Camera gear stolen in Italy - any advice for getting it back?

osullic · Jan 13, 2025

I was recently in Italy on vacation and suffered an enormous personal loss of camera gear by having my backpack stolen. I was travelling by train from Rome to Venice, and while my guard was down, a thief managed to take my backpack off the overhead rack and abscond without me noticing. The train had a scheduled 10-minute stop in Florence and the train staff seemed to think that that was the most likely place for the theft to take place. I was amazed to discover that the train had no security cameras. Of course I reported the theft to the police (in Venice), but they were not very helpful it must be said. They were only really interested in completing the paperwork and sending me on my way with some sympathetic facial expressions. Since I couldn't say for sure where it happened, and I hadn't seen the thief, they had no interest in pursuing any kind of investigation. The policeman told me that they had about 6 thefts reported on this line every day, which to me seems a high number not to be more actively warning passengers or installing security cameras. Between Rome and Venice, the train stopped in Florence, Bologna, Rovigo and Padua.

I have travel insurance, and I'm going to make a claim, but it will definitely not cover the full value of the gear I lost, because of various maximums applied to "valuables" in my insurance policy.

I lost:
Rolleiflex 3.5F serial number 2821074
Noblex 135S serial number 104790
Sony A7II serial number 3867081

I'm not looking for sympathy, and I'm certainly not looking for criticism. What I would like is any advice on what I might do to pursue the slim chance of getting any of my gear back. I am planning on emailing any Rollei dealers in Italy that I can find online, to ask if they might just keep an eye out for the serial number of my camera. The police also suggested that my stuff may well end up just getting thrown away by a thief who can't easily sell it.

beemermark · Jan 13, 2025

In the USA home owners (or renters) insurance would cover the loss.

Sirius Glass · Jan 13, 2025

Best of luck with a insurance company.

Kino · Jan 13, 2025

Maybe call each city's police department in the listed train stops and give them the serial numbers and description?

Also, make and save searches on Ebay in this area and check frequently.

Beyond that, I don't have any suggestions...

koraks · Jan 14, 2025

osullic said:
What I would like is any advice on what I might do to pursue the slim chance of getting any of my gear back.

Not much, realistically speaking.
Keep an eye on eBay etc. to see if your gear pops up. If it does, inform the police, and provide them with evidence that the equipment is yours. If you're lucky, they might pay the seller a visit. Although I'm afraid that the odds of getting back the gear by actually buying it off the seller would be greater than trying to get it back through police intervention.
It's different if you're a resident of the theft, speak the language well, and have easy access to police stations etc. If you're trying this from abroad, I don't think there's much chance of getting this resolved.

Ibicus · Jan 14, 2025

Hi,
You could have a look at pages like "www.subito.it", or facebook groups like "mercatino fotografia analogica" and similar, maybe someone will try to resell them there.

Alan Edward Klein · Jan 14, 2025

I'm sorry for your loss and I have no recommendations for locating your gear. When we went to London and took the Chunnel train to Paris, I bought one of those bicycle cables with locks to secure my bags to the car structure at the end of the car where everyone's bags are kept. I wound up not taking it but watched my bags like a hawk. Fortunately, there were no stops between the two cities. I realize it's closing the barn door after the horse got out. But maybe a cable-lock system would work for you in the future.

grain elevator · Jan 14, 2025

Alan Edward Klein said:
I'm sorry for your loss and I have no recommendations for locating your gear. When we went to London and took the Chunnel train to Paris, I bought one of those bicycle cables with locks to secure my bags to the car structure at the end of the car where everyone's bags are kept. I wound up not taking it but watched my bags like a hawk. Fortunately, there were no stops between the two cities. I realize it's closing the barn door after the horse got out. But maybe a cable-lock system would work for you in the future.

That's a good idea for train travel that I hadn't thought of.
I don't have anything for the OP, sorry.

loccdor · Jan 15, 2025

Police unfortunately don't do much for this. If you see it being sold online, and you've kept documentation that it was stolen and had your serial number, you still will have to convince whoever is facilitating the transaction to get involved and help you out. I don't see much chance at all of you ever getting the cameras back.

We were also stolen from on our trip to Italy, but nothing as badly - a 38 euro dinner bill turned into 73. Digging through the reviews online revealed the waiter had done this several times to other guests. It happened in a rough area of Rome.

Sirius Glass · Jan 15, 2025

The OP has done all he can do and will need to start shopping for replacement equipment. It is unfortunate that all police departments do not use much effort since the chances of success are so low unless the perp makes a big mistake that can be leveraged.

armadsen · Jan 15, 2025

beemermark said:
In the USA home owners (or renters) insurance would cover the loss.

Sirius Glass said:
Best of luck with an insurance company.

When I had my bag with cameras and a bunch of other stuff stolen in Namibia, my (US) homeowners insurance covered the entire loss and without much trouble. Definitely worth talking to yours.

Sirius Glass · Jan 16, 2025

armadsen said:
When I had my bag with cameras and a bunch of other stuff stolen in Namibia, my (US) homeowners insurance covered the entire loss and without much trouble. Definitely worth talking to yours.

I have had much less success with travel insurance on nonphotographic problems.

armadsen · Jan 16, 2025

Sirius Glass said:
I have had much less success with travel insurance on nonphotographic problems.

The camera equipment was a very small part (value wise) of what was stolen. Just a pinhole and an instax camera. My DSLR was around my neck at the time, and didn’t get stolen, thankfully. The total reimbursement from my insurance was ~$4000.

Sirius Glass · Jan 16, 2025

armadsen said:
The camera equipment was a very small part (value wise) of what was stolen. Just a pinhole and an instax camera. My DSLR was around my neck at the time, and didn’t get stolen, thankfully. The total reimbursement from my insurance was ~$4000.

Still painful to go through. I am happy to see that you did not lose you main camera.

jvo · Jan 16, 2025

I was in Rome,( ~10 years back), with a friend who had camera equip and other stuff stolen. We went to the police and reported the items. The detective typed a list of each item on plain white paper, with 2 carbon copies! My upset friend was apparently soothed in the back and forth translation of information about each item.

As we were about to leave the detective pulled me aside and said in Italian "if you friend wants her stuff back, she can get it at the flea market on Sunday"

beemermark · Jan 16, 2025

Sirius Glass said:
I have had much less success with travel insurance on nonphotographic problems.

Travel insurance is nothing like homeowners insurance. When my battered old M4, V1 50mm Summilux, other lenses were stolen out my car trunk years ago my insurance company replaced my equipment with the new M7 and newest lenses. Be sure you have replacement value on your homeowners. Homeowners insurance covers you where ever you are - home, car, hotel, ship, etc.

armadsen · Jan 16, 2025

jvo said:
I was in Rome,( ~10 years back), with a friend who had camera equip and other stuff stolen. We went to the police and reported the items. The detective typed a list of each item on plain white paper, with 2 carbon copies! My upset friend was apparently soothed in the back and forth translation of information about each item.

As we were about to leave the detective pulled me aside and said in Italian "if you friend wants her stuff back, she can get it at the flea market on Sunday"

I went to make a police report and the police woman wrote it down with pen on a regular old spiral bound notebook! She tore off a corner, wrote a number on it, handed it to me, and told me it was my case number. Namibia is a special place

Daniela · Jan 17, 2025

Alan Edward Klein said:
I'm sorry for your loss and I have no recommendations for locating your gear. When we went to London and took the Chunnel train to Paris, I bought one of those bicycle cables with locks to secure my bags to the car structure at the end of the car where everyone's bags are kept. I wound up not taking it but watched my bags like a hawk. Fortunately, there were no stops between the two cities. I realize it's closing the barn door after the horse got out. But maybe a cable-lock system would work for you in the future.

grain elevator said:
That's a good idea for train travel that I hadn't thought of.
I don't have anything for the OP, sorry.

Just hide the cable very well if you do this in France because the SNCF controllers will not allow it and ask you to remove it

koraks · Jan 17, 2025

Daniela said:
because the SNCF controllers will not allow it

Yeah, with good reason, too. The last thing you want on a train is people fumbling with a cable lock right where everyone is queueing up to get on/off the train, let alone to have the damn thing delayed because "sir, sir! sorry, sir! Wait a moment, I can't find my luggage key, could you hold the train while my partner blocks the automatic doors, please? sir!?"
Not to mention that a suitcase locked to the carriage would raise suspicions associated with terrorism.

Daniela · Jan 18, 2025

koraks said:
Yeah, with good reason, too. The last thing you want on a train is people fumbling with a cable lock right where everyone is queueing up to get on/off the train, let alone to have the damn thing delayed because "sir, sir! sorry, sir! Wait a moment, I can't find my luggage key, could you hold the train while my partner blocks the automatic doors, please? sir!?"

Public transportation also makes me lose faith in humanity

osullic · Jan 22, 2025

koraks said:
Yeah, with good reason, too. The last thing you want on a train is people fumbling with a cable lock right where everyone is queueing up to get on/off the train, let alone to have the damn thing delayed because "sir, sir! sorry, sir! Wait a moment, I can't find my luggage key, could you hold the train while my partner blocks the automatic doors, please? sir!?"
Not to mention that a suitcase locked to the carriage would raise suspicions associated with terrorism.

In the train I was in in Italy, the larger luggage racks (for large suitcases) had built-in cable locks. You had to put a coin into a mechanism in the lock in order to release the key, and when you unlocked it again later, your coin popped back out. No need to bring your own cable lock.

However, my backpack was on the overhead rack, designed for smaller items, and it was from there that someone quietly took it and left. I think probably not a passenger, but someone who just boarded the train randomly at a station.

GregY · Jan 22, 2025

Daniela said:
Public transportation also makes me lose faith in humanity

As a N American my experience of travelling by public transport in France, Austria, Italy, Germany & Switzerland....the transportation system is enviable...... Thefts can happen in any big city.

osullic · Jan 22, 2025

Ibicus said:
Hi,
You could have a look at pages like "www.subito.it", or facebook groups like "mercatino fotografia analogica" and similar, maybe someone will try to resell them there.

Thanks for the suggestion. Annoyingly, subito.it will not allow me to register without an Italian mobile number, so I cannot set up alerts / saved searches - however I guess a thief is smart enough not to list stolen gear on legitimate marketplaces in any case, and so I guess my gear will be sold to a fence for much less than its actual market value, and the fence will shift it onwards through a flea market or something.

Alan Edward Klein · Jan 23, 2025

Daniela said:
Just hide the cable very well if you do this in France because the SNCF controllers will not allow it and ask you to remove it

Who and what are SNCF Controllers?

Alan Edward Klein · Jan 23, 2025

koraks said:
Yeah, with good reason, too. The last thing you want on a train is people fumbling with a cable lock right where everyone is queueing up to get on/off the train, let alone to have the damn thing delayed because "sir, sir! sorry, sir! Wait a moment, I can't find my luggage key, could you hold the train while my partner blocks the automatic doors, please? sir!?"
Not to mention that a suitcase locked to the carriage would raise suspicions associated with terrorism.

Good thing I left the cable home. I might be in jail still.

Camera gear stolen in Italy - any advice for getting it back?

osullic

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osullic

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Camera gear stolen in Italy - any advice for getting it back?

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