gear security tip

gtc

Hi,

A few days ago I was composing a shot in portrait mode on a busy street and I happened to move my eye from the viewfinder.

I do this in order to keep an eye on what or who is coming up from behind me,by using the reflection from the rear lcd screen area-its a handy mirror.Also good for approaching traffic when you are in the middle of the road.

What did I see? A man had snuck up behind me and was gingerly trying to open the zip on my pack without making a zipping noise.

I did a quick turn around and cuffed his surprised head and he made off empty handed.I didn't get his photo though!

Just thought I would share this little security tip.

Greg

Antonio Correia

Thank you.
Good ideia.
Glad you had no problems.

dragon300zx

Dude your much nicer than me. My Knee (argh I really need to re-read words) woulda been coming up at the same time my hand hit him and he wouldn't have been moving. Try and steal my gear will ya.....

:nono:rambo:rambo:rambo:rambo:fish:fish:fish:boid:smackdeadhorse:deadhorsehang:duel:grim:thwak:gun2:gun2:gun2:gun2:gun2:gun2:gun2

wxwax

Whoa, not good.

claudermilk

OT: I was wondering when some of theose smilies were going to get used.

Good tip & glad to hear nothing vanished on you.

ziggy53

Greg,

Good for you! Makes you wish you had a cannon instead of a Canon, doesn't it?

ziggy53

gluwater

That's one of the reasons I like the Crumpler bags. The zipper is against your back so if you are wearing the bag no one else can get in it. Glad to hear you caugth the guy in the act and that he didn't get away with anything.

gus

Is it wrong for me to bait them ?

Pezpix

Well, the absolute worst thing has happend to me just last night as coincedence goes...

My car was broken into last night and the little thieves made off with a majority of my gear. Gone is my Lowepro trekker II bag, my ID-Mark II, my brand new 24mm F1.4, my 180 macro and a bunch of various other lenses...

Fortunately, my IDs Mark II, my 24-70, and my 70-200 were in my house. Needless to say though, I am devastated. The worst part of this whole thing... I cant verify whether or not my car doors were locked.

I feel like I have been kicked in the guts. Parts of my livelyhood are now gone, stolen from right under my nose, probably never to be seen again, and its all my own fault for leaving it in my car.

gus

Pezpix wrote:

I feel like I have been kicked in the guts. Parts of my livelyhood are now gone, stolen from right under my nose, probably never to be seen again, and its all my own fault for leaving it in my car.

Insured ?

Antonio Correia

Pezpix wrote:

Well, the absolute worst thing has happend to me just last night as coincedence goes...

My car was broken into last night and the little thieves made off with a majority of my gear. Gone is my Lowepro trekker II bag, my ID-Mark II, my brand new 24mm F1.4, my 180 macro and a bunch of various other lenses...

Fortunately, my IDs Mark II, my 24-70, and my 70-200 were in my house. Needless to say though, I am devastated. The worst part of this whole thing... I cant verify whether or not my car doors were locked.

I feel like I have been kicked in the guts. Parts of my livelyhood are now gone, stolen from right under my nose, probably never to be seen again, and its all my own fault for leaving it in my car.

I didn't like to read this.
I am sorry.
Be Healthy and go on . :

Pezpix

gus wrote:

Insured ?

Nope, only the camera itself was. None of my lenses, filters, or other bits were insured. My only hope is that my car insurance will cover the gear.

Needless to say, its been a trying day. Cops dusting the car for prints, my quest to find serial numbers, finding old reciepts... yup, suffice to say, its been a rather humbling and pissy day.

I feel responsible for the whole thing since I cant verify whether or not I even left the car unlocked like some sort of dumb boob. What was I thinking?

Needless to say, whoever grabbed my gear, probably doesnt even know its true value yet. I hope karma gets them.

luckyrwe

Insured or not, I still feel the loss of my Nikon F2A and lenses back in 1981. It is not fun. You have my condolences my friend.

System

gus wrote:

Is it wrong for me to bait them ?

Only if it's with your good gear in hand. Best to use a body and lens combo that you feel comfortable clubbing them with.

gtc

security
i want someone to invent an alarm which is based on proximity-eg when your camera pack gets a certain distance from your keyring ,it goes off-either that or a gps based device that looks like a little film camera in the pack and will message your moble phone to tell you where to get your gear.


the gear in car situation is a real worry-i am looking to buy a diesel van and the plan is to have a locked chequer plate box bolted to the floor,for when you have to leave things in there.

re my response to attempted pack pilfering-it was more of a brushing away action which got him on the ear-it would have hurt,but a lot less than the 400/5.6 SMC Takumar-lucky for him I am not inclined to violence...

luckyrwe

It exists. I can't find it at 3am but it is out there!

gus

gtc, just my take on it all

That alarm you mentioned...remember that a 16 year old street kid whom can probably run the 100 in 12 seconds has grabbed it & already has a head start on you before you even know what to do with the camera & lens you have in front of you on a tripod that you must now leave to chase him.

And the van...well if i was a crook & im going to break into a van then there is no way in hell im leaving without looking in that locked box...its sure to have something nice in it.

I have my gear insured for $9k & the premium is just $311/year inside Australia...end of all worrys mate, even if i drop it on rocks or in the drink...its even 100% covered for commercial use at that price with theft/accidental drop etc.

Like i said...just my 2 bob mate. Pay someone else to worry over your gear.

Stustaff

In the UK you can just add it to your house insurance! hardly costs anything and it covers specially named items - Camera equipment, laptop, etc if in a car or on holiday or in the house.

Dead simple dead safe.

gus

Stustaff wrote:

In the UK you can just add it to your house insurance! hardly costs anything and it covers specially named items - Camera equipment, laptop, etc if in a car or on holiday or in the house.

Dead simple dead safe.

Not quite for a lot of us.

I tried that here also as it can be done but i found out that most insurance companys limit stolen/damaged camera gear outside the house to $2k & if they even get the slightest whiff of the gear being used for commercial (no matter how small an operation you are) use then you can forget any claim at all...$2k is just one of my L lenses.

As i said for me $311/year is great value including commercial use.

Pezpix

gus wrote:

Not quite for a lot of us.

I tried that here also as it can be done but i found out that most insurance companys limit stolen/damaged camera gear outside the house to $2k & if they even get the slightest whiff of the gear being used for commercial (no matter how small an operation you are) use then you can forget any claim at all...$2k is just one of my L lenses.

As i said for me $311/year is great value including commercial use.

Where were you Gus when I needed competent advice

So I filed the police report, went to Canon's repair facility in Irvine and got all my serial numbers from them, and began the long process of replacing my beloved gear. Fortunately, my homeowners policy should cover most everything that was lost.

Let this be a lesson to all... Insure that gear!

gtc

phew!
thats a relief-no more leaving gear in car overnight!

thats where all the bad things happen.

once heard my car being broken into at 4 am-they used a slide hammer to punch my lock-couldn't get my head off the pillow-thats why they choose 4am as its the time of deepest sleep.luckily all there was to steal was my spare wheel.

Justiceiro

Makes you want to get a gun, doesn't it?

I feel your pain man, 4 years ago somebody made of with my Flexaret, My 20 year old all manual Minolta (inherited from my uncle), My Praktica, and my wife's Olympus PEN (given to her a week earlier by her father, who had bought it in Africa back in the 60s.)

We had just moved in and hadn't set up homeowners insurance- not that it matters, all those cameras were "worth" more than their book value- at least in sentimental terms, and probably got traded for a crack rock.

Bastards.

imax

Stolen Items
I feel your pain. Check the local pawn shops in the area. Chances are that's where they will end up!

Joe

gtc

no..
i am certain that he wouldn't have had a gun.

which is good ,because i really hate guns.

the car was insured and nothing valuable was inside,so straight back to sleep.

some people with old cars choose to leave to their cars unlocked...

Antonio Correia

I had this ideia today:
Photograph the equipment we have and post it in our site.
All of this because my insurance company wants pictures of the equipment I travel with. Look what I've done and tell me about it, please.

gus

Antonio Correia wrote:

I had this ideia today:
Photograph the equipment we have and post it in our site.
All of this because my insurance company wants pictures of the equipment I travel with. Look what I've done and tell me about it, please.

Also just a handy thing i do is to include a copy of todays newspaper clearly in the photo of your gear to show ownership on that particular day. Its easier for non-camera people to understand than EXIF. I do it with everything in the house for insurance photos.

Antonio Correia

gus wrote:

Also just a handy thing i do is to include a copy of todays newspaper clearly in the photo of your gear to show ownership on that particular day. Its easier for non-camera people to understand than EXIF. I do it with everything in the house for insurance photos.

Then let me add something I just remembered afterwards:
Write in the picture the price and the date it was purchased.
Or even better: Photograph the receipt instead of the newspaper.
:

ESiggins

The camera is mightier than the sword
Somone metioned using a camera as a self-defense tool. Just wanted to add that my photography professor used his Leica to fend off an attack by an angry german shepherd. He still has scars, but that camera made it without a scratch. Talk about solid German engineering.

Nikolai

Greg,
Sorry about what happened...

However, I do second the usage of the rear LCD as a very effective rear view mirror. I use it quite often if shooting when other people are present around.
I never had Greg's case, I guess, there are not that many thiefs in our area, but OTOH it doesn't hurt to be a little bit more extra careful...

USAIR

ESiggins wrote:

Somone metioned using a camera as a self-defense tool. Just wanted to add that my photography professor used his Leica to fend off an attack by an angry german shepherd. He still has scars, but that camera made it without a scratch. Talk about solid German engineering.

I used a tripod on a dog once didn't club him
Kinda used it like a lion tamer uses a chair
I just kept going around in circles until the owner came and got him.
Boy did he want a piece of me.

Fred

cwphotos

*Mod Edit*I have been bad the last several months and left my gear in my car at night.....I will have to change that behavior.