>>> When someone asks me what kind of camera I have, I just reply: "Three >>> grand", because let's face it, that's ultimately what every Joe >>> wants to know. >> >> Now that's practical. > > >Not sure I'd recommend that. You could be talking to a thief, or be >overheard by one, you know. Better to say something like, "Oh, just >some old thing I dragged out of the closet". > >A few years ago a friend of mine was talking to the bell captain at a >hotel where he had stopped in to look around for possible interesting >photo locations. They got to talking about cameras, and he showed >the bell captain his Leica gear from inside his camera bag. They >talked a bit longer, and then he left and walked home. As he >unlocked the door of his apartment he was hit over the head with some >sort of club and came to to find himself tied up and some guy >ransacking his apartment. All of his camera gear and a bunch of >other stuff was taken, and it took him hours to get someone's >attention and get free. He recognized the thief as someone he'd >noticed hanging out in the hotel lobby. > >Not only did he lose all his camera gear and some other valuable >things, he had problems for several years from where he was hit on >the head. He died, and I've never been sure the head injury wasn't a >contributing factor. > >With camera gear as expensive as it has gotten, you can't be too >careful who you let know its value.
Interesting tale. I normally walk around with $45,000 worth of TV gear hung over my shoulder. I'm 6' 5"" tall and weigh 210. In 15 years I have had zillions of people comment on how expensive-looking the kit is. I have never once had a problem. Of course, that is not to say that it could easily happen. There are numerous documented cases of violent theft here in the UK. As a normal part of my work, I risk assess continually. If I think there's any possibility of unwanted attention, there are a host of security measures I call on. Things that are incredibly simple, like parking with the rear of the vehicle to the wall, so kit is not 'on display' when getting it out / putting away. The camera weighs 26 lbs and I would not hesitate to use it as a weapon in the event of an attempted robbery. That's filming kit, and there is no such thing as 'low-profile' with it. I appreciate that stills kit is a different kettle of worms ;-) and i certainly do take appropriate measures when out and about. My quip about three grand was intended to be humourous, and it would not be my normal desired opening line when accosted by a measurebator (q.v. Ken Rockwell), but amongst a Sunday afternoon crowd at a family kite flying festival, it's not a problem. In a bustling urban centre with hordes of hooded youth about, my priorities are adapted accordingly. For instance, with stills, I have several types of bags, one of which is a canvas shoulder sack, the kind that students might carry books in. It fits a camera and lens combo (even the size of Canon's offerings!) just right, and means that while walking about, no attention is drawn. Camera out of bag, snaps taken, camera in bag, move on. On the whole, photogs are a very aware lot, good at using their eyes and taking in what's going on around them. i think most on this list would register unwanted attention and act accordingly, discretion the better part of valour. As to value of gear, anything hung around a neck or a shoulder that has a lens and glitters is going to be of some value, usually several hundreds of units of any given currency. If it is going to be passed off as something dragged out of the closet, then it has got to look like it. I don't care how you dress up a camera, whether it's taping up the logo or hiding it in a canvas bag or even caking it in mud (!) but a camera is a camera. To a dope fiend it is worth a good hit after it has been hawked in a pub for a fraction of its real used value. My intention is to avoid letting the dope fiend see it, let alone get access to it.... Saturday morning musings over ;-) Cheers, Cotty ___/\__ || (O) | People, Places, Pastiche ||=====| http://www.cottysnaps.com _____________________________
