"Geo-Cam"

[+ethanbl]

Ok, a few weeks ago I had this idea. What if I put a 35mm camera and an extra roll of film inside my next cache hide, and attached it to a note that stated that I wanted it to be taken by somebody, but before they removed it, take a picture of themselves, and or their caching group, and placed in their next find/hide, and then the same thing happen in each subsequent cache, kinda like a TB or GeoCoin, but instead of tracking it on the GC.com page, each person that comes in contact with the camera would e-mail me with the cache location of where they found the camera, and the current cache the camera is in, and then that would be posted on GC.com, or the Groundspeak forums, so everybody could see where the camera has gone and been. Then, when both rolls of film were done, the person in possesion of the camera would then either e-mail me the pictures, or put new film in, and continue the "Geo-Cam" tradition, or send the un-developed film, and camera back to me through the mail, and I would develop the pics, and post them on GC.com, and put new film in the camera, and re-hiding it. Thus re-starting the cycle. I would also put a small log that would travel with the camera for people to sign comments about the picture they took, and then have them also sign an online log for the camera. I was just wondering, this probably has already been done, but I was just wondering if it has for sure. This is something I was planning on doing in the near future, so if it hasn't been done, I would want to know if anybody had any extra ideas to throw into the hat for this "Geo-Cam" idea. I figured this would be a cool social experiment, especially if someone from another country were to find the cam, and bring it back home with them, and circulate it through that country.

 

Thank You

[+Too Tall John]

Not sure if it has been done, but if it has, isn't it worth doing again? (My answer is yes!)

 

Just curious why you'd not make it a travel bug? The rest of your description on how you'd track it would happen automatically if it were a bug.

[+ethanbl]

That is a pretty good idea, to put a TB in the cache. I was also kind of thinking about doing that, as I was going to place an order for some other items soon anyway, I may as well just add a pack of TB's to my order.

[+nthacker66]

Ok, a few weeks ago I had this idea. What if I put a 35mm camera and an extra roll of film inside my next cache hide, and attached it to a note that stated that I wanted it to be taken by somebody, but before they removed it, take a picture of themselves, and or their caching group, and placed in their next find/hide, and then the same thing happen in each subsequent cache, kinda like a TB or GeoCoin, but instead of tracking it on the GC.com page, each person that comes in contact with the camera would e-mail me with the cache location of where they found the camera, and the current cache the camera is in, and then that would be posted on GC.com, or the Groundspeak forums, so everybody could see where the camera has gone and been. Then, when both rolls of film were done, the person in possesion of the camera would then either e-mail me the pictures, or put new film in, and continue the "Geo-Cam" tradition, or send the un-developed film, and camera back to me through the mail, and I would develop the pics, and post them on GC.com, and put new film in the camera, and re-hiding it. Thus re-starting the cycle. I would also put a small log that would travel with the camera for people to sign comments about the picture they took, and then have them also sign an online log for the camera. I was just wondering, this probably has already been done, but I was just wondering if it has for sure. This is something I was planning on doing in the near future, so if it hasn't been done, I would want to know if anybody had any extra ideas to throw into the hat for this "Geo-Cam" idea. I figured this would be a cool social experiment, especially if someone from another country were to find the cam, and bring it back home with them, and circulate it through that country.

 

Thank You

 

I am somewhat of a "retired" amateur photographer (no i am not old). And a photographer in the sense well before digital cameras came out. So I speak from a little bit of experience.

 

While it is a great idea and I am all for it, I would not suggest using any film camera for this mainly because the film needs to stay dry and at room temp. Even in a "dry" cache, condensation can easily occurs and this will ruin a roll of film quickly. Also, if it is a "real" 35mm camera where you need to actually put the roll in and wind it onto the spool, you would hope the ftf or the "first to snap", knows how to porperly put th film in, and actually snap a few dark shots first (the first three or so inches will be exposed when you load it in, so it is good to snap a shot or two so you can get to the unexposed film. Also, you are asking for a ruined roll of film if someone opens the camera up.

You could avoid much of technical aspects by using disposables, but they tend to be worse because of the low quality film they use, and wouldnt last a day in a humid or dank spot.

Your best bet - a disposable digital camera, although I am not sure how well they do in the moisture. Flash memory is hit or miss in moisture not so much that the actual moisture itself is all harmful but flash memory's biggest enemy is anything that can cose something called "charge gain and loss" which can easily wipe out the contents of the memory. Higher quality flash memory eprom's tend to have moisture guards. I woul imagine disposal digitals use the lowest quality eprom to keep costs at a minimum.

I encourage you to try a digital disposable to see how it does. But you have to let us know because it really is a great idea!

[+BCandMsKitty]

Here's a travel bug with a similar thought.

Shutter bug TB

Maybe you could adapt this to your idea.

[+KG1960]

Check out this cache : GCJMPR It had a disposable camera in it and the instructions were to take a picture of yourself and anyone with you. Check the picture gallery. My wife and I are on picture VT 2007 Pic 12 and son and wife are on VT 2007 Pic 13. The camera seemed to work good enough. We found the cache on April 13, 2007 just after a spring thaw. We think the camera was in the cache (ammo box) all winter.

 

 

Edit: corrected date, 2007, not 2008

Edited March 26, 2008 by KG1960

[+Too Tall John]

I am somewhat of a "retired" amateur photographer (no i am not old). And a photographer in the sense well before digital cameras came out. So I speak from a little bit of experience.

 

While it is a great idea and I am all for it, I would not suggest using any film camera for this mainly because the film needs to stay dry and at room temp. Even in a "dry" cache, condensation can easily occurs and this will ruin a roll of film quickly. Also, if it is a "real" 35mm camera where you need to actually put the roll in and wind it onto the spool, you would hope the ftf or the "first to snap", knows how to porperly put th film in, and actually snap a few dark shots first (the first three or so inches will be exposed when you load it in, so it is good to snap a shot or two so you can get to the unexposed film. Also, you are asking for a ruined roll of film if someone opens the camera up.

As a former photo lab manager who's had to explain to customers who left their cameras in all kinds of adverse situations, I am almost ashamed I didn't point this out.

 

Almost.

 

While I've seen really bad results from adverse storage conditions, I've also seen distraught customers who've come in crying that they dropped their camera in the lake, or put it in the oven, or so on. I'd say "Let's run the film through, we'll see what happens." Invariably, while a few shots might be ruined, the majority of the pictures would be just fine. Maybe a little discolored, but much better than what the customer expected.

 

While you can't control the temperatures in a cache, you could control moisture by using a waterproof disposable camera. If you go in understanding that the pics are likely to have a magenta tinge from being in heat or that the film has a greater likelihood of breaking from being cold, you won't be too disappointed.

 

One thing about a h2o-proof camera can be a plus or a minus: No Flash. On the minus side, pictures will only come out if taken in bright conditions. (A disposable with a flash will only preform better if: a. the person using it remembers to activate it and b. the battery doesn't fail due to temperatures.) On the plus side is that battery thing. You don't have to worry about battery leakage due to temps.

 

While going digital solves your film problems, you still have a lot of the same susceptibilities with any electronics as you do with a roll of film: You don't want to get it wet, hot or cold.

 

Film versus Digital in a cache? For the money to place a cheap digital in a cache, you can put multiple disposable cameras in, and probably increase the chances of getting pics back.

 

In my opinion.

 

[Adam-Eve]

Ok, a few weeks ago I had this idea. What if I put a 35mm camera and an extra roll of film inside my next cache hide, and attached it to a note that stated that I wanted it to be taken by somebody, but before they removed it, take a picture of themselves, and or their caching group, and placed in their next find/hide, and then the same thing happen in each subsequent cache, kinda like a TB or GeoCoin, but instead of tracking it on the GC.com page, each person that comes in contact with the camera would e-mail me with the cache location of where they found the camera, and the current cache the camera is in, and then that would be posted on GC.com, or the Groundspeak forums, so everybody could see where the camera has gone and been. Then, when both rolls of film were done, the person in possesion of the camera would then either e-mail me the pictures, or put new film in, and continue the "Geo-Cam" tradition, or send the un-developed film, and camera back to me through the mail, and I would develop the pics, and post them on GC.com, and put new film in the camera, and re-hiding it. Thus re-starting the cycle. I would also put a small log that would travel with the camera for people to sign comments about the picture they took, and then have them also sign an online log for the camera. I was just wondering, this probably has already been done, but I was just wondering if it has for sure. This is something I was planning on doing in the near future, so if it hasn't been done, I would want to know if anybody had any extra ideas to throw into the hat for this "Geo-Cam" idea. I figured this would be a cool social experiment, especially if someone from another country were to find the cam, and bring it back home with them, and circulate it through that country.

 

Thank You

 

The camera thing is a good idea. I actually came across a cache where the owner wanted the geocacher to take a picture of themselves before signing the log, but the whole sending it around the world thing isn't such a great idea. I don't think a geocacher would really want to take the time to either develop the pics or send them to you. They probably think too much time, too much money. Try just keeping the camera in one cache.

[+StarBrand]

Ok, a few weeks ago I had this idea. What if I put a 35mm camera and an extra roll of film inside my next cache hide, and attached it to a note that stated that I wanted it to be taken by somebody, but before they removed it, take a picture of themselves, and or their caching group, and placed in their next find/hide, and then the same thing happen in each subsequent cache, kinda like a TB or GeoCoin, but instead of tracking it on the GC.com page, each person that comes in contact with the camera would e-mail me with the cache location of where they found the camera, and the current cache the camera is in, and then that would be posted on GC.com, or the Groundspeak forums, so everybody could see where the camera has gone and been. Then, when both rolls of film were done, the person in possesion of the camera would then either e-mail me the pictures, or put new film in, and continue the "Geo-Cam" tradition, or send the un-developed film, and camera back to me through the mail, and I would develop the pics, and post them on GC.com, and put new film in the camera, and re-hiding it. Thus re-starting the cycle. I would also put a small log that would travel with the camera for people to sign comments about the picture they took, and then have them also sign an online log for the camera. I was just wondering, this probably has already been done, but I was just wondering if it has for sure. This is something I was planning on doing in the near future, so if it hasn't been done, I would want to know if anybody had any extra ideas to throw into the hat for this "Geo-Cam" idea. I figured this would be a cool social experiment, especially if someone from another country were to find the cam, and bring it back home with them, and circulate it through that country.

 

Thank You

 

I am somewhat of a "retired" amateur photographer (no i am not old). And a photographer in the sense well before digital cameras came out. So I speak from a little bit of experience.

 

.....

You could avoid much of technical aspects by using disposables, but they tend to be worse because of the low quality film they use, and wouldnt last a day in a humid or dank spot.

...

No offense but ---> hogwash....

 

I have used the disposable cameras in my caches for years. Cheap ones. They sometimes have been in the same cache for up to 4 years. We are talking 110 degree summers and -40 winter nights. We are talking ammocans and lock-n-locks and one cheap tupperware. We are talking rainy weather, snow and frost. We are talking single days of -20 to +50. The pictures always come out great and still look better than cheap 640x480 pixel digitals. I even attached a camera to Travel bugs and had them move about for up to 5 years. Pictures all came out great.

[+Too Tall John]

You could avoid much of technical aspects by using disposables, but they tend to be worse because of the low quality film they use...

As long as you buy a major name brand disposable (Fuji, Kodak) they use top quality film. It's high speed (typically 800) so it is a bit grainier, but it is not low quality.

 

I can't say the same for the "reloaded" brand cameras. At Wal-Mart, it's the "Jazz" brand. Avoid them like the plague.

[+Confucius' Cat]

Ok, a few weeks ago I had this idea. What if I put a 35mm camera and an extra roll of film inside my next cache hide, and attached it to a note that stated that I wanted it to be taken by somebody, but before they removed it, take a picture of themselves, and or their caching group, and placed in their next find/hide, and then the same thing happen in each subsequent cache, kinda like a TB or GeoCoin, but instead of tracking it on the GC.com page, each person that comes in contact with the camera would e-mail me with the cache location of where they found the camera, and the current cache the camera is in, and then that would be posted on GC.com, or the Groundspeak forums, so everybody could see where the camera has gone and been. Then, when both rolls of film were done, the person in possesion of the camera would then either e-mail me the pictures, or put new film in, and continue the "Geo-Cam" tradition, or send the un-developed film, and camera back to me through the mail, and I would develop the pics, and post them on GC.com, and put new film in the camera, and re-hiding it. Thus re-starting the cycle. I would also put a small log that would travel with the camera for people to sign comments about the picture they took, and then have them also sign an online log for the camera. I was just wondering, this probably has already been done, but I was just wondering if it has for sure. This is something I was planning on doing in the near future, so if it hasn't been done, I would want to know if anybody had any extra ideas to throw into the hat for this "Geo-Cam" idea. I figured this would be a cool social experiment, especially if someone from another country were to find the cam, and bring it back home with them, and circulate it through that country.

 

Thank You

 

I am somewhat of a "retired" amateur photographer (no i am not old). And a photographer in the sense well before digital cameras came out. So I speak from a little bit of experience.

 

.....

You could avoid much of technical aspects by using disposables, but they tend to be worse because of the low quality film they use, and wouldnt last a day in a humid or dank spot.

...

No offense but ---> hogwash....

 

I have used the disposable cameras in my caches for years. Cheap ones. They sometimes have been in the same cache for up to 4 years. We are talking 110 degree summers and -40 winter nights. We are talking ammocans and lock-n-locks and one cheap tupperware. We are talking rainy weather, snow and frost. We are talking single days of -20 to +50. The pictures always come out great and still look better than cheap 640x480 pixel digitals. I even attached a camera to Travel bugs and had them move about for up to 5 years. Pictures all came out great.

Yeah. I too kinda snickered at that post. Technically it is correct. Proper storage and handling of film is important- if the results are important.

 

But there have been cameras in caches as long as there have been caches and I have seen a lot of the pictures online. They look like crappy snapshots. The same as the old crappy snapshot your mother took of you when you were growing up.

 

When I was growing up Momma used a 620 brownie hawkeye, then a 126 instamatic with flashcubes, then a polaroid swinger (it says "yes" when the exposure is right )

 

With the exception of the Polaroid, we took a lot of pictures that never got developed- we couldn't afford it. But often we would find old rolls of film from who knows when and get them developed. Most times they "took."

 

If you need quality results, storage and handling is critical. If you just want pictures for fun, it don't make no difference. Buy a disposable 35 at WM, put a TB tag and a prepaid processing envelope on it (return address to you) and instruct the finder who takes the last pic to put it in the bag and drop it in a mailbox. If all goes well in the TB department, you should get some pretty pictures. Good luck.

[+NikkiPoooo]

I had considered the flash memory idea for my first hide... I'd put several different types of cards in and anyone who had a digital with them could take a picture with their own camera and put it back but I wondered if the cards would disappear.

[+NikkiPoooo]

 

With the exception of the Polaroid, we took a lot of pictures that never got developed- we couldn't afford it. But often we would find old rolls of film from who knows when and get them developed. Most times they "took."

 

 

I'm still working my way through a bootbox (from big old LaCross all weather boots... it's BIG) of 35mm film I found at my parents' house when they were moving. Most of it is from the late 80s to early 90s and I've yet to come across any that didn't develop at all due to deterioration and I know that a good 2 dozen or so rolls were rescued from the 1977 motorhome they sold in '97 so they were not stored in anything like ideal conditions... we lived in mid-Michigan so it got pretty hot and humid in summer and darn cold in winter.

[+hairball45]

Yes, the cards would disappear, folks would assume they were swag, any markings to the contrary would be ignored. Others would be shy about putting the cards in their cameras, PDAs, or whatever for fear of rogue programs of one kind or another ulitmately making their way to the computer at the house. The same applies to other than factory made CDs by the way, but the disposable el cheapo film camera is a great idea. I've taken my own picture at a couple of different caches with included cameras. Of course I've seen them old, used up and waiting for a trip to Wal-Mart where the owner gave up on maintaining the cache. Who know what gems are on that film? Of course there could be shots of somebody's derriere on there too but that's the chance you take. The camera TB does sould like fun with an attached prepaid for the developing. Of course the bug would die at the last stop unless you arranged to replace the camera so the final finder could get it moving again.

hairball

[+sbell111]

I would think that the smaller cards that would only hold a few dozen pics would be less likely to disappear. A bonus is that since they would return to you quicker, you would lose fewer pics when the TB dropped off the face of the earth.

 

On the same topic, do all cameras format the cards the same? I'm not positive that you would be able to take a few pics with one brand of camera and then use the card in a different camera.

Edited March 26, 2008 by sbell111

[+PrincessBTigress]

Different digital cameras use different types of card but the most comonly used is SD. The cards can be moved from camera to camera with no problems. I'm a photographer and I've often had someone want me to take a picture for them but use my nicer camera so I pop the card out of their camera into mine, take the pictures they want then put the card back in their camera and there are absolutly no problems.

[+ethanbl]

Thank you everybody for your input. I think that I will put in 2-3 disposable cameras, and a postage paid envelope for returning them to me. Disposable cameras usually come in sealed airtight packages, so the unused cameras can stay dry while the one in use would be inside a few layers of zip-loc protection. I am going to try a cache out where the camera stays in the cache, and each finder snaps a photo, and if all works well with that, I will make another cache with a camera that travels with the finder from cache to cache. One problem I did think of though, is if the camera travels to, for example, France, and the last finder can't speak english, then I may have to print the note in many other languages, and that would be a problem, because online translators translate word for word, and do not take into account conjugation e.t.c.

[+Pod-Cache]

I have moved a TB (under my old alias) that almost fits this description exactly, except its a cheapo digital camera.

 

Check out:

 

Jam Cam Travel Bug

Edited March 26, 2008 by Pod-Cache

[CoyoteRed]

Anyone interested in sending a camera around should take a look at Bandycams. The project is not geocaching specific, but certainly fits well in the scope of what you're talking about. They have a lot of good information about sending a camera around the world unattended.

 

Hope this helps.

[+Snoogans]

Anyone interested in sending a camera around should take a look at Bandycams. The project is not geocaching specific, but certainly fits well in the scope of what you're talking about. They have a lot of good information about sending a camera around the world unattended.

 

Hope this helps.

 

I was just about to suggest that. Interesting project. I haven't checked on it in awhile....

[+SixDogTeam]

May I suggest a Nikon D80 for the camera? Please email me when the cache is hidden.

[+ethanbl]

Once again, thank you all for your input. The cache will be hidden as soon as I get the cameras and travel bug. I should be getting the cameras and/or ordering the TB's tonight so my estimate is that it will be up mid-April.

Edited March 27, 2008 by ethanbl

[+ethanbl]

UPDATE: I just placed the order for the TB's from Groundspeak. I have the cameras (disposable Kodak Funsavers). I have decided to place the first cache without a TB, and have the camera be stationary. Once the film from that one is used up, and if all works out with the first cache, I will place a second camera, with a TB in the cache so that the camera can travel. Keep a look-out all you tri-state area cachers, this cache, which will be called 'Cache-Cam" will be up soon, in or near Bloomfield, NJ.

[+ethanbl]

OK, I just put the cache together, and I will hide it as soon as I can.