What happened to the cameras in caches?

[CoyoteRed]

As the title says, I'm wondering what happened to cameras in caches. We used to see them all the time. Now, I've not seen one in a good while. It's not that I have the most photogenic mug, but I thought it was neat to see the photos posted.

 

Just curious.

[+briansnat]

I rarely ever found a cache with a camera in it. I guess it was a regional thing.

[+Retcon]

The only cache I've ever found with a camera in it is listed as no longer having the camera. I suppose they were just a bit too swipable ;(

[+palmetto]

I saw them a lot, but not that often ever saw the film developed and the shots posted to the page. I have lately seen a couple of caches with inexpensive digital cameras. If the cameras remain in the cache (? I hope) I bet those shots get posted.

 

I even have an old digital with a ruined color chip, takes a greenish sepia shot. Heavy battery user, but I could put it in a cache, come to think of it. If it disappears, no great loss, it's just sitting in a drawer now.

[Mr.Yuck]

I rarely ever found a cache with a camera in it. I guess it was a regional thing.

 

Could have been a regional thing, yes. I rarely see it anymore, and with flame suit on, I'd say they're a relic from the days when people putting thought and effort into their caches was more common.

[+ePeterso2]

Seems like a number of the caches with cameras in them have disappeared before the film could be developed. I know of at least three within 10 miles of me (including one I hid).

[+tozainamboku]

Its hard to fit a camera in a micro.

[+wandererrob]

i think they also had a tendency to disappear as a trade item. I've found a couple with cameras and they are fun when they post ip the pics to thte cache page.

 

I have an old digital camera I thought about doing this with, but I fear the above scenario. Somebody wouldn't read very closely and trade a golf ball for it.

[Ghengis Jon]

I used to leave a camera in my cache, but stopped last summer when the local WallyWorld would not develop them or return the negatives. Seems the 'racy' pix on the film offended some anal retentive film jockey's puritan values and I was informed that 'those type of photos' would not be developed there and oh by the way your film was damaged beyond recovery.

[+StarBrand]

I still put them out - have developed about 20 over the years - never had a "bad" photo in the batch.

[Trinity's Crew]

I used to leave a camera in my cache, but stopped last summer when the local WallyWorld would not develop them or return the negatives. Seems the 'racy' pix on the film offended some anal retentive film jockey's puritan values and I was informed that 'those type of photos' would not be developed there and oh by the way your film was damaged beyond recovery.

 

Gee... when I find a camera in a cache I leave my clothes on when I take the picture. Apparently I'm doing it wrong.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Trinity's Crew

[+TheAlabamaRambler]

Now I don't care who you are, the image of someone stripping in the woods to take a 'lewd' picture of themselves for a cache log is funny!

 

Even the pics I have seen of NudeCacher couldn't be called lewd, so what were those folks thinking?!

 

Anonymity is a terrible thing!

[+Cpt.Blackbeard]

I have a camera in one of my caches, I traded the old one out recently but when I had it developed there were several pictures that were no more than silhouettes. The camera had flash but only a few used it. I'll get them posted soon.

 

PS, luckily there were no lewd shots.

[+wesleykey]

As the title says, I'm wondering what happened to cameras in caches. We used to see them all the time. Now, I've not seen one in a good while. It's not that I have the most photogenic mug, but I thought it was neat to see the photos posted.

 

Just curious.

 

I believe they disappeared along with the quality regular cache in the woods.

[+wandererrob]

I used to leave a camera in my cache, but stopped last summer when the local WallyWorld would not develop them or return the negatives. Seems the 'racy' pix on the film offended some anal retentive film jockey's puritan values and I was informed that 'those type of photos' would not be developed there and oh by the way your film was damaged beyond recovery.

 

They do have a lot of dirt cheap digicams out there now...

[+Demon360]

I have one ready to go out if the park system approves it. It has a 2" x 1.5" x .75" Philips digital keychain camera in it. I'm sure it'll disappear and ruin it for everyone, but I'm kinda curious as to how long it'll take to get confiscaated so someone can show off "what a neat little thing I found in a cache today!".

[+ArtieD]

We put one camera in the hardest of the three new caches we placed.

[+wandererrob]

I have one ready to go out if the park system approves it. It has a 2" x 1.5" x .75" Philips digital keychain camera in it. I'm sure it'll disappear and ruin it for everyone, but I'm kinda curious as to how long it'll take to get confiscaated so someone can show off "what a neat little thing I found in a cache today!".

 

I got to thinking about this earlier.

 

What if you somehow tethered it to the cache? Maybe a light cable with enough slack to allow picture taking without crouching next to the cache? Of course this would require folks to coil it back up. Maybe on of those kid leashes... hmmm...

[+Blue Power Ranger]

Maybe on of those kid leashes... hmmm...

 

I would never humiliate a camera like that!

 

 

 

I've got a disposable in one of my caches. I used the underwater model to make sure it would survive if the cache leaked. The cache has been out over a year but I still haven't had enough visitors to fill the camera.

Edited February 26, 2007 by Blue Power Ranger

[+JennM]

JT and I found a cache with a single-use camera in it last fall. I took his picture - he wanted to moon the camera but I wouldn't let him (not a good mental postcard there...). The camera was clearly labeled with instructions to take your picture and leave the camera, so that's what we did. I thought that was a clever idea, but it's the only one like that we've found so far.

 

Stinks when people ruin good fun like that - lewd shots, or just stealing the camera outright

 

Jenn

[+Tahoein' Bunch]

I used to leave a camera in my cache, but stopped last summer when the local WallyWorld would not develop them or return the negatives. Seems the 'racy' pix on the film offended some anal retentive film jockey's puritan values and I was informed that 'those type of photos' would not be developed there and oh by the way your film was damaged beyond recovery.

 

Now whats wrong with Racing pictrures........Oh Racy I get it

 

Greg

[+Demon360]

I got to thinking about this earlier.

 

What if you somehow tethered it to the cache? Maybe a light cable with enough slack to allow picture taking without crouching next to the cache? Of course this would require folks to coil it back up. Maybe on of those kid leashes... hmmm...

 

Hmmm........that's an idea. I could do that easily, they'd just have to take a picture with the container of the container attached to it, which wouldn't really be a big deal - I think I have some picture frame hanging wire type stuff here. Thanx for the idea!

[+cache_test_dummies]

I miss seeing cameras in caches. I used to take a picture of myself every time I came across one, probably happened a dozen times or more during the first couple of years I was caching. I especially enjoyed seeing the pictures when cache owners would post them after developing, and ask for help identifying people in the pictures.

 

I wonder if (at least in part) the decline is somehow related to the fact that more and more people are now carrying digital cameras with them. Before cheap digitals and camera phones were available, taking a picture out in the woods just didn't happen as much as it does today. So maybe people don't view the idea as very interesting anymore.

[+VO2WW]

I too miss seeing cameras in Geocaches. I used to take pictures every time I found one, probably happened 5-6 times or more during the first years I was caching. I never did see the pictures when cache owners developed the film.

 

I too think the decline is somehow related to the fact that more and more people are now using digital cameras. You could be right that maybe people don't view the idea as very interesting anymore.

[+chuckwagon101]

i think they also had a tendency to disappear as a trade item. I've found a couple with cameras and they are fun when they post ip the pics to thte cache page.

 

I have an old digital camera I thought about doing this with, but I fear the above scenario. Somebody wouldn't read very closely and trade a golf ball for it.

 

GOLF BALL! Are you kidding!! I KEEP all my high-dollar stuff!! How about a key chain...one with A-1 Motors on it?

[smokingpipe]

Well, I am going to buy a cheap desposible waterproff camera and place it in a members only cache that I will be making up. This will narrow down to members only and not to the general public. This might reduce that chance of dissapearing, and a note attached to the camera explaining why is there and must stay there. I have also posted in the Travel Bug Forums on Members Only for travel bugs. It's a must read and I would like to see other options, as well as this one. Thanks.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Its hard to fit a camera in a micro.

Darn I got in too late and you stole my thunder!

 

I used to leave a camera in my cache, but stopped last summer when the local WallyWorld would not develop them or return the negatives. Seems the 'racy' pix on the film offended some anal retentive film jockey's puritan values and I was informed that 'those type of photos' would not be developed there and oh by the way your film was damaged beyond recovery.

Bet the Wally tech has a nice collection, eh?

[+nameless301]

I had a camera in my cache, it was just a disposable one and I went to get it around November I guess before our rainy season started in San Diego, and yes we have a rainy season, it might only be 10 days or rain but it last all thru December til March, in fact it is raining now, anyways off track of what I was saying, lost the camera in my house and then found it while cleaning up yesterday, planning on taking it to Wally World tonight and getting it developed and posting the pics.

[+mudsneaker]

I had a cache with a camera. First camera was developed and posted the pics, second camera went missing with the entire ammo box. /sigh.

 

I just bought 2 more cameras today for a new cache about to be published in the not to distant future.

[+welch]

Its hard to fit a camera in a micro.

 

DING!!

 

That and several cameras seem to disappear out of the cache before they get full

So even if it started with one, it may not have a camera later on...

[+tsunrisebey]

The first cache I did had a camera in it, here in Helena. It was pouring down rain and I was foolish enough to take one of myself. Everyone who is in the photos is invited to a bar-b-que this summer.

 

I also saw a poster on here that posted the pics from his camera that was in a cache and then I decided I would never want to be "published" without knowing.

 

Yet, I bought one to put in one of my caches for this summer. Maybe Brad Pitt or Orlando Bloom will stop by

[+Wild Thing 73]

As the title says, I'm wondering what happened to cameras in caches. We used to see them all the time. Now, I've not seen one in a good while. It's not that I have the most photogenic mug, but I thought it was neat to see the photos posted.

 

Just curious.

Batteries

[+welch]

As the title says, I'm wondering what happened to cameras in caches. We used to see them all the time. Now, I've not seen one in a good while. It's not that I have the most photogenic mug, but I thought it was neat to see the photos posted.

 

Just curious.

Batteries

???

[CoyoteRed]

As the title says, I'm wondering what happened to cameras in caches. We used to see them all the time. Now, I've not seen one in a good while. It's not that I have the most photogenic mug, but I thought it was neat to see the photos posted.

 

Just curious.

Batteries

???

Yeah, where's the rest of the post?

[+anaddicted23]

We have alot of cameras down here, but I've only seen one set of pics posted. It is a great idea, because you get to try and match up the pics with cachers, but too much happens along the way and not many seem to make it.

[+Too Tall John]

I used to leave a camera in my cache, but stopped last summer when the local WallyWorld would not develop them or return the negatives. Seems the 'racy' pix on the film offended some anal retentive film jockey's puritan values and I was informed that 'those type of photos' would not be developed there and oh by the way your film was damaged beyond recovery.

Hmm... As a former Wal-Mart Photo Lab manager, I think there may have been more going on in the lab than what they told you. We frequently got pics that Wal-Mart policy wouldn't allow us to print. (Basically, if you can get arrested for doing it on Main St, we couldn't print it.) Policy explicitly states that only the offending pics aren't printed, the customer gets the remaining pics, ALL their negs, and a note explaining the policy (I dubbed them the "Naughty Notes.") I'd bet some new associate didn't know what they were talking about or they botched your roll of film & lied about it.

 

Unless this was the associate's first experience with needing a Naughty Note, I'd bet that a good portion of the roll was of a... "Naughty" subject. As I can't picture geocachers snapping off a roll of film nude in the woods, I'm wondering if some unhappy nudist isn't sitting at home wondering "I didn't take these pics of these silly people holding an ammo box! What the heck?!?"

 

Whenever this subject comes up for me, the question is always asked "What's the worst pics you've seen?"

Let's just say it involved 2 men in leotards and a horse. Use your imagination, it can't be worse than it was.

 

Another thing that occurs to me is the complaint I most often had with disposable cameras. It always involved film quality or torn sprockets in the film. 99.9% of the time it came from a recycled camera. At Wal-Mart they're labeled as "Jazz." When they came out with a 3 pack, I knew all bad things come in threes! Reloading these cameras is generally a bad idea. Kodak & Fuji actually bought back the empty used cameras from us just to keep them out of the reloaders' hands! Buy brand name disposable cameras.

 

Sorry you had a bad experience, I take pride that my customers ALWAYS got back their film, and if it wasn't in the condition that they hoped it would be, they'd get an honest explaination as to why.

 

Back on topic:

 

Having worked in a photo lab & seen the effects on film left in extreme temps, I don't think I'd bother with the camera in a cache. You'll either end up with really discolored pics from heat or torn up film from being wound in the cold. Not to mention that unless you turn on the flash, you're likely to just get shadows. Of course, that's all stuff you'll only discover if the camera stays in the cache.

[+hairball45]

Anybody else remember Robin Williams in One Hour Photo? Not his funniest movie. I've been a little leery of the photo department since.

[CoyoteRed]

Having worked in a photo lab & seen the effects on film left in extreme temps, I don't think I'd bother with the camera in a cache. You'll either end up with really discolored pics from heat or torn up film from being wound in the cold. Not to mention that unless you turn on the flash, you're likely to just get shadows.

Having seen a few rolls posted, I'm not too concerned over the performance of single use film cameras in the moderate temperatures (relatively) a typical cache in the South sees. While brittle film can sometimes be a factor, the typical cache simply doesn't get that hot. I guess you have to take into consideration where the cache lives.

[+Too Tall John]

Having worked in a photo lab & seen the effects on film left in extreme temps...

... I guess you have to take into consideration where the cache lives.

 

Yes, where the cache lives is importaint! Film is a delicate thing.

My previous post wasn't meant to discourage anyone from placing a camera in a cache, even though when I read it this morning I can see it may look that way. Simply stating why I havn't done it and why others may have quit the practice. I actually think it's a really cool idea.

 

Anybody else remember Robin Williams in One Hour Photo? Not his funniest movie. I've been a little leery of the photo department since.

 

Unlike some other movies that involved a photo lab, this one did it's research! In other movies you'll see the prints coming out black and they'll say "Oh my gosh, you exposed the film!" except a print from exposed film isn't going to be black. The negative will be, with maybe some red around the edges, but a negative is called a negative because the colors are opposite! The pics should be WHITE! If they are black, the paper may have been exposed, but it's no big thing to reprint the pics at that point. None of those silly errors in One Hour Photo. Oh, and Robin Williams narrative on types of customers in a photo lab? Dead on! Right down to the Cat Lady! As far as the creepy factor goes... I think they stole the photo developing stalker idea from the book Red Dragon rather than real life. I mean, I don't know any stalkers who worked in one hour photo labs...

 

Say, where do you live?

Edited March 1, 2007 by Too Tall John

[karlan]

I came in today wondering about placement/outcome of camera caches.. it just sounded like an interesting concept, to me. Thanks for the good info and ideas here!

Even with the risk of losing it, I'll prob end up planting one after I find a good spot