Loss of your precious!

[mcgarva]

How would you feel if you’re faced with the loss of your camera equipment? More importantly are you prepared to deal with it? Emotional and financial!

I unfortunately had my camera equipment stolen this month. Years of building up all those small pieces … gone in a second! After the roller coaster of emotions of disappointment, anger and real sense of loss, there was the reality of replacing it!

We all hope it will never happen to ourselves, but I can assure you it can. Here are a few lessons learned and tips to think about from my experience.

1. Keep a detailed inventory of your equipment … all equipment, including filters, additional batteries, etc
2. Ensure you are insured … most home polices and travel policies will cover your camera equipment. However, ensure you specify your camera equipment with the insurer as the value has to cover a single article limit. When you add up all your small filters, memory cards, readers, chargers, etc you will be surprised by the total.
3. Keep a record of purchase. Buying online with credible stockists, i.e. Amazon, means you will have access to proof of purchase. If not online, keep the receipts. The insurance company will request these!
4. Keep the boxes and serial numbers for the body and lenses. Both Canon and Nikon have websites to register stolen equipment. Hopefully this stops the thiefs moving the goods on.
5. Ensure you file a police report within the country you are in. Ensure the police report captures every single piece of equipment. This helps with the insurance claim.
6. Try and download images every evening, or as much as possible, to avoid loosing those treasured images … the biggest loss!

Other security measures I will consider to avoid this happening again …

1. GPS tag camera bag … these are cheap nowadays.
2. Additional locks for hotel rooms that have no safes
3. Be wary where your taken images … in my case someone was watching ready to pounce!

At the end of the day you have to carry your equipment all the time to get the shots. I won’t stop doing this, risks have to be taken, but I will consider security for every place I travel with a different focus now.

Any other tips or lessons learned from anyone else?

Tony

[sthuman]

Dang, what sad, but very good info. To add to your advice, a great idea would be to spread all your stuff out on a table at some point (maybe a good time to give everything a thorough cleaning) and take photos of it. That would help jar the memory in the horrible event that it was gone.

[chrishadden]

Sorry to hear about this incident - it's probable that most of us don't think it will ever happen.
Sound advice that would cover most things of value. Best of luck with your insurance claim!

[alina_kurbiel]

How it happened? I can imagine your frustration and than sadness Sooner or later the thief will be caught and he will be jailed . I wish you’ll collect new equipment and I wish you’ll forget about whole incident soon.

[amoxtli]

Sorry to hear about your loss Tony. Hopefully you will be able to recover your gear or get the insurance to pay.

For those living in the U.S. I can add that most homeowners insurance policies will add a separate rider to specifically cover camera gear. I have done this through our insurance company (The Automobile Club of Southern California) and they have photographed all my gear and taken down all serial numbers. Replacement is at full current cost (a good thing as lens prices are rising) with no deductible. The cost is $230 per year to cover all my gear, that is camera bodies, lenses, tripods, heads, monopod and bags. It's worth the price for the peace of mind alone.

[abrazo]

What awful news - I can't find the words to describe these thieves (well not for tender ears anyway!)
A relative of mine had his camera bag stolen whilst on holiday and afterwards vowed that he'd never use a camera bag again - it's like waving a flag - here is stuff worth stealing!
He bought an old padded canvas bag which worked a treat and looked like it held his packed lunch!! Not a road we can all go down when we have loads of equipment with us, but maybe worth a thought.

I hope, at least that you get some enjoyment out of the shopping for replacements.

Ann

[laryl]

So sorry to hear.. you have given some excellent tips. My insurance company has all my serial numbers for my equipment, it's covered.

One thing a lot of people don't know about is the PacSafe. I bought one and it gives me some peace of mind. I can "lock up" my camera gear in the bag by locking it to a bedpost or some furniture in a hotel room when I go to dinner for example. I can lock it to something in the car so thieves can't just quickly smash and grab it. Not something you use a lot when shooting but when you are out of town there are times you just worry about leaving your gear.

It folds up pretty small and tucks in it's own carrying case.

http://www.pacsafe.com/www/index.php?_room=3&_action=detail&id=48

[amoxtli]

One thing a lot of people don't know about is the PacSafe. I bought one and it gives me some peace of mind. I can "lock up" my camera gear in the bag by locking it to a bedpost or some furniture in a hotel room when I go to dinner for example. I can lock it to something in the car so thieves can't just quickly smash and grab it. Not something you use a lot when shooting but when you are out of town there are times you just worry about leaving your gear.

Very cool, I did not know about this. Thanks for that link Laryl. Turns out an Adventure 16 Store a mile from our house has the PacSafe. I'm picking it up tomorrow.

[mcgarva]

Great security gadget Laryl ... this would have worked perfect in my case!