It is one of a photographer’s worst nightmares: traveling around in a different country carrying thousands of dollars’ worth of camera gear, only to see it disappear before your very eyes. Manny Ortiz was traveling through Italy when, unfortunately, he was robbed of some very expensive gear. Check out his story here.
Many photographers believe this will not happen to them, but sadly, in some places, this is becoming very common. Looking at places such as San Francisco, it has become almost the norm to hear of a photographer having their prized gear taken from them, sometimes even at gunpoint.
Ortiz considers himself to be a hypervigilant person and even kept his camera bag within his eyesight on a train journey in the beautiful country of Italy.
On his way to Venice, Ortiz started noticing some strange behavior from one person on board the train. This person kept staring at Ortiz, leaving Ortiz perplexed as to what was going on and why on earth this person was continually checking him out. At the next stop, some more passengers boarded the train, and the person staring at Ortiz was gone.
Looking out of the window, Ortiz spotted the person still staring at him but from outside the train. The man, seemingly on the phone, was still very much on the scene. This is when Ortiz noticed that his camera bag had now disappeared.
A panic ensues, and Ortiz is left needing to speak to train staff to try and locate his bag in case it had been picked up by another passenger in error. Ortiz searches the train high and low for his bag and even meets another passenger who had their bag stolen the previous week.
Apparently, this is becoming a very common issue in Italy, and even reading through the YouTube comments, Ortiz is not alone!
Thankfully, Ortiz had sufficient insurance, so he was able to claim back most of his gear, but I am sure, like many in that situation, it will leave you with a horrible feeling after going through such a traumatic experience.
I wrote an article previously about eight tips for preventing camera theft, and I hope this will help you all.
Have you been a victim of camera theft? Did you get your gear back or were you insured? Let us know in the comments below.
