Would you take your kit on holiday without a safe?

[Rickbb]

I don't insure stuff unless it would be a heavy financial burden to replace it.

Which is why I have insurance.

 

[AlanKlein]

Which is why I have insurance.

Is there a deductible? How much does it cost?

 

[Rickbb]

Is there a deductible? How much does it cost?

$250 deductible, it was an extra $70 per year on the homeowners and $30 per year on auto which covers it in my truck and camper too. Cheap to cover $6k in gear.

 

[Martin-DC2]

No offense meant, but unless it's a wedding and you're the photog, it's a fam. holiday. Leave the equipment at home and just use your phone camera. Modern phone cameras are much better than expensive gear was not so long ago.
Will anyone but you even know the difference?

Er, no they're not. The sensors have come on leaps and bounds, but optics haven't changed THAT much, and physics remains physics...you can only get so much light through a certain aperture in a certain time. I'd wager I'll get substantially better photos with my (very old) Canon 20D that's gathering dust and any of my current lenses than you can with your phone.

The Sony RX referenced above may be a different matter, but that's additional spend (several hundred £ - same as a mid-range lens or a mid-range DSLR body) I just don't need and leaves the same problem - where do I leave it? To me stuff like that is for people who don't want the bulk/weight of an SLR/mirrorless to carry around, it's not really an answer to a security issue because of the value.



Anyway, appreciate all the perspectives. I'm going to take bare-minimum kit (1 body, 2 lenses) and I now know it's insured in the boot of the rental car or if out of sight in the hotel room (we've lockable hard suitcases we can use). Best I can do.

 

[Spirit Vision Photography]

Take the full-frame and a couple of lenses.

 

[wobe]

Room safes are a waste of space anyway, ever single person in the hotel knows the ‘special code’ to open them.
I just lock valuables in my case, I mean if they walk out with that then the hotel has a really serious problem!
My issue is more to do with hand luggage - my SonyA7 uses up all hand baggage allowance (along with headphones, all my spare chargeable batteries, watches (yeah I love watches so always got to take at least 3x on any trip).

This means all the lenses have to go in checkin baggage, along with film cameras, street camera (minus battery of course!) etc.

So I am always a little nervous at the luggage Carousell when I arrive at the destination!

 

[Thiophilos]

Room safes are a waste of space anyway, ever single person in the hotel knows the ‘special code’ to open them.
I just lock valuables in my case, I mean if they walk out with that then the hotel has a really serious problem!
My issue is more to do with hand luggage - my SonyA7 uses up all hand baggage allowance (along with headphones, all my spare chargeable batteries, watches (yeah I love watches so always got to take at least 3x on any trip).

This means all the lenses have to go in checkin baggage, along with film cameras, street camera (minus battery of course!) etc.

So I am always a little nervous at the luggage Carousell when I arrive at the destination!

We are very different. I typically pack my Canon R7 body, kit lens, 100-500mm L, R5 body, 100mmL macro, laptop and charger plus documents in my "personal" item. It is heavy but that's OK now for most airlines. Other stuff including clothing and more photo gear goes in the roll-aboard. All carry-on. Sometimes they won't allow the rollaboard because it's a small plane, and then it is gate-checked.

There are exceptions. Sometimes I check a bag. And if I do that, then I take more stuff.

 

[Golem]

It's not the weight - I'm used to lugging stuff around. it's the security. And the mirrorless is probably worth more than the old full-frame now, and both lenses are worth more still.

...so if there's a viable secure option, I'm taking the hDSLR (size/weight difference is a few hundred grams) and lenses. If not I'm down to my phone, which isn't really what I want to do.

I keep my bar scene outfit down to $500, used value. M4/3, either brand. And I can surely "out shoot" you.

 

[SunriseAvenue]

I wouldn't take my equipment on family holiday whatsoever, just a camera at best depending on where we are heading to. I can annoy all my relatives with smartshow 3d videos of vacation photos taken on mobile as well

 

[fish323]

Regardless of where I go the Fuji x-H1 and a few lenses come with me. I have never had a problem. Last year I was told be someone to put the camera away when I was on the underground in Buenos Aires. So I did. I have never felt threatened anywhere. I had the D700 in Colombia a decade ago, no worries at all. Places like Vietnam there are no security issues anywhere. 30 years of independent traveling, so far so good. Fingers crossed.

 

[Woolsocks]

If I had deep pockets like you. Then I would buy a water proof digital point and shoot that goes down to 20 meters. It's water proof and it's cheap. Some are even wifi capable. Then all you need is a wifi connection and use cloud storage. Say.. Dropbox or any number of websites.

 

[John 2]

It might be worth enquiring whether the hotel reception is able to let you use more than one locker, even if it costs a little more. I understand your concerns. Even if the likely-hood of theft is low, lack of piece of mind can be a spoiler.

 

[nerwin]

Honestly....I'll share my least popular opinion but if I going to take a trip or vacation for enjoyment...I'd just use my phone. As long as you have one of the latest phones, the cameras are amazing on them and do incredible things that fit in your pocket. Yeah its not a real camera but if I was going for enjoyment, I wouldn't want camera gear getting in my way. Plus the photos I take on my phone are automatically uploaded to the cloud so if something happened to the phone, I still have the photos.

However, I could still see why I'd want a dedicated camera. Its less distraction, I don't like being on my phone either..but using a phone and blending in with the tourists does kinda make you less prone to theft than a tourist with a fancy Leica. However, even something like a compact micro four thirds camera will still offer amazing image quality that even the latest smartphones can't yet match.

Its one of reasons why I sold my Nikon Z6II - It was amazing camera but I often just left it at home because it always felt like a burden to me and I wasn't enjoying my time. When I had the Fujifilm X100V, I never had to think about it. It was small, lighter and was fun to shoot with. I never had any confrontations, etc...ok I am getting off topic. But the moral of the story is don't let the camera get in the way of having a good time.