Spirit Vision Photography Loc: Behind a Camera.

My car was stolen there. :-0

BebuLamar

Leica prices are much higher than others but that's because they are Leica not because they are mirrorless. In fact if you compare prices of the Canon, Nikon DSLR vs mirrorless they are about the same.

Tony G.

It appears to a well planned robbery with tools and get away car. Just like robbing a bank. See the links to the story:

https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Boutique-camera-shop-near-S-F-s-Union-Square-17616939.php
https://petapixel.com/2022/11/28/leica-store-in-san-francisco-robbed-at-gunpoint-of-178k-in-gear/

philo Loc: philo, ca

Use to live and work in SF. Today I would not walk around anywhere in the city carrying a camera.

therwol Loc: USA

I avoid San Francisco except for special circumstances, like wanting to see a play or show there. My wife and I saw To Kill a Mockingbird there recently (with Richard Thomas). When the show was over and we left the theater, it was hard to navigate through the many people who were sprawled out on the sidewalk on Market Street. Some of them were pretty hostile to the people leaving the theater. On another occasion, we walked from a theater to eat at Max's on Van Ness. The issue in that case was a ton of human excrement on the sidewalk and drug deals going on right in front of us. Many of the people on the sidewalk had pit bulls. I felt sorry for the dogs.

flathead27ford Loc: Colorado, North of Greeley

Wow!

gwilliams6

Actually there is another story here.

There have been a rash of San Francisco photography gear robberies with some violent assaults on photographers while they were shooting at the Golden Gate Bridge and even during a live wedding shoot at the Palace of Fine Arts there in SF. That was caught in camera.

One group of photo gear robbers even followed a photographer home from a Golden Gate Bridge photo shoot, and assaulted and robbed him in his SF home's driveway, and threatened him with guns. That was caught on his home's security cameras. The robbed photog got back in his car and thought about running down and over the fleeing robbers, but they pointed guns at him and the photog sensibly backed off, and the robbers got away with a big load of pro quality gear. That video was posted by the photog on youtube as a warning to SF area photogs.

I have photographed many times in SF, shared many of those shots here in UHH, but boy it makes you think twice about doing it alone or without protection. And I have covered war conflict and gang and mob violence in my long photojournalism career .

Cheers and best to you, and stay safe as best you can when out photographing. I do instruct my university photo students likewise how to be aware of their surroundings and people around them, so they reduce their risks when they go out on photo assignments I give them, carrying expensive photo gear.

Two of my shots from those places were photographers are getting robbed in SF, the Golden Gate Bridge and the Palace of Fine Arts. In both places I was not alone, as other photogs in my group were together. Maybe that is what kept us safe.

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MrPhotog

And a durable tool for others.

bikinkawboy Loc: north central Missouri

Great photos gwillisms. As for the homeless bums cramping in the streets, I saw the same thing in Memphis. Not that far from Bass Pro where I’m sure they could have used the bathroom.

MrPhotog

$180,000 was the value announced. Definitely comes under grand theft. Done at gunpoint, so that raises the stakes, too.

But those items have certainly had their serial numbers recorded on all the invoices and shipping forms. It is going to be awfully hard to fence them. Every Leica dealer and pawn shop is going to have that list by now.

Leica buyers like to know the provenance of their purchases, and scratching off the serial number is pretty obviously an attempt to hide something.

twb930s Loc: Aldie, Virginia

I agree with Kathy. We do need to support the local camera shops. Without them, it's mail order or internet. Nothing beats going into the "candy store" every now and then and getting the latest gossip.

twb930s Loc: Aldie, Virginia

Another great city allowed to rot from within. Not unlike DC, Baltimore, Chicago and so many others. Here they just drive trucks into the front doors of the stores at night, take what they want and drive away - often never to be seen again.

A. T.

I am a native Texan who has a concealed carry permit and I stay away from states that don't honor my carry permit for that reason. Police can't be everywhere and those states that allow criminals to rob people and prohibit victims from protecting themselves are places that I avoid. Oregon, New York, Chicago and California are states that don't deserve my visitor money so I avoid them. Those are also states that have very high crime rates.....go figure.

mwsilvers Loc: Central New Jersey

Yes, but they are just great cameras for many others.

gwilliams6

Sadly those cameras will be likely smuggled out of the country and fenced to buyers who wont care or share what serial numbers are on them, if the serial numbers aren't already removed. They had a plan on how to fence them for sure.

Cheers and best to you.