Stolen Camera... *cry* - DPChallenge Forums

Tamron AF 28-300mm f/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical IF for Canon

04/16/2008 07:19:12 AM · #1

I've had a horrid past couple of days, but wanted to see if I could get some advice/opinions from the lovely folks of DPC.

To cut a long story short, some nasty soul decided to nick my camera bag from under my feet on the tube, and after much despair (and a bit of shameless crying at the train station) at having lost it I'm starting down the road of insurance claims. I'm hoping to get cash from them as opposed to a replacement camera, and I need to think about what to buy.

Said poor kidnapped camera was an Olympus E500, a brilliant camera that I treasured and used to within an inch of its life. I really like the Olympus brand as I find them easy to use and intelligently put together. But... should I stick with Oly, or look at the giants of Canon/Nikon? ALL my gear including all lenses were in the bag, so I'm literally starting afresh. I'm looking at something around the specs/price range of a 40D or E3...

What do you think?

pix-al

Canon EOS-5D

04/16/2008 07:46:22 AM · #2

Bad news - gutted for you... I really hope your insurance covers the value of the goods you lost.
(Did you have camera specific insurance, or is it on a home policy?)

I would look at the bigger brands - why not.
You probably know what you like to shoot better now than when you bought your old kit, so may be able to get away with buying less items, but of a higher value/quality (Canon L glass for example)?

Message edited by author 2008-04-16 07:46:38.

Delta_6

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/16/2008 07:50:40 AM · #3

I love my 40D, when I got my Sony Alpha 100 I hit it's limits very quickly, the 40D's limits are so far away I can't even see them yet. As long as you get decent lenses, I don't think you can go far wrong with the 40D.

one2one

Olympus E-5

Olympus 7-14mm f/4.0 Zuiko Digital Zoom

04/16/2008 07:53:04 AM · #4

Just to add some friendly competition.

Stick with Oly, You know they're good cameras, right?

I've had Olys since the 70's.

glad2badad

DJI Mavic Air 2

Sears 55mm f/1.4 M42

04/16/2008 08:09:19 AM · #5

Ignore the elitist and go with the new rising star - Sony! :-D

Sony DSLR Choices (pssst...I love my a700!)

Well, I figured this thread will certainly be a "pick mine, pick mine" fiasco so might as well toss my thoughts in here. :-D

Actually, if you were happy with the Oly and are comfortable with it, why not stay there? Exciting to try something new perhaps? It must be a tough decision. Sorry about the theft of your gear. :-/

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/16/2008 08:23:27 AM · #6

Totally sucks about the theft. :-( I won't offer any advice as to what to go with - just my sympathy about the loss of the gear.

WalesP

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

04/16/2008 08:39:24 AM · #7

Sorry to hear about you getting ripped off. That kind of thing makes one feel vulnerable.

I shoot a D200 and highly recommend Nikon, and I understand the D3 and D300, the newest additions to the digital foray, are awesome.
If I were going to get a Canon I'd spring for the 5D. Might as well get the top of the line in the Pro-sumer race.
However the Sony/Konica/Minolta folks are coming on strong and they have those Zeiss guys building some of their lenses.

Maybe you could rent each camera you are interested in for a day and see what you like best.

Yo_Spiff

Olympus OM-D E-M5 Mark III

Olympus 12-100mm f/4.0 M.Zuiko ED IS PRO

04/16/2008 08:39:44 AM · #8

Well, that sucks.

I'm not a Canon fan-boy. I was looking at the Olympus E-510 until I ran across a fantastic deal on a Rebel. If you liked the E-500, and the insurance will cover it, you will probably love the E-3. I like the idea of the body based stabilization that Olympus uses. Buying IS lenses are a lot more £/$, and having it built in would be nice. I can tell you from having a camera with the twist around liveview screen (the Canon S5)that it is a very handy feature for getting shots at odd angles and for doing tripod work. I think you would like that feature of th E-3.

Message edited by author 2008-04-16 08:41:27.

FireBird

04/16/2008 08:49:51 AM · #9

Don't know if the UK has a lot of pawn shops, or if they call them that. I'd check all the pawn shops within 10 miles of where the camera was stolen. I'd do it quick too, and follow up one, two, and three weeks later. I'd do this even if going the insurance route. You might be able to get your original camera back. You might also check camera shops that buy used cameras and re-sell. A friend of mine had a large collection of guns stolen. The idiot thief couldn't figure out how to use the most expensive one (collectible Luger) and went to a gun shop to ask about it. It was the same shop that sold the gun to my friend!
Owner recognized the gun and told the perp to leave the weapon and come back in the next day. Dumbass came back and was arrested. Because of this most of the guns were recovered.
Good luck on yours and I'd stick with OLY if you really like it.

figaro

Canon EOS-7D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

04/16/2008 08:57:17 AM · #10

Really sorry to hear about your kit. I do know the feeling - I left my flute on a train once and the insurance had to cough up for that one (it was a train to Portsmouth after all).

My advice would be to have a good look at the lens family you'd be buying into with each option and to work around that - the lens I'm really after, the Canon 24-105mm f4 L doesn't really have an equiavalent and I was keen on the cheap primes available in the Canon range as well. So, I got a 350D and will soon be upgrading to a 30D.

sulamk

Canon EOS-60D

Sigma 70-200 /2.8 APO EX DG Macro HSM II

04/16/2008 09:10:49 AM · #11

What Digital Camera Magazine (uk) awarded the Sony alpha 700 Camera of the year. You will also have many lenses to chose from including the still very good minolta ones they are also cheaper than canon.
The Olympus 510 was entry level dslr of the year.
but go to the shop and ask to hold the various cameras, and get the one you feel comfortable with.

citymars

Nikon D700

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

04/16/2008 09:24:11 AM · #12

Originally posted by Melethia:

Totally sucks about the theft. :-( I won't offer any advice as to what to go with - just my sympathy about the loss of the gear.

Ditto. My first digital camera (Nikon Coolpix 5400) was stolen. I loved that little camera. I'm a highly disorganized person, but I was able to pull together the required paperwork to get my credit card company to cover the loss. Make sure you file a police report.

lady

Canon EOS-600D/T3 Rebel

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

04/16/2008 09:25:16 AM · #13

I know how it feels :( My laptop got stolen a few weeks ago :(
And i am stuck with an old, slow PC, The funny thing is that my camera was next to my laptop and whoever took the lapop was not interested in it, i was kinda relieved to see that at least the camera was still there, even though it's not like yours, SOrry again

ryand

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

04/16/2008 09:29:38 AM · #14

I would look into going with one of the giants, I started out with Nikon because I liked their entry level, I then wished I had started with Canon as I like their lens selection much better. So I decided to swap and I'm starting to wrap up that process. I think one thing you'll notice a difference in is the image quality with Canon or Nikon.

Sorry about the camera issue you are having, hope it gets worked out for the better.

Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0L IS

04/16/2008 09:44:06 AM · #15

Wow, thank you all so much for the advice! Some great gems... think I might try and rent a camera or 2 for a couple of days, and I'm definitely going pawn-shop hunting lol ;)

And thanks for the kind thoughts! That camera was always glued to my body, so I still feel weird that it was taken from me so easily...

Melethia

Canon EOS-80D

04/16/2008 09:46:04 AM · #16

Checking local pawn shops/second hand shops is a good idea. I had my golf clubs stolen out of my garage (in broad daylight) on a Sunday afternoon. I called the local second hand sporting goods stores near my home Monday morning, and Monday afternoon one of them called to say he had them. They'd paid the crooks $100 for the set, so that's what I bought them back for. I'd already called my insurance company - I called them back and they reimbursed me the $100 since I made the effort to find them.

ryand

Canon EOS-5D

Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM

04/16/2008 09:48:26 AM · #17

Originally posted by Melethia:

Thats pretty awesome, I've never had anything actually "stolen", although I have been scammed out of a $350 Fuji EVF Camera, for which I was actually reimbursed by my insurance to my surprise. Typically if you are with a good insurance company, they are pretty good about stolen items.

paddles

Pentax K10D

Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4 AF

04/18/2008 05:09:28 AM · #18

When you have a chance to "start fresh" in situations like this, it's worth looking at other options. I switched from Minolta to Pentax last year after my gear was stolen, because I wasn't happy with the Sony A100 which was their only SLR available at that time - but I also looked at other brands too. But given how much you like Olympus, the comfort factor is a good (and legitimate) reason for staying there - you will have to relearn some things if you switch brands and it will take some time to get used to the new equipment.

If you're going to look, then look at all the major brands, not just Canon/Nikon. And no matter how much time you spend looking at spec sheets or comparing info on //www.dpreview.com, you need to spend some time handling the actual cameras as well.

Also, if you want to switch brands, talk to your insurance company about it rather than just taking the cash. My insurer let me buy different equipment from what had been stolen, but by ordering through their preferred supplier I got their industrial/commercial prices rather than the retail prices I would have been charged if my insurer had just sent me a cheque. The savings (about 15% I think) helped fund purchasing more/better lenses.

Message edited by author 2008-04-18 05:10:04.

04/18/2008 06:39:52 PM · #19

Thanks for the tip! I'll have to see how flexible my insurance company is... I'm not looking forward to the claim process, it just takes so darn loooong...

Originally posted by paddles:

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 ED

04/18/2008 06:40:51 PM · #20

As a bit of an update, I've got the British Transport Police chasing CCTV footage for me ;)

And I'm also getting a bit dizzy looking at new systems/options!! lol

BeeCee

Nikon D40

04/18/2008 08:15:19 PM · #21

I could send my daughter's friends over if you get any leads from the CCTV footage...

She had her camera stolen at a party. They managed to narrow down who it must have been and then a couple of her friends paid them a friendly visit (a couple big Asian martial arts enthusiasts). Amazingly the camera just "reappeared" a day or two later!

Man_Called_Horse

Canon EOS-300D Rebel

04/18/2008 10:10:09 PM · #22

Stick with what your know and are comfortable with, or.....buy a Canon.