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Stolen Leica R set

D

Daniel John

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Hi everyone-

Just got back from a small job that was supposed to happen in the Bahamas. I had to travel solo as the other crew members were coming from other areas. Checked my lenses in a Pelican 1510 in San Diego in the morning. I had a four hour layover
in Atlanta and then on to Nassau. Upon arrival, I retrieved my case from the baggage carousel. Opened it to find 7 lenses gone. I talked to the Delta agent there, he wasn't very helpful. I filed a police report
with the airport police too. Didn't know what that would accomplish but figured I might as well. One of the problems is not knowing where the theft occurred. San Diego during screening? Atlanta during the layover? Nassau somewhere between being unloaded
from the plane and arriving on the baggage carousel? That was only about 20 minutes though between de-planing and getting to the baggage claim. That was my first time in the Nassau airport. Anyone know if it has a bad reputation for theft? I know it could have occurred
anywhere but picturing someone in a US airport grabbing an entire armful of lenses without someone else saying something seems odd. You can't exactly just throw 7 lenses in your pocket. It's really hard to speculate though on something like this and I know it doesn't
do much good. I've already filed a claim with Delta and a claim with my insurance company. Just wanted to put the word out in case the lenses are show up for sale somewhere. Lenses stolen are below:

Leica R 19mm 2.8
Leica R 28mm 2.8
Leica R 35 mm 2.0
Leica R 50mm 1.4
Leica R 90mm 2.0
Leica R 100mm 2.8

All with Duclos cine-mod

There was also a Canon 16-35mm 2.8 but finding that if someone tries to re-sell it will be much harder than the Leicas I imagine.

I have serial numbers too if needed.

Thanks
Daniel
 
That really sucks, Daniel! I've heard of many nightmare stories with equipment going missing with checked bags. As a rule of thumb, I never pack anything valuable in checked baggage and carry it onboard with me. I know for some that's not possible but this stuff can happen and it very well could have been the airport baggage staff behind the scenes. :(
 
daym that sucks! feel bad for you
 
Not sure how liable the airline is yet. I filed a claim with them and I'm waiting to hear back from whoever gets assigned to my case.

The last three times I put TSA locks on my bags, twice the locks were simply gone when my cases showed up and once it was inside
the case which obviously completely defeats the purpose. I hate putting expensive stuff under the plane and now this has me even
more paranoid. I always try to fly with someone else that can take an extra carry-on for me but it wasn't possible in this situation.

Daniel
 
Daniel,

If you carry insurance on your gear you should be able to get the paperwork rolling on some form of repayment for the items that were taken from you. I was traveling in Austria and had a camera and two lenses stolen from me. Was a horrible feeling so I understand what you must be feeling. Hopefully the insurance company you have will make it right.
 
The airline is 100% liable regardless of what their limitations are on your ticket. You will have to sue and they will settle on the day of the trial. Most likely got ripped in ATL by TSA but the Caribbean has a bad rep too.
 
Ryan Williams said:
Daniel,

If you carry insurance on your gear you should be able to get the paperwork rolling on some form of repayment for the items that were taken from you. I was traveling in Austria and had a camera and two lenses stolen from me. Was a horrible feeling so I understand what you must be feeling. Hopefully the insurance company you have will make it right.
Click to expand...

Yes, all my gear is insured through Athos who, although I've never had to make a claim with, have been nothing but amazing in all other regards. I called them from the airport on the way home and they sent over a claim form in about 10 minutes. Sent that back and waiting to hear what the next step is. The monetary aspect of it
obviously sucks but not being able to do the job due to no lenses to attach to the camera and the feeling of violation from the whole thing is almost worse.
 
Publish the serial numbers here so that once they appear Google will show where.
 
Remington Chase said:
The airline is 100% liable regardless of what their limitations are on your ticket. You will have to sue and they will settle on the day of the trial. Most likely got ripped in ATL by TSA but the Caribbean has a bad rep too.
Click to expand...

Interesting. It would be so much more satisfying to have Delta pay for everything rather than going through my insurance.

My initial thought was that it got taken in Atlanta too but now I have this gut feeling that maybe it was in Nassau while they were unloading the plane. When I was filing the police report there, I asked if the baggage and plane areas were under surveillance and the
officer said yes. Asked him if there was any way I could look at the footage and he just laughed. Said there was no chance. Not implying that he was involved but fuck, it's not like I got a hairbrush stolen, there was significant value to this. Had I been able to
watch it and hadn't seen anything suspicious, that would at least give me some peace of mind that it didn't happen there. He claimed he was going to go through the footage himself but who knows if he actually will.
 
Ilya O. said:
Publish the serial numbers here so that once they appear Google will show where.
Click to expand...
Good idea Ilya. Here they are with the omission of the 50 which I somehow never recorded and I take full responsibility for that.

Leica R 19mm 2.8 3504085
Leica R 28mm 2.8 3665225
Leica R 35mm 2.0 3070212
Leica R 50mm 1.4
Leica R 90mm 2.0 3427112
Leica R 100mm 2.8 3739859

Canon 16-35mm 2.8 5817697
 
I have never done it, cuz I have always had other people to carry on gear, but I have thought that if I were faced with traveling alone with all my Shiznet....I might consider buying two seats to make sure I could bring on two 1510s.
 
Yeah, traveling solo with a fair amount of gear blows. I have actually managed to bring two 1510's on solo a few times. Sometime the flight attendants
don't bat an eye. Sometimes we get in an argument. In this particular instance, the agent at check-in was already hassling me when I told her I'd be
bringing a (fairly large) backpack and a 1510 on board. The backpack had two bodies, batteries and AKS. Looking back I should have tried to pile all the lenses
from the 1510 in there too but checked them in instead. And that's how we end up here. Traveling with extra people is obviously the ideal scenario.
 
All sympathy Daniel. Had an young friend lose all her gear and shot footage a few years ago at LAX. Hurt her business badly. Arrests revealed an absolute crime ring within the TSA there. My moto? TSA = Thieves Stealing Anonymously.
 
Daniel John said:
Yes, all my gear is insured through Athos who, although I've never had to make a claim with, have been nothing but amazing in all other regards. I called them from the airport on the way home and they sent over a claim form in about 10 minutes. Sent that back and waiting to hear what the next step is. The monetary aspect of it
obviously sucks but not being able to do the job due to no lenses to attach to the camera and the feeling of violation from the whole thing is almost worse.
Click to expand...

Daniel,

Ya I def. feel you on the feeling horrible part. However, and this is just my opinion, playing the part of the sleuth is not going to do much for you, though I certainly understand the impulse to do so. Like you said, they mentioned they were going to look into it and there is no way you can verify it or not. Again, IMO, not worth your time, effort, or concern to try and definitively determine where in the process they were stolen. All that matters now is that you got the serials on the watch list and you are getting re-reimbursed from your insurance company. I hope the insurance companies make you whole again and you can be on your way!
 
Last edited:
RobMNeilson said:
While we're on the topic of flying with gear, does anyone pack a starter pistol with it to use TSA tracking for the powers of good? Outlined in this article: http://lifehacker.com/5448014/pack-a-gun-to-protect-valuables-from-airline-theft-or-loss,
Click to expand...

Rob,

Seems like a pretty ingenious idea/solution. When I can get back to a place where I can have a starter pistol I'll have to try it. I'm not so sure about carrying one going into some international locations.
 
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