Hi all, I'm still new to photography and just started owning my first DSLR. I read some cases about camera bags/equipment stolen or even studios broke into. I open this topic so everyone can share about how they prevent theft, and probably can let other ppl be aware and also find the best prevention possible.

You may also share your unfortunate incidents so others can learn from it and know what to do in the future.

~ Prevention is better than cure ~

My ideas :
- Never keep your camera equipment in the car at parking even if it's only for a while. It's only few seconds away from thief breaking your windshield and grab it away.
- If you need to keep them in your car, get some dark fabrics or item covering them. Maybe it's a good idea to keep these cover items in the car
- Be cautious when you are at places which thief can easily snatch your bag away
- If you need to leave your bag for a while, leave them with your friends. Never trust anyone you do not know with your equipment (even if they look nice!)

always carry your bag with you during shooting
it is a bad idea to put aside when u r focusing at the view finder..
where u cannot see whatever else around you

Yes.. i never leave any camera in my car before.

My dad used to leave a minolta SLR inside and everything gone with the bag

If I do leave big lense like EF1200 f2.8 USM IS L in the car (not every time need it and kind of burden), I usually turn on the stealth mode so no one can see. But you need to know how long can the battery last for the stealth mode. Remember to charge the battery for the lense kao kao or else stealth mode lenses are useless without the battery juice

By the way, I heard stealth mode is not 100% safe. Some say use laser pointing at it can see some distortion. Is it true? I do not have portable laser source with me...

Don't stay in Landed Property. Its more prone to break in.

if can bring ur system to ur office everyday LOL

Can you bring 2 camera + 6 (not small) lenses to office everyday?

i said "If can"

so none of you gonna miss out stephen chow

Aiya... you remind me of my sad story....

Actually computrekker kind of small la.. I cannot even put Gary Fong diffuser there if I have a white lense inside. I am thinking to get the EX bigger version, what do you think?

insured?? ekkekekeke.. i know it is not prevention but i case S*it Happen..

yup...
insure ur gears la...=)
theft some times unpredictable one...
u keep nice nice oso kene rob...

So you drive a Aston Martin Vanish is it?

I do not have the car... Just the lense.

Can anyone give advice on how you can get your gears insured?
How much can you claim back? Theft also insured?

Please don't ever ever keep your DSLRs, cameras, laptops, handphones, and electronic devices in your car.
The thief has the sensor that could sensor the location of DSLRs, cameras, laptops, handphones, and electronic devices.

My brother lappy was left in the car when was having meal before departing to UK last year and it was lost when my family walked to the car.

Unless your equipment has stealth mode to shield from any sensors....

I bring my gear to office every single day.. At first, my colleagues kept asking what in the bag (my bulky nova5 aw), i felt embarassed.. evry single day, for the first few weeks, by different ppl.. then when everyone knew ady, then everything seems normal again.. everyone soon realized that the bag has became a part of me... haha.. me and the "bag".. so, as of now, it has been 6 months i bring my gear to my office.. no one's laughing now.!

its bulky and heavy stuffs btw- 2 bodies, grips, lenses, flash and other stuffs.., and i dont mind dragging it everyday..

i left my laptop at office since i think it is more secure of doing so.. cos i'm working at a research institution and its a longggg way from the main entrance of the institution to my office and yes, got guards on duty 24-7 as well as security cameras, security system, and ya, my office is at the fifth storey of a building w/out elevator, and there are locked doors after locked doors before can even get into my room... if that dont deter the thieves from sniffing/stealing my stuffs, i dont know what else will..


suggestion:
only bring ur valuables home during weekends when u need to use it/got assignment. and keep it in the bedroom, lock ur bedroom as well as prepare urself with pepper spray/katana or whatever else as last line of defence.. dont give up ur stuffs w/out a fight...

dont ever leave valuables in ur car even when ure pumping gas at a gas station (when u want to pay at the counter).. at least lock ur door before going to the counter..

if u really really really need to leave it in ur car/house, take out the batteries from ur gadgets..(i heard someone mentioned that there are detectors which can detect gadgets if the battery still attached to it, cos the gadget emit some radio waves or something...)..

at the highway rest area (RnR): this is where most ppl made mistakes, dont leave any valuables in ur car.. take it out..bring it even into the toilet (unless u take turns with someone who's riding with u la..)

carrying your gears with you wherever you go is one thing. But even you are at home, robbers can still break-in to rob you.

security alarm is kinda common & affordable nowadays. I recommend everyone to install one at you house. Chances of break-in is lesser when robbers see there's an alarm.

another thing is, make sure that ure oso "stealth" when u bring ur gadgets back home.. robbers only rob u if they know ure worthy.. whn ure coming out of ur car for example, watch ur surrounding see if got any unfamiliar faces stalking on u.. i'm glad i lived in a neighborhood with really friendly neighbors and most recognized each other... so, if got any unfamiliar, suspicious person around, we can easily "tagged" that fella, notify the authorities..

Yeah Agreed...

And it remind me of the high-tech movie where security system can use laser as security measure to chop off people hand, legs or head into tiny pieces... That is coool...

I wish I can have such technology built into the camera... No one dare to come near also...

If that technology is available, you will not get your hands on it. No law will approve it. You might even get a trip to the 'zoo'.

Buy a comprehensive house insurance that protects from burglaries and fire. Then whatever rubbish you put inside the house will also be covered (with limitations of course). Do a calculation of all your assets and rubbish within the house to determine how much you are willing to cover.

o.o How to do stealth mode TheVoip?

It depends on your lense/camera.

Example; EF1200 f2.8 USM IS L -> There is a switch there stating "Stealth 0, 1, 2, 3". Do select the strength you want. Default is '0' mean turn off. And highest is '3'. Do note that higher setting will consume more battery power.

Just curious, how does it work?

i know how to take out the battery from the camera n the small little battery inside too...
but for laptop, can take out the main battery only~
they still can scan where is ur laptop...
how to take out the build in battery or watever u call it???

lol cmos battery?

To be frank, I dunno. I am no rocket scientist... I also dunno how my computer works.. or how my camera works... But I only know which one give good results la and then that's the good stuff!

Try Google around maybe you can find the answer?

If you want to see how it works in action, come to Perak, a mystery small town call Tanjong Rambutan and I show you... The lense is great for handheld... The weight is just nice... about 100kg only...

bro, still can't find this "stealth lenses" from google
Anyway, there are no theft fullproof, but just some discussion perhaps to open up the possibilities of preventing one to happen to us. Just don't take chances

You actually fell for his joke? LOL.

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Added on February 16, 2008, 10:49 amAnother way your camera/lens can be stolen is by snatch theft. One of my office colleague's 350D got stolen while holidaying in Barcelona. Some fella bumped into him for distraction, another snatched and then both quickly ran away. It happened really fast, and that being in a tour group didn't bother the thieves.

I've heard of another case too where the photog got stuck in a crowded place, and then by the time he manages to get out, his camera bag was opened and body+lens was already lost. Pickpocket operation.

If possible, try and keep your receipts and warranty cards in a separate place from your gear. If the gear gets stolen, at least the documentation will come in useful later to prove your ownership of the stolen gear.

I rather kept pet than having a security alarm. Active VS Proactive
I had 2 cats, 2 dogs Try to break in and you'll taste the scooby-doo "flying-feet" and Garfield Claw...

Seriously, if you can keep some dogs...(if can, not to be racial, some can't ok ) it will be an addition to secure your home. Well, to be honest, cats can't guard home from thief, but not when you mentioned snake or rats...

(My dogs scare of snake, but my cat never )

Ah, talking about leaving things in car, never do that on laptop or devices that ommit some signal when scanned. Stealth mode, stealth mode

nowadays we call it Ulu Kinta ! Tanjong Rambutan is so wrong cause it's not a tanjong by the seaside !

Brother, you stay there as well? How long have you been there? Which one are you?

FYI, I am the only one with 1Ds mark IV + EF1200 f2.8 USM IS L !!!!

Come to say Hi to me ya...

For normal hobbyist like me (1 body, 1 flash, 2 -3 lenses, approximate value RM5k) can request your insurers for houseowner/householeder policy to include your camera gear into the houseowner/householder policy on an All Risks basis. Additional premium will be around 1% of your sum insured.

For those pro people with more than RM20k or so worth of equipments can get a standalone All Risk Policy. Premium will be also around 1% of Sum Insured.

However since these are high risks equipments, usually insurers will slap an excess of RM250 to RM500 on each and every loss.

Who needs more info can PM me. Don't worry, i am not an insurance agent