Well, this is an odd one, with something of a bitter-sweet conclusion. According to the Mail Online, a couple visiting the Outer Hebrides in Scotland accidentally left their camera on a beach. After realising the camera was no longer with them, they called a local friend to retrieve it.
Upon arriving at the beach, the camera was gone. Now, the couple has been reunited with the memory card contained within that camera after the thief sent it back to them. They did not, however, return the camera.
The Mail Online writes that Greg and Julie Crawford’s “£2,000 camera” ($2,450) was left on the island of Barra. The couple didn’t realise the camera was no longer with them until after they’d left the island, at which point they contacted a friend who worked on the island.
After the friend arrived at the beach, the camera was missing. The couple then took to Facebook to seek help in recovering their camera and the images of their vacation. Several weeks later, the police got in touch.
The thieves left a note
It had apparently been taken by thieves who stumbled across the camera sitting unattended. They then wrote a note to the owners and turned in the memory card to the police, who then traced it back to the couple.
The note claims that the thieves were “meant to find the camera”, that it was “karma” and they’d used the money to pay for their own holiday.
We found a camera at the bench on Barra Airport on the 6th of September.
We decided that we would keep it as it was obviously meant to be found by us and we sold it to fund our holiday. We believe this was karma.
We have returned the memory card as we realise there will be memories of somebody’s holiday in there.
The note from the thieves
I mean, maybe it’s just me, but “karma” seems to be a pretty ridiculous justification for keeping somebody else’s camera. At least they were considerate enough to return the memory card.
The “£2,000 camera”
I’m not entirely sure how much of their holiday the thieves could fund. The camera in question, including the lens, costs nowhere near £2,000. It didn’t even when it was brand new. Digital Camera World reports that the camera was the Nikon D7200, which retailed for £939.99 body only when it was released in 2015.
They say that the lens attached to the camera was the Sigma 10-20mm, although they don’t specify which one. The Sigma 10-20mm f/3.5 EX DC HSM, released in 2009, was £650 at launch. The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 EX DC HSM (arguably the better of the two, despite the slower variable aperture) was only £369 on release.
These days, you could pick up that combo on the used market (because you can’t buy any of them new now) for around £500 or less, and if the thieves were in a rush to get rid of it, they probably sold it for much less than that.
The Crawfords were able to pick up another used Nikon D7200 on their return home to replace the one that disappeared. Obviously, the insurance company isn’t paying for it as the camera was left unattended. The couple also has their memory card and all their vacation photos back.
As for the thieves… I don’t think they understand the concept of “karma”, although I hope it comes back to make its point to them real soon.
[via Digital Camera World]
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