Are you a photographer? We figure it’s safe to assume if you’re reading this blog you are, or at least want to be. And if you’re a photographer, you probably at least have an idle fear of your camera getting lost or stolen. And it’s because of that fact that you should check out this new site, Stolen Camera Finder.

This site, the result of some awesome work by a guy named Matt Burns, has a pretty simple driving idea. Every digital camera made has a serial number, and it sticks that number in the EXIF of every picture it takes. What the site does is upload one of your pictures, find the serial number, then checks its database to see where pictures with that serial are posted. Right now it mostly checks Flickr, but there’s also a Chrome extension that’ll sit in the background and scrape EXIF from pages as you browse to help boost the database. If you’ve misplaced your camera, you can use that database to see if pictures from it are being posted anywhere and go from there. Neat, right?

I think so, anyway. I’ve already installed the Chrome extension here at the office so I can do my part to helping out, and I’ll be installing it at home tonight.

To try the site (keep in mind it’s brand new, it’ll take a while and your support for the database to become extensive), go here:

http://www.stolencamerafinder.com/

To skip straight to installing the extension, go here:

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/hfhlngbcdalpjiejaenfchpcajdmpeom?hl=en-US

But, what happens three months later when something goes wrong? Well, your manufacturer warranty kicks in. Almost everything you buy from Roberts is backed by the people who made it. The catch is, they’re the ones backing it. We’d love to help you more, but, if something goes wrong with your stuff, it’s the manufacturer who’s covering it, not Roberts. And so long as you’re within warranty, they’ll gladly fix initial defects in your device. They’d love to, it’s not their intention to have sent you a faulty product. But, it’s gotta be them that does it, our hands are tied. We’ll gladly help you find out who you need to contact, or where you need to send a product. We’ll even help with warranty disputes sometimes. What we can’t do, after the initial two weeks, is be the warranty provider.

So, we’d like to offer some advice about protecting your purchase:

1. Keep your receipt. Whether for us or the manufacturer, this is important. Increasingly often, the warranty cards aren’t needed. Your receipt is your warranty, respect it as such.
2. Don’t fill out any paperwork or warranty cards for the first 14 days. We can only take products back if they’re in the condition you got them in, if you’ve filled out the paperwork, you might be stuck having to go through the manufacturer from the get-go.
3. Take your equipment out and test it. Maybe you won’t need to use it for another month, but by then it’ll be too late for us to help. Take it out, check it over, look for missing accessories and bits. Fire a few shots. Run a few tests. You’d be surprised how many return problems result from people just waiting too long to check what they’ve received out.
4. After the Roberts 14 day purchase protection, check your warranty cards. Some manufacturers require that you register your product within a certain period, or at all. Some will offer you free warranty extensions if you register. This is important to know, so, once our protection period ends, please make sure to check what the manufacturer wants from you. If you need our help, it will always be easier to get you help on a product that’s properly registered with the manufacturer and which has all the paperwork. Please keep track of that.

If you follow those 4 steps, it should be easy to make sure your purchase is protected. And it’ll help us get the service you need. Which is what we all want.

Per their blog, the Indianapolis Museum of Art will be enforcing its new shooting policy starting Tuesday March 1st. What’s changed? If you’re shooting for your personal use (including Flickr and Facebook, but not commercial stuff like making money), not much. There’ll be some pieces you can’t photograph, but they’ll be clearly marked. If you’re a commercial photographer, however, you’ll now need a permit for all IMA locations, no exceptions. Partly this is to reduce business and schedule conflicts as people fight over shooting there, partly it’s to help with copyrights. Among other things, they remind you that famous Robert Indiana “LOVE” sculpture out front is art, and under copyright at that. They have to pay to include it in images, and by the law so do you. Also, they don’t want you climbing about on it, which should be more common sense than should need a policy, but given every tourist photo I’ve ever seen of it, apparently not.

For all you commercial (wedding, portrait, etc) shooters, their fee schedule appears to be quite reasonable, and $50 will cover you for a day, or you can buy a year’s pass for all of $250.

For more information on the policies and how to get a permit, see the links below.

I’m not terribly surprised, they’re one of the few manufacturers that produced lenses for my own dear Olympus Four Thirds mount (I’m still working up the gumption to pick up their 35mm f/1.4), and with big O’s abandonment of consumer-level D-SLRs, it’s no wonder they’re willing to produce for this newer, and growing, piece of the market.

The T110 will probably weigh in as the least expensive as it seems to offer the most modest feature set of the T line-up. That isn’t to say it won’t be a powerful, feature-packed device that we’ll take a gander at after the break.

Leading off it’s got a 16.1MP Super HAD CCD sensor and BIONZ processor behind a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 25-100mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-4.6 lens.

It’ll record to Memory Stick Duo through PRO-HG Duo cards as well as SD, SDHC, SDXC cards (SD format cards must be Class 4 or higher). If you’re swimming in Sony’s proprietary memory format and you want to take advantage of the 720p HD video recording (or any of the video modes) you’ll need to use at least a Mark 2 Memory Stick PRO Duo.

The T110 lacks the Sweep Multi-Angle ‘like-3D’ function of the Wx9 and Wx10 (and TX10 and TX110), but does include the Sweep Panorama mode, Optical SteadyShot, iAuto, Soft Skin, Natural Flash, and an in camera guide. It also supports the TransferJet tech and will let you graffiti all over your own photos with an included stylus on the 3″ Clear Photo 230,400 pixel Touchscreen LCD.

Sony’s DSC TX10 is the next iteration of Sony’s all-weather line. It’s waterproof to 16′, shockproof to 5′ falls, dust proof, and is operable in temperatures from 14-104F (-10 to 40C). All that proctection is wrapped around a 16.2MP Back-Illuminated Exmor R CMOS sensor and BIONZ image processor, with a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 25-100mm (35mm equivalent) f/3.5-4.6 lens capable of 2D and 3D Panoramas, 3D stills, iSweep Panorama, and 1080/60i HD video. All that and a milimeter thinner than the new W line.

Breaking out the devilish good looks is Sony’s Cybershot DSC-TX100V touting the same sensor, processor, and lens as the DSC-TX10 but cradling them in front of a 3.5″ OLED XtraFine with TruBlack 1,229,760 pixel display. Shiiiiiiiiiiney. The Tx100v, unlike the W and other T lines can take stills during video recording.

Like the Tx10, it can generate 2D and 3D Panoramas, 3D stills, iSweep Panorama, and 1080/60i HD video. The Tx100v also has the benefit of the Sweep Multi-Angle for like-3D images viewable on the camera and on this 3.5″ B-E-A-U-T, they’re gonna be as nice as you’ll see until OLED makes its way to home cinema.

The next two W Series from Sony’s 2011 Cybershot line-up are the DSC-WX10 and DSC-WX9. While they both sport a 16.2MP Back-Illuminated “Exmor R” CMOS sensor and the BIONZ image processor, they differ in a few areas which we’ll talk about after the break.

Sony’s spilled forth with six new W series cameras from the budget conscious W510 to the Vario-Tessar equipped Wx9. They all start between 24 and 26mm wide, and zoom to 100 or 125mm with the exception of the WX10, which zooms to 168mm.

The four pieces which are going to sit along the more budget conscious line are the DSC-W510, DSC-W530, DSC-W560, and DSC-W570.  We’ll break those four down after the break.

The W510 and W530 each have a 4x 26mm zoom lens, and boast similar slim profiles (about 19mm (2 1/8″) thick and around hundred grams (4 oz) each). They have the use of either Memory Stick Duo or better MS formats or Class 2+ SD /SDHC /SDXC technology.

The 2.7″ 230K pixel LCD screens feature the Clear Photo LCD technology. They share the same Intelligent Auto modes, Sweep Panorama modes (a Sony favorite), 480p AVI VGA resolution video recording, Face Detection, and an Easy Mode which walks beginners through the shooting process with a minimum of choices and confusing menus.

Where the W510 and W530 differ are in the sensor and lens construction – The W510 has a modest 12.1 MP Super HAD CCD sensor, and a Sony lens of 4.7-18.8mm, (equivalent to 26-104) f/2.8-5.9. The W530 is equipped with a 14.1 MP Super HAD CCD sensor and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar lens of 4.7-18.8mm, (equivalent to 26-104) f/2.8-5.9.

The DSC-W560 and DSC-W570 come on line with 720p HD recording, the same modes and tools, but benefit from some other differences.

The W560 has a 14.1 MP Super HAD CCD Sensor, and a 3″ Clear Photo LCD. The lens is a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar f/2.7-5.7 25-100mm (35mm equivalent).

The W570 has a 16.4 MP Super HAD CCD Sensor, a 2.7″ Clear Photo LCD, and a Carl Zeiss Vario-Tessar 25-125mm (35mm equivalent) f/2.6-6.3 lens.

If you want to use SD /SDHC /SDXC in either the DSC-W560 or the DSC-W570 you’ll need at least Class 4. They also can use Sony’s proprietary Memory Stick technology, though video capability is only available on the Pro Duo Mark 2 or better variety.

We’ll talk about the WX cameras in the next two of my posts.

Please note that we’ve been waiting about 2 years for these bad-boys, and that we won’t have ‘em until we have ‘em, and that pre-ordering them on our website gets your name put in line – it doesn’t guarantee you a product. Once we have them in stock in quantities to satisfy out back-orders, we’ll put them up for sale online.

In the mean-time, check out Mark’s write-up and think about what you wanna use these TT1 and TT5 units for.