Wanting to take group photos of the family during Christmas, unfortunately the camera I plan to use doesn’t have a self timer. Thought I had one of those little self timer releases, but can’t find it.
Out of curiosity, I checked, and these are still being sold. New, on Amazon, for $70 -- no kidding. Used on EBAY, despite about 75 listings, the prices start at around $20 -- and get ridiculous quickly.
I'm glad I got mine when I did.
My advice would be to find an EBAY seller who accepts offers -- and wait for NEXT XMAS -- or volunteer a neighbor to press the shutter (or a family member who doesn't want to be in the picture anyway -- usually easy to find).
Those extra long shutter releases have a couple of advantages. First, you are not stuck with just 10 seconds -- you can press the shutter whenever you want, which is often important. Just as helpful, if you are using a motor drive, you can easily take more than one picture -- usually a good idea with groups.
The main problem is the size. Although the long releases are less likely to get lost, the tiny screw-in shutter releases are very easy to take anywhere.
Polaroid made a self timer for the "100 Series" cameras and it would need to be adapted, but it might be less pricey and more fun to try than getting 'the right stuff' off the bat.