camouflaging an M8

[hankg]

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In some cities if you have something of value -and that could be a cell phone or a point and shoot you might become a target even if you are a local. Of course if you look like an easy mark oblivious to his surroundings or look like you have more valuable stuff then the next guy you raise your risk considerably.

 

In very high crime places locals are the targets of most crimes so blending in will do only so much.

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[fursan]

I have travelled a lot and have been lucky so far. sensible precautions, try not to

be alone in a foreign place at night etc.

 

But I might have a big advantage. In North America/Europe/Japan/Australia, the natives

seem to avoid me more than I them.

 

Illegal immigrant, unemployed or after 9/11, something worse. If they see my camera,

it must be a stolen one, as I have noticed a lot of folks quickly pack theirs up!.

 

Interesting and true.

[spydrxx]

I may be old fashioned, but in my years of travel, often in 3rd world environments, I've found that a camera bag just attracts attention. I decide what lens (singular) I am going to use, lock everything else in a safe, if one's available where I'm staying. The camera goes on an old leather strap bandoleer style typically hidden under a light jacket in cooler climes...it comes out for the intended pictures and again disappears. Sometimes it is in my hand, but always with some sort of strap so that it is not easily snatched or dropped if I'm "bumped" or grabbed. Last time in Cartagena our host insisted we be accompanied by armed guards...that was a little unnerving, but later after we were out on our own...I merely kept a close hold on my camera and my eyes open for uncomfortable situations. Overall, I found most people friendly and helpful...as I have almost everywhere in the world. On one street a touristy lady 10 feet in front of me had her necklace ripped off, but nobody paid attention to me or my camera.

[Marquinius]

about insurance: in Holland you need to buy a specific "valuables insurance". Most insurances either do not cover theft or loss when not in a contained area (house, etc), or only cover up to € 2500 ...

 

Bigger problems arise after you have covered it all and they really steal your camera. I'm going on a trip to Vietnam and will take two camera's - the M8 and the digilux 3. AND I will still have my wife with her Canon. and all files go on an external drive, every stop, every day. That at least insures my being able to take photo's and take them home.

[ptomsu]

Just ordered my M8 - I think the wait for the fed ex truck is going to be one of the longest waits I've had in some time.... (yea yea, I know - been pondering this thing for months, what's a few more days)

 

I have a trip coming up in December to Columbia (South America, not South Carolina), and I had a question; Other than covering up the logo with black tape, any other ideas for bieng "stealth"? Crime down there is pretty bad, so I'd like to be as inconspicious as possible. Maybe a good camera bag that looks like a junk bag? Any ideas would be appriciated!

 

Put it in a Luigi case, and select some old looking leather - then nobody will notice that this is a new camera.

[Guest stnami]

lock everything else in a safe

..........someone may notice the bulge it in your backpack

[earleygallery]

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Some good advice already.

 

BAGS - do not use any sort of camera bag for obvious reasons. For wandering around I usually use a cheap small back pack, the sort you would normally think of using to carry a couple of books, map, jumper - that sort of thing. Mostly I carry the camera and have my film/additional lens/meter in the bag.

 

Less is more - Try going with one body/lens or 2 lenses at most.

 

If you were unlucky enought to be mugged the chances are that they'd want the camera no matter what make it was, it will have some value so what if its $5 or $5000.

 

I see no point in 'taping up' a camera. No thief is going to worry about the brand.

[pelikan1931]

 

 

now the camera is safer, from all those accidental bumps etc, and from leica-appreciating thieves.

[Guest Olof]

Just ordered my M8 - I think the wait for the fed ex truck is going to be one of the longest waits I've had in some time.... (yea yea, I know - been pondering this thing for months, what's a few more days)

 

I have a trip coming up in December to Columbia (South America, not South Carolina), and I had a question; Other than covering up the logo with black tape, any other ideas for bieng "stealth"? Crime down there is pretty bad, so I'd like to be as inconspicious as possible. Maybe a good camera bag that looks like a junk bag? Any ideas would be appriciated!

 

These camera lools so olde fashioned that nobody is interested in it.

[bayerische]

.........what rabbit hole do you hide in? No! not all people are into cocaine in Colombia, typecasting is pretty stupid.............. even most teenagers have a better understanding of reality.

Groups are nice targets easy pickings as most groups have a false sense of security coupled with a tinge of fear

 

My apologies,

 

but thank you for another "nice" post.

[StS]

What about the concept of getting a small camera bag and to put it in 'any' shoulder bag? Worked fine for me so far...

[Guest stnami]

Andreas don't apologise to me save that for the people who happen to live in the countries where the cartels produce the stuff for out fellow countrymen

[wstotler]

This is the way to do it:

 

Thanks for that one. LOL! -Will

[roubaix]

3 data points:

 

#1 It's Colombia, not Columbia

#2 Medellin is safer than Philadelphia

#3 The Coke is made in Colombia, it's used in the USA

 

Never met a group of more militantly anti-drug people as Colombians.

 

Peter

[Guest tummydoc]

I can fairly well proof myself against pickpockets and snatch-theives. I simply don't visit places that have a reputation for violent street crime. Firstly because Leicas and other extravagant jewellry aside, I've no wish whilst on holiday to make the acquaintance of local paramedics. Secondly, I believe that a tourist moratorium and its resultant financial blow to the local taxing authorities is the most-likely way that a city our country will feel compelled to take the necessary steps to make the streets safer. New Yorkers tell me that was the impetus for Mr. Giuliani's successful crusade to clean-up the mean streets of NYC.

[hankg]

3 data points:

 

#1 It's Colombia, not Columbia

#2 Medellin is safer than Philadelphia

#3 The Coke is made in Colombia, it's used in the USA

 

Never met a group of more militantly anti-drug people as Colombians.

 

Peter

 

The crime rate in Medellin has dramatically improved from the bad old days of Escobar.

 

Philadelphia 2006: 27.8 per 100,000

Medellin 2006: 29 per 100,000 (down from 35 the year before)

 

Safety wise on a par with Philadelphia although Medellin is trending better and Phillie's getting worse.

 

Bogota however has gotten the homicide rate down to 18 per 100,000 in 2006 an amazing accomplishment considering it peaked at 80 per 100,000. Today crime rates in Colombia are a fraction of what they are in places like Rio and Caracas.

 

Like any big city there are neighborhoods you should stay out of and you should be aware of your surroundings. Here in Miami we have a neighborhood the cops refer to as little Baghdad (because of the level of violence). Camera or no camera you are not likely to come out unscathed from a tourist stroll through a section where even the cops fear to go without backup. Use common sense and know the geography (in some sections of Colombia there is still a shooting war between rebels and government forces) .

[fotografr]

 

 

now the camera is safer, from all those accidental bumps etc, and from leica-appreciating thieves.

 

Sorry. Still looks far too pretty.

[bill]

I can fairly well proof myself against pickpockets and snatch-theives. I simply don't visit places that have a reputation for violent street crime.

 

We'll not be seeing you in London anytime soon then...

 

Regards,

 

Bill

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Hallo,

Look here: Leica M

[hankg]

I can fairly well proof myself against pickpockets and snatch-theives. I simply don't visit places that have a reputation for violent street crime. Firstly because Leicas and other extravagant jewellry aside, I've no wish whilst on holiday to make the acquaintance of local paramedics. Secondly, I believe that a tourist moratorium and its resultant financial blow to the local taxing authorities is the most-likely way that a city our country will feel compelled to take the necessary steps to make the streets safer. New Yorkers tell me that was the impetus for Mr. Giuliani's successful crusade to clean-up the mean streets of NYC.

 

 

Giuliani took credit for something he had little to do with. Crime rates dropped in cities across the country at that time without any help from Giuliani. His city benefited like everyone else's.

[jklotz]

3 data points:

 

#1 It's Colombia, not Columbia

#2 Medellin is safer than Philadelphia

#3 The Coke is made in Colombia, it's used in the USA

 

Never met a group of more militantly anti-drug people as Colombians.

 

Peter

 

Hi Peter,

 

Apologies for my spelling error, I stand corrected. I was in Medellin last year to photgraph the Festival de Flores, and had a wonderful time. It is a beauitful place, the people are warm and friendly and the weather is damn near perfect 11 months out of the year. I'd have to disagree, however, about it being safer than Philly. While I was on the trip, a buddy was held up at gunpoint for his wrist watch in daylight in a national park. My Colombian contacts urged me not to go into pubic with my 5D, and I was given very specific instructions as to where it was safe to venture and where it was not. The locals were much more paraniod than I was, but none the less, I was constantly warned to be on my gaurd.

 

I find it interesting how most people relate the cocain trade with crime in Colombia. From what I understand, the days of Pablo Escobar are long gone. It is now run by a much more discreet group of people who fly way under the radar. I seriously doubt one would have a run in with them unless he/she went looking for it. It is the policical activists (a group of self entitled "revolutionaries" called FARC or Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia) who are well known for financing thier terriorist organazation by robbing, car jacking, kidnapping and the like. A kidnapped gringo means big dollars to them, and the police are either too corupt or too few in number to be able to do much about it. The president of Colombia, Alvaro URIBE, has made a lot of progress combating them in the last few yeras. but it is still a very dangerous place for an outsider to go wandering around.

 

Course' I guess one could get a bad cheese steak in Philly if he/she didn't know where to go get one....