Buenos Aires und Leica

[elmars]

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I will be in Buenos Aires for a week in April. The security assessments are somewhat different. It is often recommended not to carry your camera and mobile phone openly. Does anyone know the situation around there? Is this really necessary in normal tourist areas?

As far as pickpockets and tricksters are concerned, I am familiar with such recommendations from other large cities; for me, this is a normal risk from which I have been able to protect myself well so far. But what about robbery on the street during the day? Is that a relevant problem in Buenos Aires?

[Hans-Dieter Gülicher]

I was there in October last year. I got the same information and hide my M 10-R carefully.

[elmars]

Was it necessary to do so?

[BruceRH]

I would be very careful and not openly carry your Leica. It has been a few years since I was last there but yes, thieves are somewhat prevalent in BA. Two people on a scooter can grab your camera or phone in an instant. A popular ruse is to have someone secretly squirt some sort of liquid on you that looks like bird poop. An elderly lady will then offer to help you clean up while someone else pick pockets you. Just be very careful and aware. The city is very photogenic so it is a shame that it is like this. I tend to carry smaller, less valuable cameras when I visit there and keep it hidden in a pocket. Currently I use an Olympus Pen E-P7 for this purpose. Stay safe.

[stuny]

I had a similar experience as Bruce's, during which somebody squirted mustard on the back of my pants.  A kindly seeming man offered to help me clean up in the nearby public men's room.   I shouted" Policia!  Un ladrone!"  The man ran off quickly, and my pants were permanently stained.

[Stephen_C]

I was in Buenos Aires last November with my Q3—principally, but not exclusively, in the Palermo area (which is very pleasant and photogenic)—and it was all much nicer, and felt safer, than I'd expected. I experienced no problems of any kind.

Stephen

[D. Burst]

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Since Leica Wetzlar confirmed to me a few months ago that my Barnack Leica was sent to Buenos Aires in 1933 as one of three copies, I have been interested in following its traces. - But I'm too old for such flights across the Atlantic, so perhaps the next owner might want to make the trip.

Edited April 11, 2024 by D. Burst