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Stolen Camera Finder

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Frankman View Drop Down
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Posts: 6916 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Frankman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Topic: Stolen Camera Finder
    Posted: 01 January 2012 at 14:52

I came across this article and thought I would share it with all the members. In a nutshell, every digital camera carries a unique serial number that is stored in the EXIF file. The following article describes how a photographer managed to retrieve a camera that had been stolen 3 years previously using software that trawls the net looking for the serial number:

here

The site that carries the application is here

I hope to never have to use it. It may come in handy to those of you that have had cameras stolen.

Cheers, Frank
*** Sony A850 * A700 * Minolta 5D and other stuff ***
 



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harveyzone View Drop Down
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Posts: 918 		Post Options Post Options   Quote harveyzone Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 January 2012 at 15:32
Originally posted by Frankman Frankman wrote:


I came across this article and thought I would share it with all the members. In a nutshell, every digital camera carries a unique serial number that is stored in the EXIF file. The following article describes how a photographer managed to retrieve a camera that had been stolen 3 years previously using software that trawls the net looking for the serial number:

here

The site that carries the application is here

I hope to never have to use it. It may come in handy to those of you that have had cameras stolen.


Exept, as the article points out, it does not work with Sony (or Minolta) cameras, as they do not store the serial number in the Exif data.
Tom Harvey

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utcreeper View Drop Down
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Posts: 1222 		Post Options Post Options   Quote utcreeper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 January 2012 at 20:26
Originally posted by harveyzone harveyzone wrote:



Exept, as the article points out, it does not work with Sony (or Minolta) cameras, as they do not store the serial number in the Exif data.



That seems like a reasonable call to petition for a firmware update.
Me @ flickr

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harveyzone View Drop Down
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Posts: 918 		Post Options Post Options   Quote harveyzone Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 January 2012 at 22:40
Originally posted by utcreeper utcreeper wrote:

That seems like a reasonable call to petition for a firmware update.


It is not the first time that it has been mooted. It assumes, of course, that the serial number is stored with in the camera, and that it can be accessed and written out via software. It seems a reasonable assumption, but I have no idea if it is a correct one, and if it isn't then no amount of firmware updates would make it possible.
Tom Harvey

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Frankman View Drop Down
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Posts: 6916 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Frankman Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 January 2012 at 23:28

Bummer! I didn't read the "fine print" about Sony/Minolta. Nevertheless, it may be useful for anyone with other systems.

Cheers, Frank
*** Sony A850 * A700 * Minolta 5D and other stuff ***
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jdkeck View Drop Down
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Posts: 945 		Post Options Post Options   Quote jdkeck Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 01 January 2012 at 23:46
i sure hope sony adds the serial number to their cameras, and i would really wish for a firmware update giving you the option to add one.
a850,cz24-70,, sony 35 f1.8, sony 70-300g, minolta 70-210f4, sigma 70-200 f2.8hsm is, sigma 100-300f4
 



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Bob Maddison View Drop Down
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Posts: 1102 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Bob Maddison Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2012 at 08:47
It is unlilely that a firmware update could be used. The camera needs to be able to identify the serial number as a digital number and this must be built into the camera. If you could add the S.N. yourself, it could just as easily be overwritten!
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brettania View Drop Down
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Posts: 20649 		Post Options Post Options   Quote brettania Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2012 at 10:05
I actually posted a link to the same article here on December 29.

OK -- so "Stolen" sounds more sexy than "Finding".

Edited by brettania - 02 January 2012 at 10:09
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Bob J View Drop Down
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Posts: 27202 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Bob J Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 02 January 2012 at 10:39
Ricardovaste has a feedback to Sony thread here where I've raised this as well.
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mirthseeker View Drop Down
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Posts: 762 		Post Options Post Options   Quote mirthseeker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 03 January 2012 at 11:47
The owner of Stolen Camera Finder has responded to an enquiry I made about the site - Anyone purchasing a second hand camera can check if it has been reported stolen by performing a search, it also returns any missing camera reports that users have entered. You can see all the reports people have entered on this map..
Unless you are buying a Sony!
One more reason to ask Sony to include serial nos. in exif.
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klw10 View Drop Down
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Posts: 1366 		Post Options Post Options   Quote klw10 Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 05 January 2012 at 14:28
This in interesting software. Sony should really look into putting the serial number of the camera in exif data.
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Steve-S View Drop Down
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Posts: 2578 		Post Options Post Options   Quote Steve-S Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 January 2012 at 02:33
Originally posted by Bob Maddison Bob Maddison wrote:

It is unlilely that a firmware update could be used. The camera needs to be able to identify the serial number as a digital number and this must be built into the camera.
Yes; but the question is: DOES the Sony line include unique device-#'s in the camera? A very large number of electronics DO; the CaNikon models do (apparently even the P&S models...? ) . It's a reasonable suspicion that the Alpha line has something similar.

Then it's just a matter of a fw update so that the device_ID gets written to EXIF automatically, with model-# and a bunch of other data...

Of course, if there's no such ID (in the ROM or wherever), then all this is just idle wishing...


- Steve S.
a77_SAL18-135_ZA135/1.8_Tam200-500_Tam180/3.5_Tam10-24_Min50/1.7
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mirthseeker View Drop Down
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Posts: 762 		Post Options Post Options   Quote mirthseeker Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 January 2012 at 04:36


Of course, if there's no such ID (in the ROM or wherever), then all this is just idle wishing...


- Steve S. [/QUOTE]

Even if there is currently no serial number available in the camera electronics , what is "idle wishing" about requesting Sony to put it in future models, like this.
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utcreeper View Drop Down
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Posts: 1222 		Post Options Post Options   Quote utcreeper Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 06 January 2012 at 10:18
Originally posted by Bob Maddison Bob Maddison wrote:

The camera needs to be able to identify the serial number as a digital number and this must be built into the camera. If you could add the S.N. yourself, it could just as easily be overwritten!


Certainly. But thieves aren't known for their technical prowess, so a user-selectable SN is better than nothing at all. Likewise for simply 'Photographer Name' which can be set in other systems, and written to exif. Certainly it's not foolproof, but it's better than nothing imo.
Me @ flickr

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