leif_goodwin8 Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I wanted a camera in my car so that if I had a crash I could take a picture to protect myself against fraud. I didn't want an expensive camera which might get stolen so I bought a cheap Polaroid 35mm camera. I am astonished how badly made it is. The film door barely closes, it has a fixed shutter speed and seems to have a fixed aperture. It seems comparable to a one use only camera. My question is this. Is this camera useable? I don't care too much about the aesthetics but am concerned that it might not do the job which defeats the object of the exercise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NK Guy Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I dunno - I just threw a cheap disposable camera with built-in flash into the glove compartment of my car. They seem to work fine whereas the reusable junk 35mm cameras never seem to work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stemked Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I have to say that's one of the oddest reasons to buy a camera. Make sure you hide it well, someone who sees the camera in your car and is looking for some drug money is unlikely to be snobish about the brand and cause you even more expense to get a window fixed! You must live in an odd neighborhood if this is a serious concern that you have. My basic feeling is that it's likely a useless thing to do. This camera is going to sit around and bake in your car for a few years until this accident happens. If you use the camera occasionally, change the film, check the batteries you'll be better off. But yes, the photos (as long as you back-off about three feet and you use ASA 400 film) should work fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chad_h Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I too have a disposable camera in my car incase I get into an accident. The funny thing is that I had my car broken into and it was stolen. That was infact the only thing that was stolen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chip l. Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I had an accident a few months ago. Just a fender tap (caused three dimples where my license plate "kissed" her bumper. She never got out of her car to inspect damage, though she did call the rescue sqaud. She had them pull her out on a back board (before someones mentions a pre-exsisting condition, to find out she did not). Seems like she had done this thing before. What saved me was that I had a cmaera kit that I was going to trade that afternoon with me. Found a old roll of film in the glove box. It saved me. It seems that the bumper had more damage to it when the adjuster went to look at it. The point of the story is that a camera is great to have with some of the people out there. It is also an excuse to invest into a small cheap digital camera. This way you don't have to worry out heat damaged film. Also if you get something that uses AA liths, they will keep their power for a long time. Not to mention you have a camera at the ready all the time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stephen hazelton Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Well, one-time use cameras are usable, so if it is comparable, then, yes, it is usable. I'd suggest shooting a roll beforehand to see what you get. You seem surprised to find that a cheap camera is cheaply made- I'm not sure I follow your logic there. And, I'm not sure, but I think on a lot of these items, Polaroid just lends its name to the product, as opposed to actually making it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dan_fromm1 Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 I used to keep a Retina II in the glove box. It was never stolen, earned its keep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_haykin Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 The Retina II is great, and I own two: rugged and compact. During my long career, I always carried an old but good 3.5 Rollie and a small strobe wrapped in a heavy towel and stowed under my back seat. I shot every accident of any consequence I saw, and rarely made less than $100 net a month from insurance companies. 100 a month would be like 300 now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 We make many court accident posters from photos and negatives made from disposable cameras at times. The sharpness is very high at the center; and acceptable at the edges. <b>Biggest problem by far is underexposure; when lighting is poor; flash only goes so far. </b>Kodak makes premium recycleable cameras with better lenses. The hot car tends to fry the film; so you should rotate the cameras and use them after a year or two. They are usable for many years; the colors just shifts. An older 35mm camera is a good option too; but the shutter maybe sticky after the camera has been in the glove box baking for several years; or the grease may not allow the shutter to even fire. Here insurance; police; fire; and attorneys buy disposables by the brick packs; and buy alot of them. <BR><BR>It is strange to scan a 35mm disposable cameras negatives at 4000 ppi; and get great results in the center; and average; so so at the edges. I did this on the same job when also scanning negatives from a Nikon 50mm lens; and wondered why his normal lens on some shots were so so at the edges; and great on other shots. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robert_roaldi1 Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Art, I am stunned. I lived in Toronto, a fairly big city, for 25 years or so, and in that time I witnessed only 5 car accidents as they were happening. and I drove to work almost every day. I also saw many other accident remains that were being cleared away by the tme I got to the scene. How were you able to get $100 per month out of insurance companies? Now that 3 mpix digicams are the size of credit cards, maybe lots of people will start carrying them around all the time, just in case. A $500 camera can pay for itself if it prevents one fraudulent claim, I suppose. Is anyone paying attention here? Have we all gone mad? What kind of societies are we living in and how did they get this way? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_shively Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Lawyers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blueisland Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Not wishing to provoke anything here, BUT, would I be making a wild guess in presuming you posters are Americans??? Or am I just missing the joke?...is this humour? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_haykin Posted March 10, 2003 Share Posted March 10, 2003 Robert: to begin, I was in L.A., CA (need I say more?) and the police calls were on AM at the top of the dial. A tweak of the tuning condenser, and you got 'em. Later on, I got a legal scanner as I worked closely with the police being that I was in forensic photography. For my last 10 years in L.A., I lived right next to the corner of Melrose and Normandy, and there was a major crash there at least once a month on average, and several lesser ones in between. Add to this, my work carried me all over the L.A. basin. Sometimes, even simple fenderbenders produced revenue due to "whiplash" lawsuits, especially rear enders. Also, I often sold shots to BOTH sides (which is legal and ethical), and was often called in to testify as to the integrity of both my shots, and those of others. I sold to insurance companies, and occasionally to the newspapers. Lawyers paid the best, as you may imagine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richard_cochran Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 If you live in a warm sunny area, I wouldn't expect film to last very long stored in a car's glove compartment. I once left a roll in my glovebox in South Florida for a few weeks, and it was cooked so much that the photos were barely recognizable. The heat caused fogging and severe color shift. It's true that South Florida is worse than most other places, but any glovebox is a pretty hostile environment for temperature-sensitive material like film. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crackers_. Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Twenty bucks for an old folder, if you want to deal with one. A 6x9 can hide anywhere. Use it here and there and the film is always new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Art; you are going WAY back; jeepers! when cops were just above the AM band...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
art_haykin Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 Kelly: you got that right, and I was still doing it into the '90s with a sophisticated scanner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
constance_cook Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 How did we get this way? One word -- "entitlement" -- which came in in the '70s. This led the vast majority to wonder how to get "theirs". While my neighbor was in Belize for a month on vacation, her new Rodeo was stripped of everything, and I do mean everything. After I called the police, who told me I couldn't make a complaint because it wasn't my car, I took my camera down and photographed it from every angle. I got hold of her SO's sister who called them in Belize. She contacted her dealer who sent a truck out to pick it up. In doing so, I saw him do major damage to the car. When she came home, they were going to charge her for several noncovered items of damage. With my photos she was able to show that the damage happened after it was picked up by the dealer who had also helped himself to some other parts of the vehicle that the original thieves hadn't taken. I'll get my reward in heaven. Conni Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kelly_flanigan1 Posted March 11, 2003 Share Posted March 11, 2003 LA sure has the scanners; beepers; and antennas. My friend lives off the first exit in Simi Valley; after going over the hill on the 118. He can pickup the Spanish 50,000 watt short wave station as noise on all his electical test equipment. The signal tends to overload the front end on cheaper radios. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lee_brand Posted March 12, 2003 Share Posted March 12, 2003 To answer the question - an Olympus Trip 35 - the old one with the selenium "eye" around the lens. Sturdy metal construction (wont melt), great lens and no battery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leif_goodwin8 Posted March 12, 2003 Author Share Posted March 12, 2003 Thanks to everyone for the answers. I guess it will do the job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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