Found Camera - stage.com - Help!

[DandyDon]

That picture is definitely not taken in Holland. The architecture is wrong and nobody has open courtyards like that here.

Aruba is a long way from Florida.

R..

The Caribbean current of the North Atlantic Gyre could carry it around clockwise to Florida like it does plastic bags and bottles. But it sounds like this diver doesn't download and delete every day so he could have been on a cruise shooting pics here and there.

The dates on the diving pictures are November 1 and 11, 2009. The last video they shot was Nov 11. The video of the turtle is Jan, 2010. This camera has been in the water since November.

I'm amazed the turtle hit both the power and record buttons when he bit in to the housing. So far, I've had no luck uploading the video. It's 20 minutes long. It must have ran until the3 batteries died.

Did you try uploading to Vimeo.com as host site. I don't think you can attach video here, and if you could - the limit is 400 kb.

Your time line is off. The turtle video is the last thing shot - Jan 2010? Some cameras are good floaters even without a strobe. If there was no water inside the housing, it could float for years; if there was water inside, it's worthless. What kind of batteries does it use? Hell, camera is it? When the diver claims it, he can send a new pic of himself for ID.

I wrote the school in Aruba, with the link to here! Maybe they will recognize one of the kids.

You could send the pic. They may not want to look thru all of these posts.

Someone opined that the growth on the camera looked two months old.

A suggestion with questionable merit unless he's a marine biologist or similar.

 

[Diver0001]

not definitive.

I cross posted one of the pictures to the dutch forums. We'll see what that gets.

 

[Aquahound]

But it sounds like this diver doesn't download and delete every day so he could have been on a cruise shooting pics here and there.

Did you try uploading to Vimeo.com as host site. I don't think you can attach video here, and if you could - the limit is 400 kb.

Your time line is off. The turtle video is the last thing shot - Jan 2010?

He wasn't on a cruise. The dive shots were taken on Nov 1 and 11, 2009. They are at the exact same dive location. The pictures of the kids and school were all taken on dates between the two dive dates.

I don't think the time line is off. It appears as though the camera went missing on Nov 11, because that is the date of the latest pictures and videos.

The shot on Jan, 2010 looked, at first, to be the death of the diver. The camera was thrashing on the surface around and all I saw was fins. I was horrified at first! Then, I figured out what I was seeing. The turtle had the camera in his mouth. In November, the camera probably turned off on it's own. When the turtle bit into it, it powered on and started recording. The camera was likely already in video mode because the last shot in Nov was a video. It was powered by 2 AA batteries.

When I tried vimeo earlier, it was down. I'll try again. One of my problems is the video is 20 minutes long and almost 2 GB.

 

[devilkitty]

The name of the case is scratched over, but it has an emblem of a blue octopus.

Ikelite uses an octopus logo.

 

[DandyDon]

Ah gotcha...

It was powered by 2 AA batteries.

When I tried vimeo earlier, it was down. I'll try again. One of my problems is the video is 20 minutes long and almost 2 GB.

Have you tried new batteries in it? The camera may not work anymore. 2 Gb is too large. You'd need to compress it on Windows Movie Maker first. Oh well.

 

[Aquahound]

Ah gotcha...

Have you tried new batteries in it? The camera may not work anymore. 2 Gb is too large. You'd need to compress it on Windows Movie Maker first. Oh well.

Yea, I think the camera is dead. Neither new batteries, nor connecting it to my computer worked. A couple of the buttons were pressed a little too hard through the casing. Too bad....it appears to be in good shape. There was no water intrusion.

Ikelite uses an octopus logo.

That's it! The wording was scratched out, but I could make out an L in the middle and TE at the end.

 

[Doc]

This is the best thing I've ever seen on Scuba Board.

 

[DandyDon]

Yea, I think the camera is dead. Neither new batteries, nor connecting it to my computer worked. A couple of the buttons were pressed a little too hard through the casing. Too bad....it appears to be in good shape. There was no water intrusion.

If it's an expensive camera, might be worth repairing.

That's it! The wording was scratched out, but I could make out an L in the middle and TE at the end.

See logo at IKELITE Underwater Systems

The housing might be repairable if damaged, but "Ikelite warranty does NOT cover customer neglect"

This is still fun tho.

 

[Drewski]

Why not contact Ikelite with the entire story? I'll bet they'd get in on it for the promotional value alone, the story, etc. Maybe offer a free camera to the folks that lost it and as a reward for whoever links it to the real owners?

Just a thought...

 

[Aquahound]

Why not contact Ikelite with the entire story? I'll bet they'd get in on it for the promotional value alone, the story, etc. Maybe offer a free camera to the folks that lost it and as a reward for whoever links it to the real owners?

The housing might be repairable if damaged, but "Ikelite warranty does NOT cover customer neglect"

The casing is in great shape. I was able to clean off almost all of the growth. I could put another camera in it right now and use it (if I don't find the owner). The strap is pretty nasty, though.

Great idea. I'm sure Ikelite would love to hear this story. Heck, I'm sure other sources would also love to hear this story, considering it (may have) floated from Aruba to Key West in the now infamous loop current.