Will my equipment be safe?

benhasajeep · May 5, 2006

manfromh said:
Canon and Nikon are quite common here. And they were common 5 years ago too. I live in Estonia, which is just north of Latvia, but im pretty sure it's the same there. "The old Russian republics" dont live in stone age.
Im not sure what ramp fees are. But ive never heard of them.

They are fee's to pay for use of the airport and or equipment. We didn't use any airport equipment and the military used their own men and truck for their gear / luggage. So basically they were charging us $8,000 just for landing at their airport. Even for the size of our plane. That is a very large price to pay. Normally an airline is charges for its landing fees monthly. And most likely the planes flying in and out of this airport are the same. If they pay fees at all. I am guessing they do.

I didn't mean to imply that the people were unintelligent or backwards. Just some places have people in charge and they do what they want! This can be found anywhere you go. Central America countries are bad in this way too. You have to pay or your stuck! On one occasion we had to contact the US State Department.

Anyway like I said above. If you are in a group of people. I would not worry too much. It's when you are on your own or just a pair will the crooks maybe attempt a snatch an grab ( and thats if you are in a sketchy area). Mainly most items I think items are stolen becasue they are left somewhere out of site, or a distractoin is made. The people steal them sneaky like. So keep your items in your control. And you will have them on the way home.

thebeginning · May 5, 2006

the group i'll be with will be pretty large (about 25 people or so), so i'm not too worried about that. I think i'll look into insurance and see what I can do with that, as I'd rather use that and bring my own equipment than buy more just for the trip.

benhasajeep · May 5, 2006

Sounds good. Hope you have an enjoyable trip.

JohnMF · May 5, 2006

if i want to carry my camera descreetly, i will pull the strap till it's at its longest, then put the strap over my head and under my right arm, then wear an open coat on top. So basically the camera rests on your side under your arm pretty much like a gun holster, under your jacket. It's quite well consealed that way and easy to access should you need to take a picture quickly... does that make sense?

bravo2376 · May 9, 2006

New to the site. Very informative. Just got back from Tallinn myself last week. Very nice. As long as you stay alert for one another, keep things in front of you and just blend in with the good ol' country folk, you'll be fine. Incidents happen everywhere. I did see alot of small canons and olympus digitals and autos. Oh, and I did bring back a Zenit photosnaiper 122 and a kiev though

Enjoy and have fun.

JonathanM · May 9, 2006

A sensible precaution is always to avoid looking too touristy - go native a bit. We brits find this really hard to do, but it can be achieved a bit. Off the beaten track soemtimes isn't a massive problem, it can be more the tourist honeypots where problems will happen. I tend to use a scroffy rucksack with CCS pouches inside, only getting the camera out for photo ops and not wering it around my neck.

Coralguy · May 10, 2006

Checking into insurance would be your best bet. If you can get your equip covered, less worry. I have never been to Russia, but other places. I am one that likes to "get off the beaten path" sorta speak. The only place I've had problems is San Antonio TX (go figure).
Towns, cities, and metro's have all the same problems to different extents. Just use precaution and good judgement. I carry my stuff in a bag, not only camera, but all kinds of stuff. Make sure the strap holds secure. I either have the bag to one side or another or in front moving it regularly.
With my job, I am always looking around. Faces, clothing, positioning etc. Since you'll be in a large group, your risk drops dramatically. That is.... if the group will keep others from getting close to you. Just have a couple of folks dedicated to walking behind you. If someone approaches, have them notify you so you can "adjust" your bag or just stop walking. If the person following also stops, walk into a shop. I have a bad habit of confronting them, but just my job (wife hates it).
And common sense, don't leave your items laying around. If you entrust your items with another, make sure it is in their possession and not laying next to them. The snatch and run folks are everywhere.
Now all the bad stuff is out and your paranoid, have a good trip. Take lots of pics and post them.

Rob · May 10, 2006

This may sound stupidly obvious, but for insurance purposes: Russia isn't Europe.

Your travel insurance won't cover the vast majority of things which happen to SLR kit. Get camera insurance - it's usually about the same price as travel insurance. Make sure that the policy covers the countries you are going to and also make sure it covers "all risks".

Stay away from temple monkeys - not that there are likely to be any in that area.

Rob

thebeginning · May 10, 2006

hmm. im not even sure where to look to get camera insurance...

James79 · May 24, 2006

Hmm ... some interesting stuff in this thread ...

So standard travel insurance doesn't usually cover SLR damage ? I've got some fairly comprehensive insurance for a year (obviously it's up to me to check the details), but I had no idea that extra camera insurance could be taken out. I admit I am a bit nervous going to some parts of South America with a load of kit (and staying in backpacker hostels), but y'know ... if you want to take photos what are you going to do ?

2framesbelowzero · May 24, 2006

James79 said:
Hmm ... some interesting stuff in this thread ...

I admit I am a bit nervous going to some parts of South America with a load of kit (and staying in backpacker hostels), but y'know ... if you want to take photos what are you going to do ?

Buy an inexpensive rangefinder or 35mmSLR for you visit. At the end of your journey, give it to the local kids / church.

SantosD50 · May 24, 2006

James79 said:
I admit I am a bit nervous going to some parts of South America with a load of kit (and staying in backpacker hostels)

Hostels are not that bad, just read about possible hostels in the location where you want to go, and pick the best one. I'm going to thailand in a few months, and not staying in hostels, just camping out.
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As for security, I usually have a small padlock on my camera bag while it's on my back and I'm just travling from place to place, and usually have a 2 foot retractable baton!

greasemonkey · May 24, 2006

Last year I was on a missoins trip to Ukraine, which is a little more than south of eastern Russia, and the culture is similar to Russia's. The people were great, but a little bit of caution never hurts. Try not to flaunt the huge camera bag that screems "I'm a rich American tourist, steal my stuff." Take the minimal equepment with you that you can, and put it in another bag that isn't a camera bag. I always had a small backpack with me, and I made sure that either somebody in our group was watching it, or a translator was watching it (we had very reliable translators that were very trustworthy, but be sure to check the integrety of your translator before you do this). We also stayed in host homes, and our stuff was very safe there.

Ukraineans love pictures, so you will be able to get some great shots of the people.

Getting a cheep camera is not a bad idea either. You may want to do this, and let the kids play with it while you are there, you could get some really interesting shots.

Insurence is a great idea. You probably shouldn't go insane trying to hide your camera, in the end you would probably just draw more attention to yourself.

Oh, and make sure you carry on your camera and any other important stuff, we had a few cameras stolen out of luggage in a few airports.

Have fun on your trip, you'll have to post a few of the pictures when you get back!

thebeginning · May 24, 2006

thanks for the suggestions! I'm actually still not sure what i'll do, but I'll probably end up getting some small camera to take. I'd take film, but I don't want to worry about the x-rays that i'll be passing through...and keeping up with slides is harder for me. It would cost me a fair bundle also for the film, and I probably wouldnt use them that much if I had leftovers when I got back.

Here's the problem I've had with insurance...I was going to just get an attachment to our homeowner's policy, but I wouldn't be able to get any claims accepted because I run a business from my home - the floater only covers personal work. the insurance companies are apparently extremely good at finding things out. I could get a seperate 'inland marine' policy that was commercial, but if I made more than 1 claim on it we would lose our $300/year 'no claim' discount we currently have. that would end up costing about $1k anyways. If I had more than 2 claims, it would hurt our reputation and we would most likely not be accepted for insurance coverage AT ALL in the future.

the only thing I've found insurance-wise that is safe and covers everything has an $500-$800 premium, which I can't really afford right now. So. at the moment I'm looking at good point and shoots to bring