Sold the camera; don't remember where...

I sold the camera after lugging it around for a while, not knowing what to do with it. Well I just got to Maxim (this is my first time around) and I really want the gun he'll give me. I went to every shop keep in the game I could have possibly been to and can't find it. Do shopkeepers recycle quest items in their inventory like every other useless piece of crap I sell them? If so, is there an inventory editor I can use to give myself back the camera?

 

You'll never be able to get it back, unless adding it with some sort of editor (but I don't know if that's possible either).

Here's a tip for you: Forget about the quest entirely. You can complete it with your next character and thus have something to look forward to during your second playthrough.

 

Shopkeepers do recycle quest items but it tends to take a longer time than normal stuff. The junk dealer still keeps the hexed axe I sold him ages ago. So give it a try and locate the shopkeeper you sold the camera to.

What about bins in the streets? Do they recycle? I left Wilheminas letter to Jared in a bin near the Vermillon Station and it's still there I sorted that out the first tiem I came to Tarant. But I lost Joachims letter in one of those bins. Isn't there a proper patern for spawning items?