Stolen equipment

I'm travelling to China, and I'm hoping to find a cheap Russian (or

alike) camera with a basic lens, and then probably do some

comparative photography with my own equipment. I was wondering

whether it is easy to run to stolen equipment (do cameras get stolen

either from shops or from people in China?) while looking for a

second hand camera? How I would recognize a piece of stolen

photographic equipment... EOS 1V being sold for ~200EUR, for example.

 

Does anyone here have any personal experience of being offered stolen

equipment, say in China?

Beijing has an interesting phenomenon these days, namely that an inredible amount of people stroll around the streets with fake Olympus cameras under their jackets and trying to sell them, especially to foreigners. In the last two months, I've bumped into them at least six or seven times. The police knows about them too, it was also on TV, but I guess it's not that easy to catch them. Those cameras are very easy to recognise, all plastic, "Olyumps" written on them, and if you are so careful with buying a camera that you even open the film door, you can see that there is actually no shutter curtain. A toy camera. But people do get ripped off.

 

The best advice is don't buy cameras on the street from bad looking strangers who carry them under their jacket. In shops, you are not likely to bump into fake equipment, at least not in Beijing, but it is good to know that in China you will not see a single word in English spelled correctly, so NLKON, CAMON, or OLYUMPS are clear signs.

 

Stolen is another question. There are relatively few stores in Beijing that sell used equipment, but those that do never check the origin of the stuff sold to them. Be careful if you travel, never put down your camera. I almost had mine stolen along with other valuable stuff from my own flat while I was sleeping, but I caught the guy and scared the shit out of him, so he just ran away with empty hands. On sleeper trains, I normally put my camera bag next to my head.

 

So cameras do get stolen from individuals, but stolen cameras are also mostly sold by individuals, not stores.

I planning to go to the "Russian market" hoping to find something from there, which would mean I'd buying second hand. But to be honest, if I run to somebody selling a fancy Canon or Nikon (N.B the correct spelling!) for really cheap I won't hesitate to buy it, knowing it might be stolen... and why not get the camera and then go through the Ser#s in the "stolen" section, spotting the correct # might make smbdy happy.

 

Has anyone here bought an old SLR from Beijing?

I bought a new Chinese rangefinder in Shanghai for US$45. My wife's real Olympus P&S was stolen in China. She laid her camera down, turned around for a moment, turned back and it was gone.

 

I don't think there's any way to know if a camera is stolen, unless you someone is selling it to you on a sidestreet for a couple of dollars.

 

I've never been offered any stolen cameras in China. No need to -- lots of fake Leicas, old, old Seagulls and various other real and not-so-real antiques and artifacts, as well as many Mao memorabilia. That poor bastard must be turning over in his grave. Right outside his tomb, hawkers try to sell you cheap pens, pencils and other crap.

Thieves in China??? You must be joking!!! I thought China was the land of the gentle, simple people. Wait until Katie Couric finds out, she will be heart-broken. 60 Minutes will be right on this story, for sure.

Tapio, I know this is not related to your original question, but the "Russian market" specializes in clothing. Not that I go there too often, but I've never seen cameras for sale there. If you want to see a photographers' paradise in Beijing, go to "WUKESONG SHEYING QICAICHENG", which is a huge two storey market with only photo-related stuff at low prices. If you can't find something there, you won't find that in China. Many stores there sell used equipment, I'm sure you'll find something you want. Take the subway to WUKESONG and walk North along the fourth ring road for about ten minutes. The market is in a building on the right side, just after you cross a tiny river. Good luck.

"WUKESONG SHEYING QICAICHENG" sounds like The place to visit!

 

Thank you!