Camera in Italy

Are there any significant safety/theft issues regarding the use of larger cameras in Italy?

No, not like in the USA . The only drawback of a quality camera is carrying it around.

Just be careful not to photograph children without asking permission. Italians are sensitive about that.

@Jazz+Travels, :D Thanks!

@ponygirl813, Makes perfect sense. I don't take photos of kids anyway. Too paranoid.

I would go small, just for the ease of traveling light, but there are no real security concerns with a larger camera. After several decades carrying all manner of film and digital cameras with assorted lenses around Europe and especially Italy, I now carry just a Pixel 6a and I love it. What I lose by not having a longer lens, I gain with the ability to get excellent shots in near darkness with Night Sight . What I lose by not having a viewfinder, I gain by people not reacting to a camera being pointed at them. As a bonus my feet and shoulder have it easier, and I can react much faster with a smartphone than with a camera that needs handling care.

My next trip, I am taking a Minox, loaded with film, Ilford B&W, 200ASA, f16 @1/60th works well.

Sort of going retro.

I took my Canon 5D2 to Italy in 2015 and had no issues. Six months later I took it to France, Germany and the Netherlands. That was the trip that made me want to do something different.
I looked around and settled on a Fuji X-E3. My kit with the same coverage went from 22 pounds to 8 pounds. The Fuji and small bag draws a lot less attention, especially shooting street photos. My photos look as good from the Fuji as from the Canon.

Since getting the Fuji, we've been to England and France twice. We're about to go to Austria and Slovenia and I'm upgrading to the Fuji X-S20. BTW, I use all my Canon lenses on the Fuji in addition to Fuji lenses. If you like church interiors, I'd look into also taking a prime lens that's wider and faster.

it really depends on how much of a "geek" you are, and what you plan to do with your pix. If they are just travel snaps that you might share with family and friends, today's cellphones take amazing photos. If you want to publish them or plan to blow them up to mural size, you need pixels. I was just browsing through my London and Paris pix the other day on my tablet that I took with my Pixel phone and they looked better than just fine to me, and I used to be an avid photographer.

I take my Canon EOS Rebel T5 on all my trips. No safety or theft issues anyplace I’ve visited. I do leave the zoom lens at home since I never used it enough to lug it around.

Thank you, everyone! On the safety/theft issue, I'm convinced the DSLR won't be an issue.

Of course now there's the issue of what do I really want to carry. "Small" has its advantages. We recently went to Hawaii and I brought the point-n-shoot, the G16, with me. Except for one location that was exceptionally dark, the photos were fine. Even in the dark location, the G16 worked quite well. Would the DSLR, the 5DMkIV, have worked better? Sure! It also would have been heavier.

As far as how much of a geek I am and how I'd use the photos, I've done a range of genres as a hobbyist: fashion, street, sports, and nature, to name my top genres. Equipment performance has always been king. I have made large 24"x36" canvas wall wrap prints, though mostly I do 8"x12" and 9"x12" prints. I push my equipment to its limits.

At least now I have the option of bringing either. That's something I'll decide once we have a real itinerary.

Grazie!

I'm using my DSLR, Tripod and so on. Lot's of stuff to carry but I never feel unsafe. More the question if you want to carry all of that stuff. For me personally there is no alternative to my DSLR :-)

Graham,

I'm an avid photographer and good photos are an important part of my travels. I feel that I might only be able to get to some of the places I visit once in my lifetime, so I want good photos to remember those places. I always pack along my venerable Canon 7D dSLR (with no-name strap), along with a P&S for less important snapshots and of course my mobile phone is with me wherever I go. The P&S is also good as a "backup" if there's a problem with the dSLR (that has happened!). As you pointed out, I also prefer the dSLR for many applications as it offers unrivalled flexibility and speed, and a range of settings to cover just about any situation. It's also very fast so I can get photos that wouldn't be possible with a P&S. I sometimes pack along a Manfrotto compact travel tripod for night photos. It fits easily into my checked luggage and is not a burden to carry, and I've been able to get some great time lapse night shots by using the tripod.

I've found that I typically use two lenses about 99% of the time..... a 24-105 mid range zoom and a 10-22 wide angle. I usually have a 70-300 zoom available but don't always pack it along when touring. I don't use a camera bag, and prefer to just carry the camera with the strap when I'm out sightseeing. I use a photo vest to store the P&S camera, spare batteries, lens filters, cleaning wipes, etc. It's not the most "stylish" look but it's functional.

I've never felt there were any safety/theft issues anywhere in Europe. In crowded locations, the camera is tucked under my arm if I'm not using it, and if in the Metro or whatever I position myself so the camera is in a corner or against the wall. So far I've never had a problem. I suspect that mobile phones are more of a "target" than cameras. My camera is somewhat "old" so probably wouldn't be of much value to a thief.

Theft is a concern in Italy, but it is not getting mugged, its by pickpocket.

Just seep your valuables close, never leave an expensive camera in a backpack that someone can unzip in the subway and steal.

I gave up carry a big camera case with an SLR camera when it switched from a film camera to digital.

I have a Nikon camera that has the ability to zoom and go wide angle. It is a compromise between an SLR and a small point n shoot.

I do use my cell phone a little as well.

Thank you for all of the additional insights! Decisions, decisions... :D

Real tough decision for me. I love shooting vacation with a DSLR, and I have a nice Pentax K3. But I decided to go radical for my Oct '23 Italy trip coming up. I bought a Ricoh 24mp GRiiix PnS FIXED at 40mm. I don't anticipate taking too many landscape shots so for me, this camera, as one of the most compact PnS cameras, makes sense. I should be able to get great shots, be only slightly limited by no zoom or wide angle and can post process and crop anything for seeming zoom. We decided to take the advice of packing light, so we're going with carry-ons and small backpacks or shoulder/cross-body bags. The Ricoh will go in my backpack or crossbody bag. I was in Germany in the 90s and lugged around both a film camera AND a camcorder. Never again. The compact does probably lend itself more to theft possibility but just not wanting to lug around more.

@rlightfoot2, that's a very interesting perspective. I've did street photography in NYC over a few complete weekends in the past using a single prime on my DSLR each time - 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm. It was easy, but I had to accept from the start that I was shooting with a single prime lens. There was no lamenting, "I wish I'd brought the __." I had to make the lens work. An 85mm lens was very interesting as a street lens (re: you don't do street photography with an 85mm lens!), but I was completely in sync with it and it worked. I loved it! Full disclosure: I supplemented the weekend with a few photos from the iPhone.

Previously I looked at the Ricoh as a replacement for the Canon G16. My thought was that I love the flexibility of the G16 - 28mm - 140mm equivalent. Still, the G16 is getting old; I've had it for 9 years and have used it a lot on travel, the most recent time being a trip to Hawaii in May. A fixed focal length camera could work for me, and a 40mm Ricoh would be a nice focal length. (35mm and 50mm work for me.) I could see this or something similar as a realistic camera for me.

Have a great trip to Italy! May your photos be great! I will consider your radical idea in my planning. Thank you, and best to you!

One quick addition. The Griiix has a "shoot cropped" feature with 2 crops at 50mm and another at 71mm. I assigned the crop function to the fn button on the back of the camera so for me it's like having a convenient 40mm-71mm zoom. Not too much of a zoom, but at least something.