Christmas shopping for cameras in San Francisco

by philg

I had always thought that Leicas were too expensive, but some enterprising Californians managed to get a bunch of these cameras for Christmas stocking stuffers at a reasonable price. From one of my friends who lives in “the city”… “Leica Store in San Francisco Robbed at Gunpoint of $178K in Gear” (PetaPixel):

According to ABC7, surveillance video shows four thieves — at least one of them armed — exiting a gray sedan around 1:20 PM on Saturday and entering the store where they proceeded to smash display cases and make off with nearly $180,000 in camera equipment less than three minutes later. … the SF Chronicle reports that the armed robbery comes just a week after both Mayor London Breed and San Francisco Police Department Chief Bill Scott assured locals that the area was safe for holiday shopping and urged them to return.

Camera equipment has proven to be a high-priority target for thieves in San Francisco. Since the equipment cannot be locked by an owner like smartphones, tablets, and computers can, they tend to be much more tantalizing considering their high value. That means that photographers are often targeted, especially in the city by the bay.

There doesn’t seem to be a place where photographers aren’t targeted. Some have been attacked while stuck in traffic, another was shot by robbers after refusing to give up her camera, and last October a photographer was followed home and robbed of his gear at gunpoint.

My personal choice would be the Leica S3, a “medium-format” camera (larger sensor than 24x36mm; in this case 30x45mm).

With a normal-perspective 70mm lens, the camera will cost about the same what a new car sold for in pre-Biden times: $25,000.

5 thoughts on “Christmas shopping for cameras in San Francisco”

  2. I haven’t visited Photo.net in a long time. Do they have a “lost, missing and/or stolen” area where people can list stolen high-value equipment. It sounds like photographers in SF could use it.

    Second thought is: “How does one fence a Leica stolen from a high-end camera store?”
    Presumably the store has recorded the serial numbers of the equipment, both to establish value but also to aid in police investigations? Wouldn’t it be destructive and counterproductive if someone tried to remove all the identifying marks from the camera? I assume Leica doesn’t make it easy. So how do they sell them? Black market in SF?

    I know next to nothing about Leicas but that S3 must make a great scumbag stocking stuffer. Oh well, when you tell the thieves that grand theft is just a lifestyle choice that won’t be punished, you get what you deserve. And in some cases, apparently, what you don’t.

    P.S. I also find it fascinating that the article you link to has still pictures of the surveillance video and police have the actual video….but nobody has yet seen a single bodycam image from the home invasion of the Pelosi household.

    • P.P.S.: I also think it would be great if someone in the vast San Francisco government got a new job. The position is simple and even a postmodern college graduate could handle it: all they do is compile a daily list of property crimes in San Francisco, with locations and values. Then they hand deliver that list each day to the Governor’s Office and place it gingerly on his desk with a nice bottle of wine and a new tube of hair gel. Then the Governor will have a yardstick of sorts.

      “My dear Governor, here is today’s SF Property Crimes Report. Also your 2015 PlumpJack Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon, Oakville 6L, and a beautiful new tube of Paco Rabanne Black XS Hair Gel. https://www.scentsational.com/men-c11/hair-products-c15/paco-rabanne-xs-black-150ml-hair-styling-gel-p37042 Thank you Sir. I remain, as always, your humble servant.”

      “You are dismissed, Beasley, and thank you for the gift. Same time tomorrow, OK? Yes.
      HmmMmm. Let’s see here…lots of smash and grab, isn’t there? Wow! That Leica store got hit! At least this provides some sense of proportion. Let’s see here…the equipment was valued at $180,000, and that’s just enough to buy 17 of these 2015 Reserve.

      https://www.plumpjackcollection.com/shop-wines/2015-plumpjack-reserve-cabernet-sauvignon-oakville-6l

      SEVENTEEN! My Goodness Gracious, we have to stop this. Eventually. At some point.”

  3. Criminals would be having a bad day if lions were still commuting. Most of them are barely mentally alive & expecting everyone to surrender. Lions have more fear getting arrested for turning an attempted robber into a meatloaf than getting shot.

  4. OK, so the scumbags got away with … nine Leica S3s? Wow.

    Here is a question for the photographers among us: have you used the Sony A1, and what do you think?

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