Leica camera gear stolen near Brussels

[ninjin]

Everyone,

Apologies if I am posting this in the wrong forum, given the subject matter and that the thief also got my charger I am in a bit of a hurry. Last night I had a backpack stolen on a train from Brussels to Ghent, my suspicion is that the thief got off at Brussels South with my backpack. The thief got very lucky and ended up with my precious Leica, prime lens, and some equipment -- despite there being no signs of the backpack containing any camera gear. I have reported the theft to the police here in Ghent who were very helpful, but I hope that I can cause some more trouble for the thief since I also know the serial numbers of all the gear. In addition, I have contacted Photo Ciné House and Leica Boutique Photogallerie Brussels, given them the details, and asked them to forward them to other dealers in Brussels and the surrounding area. I also sent an e-mail to the Leica store in London and will also set up Ebay and Google Alerts. The camera gear was as follows, feel free to propagate it if you know any good venues.

* Leica M8 (Chrome/silver) with serial number 3333076
* Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM (Chrome/silver) with serial number 15601173
* Leicatime half-case and strap (Rally leather)
* Leica E46 UV/IR filter
* Leica E39 UV/IR filter

Apologies for posting such a sad tale, hopefully I can cause some trouble with the above information. If anyone has additional advice it would be more than thankful as a somewhat saddened amateur photographer -- at least I still have a lens or two and some film gear.

 

[jonmanjiro]

Sorry to hear that. I'd be pretty bummed if it happened to me. I hope you're able to track down the gear and /or are able to claim it back through insurance.

FWIW the serial number you listed for the Zeiss C Sonnar 50/1.5 doesn't look like any I've seen. Are you sure that's the correct serial number?

 

[ninjin]

Thank you jonmanjiro. I asked my wife to get me those numbers from a MapCamera receipt back home in England really quickly last night and I suspect we messed it up. Hopefully she can confirm the numbers, as the photos of the same lens I have just checked online seems to have 8 digits. Once I have additional information I will update the post.

As I guess my gear shows, I am a digital rangefinder user, well, ex-user at this point, on a budget. So replacing the gear really hurts, hopefully I can dump some of my old Cannon EOS gear in London for some cash towards a new rangefinder. Shooting that M8 really made me happy over the four years we had together.

 

[Out to Lunch]

Sorry to read about your loss and wishing you good luck in finding an affordable rangefinder! The serial number of my C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM has 8 digits.

 

[raid]

Check if your home owners insurance policy covers it. You need a police report on it.

 

[Rob-F]

* Zeiss C Sonnar T* 1,5/50 ZM (Chrome/silver) with serial number 3717001386275

I think that one serial number should be checked. As I read it, it is number three trillion, seven hundred seventeen billion, one million, three hundred eighty six thousand, two hundred seventy five. That seems a little high, even for Zeiss!

I'm very sorry to hear this happened! I know how I would feel. I hope your gear can be recovered.

 

[mcfingon]

The Sonnar 50/1.5 I have bought new about four years ago is 15,604,125 if that is any help in sorting it out. The serial is on the bottom of the lens box if your wife can find it at home. I'm sorry you've lost your gear. I'm going to be in the same area later this year with my Leica lenses and hope it doesn't happen to me. I am told my camera equipment is covered by my home insurance as long as it is listed with serial numbers and my travel is not for longer than 90 days.

 

[newfilm]

I always feels insecure someone would walk away with my backpack when I'm on a train hence never put them on the overhead compartment, I'll hug them in my sleep on my seat.

I'm wondering if the thief saw you taking or putting your gear in the bag? I wonder how would they target their victim, I mean, random bag cannot be all that "lucrative"?

 

[ninjin]

Agreed newfilm, that one is a lesson I now learned the hard way. I never showed any camera, it was always in its side pocket. I did potentially show that I had a fairly cheap Dell laptop, but I was working on it throughout the journey so the thief could not have expected to get the laptop. It was a Manfrotto backpack though, so maybe the thief caught onto that?

An update on the serial number for the lens, I found another receipt from MapCamera with 15601173 on it. Now, my Japanese is not flawless, but I am pretty certain that it is not explicitly stated as a serial number. But the number of digits match that of the type of lens and the first three digits are exactly what I see when I look at photos of the same lens online. I will send another e-mail to MapCamera to confirm -- they have not yet responded to my first one -- and update the serial number in my first post. Perhaps I should also ask a friend in Belgium to call the local police to update the details they have as well.

 

[Out to Lunch]

In terms of loss and insurance, I suppose the number that matters is the one on the barrel of the lens. It has 8 digits... this with regards to the posts about numbers on the box of the lens. Cheers, Peter

 

[ninjin]

Thanks Peter, MapCamera has now confirmed that the serial number was correct. Great guys, do visit them if you are in Tokyo. Not a place for bargains, but someone that you can trust and has an excellent selection.