STOLEN ZEISS S/Ns

[ronnie_retro]

All,

The door to my house was kicked in when I got home last Friday. In addition to some other stuff, my Ikon, Biogon, and Planar were stolen. Here's the specifics:


Zeiss Ikon, black, S/N 15527557

Zeiss Biogon, black, 35mm F/2, S/N 15535454

Zeiss Planar, black, 50 mm F/2, S/N 15531464

(lens S/Ns may be interchanged - the inspection card that shows the S/N does not list the focal length)

If anyone sees these on Ebay, please let me know!

Needless to say, Mr. Retro is NOT a happy camper. I do have insurance, but as anyone who has had their home broken into knows, it's gonna be a while before things feel regular again.

I doubt they spent more than a couple of minutes in the house. I got the impression they crashed in, grabbed whatever was in the open, relatively small and obviously valuable, and cleared out before anyone would show up if the house was alarmed. Like an idiot, I kept my cameras right where I could get to them easily if say really dramatic daylight occured, which happens with some frequency out here in the southwest.

So - I guess my advice to fellow RFF members is - if you like to keep your cameras handy, keep them out of sight and not in the top drawers.

For those interested, I'm going to be away from my PC for a couple of days handling issues related to this, but as someone once said, "I shall return".

 

[oftheherd]

All,

...

... but as anyone who has had their home broken into knows, it's gonna be a while before things feel regular again.

...

QUOTE]

Sorry for your loss and that way. Glad you had insurance.

You are correct that it takes a while to get over these things. Don't be afraid to talk about those feelings to others. Seems like you aren't. Our home is supposed to be our castle; impregnable. When we find out it isn't, we can feel violated. Not a good feeling. I have seen it happen to others, and even to a lesser extent, to myself when a small motorcycle was stolen off my front porch once. As you said, it takes a while for things to feel right, but eventually, they usually do.

Hopefully if they are pawned, the police will catch them, or you may find them on ebay. Again, sorry for your loss.

 

[mllanos1111]

What state are you in?

 

[spyder2000]

I'm sorry for your experience. I too had something similar happen and what I noted was that anything with a handle went first. I had some seemingly worthless things taken and the commonality was - everything had a handle. Doesn't matter where you stash it because they know where to look.

 

[Charles Bogel]

How do you attach a handle to your wife?

 

[PetarDima]

Ohh man, it's like someone have stoled part of your heart. I hope everything will
be O.K. 🙂

 

[ronnie_retro]

Many thanks to those of you expressing your concern.

I live in New Mexico. As a state, we probably have an above average crime rate, though I've not had any problems until now.

I expect Spyder2000 is right that there's not a whole lot to be done in protecting valuables - if the people breaking in are aggressive enough to do that, there's every reason to believe they'll search until they find whatever they can. Still, I will store easily stolen things differently now - make 'em work a bit for it.

I think these guys may be just dumb enough to get caught. Along with my camera equipment, they stole my checkbook (I was able to get the account on "deposit only" soon enough that I'm not getting stuck for the checks). As I understand it, when they did that they crossed a line to a federal felony, and, after talking with the bank manager where I have my account, they've evidently already written several checks around town.

Since the cops have the info on the Zeiss equipment, I expect that it all goes out to the pawn shops, and who knows - I may yet get some of it back.

Got the door fixed yesterday and a new checking account, so things are on their way back to normal already.

Thanks again for your support. Life goes on.

 

[kshapero]

Man, what a bummer, dude. Really!!!

 

[MCTuomey]

i'll keep an eye for out for those s/n's, retro. good luck in your replacement endeavors.

 

[Nikon Bob]

You have my sympathy, had the same thing happen the same way, front door kicked in. They didn't get any camera gear but lots of other stuff. Dealing with the insurance company was almost as bad an experience as the B&E. It takes quite awhile to get over feeling paranoid/violated but you eventually do, mostly anyway.

Bob