This should be more than a rumour

[Marsu42]

What say others? Can we get Canon (and probably other manufacturers) to do such a thing?

Imho it won't help much because people will still steal your gear to get your lens, there'd have to some kind of integrated security system for your lenses to only work with your body unless you authorize otherwise.

In a body it sounds like a good idea if it cannot circumvented very easily like attempts in other tech gear (put it in the fridge, short out the battery elements, ...). A pre-hardcoded pin might be the safest way, and the ic where the code is in mustn't be available on the free market and/or exchanged easily. But in any case it should discourage some.

Though the question is "does the manufacturer really want this". First, there is the popular "what's my pin again" support case. And like cars (in Germany it's very clear and semi-proven) they are ok with them being stolen - one stolen, one more sold.

[Ellen Schmidtee]

DEC computers used to have a PIN to protect the computer from booting into safe mode, booting from an alternate disk, etc, as a way to protect the computer in case someone had console access.

In case the password was forgotten, a DEC technician could take out the internal battery which supplied the memory cheap holding the password with power, and thus erase it.

Point is DEC computers weren't as steal-able as photography equipment, and it's easier to cheat service people with stories like 'about the owner having died, went on a trip to some remote location,

[dr croubie]

How about every camera having a unique code.  When you take a photo, the code is embeded into it.  If your camera is stolen, you can search the internet for your code to see who's uploading photos from your camera.  Maybe this can already be done?

Can be done and has happened. I read of a guy who got his camera nicked, he (somehow) searched the internets for photos a while later, found a pic that came from his camera, got in contact with flickr or whoever, and managed to get the address, called the cops, got his camera back and the other guy got done for receiving stolen goods.
(i should try find that article, but later, it's dinner time)

edit: read here

[jebrady03]

In the future when something like this would be affordable, a thumbprint scan would make sense on both the body and lens.  It's fast, accurate, and won't require the user to stop what they're doing to enter the info like a pin number.  Just simply place the scanner on the camera where the user would normally place their thumb (or a finger) and it's good to go.

Too advanced?

[paul13walnut5]

Terrible idea...  if you lose it folk can't get into it to get info to find you, and low life types will just smash it in anger.

All you would really need to do would be to store the camera without it's main battery for a week or two and the internal memory would clear anyway  (except for higher spec cameras with their Cr2025's etc)

Assuming folks are honest I do the following:

When I format my memory cards (via computer) I give it my mobile tel number as the disk name.  This is not over-written unless you low level format in camera.

Enter my copyright details with tel, name and email.   That way it's in the files exif, as well as on a menu screen.

There are also ways to trace images taken with cameras with a specific serial number, which cannot be wiped.

Also, the first photo on your memory card should be of a bit of paper with your details written on it.

If it gets stolen then you aren't all that likely to get it back.  If you lose it and some honest type finds it then you've got several ways they can get in touch.

GPS - terrible idea.
Touch screen - even worse.
PIN No- not a great idea.  See point about internal memory charge.

[Marsu42]

PIN No- not a great idea.  See point about internal memory charge.

As I wrote - you can just hardcode it in some ic when the camera is built, just like Intel used to hardcode a serial number into their PentiumIII processors until they were stopped due to privacy concerns. It's non-changeable and non-erasable, you could just disable it after being entered, and after a battery drain the default setting would be enabled.

[AprilForever]

I fail to see how a pin would do anything other than frustrate me.

It would still be quite pawnable. And, yes, the thief would have no problems with resetting the beast through some measure.

[FunPhotons]

"Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "

BEEP: Please enter your PIN

Canon will never do it, besides the glass is where the money is.

This is why I have Pelican lockable cases cabled to my car/trunk. Any security measure is ultimately defeatable but this isn't a bad solution.

[Marsu42]

"Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "
BEEP: Please enter your PIN

I don't think Canon will do it either: but "Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "

WTF! I had my gear stand next to me for just a second, and now it's gone!

[tron]

"Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "
BEEP: Please enter your PIN

I don't think Canon will do it either: but "Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "

WTF! I had my gear stand next to me for just a second, and now it's gone!

  The Pin was entered wrong 3 times. Camera will now self-destruct!

[smithy]

"Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "
BEEP: Please enter your PIN

I don't think Canon will do it either: but "Hey, a once-in-a-lifetime-shot, quick I have 2 seconds to get it ... "

WTF! I had my gear stand next to me for just a second, and now it's gone!

  The Pin was entered wrong 3 times. Camera will now self-destruct!

Or worse than self-destruct:

The PIN was entered incorrectly 3 times. Camera will now only function in green box mode.

NOOOOOOOOO!

[Ellen Schmidtee]

I had an idea attacking the problem from a different angle: a two parts device, one attaches to the owner's belt and the other attached to the equipment, the two communicate wirelessly to estimate the distance between them, and if it crosses a settable distance, both emit an alarming sound.

This can protect against equipment being stolen or forgotten, and can be used for other purposes, e.g. childs getting lost in a crowd. It would be easy to attach to a camera using a miniature version of bike locks on the loops holding the neck strap, but lenses are a different story.

I've consulted a knowledgeable businessman I trust, and he says this idea can't be protected by a patent, so developing it is a problem - if it succeeds, it will be immediately copied, making it unprofitable.