Another Free Freeway Camera

[TromboneAl]

I guess people tend to up their Nikon Coolpix cameras on the roofs of their cars, because on my bike ride today I found another "freeway camera."



The black one is the one I found today. At first the lens didn't come out, but it's working now.

PSA: People -- go take a picture of your name, address, and cell phone number with your camera.

I thought I'd make a little effort to locate the owner. He/she stayed at this resort on 5/17/14.



That resort is within a day's drive north or south or McKinleyville, CA. I don't recognize those rocks, but it could be near here, and the rocks aren't visible from the road. I suspect this is somewhere in Southern Oregon.

Anybody recognize it??

This is the owner and his/her car:



And she has a big pimple on her butt (I won't post that picture).

If I get the name of the resort, I'll ask them to pass on my info to the person with a silver Corvette who stayed at their resort on 5/17.

 

[aja8888]

The Coolpix with the 18X zoom looks exactly like mine. But mine is sitting on the desk in front of me! (I suppose they bounce pretty well though to still work).

 

[meierlde]

The Coolpix with the 18X zoom looks exactly like mine. But mine is sitting on the desk in front of me! (I suppose they bounce pretty well though to still work).

At least with my canon DSLR one can enter ones name and city into the camera, and it appears on the metadata of all of the pictures. You might first look at the picture if you have windows and look at the properties and then possibly get ahold of exiftool. I don't know if the coolpix allows the owner to put his name into the metadata and camera.

 

[Walt34]

(I suppose they bounce pretty well though to still work).

That's what made me a Nikon fan. DW dropped her point 'n shoot down a flight of concrete steps in a parking garage. Didn't even pop open the battery cover.

I wouldn't try to repeat that durability test but I was impressed.

 

[NW-Bound]

Hah!

I bet all your cameras would fail the same test that my wife's Canon did: a dunk in seawater.

So, for replacement I bought her an Olympus that's waterprotected down to 10 ft, I believe.

Then, she lost it by leaving it in a bookstore on a trip.

Bought her another Olympus. Now, she decided that I should be taking all photos, and she had not been using hers.

 

[TromboneAl]

At least with my canon DSLR one can enter ones name and city into the camera, and it appears on the metadata of all of the pictures. You might first look at the picture if you have windows and look at the properties and then possibly get ahold of exiftool. I don't know if the coolpix allows the owner to put his name into the metadata and camera.

Yes, I tried that with no luck. I was hoping that GPS location info was stored, but no.

The lens will open only if it is facing down. If it is facing up, it tries valiantly to open several times then gives up.

I'm contacting some tourist bureaus to see if any recognize the shot. If the owner was traveling one direction along the coast, the resort would be south of here, since I found the camera north of where the last picture was taken.

I shouldn't try hard, but it's fun to play detective.

I was just kidding about the butt picture.

 

[meierlde]

Yes, I tried that with no luck. I was hoping that GPS location info was stored, but no.

The lens will open only if it is facing down. If it is facing up, it tries valiantly to open several times then gives up.

I'm contacting some tourist bureaus to see if any recognize the shot. If the owner was traveling one direction along the coast, the resort would be south of here, since I found the camera north of where the last picture was taken.

I shouldn't try hard, but it's fun to play detective.

I was just kidding about the butt picture.

Which does suggest if you can on your own cameras adding the owner name and city field (it may have to be done thru the driver software on the PC, the cameras user interface may not support it.

 

[Brat]

Cars registered in Oregon have plates in front and rear so this is not an Oregon vehicle. Other than that the background in that picture could be any one of a number of locations.

I have posted the ocean picture on an Oregon forum on the chance that someone will know the resort.

 

[aja8888]

That photo almost looks like the 7th tee box on Pebble Beach, but the turn to the eighth tee box looks different. Note the trees far left, they look like the ones you see on the Monterrey Peninsula near the ocean.

I'm probably all wet on this.

 

[donheff]

Can't you just send then pics to NSA or the National Reconnaissance outfit and get a quick answer to your mystery?

 

[eytonxav]

Cars registered in Oregon have plates in front and rear so this is not an Oregon vehicle. Other than that the background in that picture could be any one of a number of locations.

I have posted the ocean picture on an Oregon forum on the chance that someone will know the resort.

Vette owners typically do not like to install front plates, as it destroys the cars esthetics.

 

[RunningBum]

Vette owners typically do not like to install front plates, as it destroys the cars esthetics.

I'm guessing it's a new 'vette owner, as she hasn't yet learned to park at an angle, taking up two spots, like nearly every other Corvette owner does.

 

[gromit]

I'm a little skeptical that the Corvette belongs to them. Perhaps it is a "dreaming of when we own a Vette" kind of pic, in front of a Corvette that just happened to be parked there.

 

[TromboneAl]

Well, I'm done spending time on this. I love good puzzle, and would enjoy the fun of telling the owner I found his/her camera, but I have other things to do.

That picture could be from a private residence, a park, or something else.

I sent some emails to tourist bureaus, and if I don't hear anything, the camera is mine. It actually has some very good video capability that I could use.

That view really could be findable though. Those kinds of rocks don't happen so much south of here. If it were important, you could solve it with satellite photos.

 

[ERD50]

Serial Number? It is possible they registered the camera with Nikon, and maybe they could forward info to them. I don't always register products, so it's a long shot.


-ERD50

 

[TromboneAl]

Tried that, but it involved long wait times on hold--gave up.

 

[ERD50]

Tried that, but it involved long wait times on hold--gave up.

I don't blame you, I think you've given it more than enough effort. No guilt trip from me, enjoy the camera!

Hah, maybe they threw it out because the lens didn't pop out for them!

-ERD50

 

[gauss]

Have you tried to have google images attempt to locate it?

FWIW you can post images and have google attempt to identify them. Probably will be a long shot, but might be worth a bit of time if nothing else to experiment with a new service that you may not have used before.

-gauss

 

[Fishingmn]

I tried searching on Twitter for anyone posting about a lost camera but no luck.

 

[Bestwifeever]

You certainly have the framework in place to write a murder mystery (or a series), Al. The camera owners might just want the photos and not the broken camera so maybe that will be your reward if you find them.

 

[meierlde]

Let me put another question: How much would it cost to replace the camera, you say its a point and shoot type, are we talking under $200. Then the question becomes if you had lost the camera how much effort would you put in finding it?

 

[Brat]

A poster on City-Data's Oregon forum thinks the scene is from 'downtown' Yachats, Oregon. You could send that photo to their Chamber of Commerce info@yachats.org to see if they can give you the name of the resort.

Now that I pop through some of the local pics it looks like Cape Perpetua.

 

[travelover]

It might be worth noting that you can take a photo of your address / contact info and lock that photo on the SD card, so it is never over written. Then Al can chase you down easier in the future.

 

[omni550]

What about listing the found camera on some of the Craig's Lists in the area?

(Any potential claimant would need to describe some of the pix taken.)


omni

 

[TromboneAl]

Today I took the camera on a hike, and really enjoyed using it. The screen is significantly brighter than my other Nikon, and it has more zoom. I was thinking: I sure hope I don't find the owner now.

However, when I got home, I wasn't that impressed with the sharpness of the photos. I may not have used the focusing quite right, but it should have done better. Here it is at it's worst -- maximum resolution:



Here are some other shots from the hike, after sharpening and other fixups. The one of Lena and the seagulls is particularly nice if you view it full screen: