for those who had Cameras stolen on travel - important

Hi people. I'm new here but have been reading for some time.

 

I would like to discuss, about your equipment stolen on travel.

I would like to study if it's the brand, the size, or the fact

that's digital...

Maybe we cancome up with some interesting facts :)

Those who know someone that has been stolen can contribute too.

 

I had my camera stolen in the airport, from inside my bag, was a

very old canon with a cheap Sigma 28-300mm lens... thank god wasn't

my EOS 3 .

ah, and I put some black tape on my gear (on the black cameras like my nikon F3 and my Canon EOS 3) so nobody can identify them.

 

Will that help or I'm just being silly?

A thief will steal anything.

 

My wife had her Olympus point and shoot stolen. She left it unguarded for like five seconds, and someone swiped it.

 

A friend had most of her things stolen from her backpack at a very nice place in lower Manhattan.

 

The wife of a former work colleague lost all of her credit cards through the bump and grab trick. Within 1/2 hour, they had charged something like $3,000 on her cards.

 

A bunch of kids in Rome (he called them "gypsies") tried to yank the camera from the neck of one of my friends. They didn't get the camera. He got a nice red mark.

 

I generally try to keep an extra close watch on my things when I'm in big crowded places. But there's only so much you can do.

 

Of course, with that tape, it probably no longer looks like a camera. I'm sure it resembles a big sandwich.

You're being silly. The number one reason for the vast majority of camera thefts is that the thief had a good opportunity to steal the camera. Asking how and when cameras were stolen might provide some useful information on what you should avoid doing--studying the brands, size, and whether the camera is digital will just lead you to spurious conclusions.

If they think it's worth a dollar and they have the opportunity, they'll steal it.

<i>I would like to study if it's the brand, the size, or the fact that's digital.</i>

<p>

I don't think thieves are that picky about camera equipment. If the can steal it, they will. If the opportunity presents itself, they'll go for it. I don't think it matters what brand or if it's digital versus film.

Thief see, thief take, thief have. It's as simple as that.

I always just steal whatever I can get my hands on, don't care about what it is. Even a simple P&S I can push for $10, do a few of those a day and can I get my next fix from my dealer. Or I get wasted in a bar, remembering fallen comrades done in by the evil coppers who don't realise people insure their stuff anyway, so nobody gets hurt when you steal.

 

Will you people just let me get on with my job? I don't bother you doing yours, do I?

Bas you get $10 for point & shoot?! As a junky you make a great dealer,LOL

A thief does not have to see a dollar value in a camera to steal it, and there are thieves at all levels of society, all they need is the opportunity. A case in point is when I was a press photog, we had a couple of good quality Nikon film point and shoots to give to journalists that just needed a simple pic to go with their article but did not need a photog to accompany them. One of the journalists was part of the Horsey Set, Cross Country hunting and show jumping, she attended a Show Jump meeting and took the work point and shoot with her so she could, get a couple of pics for a cover story for a bit of publicity for the club. They were all sitting down watching the event with the camera on the blanket beside her,when one of the riders came a good cropper of the horse as it balked at the jump, and lay comatose for a little while. Of course everyone ran across to see if the rider was o.k. Some opportunist Horsey set thief spied the deserted camera and though to themselves "By Jove, theres an easy snatch old chap!" (or Chappess as the case may be) The rider was OK, and the camera was gone, pinched by some upper class cad!

"I had my camera stolen in the airport, from inside my bag, was a very old canon with a cheap Sigma 28-300mm lens"

 

This is probably not good news for the guy who said, in a thread the other day, that he obtained Sigma and Tamron lense caps to deter theft.

The insurance industry already has the data you seek, for those who reported claims. Most don't bother seeking reimbursement because of deductables, or because they never insured their cameras in the first place. What you could collect would be only anecdotal, not statistically significant. The above comments seem pretty much on target...thieves steal what opportunity provides.

Having been to a few camera shows, I have heard of things walking off from dealers tables before. Had one guy in my photo club that went to S. America with a rented 300F2.8 in his backpack. He set it down to use another camera and lens and it was gone in minutes. Curious monkees perhaps. Guard it or loose it. I have thought about taking those smaller expensive digial point and shoots and putting it inside the outer box of the kodak or fuji disposable camera. Now even a theif would not take those!

Make sure to record serial numbers for everything, and check local pawn shops if your hardware happens to be stolen. Most people who will swipe things such as large pieces of camera equipment aren't stealing it to use it, and will try to unload it as fast as possible to pay off their crack dealers.

I used datadots on all my equpt, I was told that most pawn shops look for these datadots coz they dont want to handle the item 'knowing its hot'. It will not be a deterent but atleast there is some chance that I can positively identify my eqpt.

A little ancedote to further the opportunity point: In the '90s I bought a 'project car' convertible. Left it parked with the top off in the alley. A thief got the stereo most of the way out before either a) he realized it was an <b>8 TRACK</b>, or b) I scared him away inadvertently and he never knew how stupid he was...

<p>

Sure there may be 1 in a thousand thieves who 'shop' for items, but typically it's <i>anything they can get their hands on...</i>

I had a friend who was paranoid about his equipment. It was an 'old Nikon' (not sure what it was exactly). He blacked the word 'Nikon' carved BOTH his driver's licence and (I think) social security number on it. It looked like a piece of junk becasue it was heavily used. He didn't care what it looked like, he had no intention of selling the camera-ever! I suspect the lens caps were likewise something non-Nikon. He kept it in an old junky camera bag. And you guessed it, it got stolen while he was on a beach in Florida. So I think the theme is opportunity matters more than equipment quality.

What's a data dot?

"What is a Data Dot?"

 

http://www.desktopconsultants.net/hotspotsnc/DOCS/whatis.htm

I had a Minolta CLE with 40mm Rokkor lens stolen on a trip to Hawaii, when I stupidly left it inside my checked luggage. This was around 12 years ago. To the unsophisticated, this camera, which was worth perhaps $750-800 with it's lens, doesn't look a whole lot different from a $100 35mm point and shoot. So either they were stealing pretty much any camera that they came across in luggage, or someone knew what they were taking.

Just be aware of where you are , and who is around you, don't be silly about things and most times you'll be fine.

 

While some countries have reputations as havens for thieves common sense goes a long way.

 

A few months ago I went to a talk given by a well known Travel Photographer who has spent 20 plus years travelling many parts of the world. He thus far has never had anything stolen and openly said he never went to any lenghts to hide his gear. He figured he looked more like a photographer than a tourist.

 

Cheers

Bevan

I know a guy who had his leica and all his lenses (don't remember which ones) stolen. I forget where he it was stolen from, but I remember thinking, "damn, how can you leave yur equipment like that".

 

Moral of the story, be aware of where you leave your stuff.

 

Also, you can look at it as an oportunity, my friend upgraded all of his equipment with the insurance money.

"He blacked the word 'Nikon' carved BOTH his driver's licence and (I think) social security number on it."

 

Brilliant idea. Maybe he could also etch in his banking account number and PIN on the back door of the camera and leave his bank card inside it just to be sure that others will know whose camera it is.

A dozen years ago all of my travelling camera equipment (Leica M with 21, 35 & 50mm lenses) was snatched right off my shoulder by a couple of guys on a motor scooter as my wife and I were walking down a side street in Rome.

 

I was carrying it in a fairly non-descript shoulder bag, a "male purse" like a quarter of all men in Rome seem to carry, but I'm sure we both looked like tourists (only a few minutes before the snatch I was taking pictures at the square in front of Sta. Maria Trastevere, changing lenses, probably consulting my Michelin green guide, looking up at the pretty frescos like all the other dorky Americans, etc., so the "non-descript carry bag" didn't help me much.) Before the incident I always wondered why all Roman women carried their purses with the strap around the neck & across the body, & clutching the body of the purse itself with both hands, but it's no longer a mystery.... in south-Italian towns, two men on a motorscooter are a common robbery team.

 

Nowadays I travel with a Minolta CLE (it looks like a point-and-shoot but has a killer 40mm Summicron lens) and carry it around my neck and one shoulder, inside a jacket if possible, and if I carry an additional 28mm lens it's in a side pocket. I'm sure I still look like a dorky American tourist, but a little less like a potential victim.

We had a diaper bag stolen once. Enough said find a new worry.