would you steal this?

back alley

back alley

IMAGES
Local time
9:55 AM
Joined
Jul 30, 2003
Messages
41,289
what if…

supose you are a 'typical' thief who breaks into everyday people's homes…
you come across a box of old camera stuff that you think might be valuable just cause it's shiny and old.
on top of all this gear is a note that says,'needs to be sent out for repair'.

would you steal this gear?
 
Does the theif in question have all the time in the world?
(IE - moving truck out front with a fake work order)

Or does have 5 minutes to find valuables, and then take what he can carry?
(IE - they broke in and it's about 5 minutes till the neighbor calls the cops and they show up?)

If it's the first, then it's gone.
If it's the second, then no.
 
I'd be too busy looking for cash, cards, jewellery, and electronic goods, that would be easy to carry and easy to sell on.

Film cameras wouldn't even get a look-in.
 
if I were a thief, my specialty would be the theft of cameras and ...enlargers. everything else I do not care. Ah, forgootten ...lenses, many lenses.ahr, ahr
 
I would take all Nikon and Leica and Voigtländer and Bronica stuff and leave the rest where it is

Well, hmm, yes, I am no typical thief, more of a typical rangefinderforum guy
 
Last edited:
if i were a thief, I would of gotten caught by now thus too busy making license plates to respond to your thread of if I were a thief….
 
Thieves steal without rhyme or reason sometimes. I doubt too many would know/care if it were a film or a digital camera. If you don't want your camreas stolen it might be better to leave several hundred dollars cash in plain sight. The thief will immediately gravitate to that and wonder why this "job" is so much easier than all others... and flee immediately before something goes wrong. You will be out a bit of cash but your cameras will be there when you get home.
 
p.s. Do folks in Canada leave junk on the curb on trash day... hopiNG someone will take it away? Here in CA the fastest way to get rid of such junk is to haNg a sign that says "$50... leave your money under the doormat". That stuff gets stolen/taken a lot faster than the same stuff with a sign reading "FREE - TAKE IT AWAY".

Maybe you should put a sign on the box saying "VALUABLE STUFF - STEAL ME FIRST".
 
Of course it's gone in a heart beat.
One, it's already boxed up and easy to cart off.
Two, some one thinks it's valuable enough to get repaired so it must have some value as it sits.

Did your house get broken into?
 
filmtwit said:
Does the theif in question have all the time in the world?
(IE - moving truck out front with a fake work order)

Or does have 5 minutes to find valuables, and then take what he can carry?
(IE - they broke in and it's about 5 minutes till the neighbor calls the cops and they show up?)

If it's the first, then it's gone.
If it's the second, then no.
Click to expand...

My thought would be the opposite: if the first, the thief has time to find more valuables, in the box could be a bonus find.
If the second, he doesn't have time to get something that may or may not be valuable. He would move on to find money or jewellery.

But then again, what would I know? I never ever did a break-in :angel:
 
The presence of film cameras would be perceived as a sign of money and valuables elsewhere in the house. Thieves these days tend not to be film fans unless their field is fake merchandise.
 
Gumby said:
p.s. Do folks in Canada leave junk on the curb on trash day... hopiNG someone will take it away? Here in CA the fastest way to get rid of such junk is to haNg a sign that says "$50... leave your money under the doormat". That stuff gets stolen/taken a lot faster than the same stuff with a sign reading "FREE - TAKE IT AWAY".

Maybe you should put a sign on the box saying "VALUABLE STUFF - STEAL ME FIRST".
Click to expand...

when I worked at a bike shop, we had put out an old plywood platform on the curb. Same thing--two days of FREE on it; put "$50" and it was gone within the hour…
We also had to chop up unridable/broken bikes and helmets lest anyone take them from the dumpster and injure themselves. That was a a fun job.

Back Alley's question: Not sure. There are different levels of logical thinking among thieves, I'm sure.
But another related story? My mother has my old iPhone. She's afraid to put photos or save numbers in the contacts list, lest a thief attempt to blackmail her or kidnap friends and relatives. I had to explain to her that your average iPhone thief is probably a lot more concerned with getting a cool couple hundred in their hands as fast as possible.
So perhaps your 'to be fixed' items are safe...
 
I would take the cameras, bring them home, load them with film, take some killer shots, and return the cameras with the film, and leave this note: Took the cameras, repaired them, shot with them, here's the film, Love HCB.
 
Some nice answers and a nice first post: I laughed...
I think if the thieve sees a note that says for repair and he sees several cameras, I mean, everything included there, then he (she?) wouldn't believe the note, but if the best gear is inside an old, partly ripped off plastic bag, and other gear is outside, next to the plastic bag with the writing, the trick might work... A third group of great lenses or cameras inside a small cardboard box with a "worst ones, for ebay" writing, would make the thieve look for other things...
I thought those things happen where I'm living only... :)
Cheers,
Juan
 
Must be that your place was burglarized (my best guess).

Thieves are thoughtless, probably drugees (sp?) they enter, grab and run.

Would I personally steal it? No. As a movie junkie, I would head straight for your DVD collection.

Oh, wait is this a preventative question ?? .... put your gear in an old styrofoam container and label it "toxins for the lab experiment", and hope the moron knows what a "toxin" is.
 
Stealing is wrong? Lying too? We'd better forward this to Washington.

When I break into homes I'm usually too busy eating the Lucky Charms in the pantry to fiddle w/ camera stuff.
 
Electronics first. Then hand carry items that looks precious in the display cabinet or drawers.
Best choice are things that appeals to many kind of peoples, and antique camera might not change into cash fast enough.

Of course, cash and jewelry are the best.

But if I did have experience with selling stolen camera, I'd learn which one has highest mass to market price ratio
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom