A warning for all you low light, long exposure togs

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Originally Posted by Mark von Kanel

The cheapest hassleblad back i can find is 17K + lens + other gear... left un atttended long enogh for someone to walk off with it, report it to the police, for the police to come out, have a look around and then leave..... = stupid in my book

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He didn't leave it that long though - only long enough for the first bit; he came back as the good Samaritan was driving off to get help.

For the most part, NZ is still a place where 99 times out of 100 in an isolated place like that you could leave gear unattended - not saying it's a great idea, but most times it'll be just fine.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Colin Southern

He didn't leave it that long though - only long enough for the first bit; he came back as the good Samaritan was driving off to get help.

For the most part, NZ is still a place where 99 times out of 100 in an isolated place like that you could leave gear unattended - not saying it's a great idea, but most times it'll be just fine.

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Agreed, living in a village where nobody even locks their doors i have no reason to make comments ! :D

I feared the worst reading the first part but thankfully the second part gladdened me. You are fortunate. I have taken hundreds of long exposures out on the terrace and the entire equipment with the laptop to shoot automatically is left unattended while I come down to have dinner. Thankfully the equipment is on the second floor terrace but I lock the door and leave the other door ajar just in case...

I have to mention an incident that happened quite a few years ago right at the Kolob Canyons area of Zion National Park in Utah.

A family had visited the town of Hurricane (located between the Kolob Entrance to Zion and the town of St. George, Utah).

They shot a few frames at the house they were visiting and then headed to the Kolob Canyons for an afternoon of sightseeing. The visitor inadvertently placed the camera on the trunk (boot) of the car when finished shooting but forgot to retrieve the camera before he drove off.

He made a U-turn as soon as he realized he did not have the camera but, the camera was not there when he arrived at the viewpoint he was photographing. He chalked up the camera as a loss.

He received the camera in the mail from the Utah friend he had been visiting. A local person had found the camera, had the film processed, recognized the house in the first couple of frames and returned the camera to his friend who mailed it to him.

It's wonderful to hear stories like that.

By the way, the folks in rural Utah are pretty darned honest. I bought some land there (about twenty years ago) and was contemplating building a retirement home. I asked a local builder (from the town of Hurricane) about the need for security systems. He looked puzzled and replied, I don't know anyone who has a burglar alarm. There are a couple of people in town who lock their houses when they go away for a time but no one uses a burglar alarm...

Unfortunately, I have heard that Walmart built a distribution center near Hurricane and the local residents are complaining about the honesty of many of the imported employees...