How To Protect Camera Gear From Theft
In example you don't know it, cameras and lenses are prime theft targets. Yous may never think it's going to happen to you lot, but almost every day I hear from someone who is missing thousands of dollars worth of gear with no hope of getting it back.
My gear rental company has lots of experience with preventing theft and recovering stolen items. I'chiliad non going to give specifics almost all the exact measures we take; that would be like leaving a blueprint for those who want to steal our gear. But we've learned a lot and take at least tried everything I'yard going to talk about today.
Some of the things I'll describe are total overkill for someone who owns a camera and a couple of lenses, but could be quite useful for someone else who has near of their net worth and future income tied upwards in their equipment.
Past the fashion, in case you are one of those people who merely got a 'too proficient to be true' bargain on a Craigslist or eBay lens, yous might want to read the section almost recovering stolen gear. In most states, if the original owner finds out you have their stolen lens they can take it dorsum and don't accept to pay y'all a dime. (For those of y'all who are thinking "over my dead body", I'll only say that'south never necessary.)
Insurance
First and foremost, if you don't have insurance, please expect into information technology. The expense is minimal compared to the coverage yous get. With virtually policies you not but get theft and loss coverage, but as well harm insurance and fifty-fifty coverage of gear you've rented or borrowed. There are dozens of different companies offer photography insurance (Google is your friend). Be sure to compare rates and coverage, they vary quite a bit. Joining an system like PPA can give y'all admission to even more than insurance options.
Some people get coverage through a passenger on their homeowners or renters policies, only the cost and availability vary greatly depending on what company you're with. It's a user-friendly option if available, just not always the best choice. If y'all make a claim or 2 for stolen photo equipment you may well terminate up finding your entire homeowners policy has been reclassified to higher risk or cancelled altogether. The chances of this vary depending on the company, just it's something worth looking into.
If you accept fairly low exposure to theft, insurance may be all the protection you demand or desire. People at higher take a chance of getting equipment stolen (because of what y'all take, what yous exercise, or where you do it) some further precautions might be in order. Insurance doesn't cover the inconvenience of being without equipment while the merits is settled, or help get back the images on your stolen retention cards.
Buying Registration
When you buy something, chances are pretty high the manufacturer gives yous the choice to register yourself as owner. Information technology tin't hurt. It may help, specially if what your registering is an expensive piece of gear from a smaller visitor like Zeiss or RED. These usually take fairly personal relationships with their dealers and repair centers and will often send out the series numbers of stolen gear to their networks. The more mass-market an detail is, though, the less likely it is that this will be much help unless y'all need to actually prove ownership.
There are also online services that let y'all register your photo equipment by serial number and and then make a report if it's always stolen (or check to see if that bully Craigslist deal yous're about to pull the trigger on has been reported stolen). Stolenproperty.com has a unproblematic series number database that allows you to report your stolen gear and for potential buyers to check the listing, as does stolenlostfound.org.
LensTag is a new 1 strictly for photo gear that should be opening very soon. With LensTag, your registration will be verified to ensure you actually have the equipment in your possession that y'all are registering. If you lot flag an item in your account every bit stolen/missing, LensTag volition create a public folio containing data almost the item and contact form that gets indexed past search engines, letting the world know that the item is missing or stolen.
I encourage people to annals their gear somewhere. Is it likely to get information technology dorsum if information technology'south stolen? Non notwithstanding, but if we all used them more it would be a lot more than useful. Desire another reason? If you oasis't registered your gear and someone steals it, and so the thief has the selection to register information technology and make information technology appear to be actually his/hers.
Information technology goes without maxim that you lot should also save all receipts for your equipment. If the receipt does not accept a serial number for the equipment listed directly on it, make sure you too include a flick or other certificate that shows irrefutable proof that you ain the equipment in question. The final thing you desire to do is discover your stolen equipment and not be able to prove that you ain it.
Preventing Theft
Yous tin't admittedly forbid theft, just there are things you can do that lessen your risks. Of course, the first thing is keeping your gear secured both when stored at domicile and when out shooting. NEVER transport your photography gear in a checked bag if you can perhaps avoid information technology; acquit it on the plane with you. Don't set your backpack full of lenses downwardly while you walk off to shoot an interesting scene 20 yards away, and all that other stuff.
But reality is nosotros can't completely secure our gear all of the time. Wedding photographers, for instance, have to ready some gear down somewhere while they're shooting the wedding. A reasonably sized video shoot has gear scattered all effectually the set. Even on vacation, I tin can't sit down to eat without taking off my backpack full of gear.
Here are a few things I've found useful. None of them are going to absolutely foreclose theft, simply all tin can be useful (at least they brand me feel better).
Move Alarms
Wedding photographers, cinematographers, and photographers on busy sets with lots of equipment, simply tin't go along all of their gear strapped to them at all times. Nothing's worse than coming dorsum to where you left that Pelican example with the other 4 Zeiss CP.two lenses and finding it's gone.
Proximity and motion alarms can requite you a little piece of mind in these situations. The simplest form of alarm is a basic tilt or movement-detection alert. Put it inside your case or bag and it's siren will emit a pregnant alarm if someone picks it up and walks off. A sturdy and reliable ane is Tool Guard. It'southward made for alarming tool boxes but works just fine inside a large backpack, photographic camera purse, or Pelican example. The on-off button is on a piffling black key fob that you comport so you tin arm and disarm the alarm from a few feet abroad.
Have a jib, tripod and fluid head, or other tubular item you want to warning? Go a cycle movement warning. At that place are tons of them available for less than $50. They're made to bolt effectually bicycle frame tubes, which works quite well on photography equipment with legs.
Proximity Smart Alarms
Smart telephone and proximity alarms go a step further. I like hipKey because I accept an iPhone, but there are similar devices for other phones. Download the App to your phone and put the dongle in your camera bag. You can set it to alarm if it the bag is moved, or if your phone and the bag become separated more than a certain distance. (I notice the distance alarm quite useful because I accept a habit of walking out of restaurants and leaving my backpack under the tabular array.) Y'all can fix it only to fizz your telephone, for the dongle to emit an audible alert, or both.
GPS Alarm/Locators
There are a number of different GPS locating devices bachelor, just my favorites are the PocketFinder and the Garmin GTU 10. They're pocket-sized plenty to tuck into the foam of a Pelican case, the lining of a big camera bag, or underneath the molded plastic of a supertelephoto case.
These are a more expensive items than a unproblematic motion warning. In addition to the purchase price (around $150) there is a monthly fee for GPS tracking on a proprietary app. Personally, I justify the expense partly because it's a multiple-use device. It's been hung on my 11-year quondam's neck during those times, similar the community carnival, when he needs to brand sure none of his peers know he has parents but nosotros demand to know where he is. It also spends a fair amount of time on my dog's neckband.
These aren't worthwhile (and are too large) to protect a $600 camera with a kit lens, but if you have, say, a 600mm f/4 or a set of cinema lenses yous want to protect they're worth considering. If yous've ever had anything stolen, you know the police don't have recovering your lens equally their superlative priority of the day. But if you tin can bear witness them "my stolen lens is at 123 Principal Street" chances are they'll be very interested (first in how y'all know that, so in getting information technology dorsum). It can also exist set as a proximity alarm, buzzing your phone if your equipment moves.
The pocket finder tin can be controlled remotely from a smartphone or iPad; you can set it to check in merely occasionally to save bombardment life, merely increment GPS location to every few minutes if you observe your gear suddenly missing. It's not perfect – for example information technology may not be able to locate from inside a building (in my experience they can lock on from within a frame business firm or a car, but probably non within a high-rise apartment building). Apparently a thief could detect the GPS unit and ditch it, but my (fairly extensive) experience with thieves is they're generally neither brilliant nor curious. If they steal something that comes in a nice case, they'll leave the instance lone figuring information technology adds to the value.
Tagging Your Gear?
Tagging your gear may, or may not, be a proficient option for you. Information technology provides two possible benefits. First, a thief may laissez passer on theft-deterrent-labelled gear simply because it'south harder to sell. Second, the label may help y'all recover stolen gear, either because someone has noticed it or considering you tin hands place it equally YOUR equipment. (If y'all recall the police force accept a simple manner to figure out that Canon 5DII serial number 123456789 belongs to John Doe, y'all are incorrect. That lens can sit in the recovered property room for a year.)
Labels
Some people are very hesitant to label their gear because information technology might hurt the resale value of their equipment. For people who purchase and sell equipment frequently this may be a pertinent point. On the other mitt, showing the theft-deterrent label and offering to transfer the registration with the sale might actually be a positive selling point. Information technology might also help a transaction in other ways (I volition transfer the theft-deterrent code to your name after you lot accept accepted the item and institute it satisfactory).
The best theft-proof labels are going to be obvious, and I'd besides recommend you put a label on the outside of the case (and your camera bag), just hoping information technology might brand a thief decide to motion to a improve target earlier he's made off with your gear.
If you make up one's mind to label your gear, it'due south best to choose a characterization that covers all bases. Bar code labels are smaller and these days you don't fifty-fifty need a separate device to read a bar code; your smart telephone will do. A number of companies offering tamper proof bar lawmaking labels and websites where you tin can log on and register the items you lot've tagged with each barcode. If a police force enforcement bureau or reputable pawn shop possessor calls or logs in, the company will notify you where your gear is and notify them it has been reported stolen.
There are dozens of brands, simply I think the ones from STOP are excellent. In one case applied they are almost impossible to remove. If a thief does manage to chisel them off, they leave an enduring tattoo that says "Stolen Property" in brilliant cherry-red. The visitor has a registration website where you can annals your items by barcode, etc. They make labels every bit small as ii″ past iii/4″, which will work for most SLR cameras and lenses, only may exist a chip too large for mirrorless gear. At that place are several other companies that make smaller, tamper resistant bar codes that will work for smaller items.
There likewise is the option of using a small-scale bar lawmaking for future identification should your gear turn up missing. They tin be put in inconspicuous places on the particular — thieves oftentimes scrape off or alter the series numbers before selling the item, simply may well miss a bar code. If yous're handy, you can fifty-fifty put information technology inside of the lens mount or lesser plate of a camera. That does zilch to prevent theft, obviously, but it might increase your chance of recovery of a stolen detail.
Immobilize makes a line of microdot-sized bar codes in kits that include big, removable "all items in here are traceable" stickers (for the outside of gear bags), along with a web based registration organization. All of the microdot-size bar codes you purchase accept a single number that you register. That way any stolen gear has the same traceable number, which simplifies things quite a flake if you lot get an unabridged camera purse full of gear stolen.
There are other, simpler options. You can buy felt-tip markers that write in invisible ink that only shows up nether UV light, for example. (Equally a alert, I'thousand told bright summertime sunlight can sometimes make UV-visible ink show up, so you probably don't want to write your phone number on the hood of your 500 f/4 lens. Or maybe you lot do.)
RFID Tags
Unless you have lots of gear that might exist stolen, RFID tags aren't as practical as unproblematic labels. They do accept one major reward over labels, though. In theory, a person with a scanner can identify a tagged item several feet away. Allow's imagine y'all're pretty sure you know who is in possession of your stolen equipment. A law-enforcement amanuensis or private investigator with a scanner could positively identify that your lens is inside a camera handbag or mounted to that tripod. I emphasize police force-enforcement agent or other recovery professional because trying to repossess stolen gear yourself is amazingly stupid. People get hurt that way. People become arrested for assault that fashion.
At that place are hundreds of RFID tags and readers available. Some tag-reader combinations can be read at fairly long distances (10 meters) but they crave specialized equipment that's not widely available. More than practical tags can but be read at distances of a couple of feet, simply yet can be worthwhile. Tags similar to the fries implanted in pets are bachelor at reasonably low cost ($10 – $fifteen per tag or so) and can be read by equipment bachelor almost anywhere.
For example, if yous buy an expensive guitar or even surfboard, in that location's a adept hazard it has an implanted security RFID chip (they just drill a pocket-size hole, put the bit in, and glue the hole shut before they paint and end the item). These are truly tiny devices and much less likely to exist found past a thief than a barcode. Snagg sells these devices and maintains a website where yous tin register anything that you've 'chipped'.
There are a ton of places yous can put such a chip in camera gear: brand a pocket-size slit and push information technology within the safe padding effectually a viewfinder, glue it inside a lens hood, gum it between the straps of your camera where it folds back and along. If you're even slightly handy you tin can open the rear mount of a lens or any of the plates of a camera and glue information technology inside (or your local camera repair shop can do it for you in about 5 minutes). Once again, I wouldn't spend this kind of money protecting my point-and-shoot, just do consider it with a piece of expensive gear.
Afterwards the Gear is Stolen
Reporting Your Gear as Stolen
If your gear does get stolen, the quicker you get to work the better your chance of recovery. Brand a police study immediately. In busy police force jurisdictions they aren't going to be nearly as excited about your theft equally you are. Insist on making a report, even if yous have to travel to the precinct to do it. Make sure the study includes serial numbers and information about any theft deterrent measures, similar tags or barcodes. This is the most of import thing you can practise because chances are the numbers volition get entered into a database of stolen items somewhere. That's probably all the investigation yous're going to get. The NCIS van is not going to pull up to lift footprints and do chemical assay of the crime scene.
You might want to check and run into if the area had any video surveillance. If there was, tell the law, it may (or may non) perk their involvement. You might besides inquire the security photographic camera's owner if they'd be willing to review their footage for you.
Locating Your Gear
In most cases, the person stealing your equipment isn't going to be camera savvy. A guy who breaks into your car or house and takes your camera bag probably isn't going to wait to the major photography forums as a get-go resort for selling stolen gear. Spotter the local Craigslist and eBay like a militarist. Thieves put stuff upwardly quickly. Nosotros've really had items 'rented' from united states listed for sale on Craigslist before they were even delivered.
It's worthwhile to search the local pawnshops, too. I would non march in announcing that you lot are looking for your stolen gear. One time you make that declaration, yous've told the pawnshop owner that any information he gives out can only cause him bug. Just ask, for example, if they accept any Nikon D800s (or whatever information technology is you are missing). Nigh shops can't sell an detail for a sure amount of time after they take it, and so they may tell y'all "nosotros'll accept one we can sell in 2 weeks" or something like.
If information technology was a camera that was stolen, remember the series number may well be in the EXIF data. Search online to run into if any photos have been posted with information technology after the theft. Stolencamerafinder.com and CameraTrace.com are awesome for this. Both constitute about a dozen of the 50 or and so images I'd posted with my latest camera in about a 2d. They also continue a registry of stolen cameras and Photographic camera Trace also sells permanent tags like those discussed above. It's non much help for lenses, but we've recovered of cameras this way (unfortunately, usually from the person who bought them on Craigslist, not the original thief).
The all-time tip when trying to locate your stolen gear is: Be patient.
In common police force countries such as the U.Due south., there is a full general rule of law called the nemo dat rule. To boil it downwardly, it ways that no 1 who has no ownership title in the goods cannot give championship to a purchaser, even if the purchaser is unaware that the seller does not have title. What does that hateful for you lot? Generally (in that location are exceptions, and every state has slightly unlike laws), it ways that if the thief sells your equipment to someone else, even if that person has no reason to know the equipment was stolen, information technology still belongs to you lot. Sure, some poor guy who bought information technology off Craigslist is going to get screwed, but that's the adventure you accept when you purchase used gear from untrusted sources.
That should also exist a lesson to everyone out there: unless you lot are positive you are dealing with the original owner of equipment, at that place is always the chance you are ownership stolen equipment and that the original owner might come calling. Oft times, when you run across big resellers on eBay and the like, they've bought their equipment on forums and on Craiglist, and are simply reselling it on eBay, which means information technology is just equally likely to be stolen as information technology is if you are buying it directly from the sketchy guy on Craigslist.
Recovery
If y'all find your stolen items listed for sale, do non have action yourself, fifty-fifty if you lot are Billy BadA** and take a posse of as bad buddies. Simply Google "Craigslist shootings" to see how that tin work out – the last time I checked there were near fifteen pages of news manufactures on Craigslist-deals-gone-bad that ended in gunplay. Notify the police. If the police aren't interested you can consider hiring a private investigator or compensation hunter to make contact. If the equipment involved isn't worth their fee, you lot need think long and hard well-nigh why yous'd put yourself at risk over that corporeality of coin.
If the police aren't interested in a 'sting' and you don't desire to hire a PI, y'all tin can notify Craigslist or eBay of the stolen items listed for auction. They may accept the add downwards or flag the account internally. It won't get you your gear back but may inconvenience the thief.
If the items accept been pawned, your rights vary greatly depending upon the state's laws. If you find your equipment in a pawn shop, and y'all've followed our instructions than yous've already filed a police report and you've got documentation in the form of buy receipts and photographs that can positively identify the equipment as your own.
You'll need to contact the police and tell them the situation. Be wary hither, many police volition tell y'all your only option is to purchase back the equipment from the pawnbroker. While that may be true, that is not necessarily truthful. That is the default respond from the police force because most items that are pawned don't have unique series numbers like camera equipment. Unfortunately, while you lot might not have to buy it back from the pawnbroker, you lot may be better off doing so than dealing with the headache of trying to get it back from them otherwise. Depending on the state and their pawn laws, it will ordinarily take hiring a lawyer and having a court hearing to get your equipment dorsum from the broker.
If you detect your stolen gear in the possession of a photographer who has either bought information technology second-hand (or perhaps is the thief) you nonetheless have options. Retrieve the nemo dat rule! From our experience, if you find someone who has innocently bought your stolen equipment, you'll have a greater chance of success if you act nicely. Asking the person for whatever information they accept on the thief is a good way to start. If the person has used Paypal or some other protected form of payment when they bought the equipment from the thief, they may be able to recover their payment directly from the payment processor. Offer a reward often eases the sting for that person and makes them cooperative.
If they aren't cooperative you lot still take options, but yous need to determine if they are worthwhile. If the law don't desire to get involved, you lot'll need to consult a lawyer to determine exactly how to get about regaining your equipment in your state. You lot'll spend some money, simply in the case of expensive equipment it may be worthwhile.
Near the author: Roger Cicala is the founder of LensRentals. This article was originally published here.
Paradigm credits: What'southward in your camera handbag? by MIKI Yoshihito (´･ω･), insurance by Alan Cleaver, Dog Tags ii by sjbresnahan, Baby-sit Dog by Svadilfari, Police force Week May 15, 2010 past cwwycoff1, Binoculars portrait (dscn4659_mod_vign_sm) by gerlos, Private Eye by Stuart Chalmers
Source: https://petapixel.com/2013/06/25/how-to-protect-yourself-against-camera-gear-theft-as-a-photographer/
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