Lost or Stolen equipment serial numbers

sturatcliffe wrote: He has admitted handling the goods (about £7500 I reckoned) and has a court appearance already set.

Excellent news. Do tell us when and where as I'm sure there are more than a few of us who would make the effort to meet the scroat when he steps out onto a public space. We could shoot him a few times - with our cameras of course. (I'd bring my Purdey rangefinder!)

(Speaking as someone who has been burgled within the past couple of weeks)

Great news Stuart! I was just telling a friend about your ordeal. I'm looking forward to sharing the second part of the story. Hallelujah!

I'm sure at some point someone (usually I) should beckon in about having good camera equipment insurance? I know the "good ones" act immediately, so for anyone who relies on their kit, make sure you have a good policy!

I'll quietly step away now and let you all enjoy...

Great news Stuart ! So saturday will be really HAPPY SHOOTING !
(btw. don't leave the stuff in your car by then )

I missed the good news in August, but it is good news not just for Stu, but for everyone in the Stockport area: there are only ever a few active burglars at any one time, but they do disproportionate mischief. So Stu's notations of his serial numbers and police report allowed the police to do their job and for his neighbors to sleep well.

Rule number One -- keep the serial numbers of all your lenses ON PAPER somewhere. There's no point in storing them on a desktop or laptop if that is stolen too.

Personally, I'm not keen on providing serial numbers or descriptions or values to a third party in advance of the theft. Putting insurance on items simply gives a part-time employee of the insurance broker a list of items to steal. Giving that information to any third-party by email means that a hacker, bored with stealing credit card numbers, will go for the soft target of the third-party registration company.

Rule number Two -- keep the secret of your valuables to yourself until you need to publish it.

If Sony ever develops quasi-professional support, it will establish a theft reporting system for Alpha bodies and lenses, that it can use to circulate all its dealers.     The police can handle pawn shops because there are laws requiring reporting in most Western countries, but there are no criteria for dealers in second hand goods.   On similar lines, Ebay and Amazon must require serial numbers as part of a lens listing, or deny the posting.   Absent that, they just become dealers in stolen goods.

Finally, with wifi cameras, wouldn't it be good for Sony to insert, in ROM, a responder that will bleep in GPS in response to a "show yourself code" when the body has been reported stolen?   That, more than almost anything else, would be a killer app. I think it would enhance customer loyalty in the long run. But in the short run it would inhibit Sony sales of replacement cameras, so one wonders if it will ever happen.

Please tell me about UV paint.

There's something similar over here called Data Dots, I see them on cars all the time but have never thought about using them on my gear, which I am now reconsidering.

http://www.datadotdna.com/us/