"Ricoh around the Globe" photo project

[odklizec]

UPDATE:
The camera is on its way! You can find the photos and details from the journey here:
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2367
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Hi folks,

In my non-Ricoh past, I participated in a project aiming to send the digital camera with memory card around the globe. I believe such kind of project would be a great fun also here at RicohForum?

I'm already in contact with Ricoh folks and they are very interested in such kind of project. So we will have a fresh new R10 just for the purpose of this project. All we need now is some ideas about the project rules and of course, YOU as the project participants!

It will take some time to plan the camera route, just to minimize the shipping costs and possible duty charges between the countries. However, all participants should be ready for some shipping costs. So please, sign up in this project only if you are willing to ship the camera to another forum member at your cost! There should be no problem with duty charges within the EU, but there could be some problems when sending the camera outside the EU. It would be great if some members who often travels between the countries/continents can eventually take the camera on next travel and pass it personally to another participant (let's say at airport or somewhere in the city). In this way we can reduce the possible problems with duty charges.

Here are the project rules/conditions I have so far...
Each participant will have to take let's say 5 pictures in highest camera resolution, post the reduced versions of the photos in "Ricoh around the Globe" thread and upload full size photos to a given ftp (just for backup purposes). Then send the camera with intact memory card to another participant on the list.

It would be nice if the taken photos would be candid/street shots from the participant's town, with focus on environmental questions.

I believe the 2GB card should be just enough for this project? It should allow to take over 500 photos in highest resolution and I really don't think there will be more than 100 participants. Even 50 participants would be too much. Let's say the average time required to reach another participant is one week. Then add at least three days for taking photos and you quickly realize that it would be a very long journey even with less than 50 participants But I'm sure it will be a great fun!

So please, post your thoughts and ideas about this project and mainly, let me know if you are interested in participating (and your country of residence). At this stage of project, there is no need to mention your full address.

Code: Select all

List of participants:

Nickname           Country/City 
----------         ------------------       
Odklizec           Slovakia/Zilina         
qnadam             Hungary/Budapest
Darius             Lithuania/Vilnius
dgilmour           Russia/Moscow
BlackRicoh         Finland/Oulu
Grus74             Sweden/Stockholm   
Wouter             Netherlands/Ede
waloszek           Germany/Mühlhausen
Z1gno              Italy/Venice
fizzog1            Switzerland/Geneva
broogino           France               
elpecoso           Spain/Cantabria
Alvaro             Spain/Madrid
rui fernandes      Portugal/Almada
Marky              UK/Windsor             
VladimirV          UK/London               
peugeotpeppermill  UK/London
fuller             UK/Liverpool
mdavi              Ireland/Dublin-Belfast 
Bertalan           Canada/Port Rowan
BillBingham2       Chicago/USA
bigscarypuppy      USA/Los Angeles
LittleBlackBox     USA/Seattle
Shiro Kuro         Japan/Tokyo (?)         
Nevin              China/Hong Kong
chrsilee           China/Hong Kong
znailz             Thailand/Bangkok
blue_quartz        Singapore/Singapore 
rossalford         Australia/Townsville
Guy Parsons        Australia/Sydney
thelps             Australia/Adelaide
uKrris             Republic of South Africa/Durban


[marky]

this is a great idea!......all shot with no PP i'm assuming?.......I'm in south england...near Windsor and london, sign me up!.....how much do you anticipate the shipping/ postage to be?............creative juices are flowing already!

[odklizec]

Thanks Mark! Feel free to process your photos (the small versions uploaded to the discussion thread). But it would be nice to leave the source photos intact (those uploaded on ftp).

As for the shipping costs, to be honest, I don't have any clue? You will have to ask at your post. I hope to plan the route in that way, that the camera will cross the border of each participant's country only two times..when it arrives from another country and when it leaves the country. I guess that there will be more participants in the UK than in other countries, so all you will have to check is the costs of shipping within the UK. And you can always contact other participating members and handover the camera personally.

To reduce the cost to absolute minimum, I think it would be best to ship the camera without the original box, CDs and printed manuals? So all that would be required is just the camera and charger? The only problem is that the charger will have an European connector. But as the cable is interchangeable, you can swap it with the cable from your GX100 charger

In a theory, there may not be need to ship even the charger? Just the camera with battery and memory card? There is a lot of guys with previous R models so they can charge the battery with their own charger? It would be a good habit to fully charge the battery before next travel. So please guys, if you are interested, let me know form which country/town you are and if you have a previous R model with battery charger. I believe, the R battery and charger has been changed with introduction of R6?

[VladimirV]

Pavel, this is a great idea and I would be very interested to participate. I am in London so could pass the camera along here in the UK or even ship it outside the UK.

I believe candid/street shots would be best as a theme, it will give a good impression of the different places the camera has travelled and would also keep this in line with the Ricoh Candid Photo Project.

For shipping, it would cost around 5 GBP in the UK to have it insured so would not break the bank. There won't be any import charges within the EU and overseas should be low since the camera is not new and would be sent as a gift I suppose.

We would have to send only the camera and charger without the lead cable. Ricoh has introduced the smaller D-70 battery with the R6 so it won't be compatible with the older R series or G series chargers.

[odklizec]

Great Cristian, you are in! As for the charger, you are right. Sending just charger without the cable is most probably the best option. The cable to this charger is very common and the same as used with other Ricohs and many other cameras and electronic devices. So there is no need to ship it along with the charger. I'm sure, everyone have at least one cable like this at home.

As for import duties, the package should of course be marked as gift. And I may prepare a cover letter, which will describe the purpose of this project and that the camera is neither commercial item nor electronic waste In Slovakia, for example, any electronic device imported from outside the EU and which is not in a visibly new shape or sealed package, is automatically considered to be an electronic waste. And as such, it's forbidden to import. No matter if the device is only a week old iPod with stamped guarantee card. I know, it's crazy I hope the cover letter with description of the project may help?

[VladimirV]

This is crazy . Maybe we should declare it as comercial sample instead of gift and also hope the cover letter will help.

[Grus74]

Glad to find this thread! Just logged on after beeing away from the forum for awhile with the idea to start a project almost just like this one! Read a thread at a swedish forum and they send a small doll around to members who take some pictures of it and then send it to the next person on the list. Very funny to see and read so I thought we should try something like that. And now you've come up with an ever better idea/version!

I'd love to be a part of this project! For me it is: Sweden/Stockholm/No

[odklizec]

You are in Grus! I'm sure it will be a great fun! I think I need to implement some kind of "new flash" to display the latest news right on top of the board. It seems many people miss the important news?

[mdavi]

I live in Ireland between Belfast and Dublin. I am happy to participate.

[Grus74]

Great! And indeed, this is important news