Lost our camera in Dublin!!

It would really suck. Now when I clear off my SD card (usually in prep for vacation - I'll clear the old stuff off and reformat the card)...the very first photo I take is one with my name, address and email...I figure if it ever got lost or stolen, at least the person may have the kindness to send me the SD card. The camera can be replaced...the photos...not so much.

Another good reason (if possible) to upload them to the Cloud every day, or...in my case...I'll load them onto my iPad (just have to make sure I have enough room to hold them). If I'm getting too many, I'll delete the uninteresting ones off the iPad.

Our first trip over we were in Rome and walked away from a shoulder bag in the confusion of waiting for a train and it changing the track it was coming in on. Luckily, we realized before we got too far away, and the station wasn't crazy busy or it would have been gone. I can't remember what was in the bag, but we would have missed it! It's easy to do.

Taking a picture of your name and address and contact information is a great idea. Wish I would have thought of that. Also, I have a label maker and next time a label will be put on anything of value like that. Obviously doesn't guarantee that it would be returned but in general people are good

There are websites for finding lost cameras. Maybe someone can recommend a good one.

I would post on the Dublin Trip Advisor website. Maybe some of the locals can give you advice. The most important thing is to get the SD card back.

Lost my Canon PowerShot camera and about 800 amazing photos from Prague, Terezin, the Budvar Brewery, Riegersburg Castle, Thal, and Graz in 2015, either on the train from Graz to Vienna, or in the taxi cab from the Vienna Hauptbanhof to our hotel. Unzipping my backpack in the hotel in Vienna and discovering that the camera was missing led to a multitude of feelings - including disbelief, anger (at myself), and sadness. The small camera bag had a luggage tag with my name, home address, phone numbers, email, etc. To no avail, I stopped by the lost and found office in the Vienna Hauptbahnhof several times during our stay. Unfortunately, I also did not have the taxi info or a receipt from our ride. Bottom line is that someone in Vienna made a few hundred Euros because the camera never surfaced. Fortunately, our insurance covered the loss, so at least I recovered something. I do like the idea of taking a photo with the owner's info, but if the person who finds the camera is not honest, it won't matter.

I made a sign with my email address and the promise of a reward, and took a picture of it when I first got my camera. I've protected that picture so even when I offload pics from the previous trip, it's there. Anyone finding my camera will see the sign upon looking at the pictures. I have never lost my camera (it stays around my neck or safely in my bag) but I hope if I ever do some kind soul will email me so I can get it back...

I had similar. I lost my camera on a bus in Munich during Oktoberfest. In my case, I'm pretty sure it was stolen. Like you, it was a stressful time trying to get to lodging in the crowds. I packed light but had several bags from stores in my hand plus my small backpack as well as my camera. I set them all on the seat next to me, on the bus, in no particular order and when I went to grab everything, no camera. Stress definitely causes carelessness.

It was a good camera but nothing really valuable. This was 2001, back in the day when we still used film - so I had all but my last few photos in my backpack. I figured I'd just get postcards for the rest of the trip but then went to Austria, pre-euro, and cameras were amazingly cheap.

From that I started doing what I call my one handle rule. No matter what I'm doing, shopping, travel day on a train, seeing sights, I'll reduce everything I'm carrying to one bag (one handle). It's much easier to keep track of just one item than four or five. I haven't lost anything valuable since (I've left a couple of plug adapters in sockets).

I started with the photo of my name and address after seeing more than a few times people posting a photo from an SD card they found trying to see if anyone knew the owners, so I thought...at least they could return the card to me if found...

Nicole, taking a photo of your name and address is an excellent idea! I'm adding it to my "do list" right now.

Vick, sorry for your loss. My photos are my most important souvenirs. Thanks for sharing your story, a good reminder for all of us.

The only time I found an SD card (in the snow!) it had a few photos of a mouth/teeth (!) on it and nothing else - lol. Looked like it was from a dentist office - maybe someone had some work done and wanted a pic...weirdness!

When I took my picture to tag my SD card with my identity, I did not put my address. I used my email--if they email me while I'm still on the trip, it's possible I can get the card back before I fly home. There's also the general caveat not to reveal your address to the public while you're on a trip, lest (remote chance, but still) they give it to someone who'll go rob you. I mean I live in a 3rd-floor walkup so it's not super likely but you never know.

Three times I've left my camera somewhere, all during a stretch of time when I was carrying the camera around my neck. Now, I have a new camera that fits in a pouch and it's attached to my belt . . . I don't feel the need to remove it, and it takes great pics.

The first time I left it in a restaurant in Arevalo, Spain. The waiter drove down to the train station just to give it to me.

The second time was at a gas station in Paris on a Friday afternoon. Went back at night, station closed. Also closed on the weekend. Asked a staff member to translate a note and I slipped it under the door if the gas station. When I returned Monday morning, almost certain all my photos were gone along with the camera, the owner was so happy to be able to return it to me. He said he had yelled to me that day, but I hadn't heard him.

The third time was in the back of a cab in London. The driver called the hotel in order to arrange a drop-off.

Of course I tipped these people, but they all seemed genuinely pleased to have helped someone.

My husband uses his business card, so the address is not our home address.

The most useful (and safe) information to have on an ID tag is email address and mobile phone number. No need at all for physical address.

My phone is my camera, and yes, I have lost it. Now I have my name and email address on the front page of the phone (no password required to view it) so IF I lose it and IF someone finds it and wants to return it, they will have a way to contact me.

I, too, just use my email address on my memory cards, it's the first photograph I take on each card. If they send me an email, I can provide an address or preferably retrieve the camera while I'm still in the area. I tape a business card to my camera as well.

Almost 22 years ago, our car was broken into, and a camera was stolen. In our own driveway, so not a travel story. It was not an expensive one. The film in it had the birth of our third child. When I was crying about it, my husband gently said, well, we do still have the baby.

My sympathies. It really sucks to lose pictures and a camera.

If you find an SD card, or any other type of portable media, I caution you about sticking it in your own computer or device to view it. You could get infected with a virus/malware/etc., either accidentally or on purpose. At my work, we sometimes bait people with planted devices just to see if they'll plug them into a work computer, a big no-no. It's nice to want to get it back to its owner, but maybe try it on a public machine unless you trust your anti-virus software!

As I pack lighter, I'm doing with less and less. My phone is now my camera (GPS, email, web, travel alarm, music, etc.). Since I have it password protected, I put my email address on my screen saver so someone could contact me while I'm still on the road. So far I haven't lost it.

I was thinking the same, it's not a great idea to put an unknown memory card in your computer - better to trash it if you don't know what's on it.

For anyone reading this, the key is to unload the SD card every day. I took a very nice camera (Pentax K-1) on a long trip to Europe. Every day, at the end, I would download all pix to my computer (small 2in1 device) and further back the pix to a portable 4T WD My Passport portable hard drive. At every stop, I check the camera - do I have the camera and the hat (I have a hat with about 200 pins on it). I misplaced the hat once, never the camera. My wife has the annoying habit of asking me if I got my credit card back. This is annoying, until you actually forget the credit card, and then it seems sensible. So, someone should be the "camera checker". None of this helps in this case of the lost camera, but it may help the next person.

I put a label on the back of my phone with my email address and a reward offer. It's inside the case, but if anyone ever finds the phone perhaps they'll get in touch with me.

My wife and I both like to take pictures so we both have cameras and often take duplicates. I lost my camera in Paris three years ago and didn't grieve much because Linda had plenty of shots on hers. We also use new SD cards for each trip and I download photos each night to a laptop so that we can do a family blog.

I love that idea of putting our email address on the first photo!