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STOLEN LEICA M240 (Serial 4825516) and 35 mm F2 Summicron Lense


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My Leica M240 (Serial Number 4825516) and 35 mm F2 Summicron Lense

was stolen from me on my first day in PARIS on July, 7, 2014. It was stolen just right out side of Bastille Metro station. Retail value is about 10,000 CAD or 7500 Euros. However, this camera is worth much, much more to us in sentimental value. Any help or tips is kindly appreciated.

 

JP

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My Leica M240 (Serial Number 4825516) and 35 mm F2 Summicron Lense

was stolen from me on my first day in PARIS on July, 7, 2014. It was stolen just right out side of Bastille Metro station. Retail value is about 10,000 CAD or 7500 Euros. However, this camera is worth much, much more to us in sentimental value. Any help or tips is kindly appreciated.

 

JP

 

Very sorry to your loss,

Could you share experiences how it happen to be a study case for us. (sure when you got free time from the mess)

Our people love to walking along the street with camera which some place quite risky.

Thanks

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So sorry, PARIS is a REALLY f.... place for tourists. While I was looking after my M6

(some years back in P.) somebody pinched my purse within the METRO.

 

The good thing; I still got my camera.

 

But other places aren´t much better, be careful ... You could call it globalization.

 

 

Best

GEORG

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Sorry for your loss, I'm afraid Paris has a reputation; extreme care is needed on the metro; only take with you what you need for the day, put cash and cards on inside zipped pockets and wear fastened camera bags across your chest.

 

Even so, it's easy to be distracted, jostling people, people trying to sell you flowers or pretend they have just picked up a gold ring you have dropped (turns out to be a plumbing olive) or who are asking the way.

 

People used to complain about Naples and Palermo. Maybe I have just been lucky but I have never had a problem there. Different in Barcelona where I was accosted by gypsies (or whatever the PC term is for these people) and in Paris Nord where I became aware of a young boy with his hands in my (empty) pockets who then escaped through the closing doors of the train but not before I had hit him.

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Report the loss to police and contact your insurance company. If you're not insured, it's a very costly lesson and you have my sympathy.

 

I've just re-valued my Leica kit and was interested to find how much the full cost replacement is now following recent price increases (over £3,020 for the 28 Summicron Asph!). I upped my total value.

 

I'm insured with a good company (Aaduki) and it costs me over £600 a year. This always hurts, but it includes 3rd party liability - which is something we all need if we work with (potentially litigious) human beings, and is a no-brainer when you think that losing an M + 3 or 4 lenses will set you back over £10,000 to replace at new prices.

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I've been to Paris plenty of times for the last 10 years (our youngest daughter lived there for four years), and have never experienced anything of this. Always use the Metro, which is the best way to get around fast. I've had first a M6, later replaced by two M7, today a M240. Carried in a Hadley Bradley. It's all about attitude and being cautious; carry you camera bag in front of you in the Metro, If you feel someone is following you, show that you see them and when visiting the obvious tourist targets, take care. Paris isn't worse or better than any other big city, and it's a wonderful city to visit and explore.

 

...I've also walked around in downtown Detroit with my M6 without experiencing any threats. Maybe blue-eyed Scandinavian have our own saints..

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OP

 

A short walk from where your camera was stolen is La Maison du Leica, Blvd Beaumarchais. Tell the owner Jean-Marc what happened in case someone comes into his shop to try and sell your gear to him.

 

Of course as others mentioned get a police report so that you can claim it on your insurance policy.

 

I stopped thanking the metro years ago and now take buses in Paris. Plus you can see the sites while getting from A to B. Young under age Eastern European girls, do LOTS of stealing on and around the Metro in Paris. Also there are girls that put a clip board under your chin for you to sign something. If this ever happens to you and as soon as they get your attention and get you stopped in that position, IMMEDIATELY spin around to see you is behind you since that will be the person who will steal something from you.

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My Leica M240 (Serial Number 4825516) and 35 mm F2 Summicron Lense

was stolen from me on my first day in PARIS on July, 7, 2014. It was stolen just right out side of Bastille Metro station. Retail value is about 10,000 CAD or 7500 Euros. However, this camera is worth much, much more to us in sentimental value. Any help or tips is kindly appreciated.

 

JP

 

Sorry your very first post on the forum had to be about having your camera and lens stolen. No doubt that's a buzzkill, especially on vacation, and especially seeing as how you feel so much sentimental value for a camera you can't have owned more than a year or so at most. Luckily it's still in current production and in plentiful supply, so it's not irreplaceable as many items of sentimental value typically are.

 

You didn't mention how it was stolen. Did someone deftly remove an M240 with lens from a closed camera bag without you feeling it, and you only noticed it missing later on? Or did someone slash the strap or rob you with a weapon? I ask because those of us who go to Paris frequently would like to keep tabs on any new trends in thievery that may be cropping up.

 

I have traveled all over Europe including many times in Paris. There I was once approaced by an old lady in a red shawl holding a wedding ring she "found" on the ground. Having read of that scam, I told her exactly where on her person she could insert it and how far. I wish I'd taken a picture of the look on her face. I doubt she encountered many American tourists who speak French that fluently ;)

 

For years, when in Europe I have carried a Domke F5XB bag with both the shoulder strap (worn across my body) and belt attached. This bag has a flap, and underneath it a zipper. I've read a lot about carrying a "discreet" bag that "doesn't scream expensive cameras". But really, thieves aren't specifically looking for cameras. Any bag one carries screams "there might be something of value inside". My thinking is, thieves target the easiest mark. If they see me with my flap-and-zipper bag belted around my waist and strapped across my body, they're going to say the hell with it, and go after the guy with his discreet bag hung off one shoulder PJ-style.

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Thank you for your comments.

It happened at a Belgian bistro right beside the Metro. I was leaning on my shoulder bag that had my camera inside. Towards the end of the meal my girlfriend went to the washroom and It likely happened then.

Sadly, my back was facing the opening to the terrace and adjacent to the metro. I set myself up as an easy target. I knew better and became distracted.

 

 

I will visit the Leica store tomorrow. They were closed yesterday.

I did file a police report and I hope for the best with the insurance.

I also hope to make much better use of the forum in the near future and hopefully as a useful contributor.

 

Regards,

 

JP

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Ah, I see. When I'm eating in a restaurant I keep the F5XB on my lap in front of me, zipped-up, velcro flap closed, bag still strapped across me and belted around my waist. When I'm walking and it's crowded, I likewise shift the bag around in front of me and drape my hand over it. Basically it telegraphs to watching theives "this guy is alert". Ironically I don't go to such lengths here in the US, because armed robbery is more likely than light-handed thievery. If someone puts a knife or gun to me, they can have the damn Leica.

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I had the cash removed from my wallet in a restaurant in Paris earlier this year. It was in a zipped pocket but I put the jacket over the back of the chair. I suspect the waiter was working with the thieves. Everyone else who came in was immediately served but he didn't speak to the two guys who came in and sat behind me. He came to my table and spoke very quietly to me, I had to lean forward to hear him ask if everything was ok. He wasn't the waiter who served me. Then the two guys left.

The worse part is that you go around feeling angry for the rest if the day; or month if they take your camera.

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That's a nightmare. Literally, I had a very disturbing dream last night that my cameras were stolen from me in the street. Have been thinking about a safe at home to store them so maybe my brain is conscious about keeping them safe. Hope you get some positive results from the situation.

 

I really want to visit Paris myself with my camera. This has made me question that. I visit France a couple of times a year and have never really felt at risk. Apart from one dark, rainy night in Dijon. Was definitely followed down an underpass and was sure the taxi driver we managed to find was somehow in cahoots with the gang of fellows who followed us. Luckily got out unscathed.

 

On a side note. A friend was on a stag do in Paris a whole ago. He got so drunk he got split from the others. Couldn't find his way back to the hotel and passed out on a bench. He woke up in the morning unrobbed but a prostitute was asking him if he wanted some action :-)

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Sorry about OP's missfortune.

 

I should say though that having lived in Paris for 5 years (and in the "sketchy" neighborhood of Barbes), I had no such thing happen to me - ever.

 

I don't think one should reconsider visiting the city on such accounts. If you consider the millions of people who visit Paris every year, the city is far from "unsafe" and "full of theives" imho.

 

I have one piece of usefull advice : if you're concerned about your safety, maybe avoid visiting in june-july. During the high season the city is overflown with visitors and the police's job becomes hectic. Visit any other time of the year, you'll still have a great time and will get much more attention from the police (and the shop clerks, waiters etc...).

Also, while it's obvious that a foreign visitor will want to see the Louvre, the Eiffel tower etc... if you avoid the most touristic areas (or simply show more caution there) you'll find that the rest of the city is safe as can be.

 

Again, a thief is looking for an easy target. They don't want to be confronted and they don't want to be caught (that's in Europe - in Brasil for example thieves will not hesitate to mug you with a weapon). My personal theory is that the safest place for my camera is around my neck or in my hands ; then it's impossible for someone to take it without me noticing.

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Agree with the keep the camera in hand or on body philosophy. I use the Turnley a la Bresson method of wrapping the strap around your wrist and then getting the end to go between/around little finger as a lock. In this way you can threaten to hit someone with said camera if you feel it necessary and it will stay in hand.

 

I was in Paris for over 3 weeks the month of May and walked the streets with 2 bodies (one on neck and another in hand as noted above) from sunrise to past sunset without incident. I was alone most of the time.

 

Dannybuoy-Just get insurance and don't worry about it. The safe should be for your backups drives or whatever media on which your precious images are located. You can replace gear, but usually images are irreplaceable.

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