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So you've been shooting for a while now, and have started to accumulate a nice collection of lenses, perhaps bodies, flashes and the likes. Nothing would be worse than losing all this equipment, having it stolen or broken, then having to pay out of your pocket to replace it all. You've read it online in these forums, or another forum, "some asshole stole my stuff, please keep an eye on craigslist etc etc", it's the worst feeling in the world, and it will most likely happen to you, unless you're extremely careful. It happened to me, it happened to a lot of photographers that I know.
My scenario was a common one, I was walking around with my equipment in a Lowepro bag in Montreal about 8 years ago, I returned to my car, put the camera bag in the trunk (safe right?), drove off, parked somewhere else downtown, then went for dinner. Someone who obviously makes their living off of this type of theft, apparently followed me (assumption) after seeing me place the camera gear in my car, and waited for me to park again. Once parked, I can only assume that as a professional it took less than 20 seconds to smash my window, pop the trunk, take the bag, and walk off. Total cost for me was a Canon EOS 1V-HS, 15mm fisheye lens, 50mm and a junky sigma 70-200. If I had insurance, I could have gotten new equipment, for a fraction of the price. Lessons learned.
Some tips for preventing theft
- never ever leave your gear unattended
- don't open your camera bag at your car, or play around with your gear and leave some of it behind
- if you're out to shoot, you're out to shoot, don't leave your bag with a bro while you skate around
- purchase non-traditional camera company bags, a Dakine sequence or a Burton zoom is more discrete than a Lowepro bag.
- don't decal your car with your photography logo, or advertising photography services
- don't park your car anywhere with your camera gear in it, ever.
Insurance
If you're not shooting commercially you can get your gear insured fairly easily by adding it to your homeowners/home renters plan for a couple of extra dollars a month. Keep in mind if you go this route and start making money from photography, when you make your claim, the insurance company will no doubt do an audit and discover you're making money from the equipment and void your policy.
If you are shooting commercially then it's best to find an insurance agent that specializes in insurance for photographers. There are a couple of companies out there that specialize in just this thing:
- (cdn) http://www.cgbgroup.com/media.html
- (usa) http://www.tcpinsurance.com/ "insurance for photographers"
- (usa) http://www.ppa.com/benefits/insurance.php
* I don't have any experience with these companies.
Discuss this article - post links to more insurance companies etc
