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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Feature request: anti theft

Timur Civan

Timur Civan

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Was talking with my AC yesterday about stolen red cameras, and an idea occurred to me. An optional, pin code upon startup that "unlocks" the camera for 12-72 hours at a time. User selectable.

This way a stolen camera is a brick without a pin code. Or it can be used in rental situations to help safe guard against unauthorized use. Like one rental being handed back and forth to different productions. (this has happened before)


Just a thought.
 
Remember Epic-006,

Stolen and I'm sure never used... It's quite sure it is in a camera manufacturer lab or deap in a french lake.
People who steel cameras don't use them but see a value in it. Difficult to sell a stolen RED cam...
I'm not sure a pin would have prevented most of the rubberies.

Pat
 
Patrick Tresch said:
Remember Epic-006,

Stolen and I'm sure never used... It's quite sure it is in a camera manufacturer lab or deap in a french lake.
People who steel cameras don't use them but see a value in it. Difficult to sell a stolen RED cam...
I'm not sure a pin would have prevented most of the rubberies.

Pat
Click to expand...

Oh I do hope it's at a camera manufacturer. Read the first part of this to understand why:

http://www.catb.org/~esr/writings/homesteading/magic-cauldron/ar01s18.html

And remember, this isn't IBM we're talking about, it's RDC :001_tongue:

"And they asked me how I did it, and I gave 'em the Scripture text,
"You keep your light so shining a little in front o' the next!''
They copied all they could follow, but they couldn't copy my mind,
And I left 'em sweating and stealing a year and a half behind."

I like that. Someone should send it to Jim.

Mike
 
Does anyone keep a gps tracker in their cam package? I was thinking about this recently....
 
This issue has been discussed many times on this forum with many well intentioned and well thought out solutions.

Pin codes, GPS tracking, disabling a hot SN when updated - search the topic and there is likely a wealth of postings discussing that very concept. With every good idea, there have been voices that bring up possible downsides - many valid, some not so much.

GPS can be disabled, software can be reverse engineered - you can catch the stupid ones easily - pros may be one step ahead of the curve.

I like anything that increases the chances of recovery.
But before addressing recovery, keep in mind that a lot of the responsibility resides with each of us to keep the loss from happening in the first place.
Too often, the reports have been about a smash & grab from a locked car in a parking lot. Or simple carelessness. No one likes to admit it, but when you are working on the creative end, security is not the first thing on your mind.

On an active set, you can employ a proximity alarm.

Thin wire rope that loops through gear keeps a "casual" opportunistic thief on the sidelines pondering.

During transport, it doesn't hurt to have GPS on your cases (Anvil is one manufacturer that has them).

Keep a list of every serial number with you. And the number for the local PD. Downloadable pictures with SN's are a plus - being able to show what is gone is valuable info for the report.

Personally, I always liked the idea of REDCine releases tagging footage from hot serial numbers with an on-screen bug - rendering the footage useless. Any post house would immediately detect that there is an issue. REDRay could be engineered to work the same. When it detects footage acquired with a hot camera, there is the possibility a large audience would become aware at once.
Kind of embarrassing at a festival or premiere...

No one technology is the answer - it will take a layered approach. And no approach is without flaws and openings that a professional thief cannot devise a plan to get around. Unfortunately, there are people in the world that wake up each day with that objective in mind. They are the career criminals. If only we were allowed to use a rusty exacto blade to neuter the bastards.

Bottom line, the more we can do to protect our gear the better.
 
Things are going to get stolen. They always will. That is why insurance is important and basic security during production is important. Once in Egypt we had the driver sleep in the back of the truck with a rope tied from his foot to the truck's back door (we didn't lose any of that gear). The cameras and lenses slept with us. But I have had a lot of things stolen over the years and the fact is sometimes no matter what you do, eventually they are going to get past you, so you can never be complacent. I frankly cannot imagine a reason to leave a camera body in a vehicle. There should always be somebody on the crew who can carry it to lunch or into his hotel room or whatever. Or somebody who can stay with the equipment. I lost lenses out of a hotel room in Israel on the crew's day off because someone in the hotel gave them a key and let them know we were out. They didn't take the camera body but they took the AC's shoes. What a life...
Bottom line, as Brian said, the more we can do to protect our gear, the less chance you will be making an insurance claim.
 
I have to agree with this, is something I wouldn't mind paying for. It's not only that Red cameras are an expensive investment, but there's also an emotional connection to it from our part. Even if insured and we get a replacement, it's not the same thing. And with these features implemented, at least those bastards that stole it will have a brick or will be found and punished. Both GPS and pin are excellent features I would love added. I hope this can be available/ready when we upgrade to Dragon!
 
Well.....insurance and staying on top of your gear i would suggest as best practice. Lets say your gear was stolen and a month later gps tracking found it...you REALLY want it back or the $$$ to replace it? I know i'd rather have the cash. I doubt any thief will have treated your gear with precious hands....not only that, you never know what will break/go bad due to the way they handled it....same for cars in my opinion....stolen cars usually get the hell driven out of them and usually parted out...you want that car back that the insurance company paid somoene to put it back together and things just don't work right....i don't get the whole gps track thing in my camera...once it's stolen, my job is likely done and then my insurance company will replace it tomorrow....or get me a check....and i'll replace it....oh, and more electronics to go bad/malfunction or upgrade in my camera that i inevitably pay for---and i guess then a monthly service to monitor my camera....umm, insurance looks way better to me.


Ah....as mentioned by previous poster....would be nice to use during air transport so if it does get re-routed to another place...you know where it is......that's probably best use i see---but device you drop in your luggage...wonder how TSA feels about that ?
 
Johnny Friday said:
wonder how TSA feels about that ?
Click to expand...

What about the NO cell phone rule?

Well i think the TSA and FAA won't care because what if you have a cell phone in there still sending and receiving I know airline's and the faa have the no cell phone Rule but i would not worry about anything going on with the plane!

I will have a GPS in my gear that flys with me.
 
i think a pin is a wonderful idea. Just like opening the iPhone or something, a 4 digit pin takes no time and adds a nice level of security. At least nice to know that the bastards wouldn't be able to use the camera if it was stolen... aside from that though, I don't think I'd really call that "anti-theft"
 
Well, its a deterrent. Like the Club. its not impenetrable, just an annoying step that makes life harder.

But the real advantage to a pin is being able to brick a camera after a certain amount of time. For example, this happened to me recently, was away on a trip to vegas for NAB and rented my 5D to someone. They needed it for a one day shoot, paid the insurance, for that shoot, and we had an agreement that they would hang on to the camera till i got back. Well, i mean, they wound up shooting it, every day till i got back. Being able to put a time limit on the camera makes sure its used only for the time span its supposed to be. I've experienced instances where i've rented cameras to long term documentary productions (Hvx200 days) and been hired for a music video, but told production i had no HVX they would need to rent one. Of course the producer says oh my friend has one.... i get to set, and its my camera with my fucking name written on it. People do crazy things....
 
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