Cameratrace or Immobilize Software

Michael Robinson · Jan 3, 2015

Hello,
I'm new here and thought I'd start out with a question that is puzzling me. I want some means of protection in recovering my gear incase it is stolen. Both my 60D and my 300D were purchased Used through Ebay so neither is registered in my name through Canon.

I have been looking at the Immobilize and CameraTrace systems and I'm not sure which one would work better. As far as I know I do not plan on selling my cameras...I'd only get like $30 for the 300D, anyways.

Any recommendations for camera tracing systems or recommendations for Camera Insurance that'd cover the loss of this gear? Also, something that'd be expandable if I decide on an upgrade DSLR?

Anything that'd be able to track lenses as well?

480sparky · Jan 3, 2015

Stolen Camera Finder - find your photos, find your camera although I don't know if Canon embed serial numbers in EXIF data.

Lenstag - Protect your camera equipment, images and help make the world safer for photography on iOS, Android and the web.

KmH · Jan 3, 2015

For over 30 years situation awareness (condition yellow) and being mindful of my camera gear has worked really well.
I've never had any camera gear stolen.

People are often preyed upon because they look and act like victims.

Nevermore1 · Jan 3, 2015

Personally I'm not sure that a stolen camera finder system would be any good. If I were some random theif who decided to steal your equipment I would most likely hit up the nearest pawn shop or Craigslist to get a few bucks for it. The equipment could sit at a pawn shop for months before it was used and someone uploaded a picture from it. At that point you would have already replaced the equipment and if the police did track it they would just find the poor sap that was unlucky enough to purchase stolen equipment. As KmH said - your best bet is situational awareness, don't get so wrapped up what you are doing that you no longer realize what is happening around you.

If you're more concerned about damage from drops etc then go with an insurance company. Your homeowners/renters insurance may be able to provide a rider for coverage.

Michael Robinson · Jan 3, 2015

Thanks for the replies. I always try to keep an eye on my gear and make sure it doesn't get too far. I need to do a better job at it, still.

The "Immobilize" stickers leaves a warning behind even after it is removed. But, to me that just makes me think they'll just trash it or keep it since they cannot sell it. I mean who'd return it?

I don't have homeowners or renters insurance as I am a college student living at home for another 6 months. Know of any camera insurance that'll cover used gear? I found several for new gear, but nothing to cover used equipment.

bratkinson · Jan 4, 2015

KmH said:
For over 30 years situation awareness (condition yellow) and being mindful of my camera gear has worked really well.
I've never had any camera gear stolen.

People are often preyed upon because they look and act like victims.

KmH and I are on the same page. Don't look like a victim. I don't 'advertise' what I have, either. Although I have too much money invested in my gear, it's all black, and all in a non-descript black 'gym bag' from Walmart...except it weighs perhaps 20 pounds.

How do I protect myself when travelling through airports etc? The bag is never off my shoulder unless I'm in a restroom, when it's at my feet. And when I'm out taking city-scape pictures in some large city? 1 camera, 2 lenses, and stay where there's lots of people. And if some purse-snatcher style 'runner' comes and grabs it and runs? There goes that vacation. That's why it's all insured on a 'rider' to my homeowners insurance. Gear is easily replaceable. Arms, legs, and life are not.

And 'immobilizing' the camera? Unless the camera is connected to the internet and has updated the internal firmware of that camera, there's no such thing. OK...an internal, manually reset 'time bomb' would be possible? An exploding battery that goes boom once every week? If that's how it works, then the thief comes back and sues YOU for causing him personal injury!

But, for what it's worth, immobilizing software for laptops, tablets, etc IS possible. I learned the hard way when I was trying to 'clean off' my personal stuff from a table computer I was selling to a co-worker. Having a well-regarded brand of internet-security on it, in trying to remove it, I managed to trigger the immobilizing function. Try as I may, even using the 'release' password from my desktop computer with tablet in hand failed. I finally had to contact the software company and then convince them the tablet is in my hand, I'm at home in my own (registered address) house (it showed on the tablet screen) and -they- did the 'release' function. Turns out that was a waste of time, as the first thing he did was do a 'reset to factory setup', which wiped out everything I had done.

Michael Robinson · Jan 4, 2015

Mine is in a small backpack. It is a camera bag but doesn't look like one. The only way somebody would know is if they saw me take a camera out. So, that's good.

The "immobilize" is just stickers with a barcode that can track who owns it, and if it's removed it leaves behind a "stolen" notice. The more I thought about this, the more I didn't like it. The thief wouldn't see it before stealing it and if they saw that, they'd just keep it or trash it!

mattburns · Jan 5, 2015

Hi, I'm the author of StolenCameraFinder.com and even I wouldn't recommend it as a form of protection!

SCF is very useful if you have nothing else to try, but it is no substitute for a good insurance policy (that will actually pay out), or better still, being sensible enough to not let it get stolen in the first place.

People email me every day with stories of how their camera got stolen and most of the time it's because they left it somewhere and took their eyes off it. A camera being taken from someone's shoulder is extremely rare in my experience.

Pro tip: Don't leave your camera gear in your car. Seriously. I don't have much sympathy for people that do this even when hidden in the boot. You're basically training criminals to break into cars just to have a look. If no-one left valuables in the boot then cars damage would plummet...

-Matt