I am a (would like to be) photographer, The words Spy Cameras had me intrigued. We entered into this little old building and were greeted by its owner Michael. A friendly chap, very knowledgeable, interesting to listen to and has lots of interesting stories to tell about his cameras and photos. The cost per person is negligable, especially if you take his tour. He told us it would take about 40 minutes, but an hour and a half later we were still there enthralled with his stories, exhibits and photographs. He has a copy of the very first photograph ever taken, hanging on his wall. If your a camera buff, interested in cameras used for spying, or old Police cameras used surreptitiously to photograph suspects then this is the place to go. He even has cameras used by Russian spies during the cold war. If you keep driving past and dont stop, you have missed a wonderful experience.

We totally recommend this museum to anyone interested in the spy world or photography. We had a personalised tour which was extremely informative and fun!

I was to their place on January 20, 2014 as part of my vacation (I'm from Louisiana, USA) and thoroughly enjoyed their whole display of the different type cameras from old to newer models. Anyone who is camera buff would surely enjoy the trip there and if your not, you will want to become one. Their cover fee is reasonable and you get a tour.