Equipment

Hi All. Very sad story I'm afraid - all my camera equipment was stolen last week on trip to Barcelona. I'm still in shock - have some lessons learned the hard way that I'll share when I get the time.

Anyway, I'm now in the process of rebuilding my gear. I had the following: Canon 40D with Canon 17-85 IS and 75-300 IS lenses, 1.4x teleconverter, numerous filters, SD memory cards, etc. Not sure yet what to replace it all with but something comparable.

If you can help, pls contact me at the following...

Thanks,

Kip Henderson
kipperhen@gmail.com
303-829-6744

This is an update to my previous note re stolen camera equipment. First, for clarification, I'm not looking for donations when I said "if you can help". I'm going to buy replacement equipment and I wanted to start with the club in case anyone has some comparable gear that they might consider selling.

Secondly, in case it can keep this from happening to someone else, here's what happened...

My wife and I were sitting on a park bench on Las Ramblas (a large pedestrian boulevard bordered by vendor stands and trees) with another couple who we were traveling with - middle of the afternoon on a nice sunny day - not overly crowded with people - just enjoying the day. The bench was crowded with the 4 of us so I set my camera case and backpack down underneath the bench, practically between my feet. When we stood up about 10 minutes later, the camera case was gone! - the backpack was still there. I STILL don't know how they did it without one of us seeing them. Pretty sure I was targeted - which creeps me out - but I sure feel stupid for letting it happen. I carried it everywhere with me and was usually very careful about where I put it.

I've registered it on stolencamerafinder.com - you enter your serial number and it supposedly searches the web for images posted from that device. I doubt that its very comprehensive (it didn't find any of the images that I've posted in web albums), and who knows what you do if it happens to get a hit.

To compound the problem, I had recently raised my homeowner's deductible because of an increase in premiums. So not sure how much, if any, insurance will cover.

So..., watch your junk, especially in Spain; maintain contact with it - hook the strap around your leg or whatever; also consider getting a separate insurance policy on your equipment.

Anyway, that's it. Thanks to everyone who's responded. I love this club!

Kip

So sorry to hear about your camera gear being stolen. Thank you for detailing what happened so that we can really be on the alert.
Thanks, too, for the suggestions to avoid theft.

I wish you well and you work with getting this taken care of.

Carolyn
cderringtontate@earthlink.net

Hello Kip,
Sorry to hear about your loss. I travel a lot in Europe each year. What you experienced can happen in any big city, even in the US. In some area, thieves are impressive in their abilities, e.g. Italy and Rome in particular. They could cut the strap around your leg and still take the camera without you noticing! It is best to keep you gear in site, so instead of under the bench with the strap around your leg, keep it in front of you at your feet with the strap around your leg. One can also get bags and straps that can not be easily cut. For example, check out PacSafe.

Roger