Protect Your Digital Camera While Traveling
You've spent your hard-earned money on that cool new digital camera. You are traveling in a strange city, hoping to get great pictures for your photo album. Be sure you return home with the camera, and those pictures, intact.
I live in a city that has a very high tourist season and I see travelers daily make mistakes that probably will, one day, cost them their camera.
If you’re planning on a taking a vacation, then I’m assuming you’re planning to take your camera with you. I’m also going to go out on a limb here and assume you’re planning on bringing your camera back with you.
During my time on the French Riviera, I have seen countless cameras that are vulnerable to theft. Cafes line one side of the street where Joe Tourist is sitting sipping on his drink trying to figure out family what to see next.
Joe and his family seem to be having a good time enjoying the sights and the weather, but what Joe doesn’t know is that a thief across the street is checking out his brand new Canon 10D.
You see, Joe wasn’t really thinking about his camera when he sat down at the table. He just put the strap of his camera on the back of the chair and now his camera is dangling there like a worm waiting for the fish to come and take it. Twenty minutes later Joe and his family are getting up to leave. They’ve made their decision on what to see next. Joe reaches for his camera and grabs a nice fistful of sea air. Gone. Bye-bye, brand new camera.
Another goof I see daily is the camera dangling by the strap that’s just over the shoulder of the tourist. Now here is Joe again walking with his family with that camera dangling and a thief walking a few yards behind them watching and waiting. Then the thief begins to run towards the camera. As the thief reaches Joe, he grabs the camera without losing a step. Joe feels the tug on his arm maybe knocking him down or at least off-balance, and within seconds poor Joe is watching his camera go for a run with a total stranger and pretty sure he’s not gonna see either one again. Wave bye-bye Joe.
Both of those thefts could’ve have been avoided if Joe took a few simple precautions:
- Don’t advertise your camera. Keep your camera in a bag, preferably a plain old run of the mill one, not the one that has Nikon, Canon or Kodak plastered all over it. It's much safer for the camera anyway.
- Keep it on your body whenever possible. If it’s a book bag type you can sometimes keep it on you while you’re eating at a restaurant, or you can sit the bag down between your feet and put the chair leg through the back straps to give your bag a little more protection. (Just don't forget it when you leave!)
- Don't just leave it dangling from your neck, either. A quick cut of a knife and the strap is worthless, the camera is gone.
- Be aware of your surroundings. I always give a quick look around before I pull my camera out. Even then, I wrap the strap around my wrist a couple of times before the camera leaves my bag.
- Insure it! All the prevention in the world cannot thwart the craftiest thieves. Your homeowner's or renter's insurance probably offers "scheduled coverage" for an added fee (your insurance otherwise will not cover it once you leave your home). Travel insurance policies also provide coverage, although read the fine print first to be sure the coverage is as valuable as the camera. If you're camera is quite valuable, or you are a pro or serious amateur with a lot of equipment, check into policies specifically for cameras and photo equipment.
- Secure your images. No policy can replace those great shots of the family posing at the Grand Canyon, and imagine the expense to return later. While you are traveling, you can back up those images even without a laptop on hand. Look for hour-photo shops that will convert those images on your memory card to CD. Keep that CD somewhere safe.
Just remember you’re on a vacation trying to have some fun and enjoying the time with your family. Don’t let your vacation make a thief happy, too.
