Okay, what's the deal with 'Back of Camera' photos?

[Charlie Spencer]

Why post a photo taken with an inferior phone camera, of an image on the back of a 'real' camera, instead posting the camera-shot photo itself?

... asks the guy who has taken maybe a dozen photos with his phone, mostly of small serial numbers.

Edited August 2, 2021 by Charlie Spencer

[Connor Cochrane]

Back of Camera photos can be good if you see a rarity that you are reporting as soon as you see it. You can attach photos of the bird as proof without having to wait to get home and upload it. However, in most other situations, I would suggest waiting to get home to upload the photos to a computer where they can be viewed better. 

[lonestranger]

I too have always wondered about back of camera photos. While there may be special reasons for uploading BoC pictures, such as reporting rarities ASAP, I don't think that's what we're seeing here on Whatbird. I can only speculate why people post ID requests with BoC photos, but I'd bet that most of the time it's a matter of impatience. I'll go one further with my speculations and bet that many members have their patience tested when they're asked to ID a bird from a photo of a photo taken from the back of a camera. Just speculating of course. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by lonestranger

[Charlie Spencer]

57 minutes ago, Connor Cochrane said:

Back of Camera photos can be good if you see a rarity that you are reporting as soon as you see it. You can attach photos of the bird as proof ...

You mean attach it to a checklist in the eBird app, or to something else?  I looked at the app just now but don't see how to do that.  If that's what you're referring to, I'll check the app's help files.

Thanks.

[Connor Cochrane]

4 minutes ago, Charlie Spencer said:

You mean attach it to a checklist in the eBird app, or to something else?  I looked at the app just now but don't see how to do that.  If that's what you're referring to, I'll check the app's help files.

Thanks.

You can add it through a phone on the website, or you could post a photos to a local listserv. I was just saying it useful for quickly adding a picture anywhere, not necessarily just eBird. 

Edited August 2, 2021 by Connor Cochrane

[chipperatl]

I wish I had posted here, from the field, with just a BoC photo of the Kittiwake to confirm ID.  Might have given others the chance to chase, instead of correcting my ID from BOGU 6 hours later.  Also would have posted to eBird for others to see when the alerts went out.  Eventually eBird would have been updated with a real photo.  

I thought I had some posts on here that were BoC, but I can't find them.  May have been before the forum went Chernobyl.