Stolen LF equipment. Heart broken, to say the least

[abiggs]

My wife and I were house sitting for a family member up in San Francisco this pa st weekend. Off to a great start, I photographed the Golden Gate bridge from dif ferent viewpoints, capturing some great images on 4x5 Tri-X film.

Until I woke up.

We got into our car this morning, which was parked on the street behind the gara ge, only to find that it had been borken into. The thief obviosly didn't know wh at to think of a collapsed Canham 4x5 camera. Strange looking, he must have thou ght. Hmmm, now this Domke black satchel would look great, though. Gitzo? What is that? He left that, too.

I am sure he will never appreciate the differences between a 210mm Sironar-S and a Sironar-N, or my modified Pentax Zone VI spot meter. Absolutely not. And my a ssortment of filters, film holders, Leica 5X loupe and many others.

Anyway, not to make a sob story worse, it will take me a long time to accumulate these tools again. My wife and I were planning a month-ling trip in southern Ut ah / Arizona / New Mexico in May. I just don't have the energy to feel excited a bout photographing those places in 35mm. I anticipate that I will again get thes e items again. Not for a while, though.

I called the insurance company after filing a report with the police. All seemed to be going well, until the agent depressingly told me that they would only rei mburse me up to $250, since the crime happened at another location other than ou r home. Ba humbug.

Thank you all for all of the wonderful information you have given me over the la st 12 months since I purchased my first LF camera. I have learned a great deal. Hopefully I can return the favors when I get back into LF again.

Keep shooting.

-Andy Biggs

[Michael Kadillak]

I was deeply disturbed to read your post. At the same time I am pleased that you and your wife are OK and did not have the thief break into the house. That could have been much worse. I can only hope that you hit the lottery or come into some money to get back to where you were with your equipment.

A thief can take your physical possessions and leave you feeling terribly violated, but he cannot take your knowledge and enthuisiasm for the art.

I believe that there is a lesson to be learned at many junctures in this think called life and your situation is no different. Verify that your insurance covers you wherever you are not just at your house and never leave your equipment in your car overnight if at all possible. Here is to a quick recovery.

Cheers!

[Kevin Crisp]

Andy: I suggest you write up a description of what was lost and fax it with serial numbers to the major camera stores in San Francisco. Does this sound far fetched? Thieves often go right to the major stores since they don't really know what the stuff is and Fox photo isn't going to help them out. It is too specialized for most pawn shops. They sell it with a sob story that explains why they don't know anything about it. At least in California, the stores are supposed to run the serial numbers of what they buy used to make sure the stuff isn't stolen. In reality they usually don't do this. When I got cleaned out back in 1991, the thief went to a MAJOR LA Camera store and the stuff was traded in with a story about how it belonged to his dad blah blah blah. The numbers were not run, in violation of the law. The next good faith purchaser of my Zone VI 8X10 camera called Zone VI to try to get the warranty transferred to him, Zone VI called me since I'd told them (and had ordered a replacement), and I called the MAJOR LA Camera store. On the phone they said they'd taken in a "bunch of stuff" from this guy [gee - what might that other stuff be?], but when the cops got there to reclaim all that stuff the story was they'd only taken in the one camera. Sadly, some stores don't seem to care too much about following the law on used equipment with serial numbers, and after they buy it and are going to be the ones out of pocket when the real owner comes, they won't help you out. (I almost had mixed feelings when that MAJOR store went up in flames during the so-called King riots.) But if you get the list to them now before its money out of their pocket, you never know. Make it a one page fax which gives instant notice that it is a list of stolen property, reference the Report # with SFPD or whoever you reported it to. Describe whatever bag it may be brought in when it comes time to fence it. Also, read your own insurance policy, don't take the agent's word on it. Check your auto policy for possible coverage of items stolen from the car. I know what a rotten feeling this is (even when insured) and I'm sorry you had this experience.

[Kevin Crisp]

Also, I wanted to add something for the general enlightenment of anybody else who shivers when they read what happened here: Read your homeowners' policy and see if there is a cap on certain types of losses. Many policies, for example, will have a $200 cap on stolen coinage or cash. A limit on silverware. A limit for firearms. You get the idea -- insurance companies aren't dumb and they tend to put caps in there on the stuff most likely to be stolen. They think this stuff over drinks at the Actuary Bar. Is there a cap on camera equipment? Better find out now. Second point: Do you have replacement cost coverage? It doesn't cost that much more to get it and you don't get in a big fight with the adjuster over what is the depreciated value of a 6 year old meter, a 30 year old Symmar, etc. You get the price of a new one. Don't own a house? Get a renters' policy, they are available and if you assume your landlord or his/her/it's insurer is going to take care of you, you're wrong. And, if you're a pro, don't assume that your homeowners' will cover you for equipment you use in business. I guarantee you there's an exclusion for that, you need a business policy. Anyway, I've said enough, but just reading about this made me angry about what happened a decade ago.

[Jeffrey Goggin]

Although it won't solve your problem, use the $250 from your insurance company to rent a lens for your trip. Photomark in Phoenix, AZ rents a 210mm Sironar-N for $54/week and perhaps they will cut you a better deal still for a monthly rental. You can find them at www.photomark.com

I also second Kevin's advice, as I once recovered a pair of expensive audio amplifiers that were stolen by contacting all of the dealers in the area and asking them to keep their eyes open.

[Paul Schilliger]

Andy, you have my sympathy, this is my worst fear too. Don't get discouraged. By the way, I have ben asking a quote to my insurance company recently. They ask 4% of the new value a year! I d eclined.

Paul

[Bruce M. Herman]

Andy,

Sorry to hear about your loss. You may wish to ask your insurance agent if you can purchase an all loss (not sure if these are the correct words) rider to cover your photographic gear. I have State Farm home owners insurance and have such a rider. They have one rate for people who do not use their gear commercially and another for those who do. They have replaced cameras and lenses that I have simply dropped and broken. I've never had any stolen. Keep in mind that they have the option to repair or replace, and that if your camera or lens is no longer in production, you may have to convince them that item x is a more appropriate replacement than item y.

This isn't meant to be a State Farm advertisement, as I suspect that other agencies have comparable policies. I would expect to pay 2-4% per year. If you can't afford to replace all or a significant portion of your gear in the event that it is stolen or lost, this is a small price to pay.

By the way, do the trip, cameras or not. You never know when something will make such a trip impossible for you.

Best of luck,

[Paul mapstone]

Sorry to hear about problem. Just one small suggestion, I picked up a Pinhole camera from Lensless Camera Mfg. Co in Santa Barbara. I had great fun with it shooting 4x5. http://www.pinholecamera.com/

Regards Paul Mapstone

[Stephen Vaughan]

So sorry to hear that you have suffered at the hands of "petty" thieves - it isn't petty when you are the victim! I have had my equipment stolen a number of times, and sympathise with how empty it makes you feel. Difficult to be enthusiastic about anything creative when all you can think of is where your belongings are and what a waste it seems. After one theft I went into a store here in London and described the equipment (5x4 wooden field/limited edition lenses) which was all quite unusual. A half hour after I left the store, a guy came in with the equipment. His story was the familiar one about it being his Dad's old camera. The secondhand-dealer was clever enough to keep him waiting, saying he was really interested and would like to get the manager to have a look. He called the police while the man was waiting and he was arrested. Although I got some of my equipment back, it made my insurance claim for the rest of my gear much more complicated and slow, until I began to wish they hadn't caught him after all. It would have been easier to have just put it behind me and started again with new equipment. The best way to get over such a violation is to get back on the horse and make some new work! You have the sympathy and support of everyone here on the forum. All g

[Rob Pietri]

DITTO, ABSOLUTELY, Get a description, serial numbers, ANYTHING and fax it around, walk in to any and all camera stores. Most reputable stores are very co operative in this area and have lists of serial numbers and check equipment they take in against them. I have heard stories of stolen equipment returned.