Safety with gear in Rio and beyond

<p>Heading to Argentina and Brazil next month and I have a question. I am carrying a Nikon D300 and 4 lenses plus a tripod and pano mount. I plan to carry it in a camera bag in side a beat up shoulder bag. I feel Iguazu Falls will be safe but how about in Rio at Corcovado and Sugarloaf? Would I be foolish setting up a tripod on Sugarloaf and Corcovado to shoot multi shot panos? I will be with a few friends from the U.S. and some from Brazil about 6 to 12 of us, is there safety in numbers? Bottom line is I want to get the shots but not if I have a high risk being a target. Any advice from people who are familiar with the areas I mentioned would be greatly welcomed.<br>

Regards,</p>

<p>Brad</p>

<p>I was in Brazil about 7 years ago and I would not feel very safe showing very expensive gear. Iguazu seems pretty safe but Rio, especially at night is or was at least when I was there pretty bad and even in the day it did not feel very safe. </p>

<p>Corcovado and Sugarloaf are really crowded. There are so many people so I'm not sure setting up a tripod would be an option.I was there in 2003 (7 years ago as well) and it was quite dangerous. I didn't feel safe in Rio. Igazu is safer. The theifs travel in numbers too.</p>

<p>I would probably go with a monopod, it can double as a club if you need to defend yourself :-}. Seriously though, Iguazu is spectacular, I really wish I was as into photography back then. Everyone freaked me out with all the crime so all I took was those crappy box cameras, what i would give to at least have taken a decent p/s</p>

<p>Thanks for the advice guys! I really hate having to worry about this as I had grand plans of shooting panos from both those locations but now I'm having second thoughts about risking it. Anyone else care to chime in?</p>

<p>Yea I'll chime in. I lived in Ipanema, Natal, Porto Alegre, Recife, Joao Pessoa and traveled around a lot from those places.</p>

<p>I left my cell phone in 3 taxis on the way to work in RJ, I only paid for the taxi to return it once when he was way out of the area.</p>

<p>I carried a Contax 645 Kit and lenses that at the time make your kit look like chump change, also to the Sandromono during Carnival.</p>

<p>Buy insurance before you go and don't worry about being robbed. Your trip and images are worth so much more then your camera.</p>

<p>When I was in Brazil back in the early 90s, my Nikon kit was almost stolen by a theif trying to cut away the camera strap. I noticed later that my shirt was shreaded - this was while visiting Salvador.</p>

<p>A good friend was held up at gun point on a bus from Brazilia to Sau Paulo by masked men with automatic weapons. She now lives in Aracaju and recommends extreme caution everywhere in Brazil. If you can afford to hire a driver, I would recommend you have him accompany you as a guard when you're away from the car. Pay him extra and hire him for at least half a day</p>

<p>Brad,<br>

Im from rio and I would tell you that the best option is to dont show your gear. But, if you want go to corcovado ou pao de acucar (sugarloaf) just carry one tele and a good wideangle. After terrorist attack in US, the security guys are not allowing tripod there, i faced that 2 weeks ago. You can try to say that you working for a magazine and allow them to inspect your gear... <br>

Iguazu falls are not so "wild" like rio, but they have huges problems involving violence there, mainly because they at the brazil border with paraguay and argentina.<br>

Just use the behaviour that you probably use in big cities in US, like NYC or Miami, LA.<br>

ps: Declare your gear when you arrive to avoid issues with brazil customs...<br>

Regards,<br>

F.</p>