Dodged the Bullet - this time
Dec 22, 2018 18:37:00 #
Some how the Camera Angels were looking after me - Last week I took my "Big" camera bag/back pack to town with me - somewhere at one of my stops it was stolen from the back of my SUV - I was heart broken because I had just packed it for shooting Christmas lights and decorations so I had all my extra batteries, two chargers and extra SD cards and camera strap/harnesses and was sure that my best camera - a Canon T3i with battery pack was in it.
I always keep my Canon XTi with 18-200 Tamron VR lens in a grocery bag on the floorboard when ever I am out in the car - well a couple days went by and I was cleaning/hanging up my clothes I had draped over a chair on my side of the bed and "Dang" there was my T3i !!!! So all I lost was some easel y replaced accessories - a bag - and learned a lesson about continuing to keep my bag on the floor covered with a dark car robe.
Harvey
I always keep my Canon XTi with 18-200 Tamron VR lens in a grocery bag on the floorboard when ever I am out in the car - well a couple days went by and I was cleaning/hanging up my clothes I had draped over a chair on my side of the bed and "Dang" there was my T3i !!!! So all I lost was some easel y replaced accessories - a bag - and learned a lesson about continuing to keep my bag on the floor covered with a dark car robe.
Harvey
Dec 22, 2018 18:47:02 #
Glad you had this resolution!!!!
I worry about this as well, but worrying never produced a single great image.
I do remember losing ALL of my Nikon gear back in the early 1970s when I was a mere sprout, when some bad guy saw my bag in my car and realized that breaking a car window was pretty easy. I had never heard of renter's insurance at this early stage, and I lost well over a thousand dollars' (1974 value) worth of equipment. It took me years to recover.
Lessons learned: 1) Be discreet when showing your stuff in public. 2) Homeowners' or renters' insurance. You DO need it, and need it now....
Andy
I worry about this as well, but worrying never produced a single great image.
I do remember losing ALL of my Nikon gear back in the early 1970s when I was a mere sprout, when some bad guy saw my bag in my car and realized that breaking a car window was pretty easy. I had never heard of renter's insurance at this early stage, and I lost well over a thousand dollars' (1974 value) worth of equipment. It took me years to recover.
Lessons learned: 1) Be discreet when showing your stuff in public. 2) Homeowners' or renters' insurance. You DO need it, and need it now....
Andy
Dec 22, 2018 18:52:37 #
Dec 22, 2018 19:33:53 #
Never park and take stuff out of a camera bag and leave the rest in the trunk. I had a friend loose a 600mm lens at a bird sanctuary because he pulled it out of the trunk, then decided not to take it with him. Was gone when he got back.
Dec 22, 2018 20:29:28 #
I have in the past only had a small bag with what I would need for the camera "of the day" and kept it on the flooboard under the dash - this time I had still had "all my extra stuff" still in my largest bag after my 3 day trip to Bodie - I still had my cameras out of the bag after down loading my trip photo - never took the bag out of the car - dumb move - I'll look into how my homeowners will cover my "Stuff"
Harvey
Harvey
AndyH wrote:
Glad you had this resolution!!!! br br I worry ab... (show quote)
Dec 22, 2018 20:44:57 #
Harvey wrote:
I have in the past only had a small bag with what I would need for the camera "of the day" and kept it on the flooboard under the dash - this time I had still had "all my extra stuff" still in my largest bag after my 3 day trip to Bodie - I still had my cameras out of the bag after down loading my trip photo - never took the bag out of the car - dumb move - I'll look into how my homeowners will cover my "Stuff"
Harvey
Harvey
If it doesn't, it was relatively easy to add a camera gear full replacement rider onto my Homeowners. Full replacement, even covers international travel.
Dec 23, 2018 00:03:59 #
I hate to even talk to my home owners company - as I live up in the forest of the Sierras we are classed as a zone 7 for fire danger and I pay triple what it costs in the lower numbered zones. As my whole kit of used equipment a Canon Rebel XT, a XTI and T3i with kit lens 18-55. 100-300 and a new Tameron 18-200 w/IS I am sure it comes to less than $1,000 and in my 25+ years with SLR & DSLR cameras this is the first theft I have experienced I'll just take this as a lesson on being not as cautious as I had been in the past.
Someone mentioned theft during a bird shoot- I reflected on a time I was at a Sand Crane reserve parking lot - the birds were close so everyone - including myself were running back and forth from our unlocked/open cars - luck was with us that day.
Harvey
Someone mentioned theft during a bird shoot- I reflected on a time I was at a Sand Crane reserve parking lot - the birds were close so everyone - including myself were running back and forth from our unlocked/open cars - luck was with us that day.
Harvey
rgrenaderphoto wrote:
If it doesn't, it was relatively easy to add a camera gear full replacement rider onto my Homeowners. Full replacement, even covers international travel.
Dec 23, 2018 00:30:46 #
Harvey wrote:
I have in the past only had a small bag with what I would need for the camera "of the day" and kept it on the flooboard under the dash - this time I had still had "all my extra stuff" still in my largest bag after my 3 day trip to Bodie - I still had my cameras out of the bag after down loading my trip photo - never took the bag out of the car - dumb move - I'll look into how my homeowners will cover my "Stuff"
Harvey
Harvey
Pioneer is such a small and friendly town. I am both surprised and sad that this would happen in one of my very favorite places in the US.
Andy
Dec 23, 2018 01:30:43 #
Andy - this happened while I was down in Jackson at Walmart never happen up here in Pioneer -
Harvey
Harvey
AndyH wrote:
Pioneer is such a small and friendly town. I am both surprised and sad that this would happen in one of my very favorite places in the US.
Andy
Andy
Dec 23, 2018 02:50:33 #
Harvey wrote:
Some how the Camera Angels were looking after me -... (show quote)
I think it was the Nano-Crystal Gods that were helping!!! LoL
Good on you!!!
SS
Dec 23, 2018 05:51:55 #
rgrenaderphoto wrote:
If it doesn't, it was relatively easy to add a camera gear full replacement rider onto my Homeowners. Full replacement, even covers international travel.
Make a claim and see how nice the company is at renewal time. I had the same thing with Nationwide. Then I made a claim, and they refused to renew, then wanted to charged me more than they paid out for the claim for a surcharge.
I ended up getting homeowner's with a different company, and I joined NANPA which offers discounted premiums and use CHUBB as a carrier. $250 deductible per occurrence.
https://www.randinsurance.com/services-we-offer/for-photographers/nanpa-photographers-equipment-insurance/
I also had a plumbing leak in my home, which caused considerable damage the year before but within the same 12 month period. Getting homeowner's insurance on just my house was a pain because of these two claims - insurance companies seem to have a black list. And I was a loyal customer for 31 years without a single claim. Go figure . . .
Dec 23, 2018 06:37:38 #
I didn't used to lock my car even in our small town but always do anymore. I'm never sure what to leave in the car when we're on vacation and go out to eat, but we've been lucky so far. On local trips I cover the camera bag when I'm out shooting if I'm making a quick stop at the store. This time of year I don't take it with me when shopping.
But when the company moved us from Oregon to Wisconsin, we gave the kids our furniture and packed everything in a van and inside the towed-behind car. The last things to go in were DH's Fender guitars. During the night in Billings, Montana, someone keypunched the door locks and stole the guitars and my Instamatic camera, probably because the rest was packed so tight they would have had trouble getting to it.
But when the company moved us from Oregon to Wisconsin, we gave the kids our furniture and packed everything in a van and inside the towed-behind car. The last things to go in were DH's Fender guitars. During the night in Billings, Montana, someone keypunched the door locks and stole the guitars and my Instamatic camera, probably because the rest was packed so tight they would have had trouble getting to it.
Dec 23, 2018 06:41:45 #
See? A lapse in memory - not bringing your good camera - can be a good thing. 
Dec 23, 2018 07:45:13 #
Gene51 wrote:
Make a claim and see how nice the company is at re... (show quote)
I have had Chubb for years. In 2015 I was driving from the East Coast to San Diego for the NANPA conference and right after I got to California the local cops called to say a pipe had burst in my house and water was coming out through the front wall on the second floor. The fire sprinkler pipe had frozen. It took a while because of the size of the claim but Chubb stepped right up and fully covered me. I had no problems at renewal time. A year ago I added all my photo equipment to my policy. People in the insurance people have told me that Chubb is really the most stand-up company out there.
Dec 23, 2018 07:56:06 #
Harvey wrote:
Some how the Camera Angels were looking after me -... (show quote)
Love the grocery bag idea for times when you have to leave your camera in your car.
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