Help! Need Camera Shop in Rome

janet,

Sorry to hear about your misfortune. I had a similar situation a couple of years ago on a trip to Greece, and had to find a replacement DSLR in Athens in a hurry. I was at the beginning of my trip and didn't want to go through my holiday with no record the wonderful places I had been. Fortunately I was successful and found one just before leaving Athens. I make it a point to carry a backup P&S now as well.

Have a look at these websites.....

• http://www.olympus.co.uk/site/en/c/cameras_support/dealer_locator/dealerlocator.do?p=253958 (type "Rome" in the search box).
• http://www.yelp.ca/search?cflt=photographystores&find_loc=Roma

You didn't say which part of Rome you were staying, but if necessary you could perhaps pick up the rental car, find somewhere to park it and then buy the Camera. You should be able to find one there, but if not I can recommend a camera store in Florence.

Good luck!

I don't know if you can pull this up, but here are location of Olympus dealers in Rome.
https://www.olympus.it/site/it/c/cameras_support/dealer_locator/dealerlocator.do?p=253958

Just saw you are by Campo Fiori. This one not too far away:
E. De Bernardis s.r.l.
Piazza della Cancelleria 63
00186 Roma

is there a Lost&Found in the Gardens?

You all are so great! Thank you!
I will check out the shop close to where we are staying tomorrow - Camp Di Fiori. I doubt there will be many stores open on Sunday, but I have already warned my fami,y that this will be a high priority until we leave Roma!
In case anyone is reading this - no one stole anything. We were riding a delightful 4 person bike in the Borghese Gardens when my bag fell out of the cart. I still can't believe we didn't see it go. There were photo copies of our passports in there and one credit card, and my camera, along with my Borgese Gallerie tickets, The wonderful staff at the Borgese Galleria took pity and gave us replacement tickets (the gallery is FANTASTIC). I am calling the embassy tomorrow just in case someone turned my bag in. We called the credit card company and no one had attempted to use the card. Amex might also have some coverage, but mostly I am sad for the loss of the pictures so far --- and don't want to be without pictures of the rest of our trip!

Thank you for your help!!!

I would double check again with the embassy as someone might turn it in there. Italians are honest people. The embassy is not too far from the gardens. You will pay a premium for the camera but be sure to obtain the forms for the VAT refund so you can at least get that back at the airport when you leave.

I might also consider a quality point and shot camera on the change that the camera might be returned. I am sure you could pick up a new OM in the US on sale well under the Italian price. I personally have given up carrying a SL simply because of those kinds of problems and too much weight.

I just wanted to mention something I do now before I travel. I write my name and address on a piece of paper and take a photo of it on all the SD cards I will be taking with me. On the paper I write - 'if this card is found, please return to'...I've seen stories of people finding cards and of course not knowing who they belong too. At least if the camera showed up at a lost and found after the fact, there would be a way to contact you. Or if someone found the card. You could even go so far as to translate if you were in a foreign language country, or put the contact info of where you will be when on the paper. I hope someone honest found it.

I know last year in Venice we were at a restaurant and a couple there got up and walked out leaving their camera behind. The waitress found it, and I'm hoping they would notice quickly and come back. And on the subway in Washington, D.C. a young girl left her purse on the train...I just left it because I wouldn't have two clues as a tourist about where to take it. (She was like 8 years old, so I don't think she was carrying a lot of cash on her). ditto a phone someone left on a metro somewhere in Italy or France. Someone asked if it was ours and I think they were tourists too and didn't know what to do with it so they just shrugged and put it back on the seat.

In that vein...where would you take a purse or bag or camera you found on a subway? Do the stations have lost and founds? If I was in a museum or something I would take it to the front desk...but in a metro station....?

An update! Thank you for all of your wonderful advice! So helpful!
We called the Embassy this morning as soon as they opened (Monday morning) to report the missing bag. They had reports from 5 other Americans who "lost" bags in the Borghese Gardens on Friday and Saturday and have already begun working with the police. In a strange way, it made me feel better - it wasn't just me being careless. I DID have copies of our passports AND contact information for me in the bag so if it happens to be found by someone who happens to get it to the police or a US Embassy, I suppose there is a chance I will get something back. The police indicated that if you find a bag somewhere, that you turn it in to the first police officer you find.
Speaking of police, we filed a report with them this morning. My husband just went to the station very close to our apartment (near Camp dei Fiori), filed it, and got a copy to take home. Since I had recently purchased both the camera and the bag on our American Express card, it looks like they will provide loss protection and replace the camera and bag (though they can't replace the photo cards with our vacation pictures.
So I went to Sabitini Foto (near the Vatican) as soon as they opened this morning. They had my exact camera - and at a slightly lower price (even after the exchange) than what I paid on June 1st in the States. Then I asked about a bag to protect the camera. The sales person pulled out their "top seller - can't keep it in stock." It was my EXACT bag - same make, model, color --- same bag. Astounding - it's a bag made in the USA and I had shopped for it for months (to replace the heavy camera bag I had used for 25+ years) before deciding on that particular bag. And there it was in Rome. The sales person was so happy that I was happy (and buying a whole new camera suit from him) that he paid for a cab for me to get back to our apartment quickly. We were exactly on time picking up the car.

We left Rome and drove straight to Civita - it was spectacular! I would have been so sad not to have pictures there! Thanks, again!!

I love happy endings.

All is well that ends well. But now I am suspicious that maybe your bag didn't fall out without a little assistance. Five other people cannot have bags accidentally falling out of bicycles. Are you sure that it didn't have a little assistance.

For those who find a purse, camera, computer, etc. on public transport---whether in the US or in Europe----take it to the driver (bus) or conductor/staff (train) or metro office and turn it in there.

My husband accidentally left his new Mac and case in a bus stop shelter as we were on the way to the airport here in Seattle. We reported the loss to the driver, returned to the shelter to check, and it had disappeared, so we went ahead to the airport, not wanting to miss our flight. We called the Metro lost and found the next day and it had been turned in there. Someone had turned it in to the driver of the next bus coming along. We were very concerned because of all the personal information on a computer, but it turned out just fine.

The other option in Europe is to turn it in to police but that takes longer.

paranoid much Frank? The majority of people are honest and helpful.

Good to know - thanks for the info on who to turn lost items in to...

Yes - I think it is likely that the bag did not fall out by accident. We now suspect that the well dressed, good looking group of teenage boys that distracted my teen daughters may have had something to do with it - I was inside the Borghese Gallery getting our tickets and apparently a group of boys came through and said hello to my girls (according to my youngest, they said hello in English but "in and Italian way" - she says it was like they were singing it)! Though my husband denies it, I feel sure he was distracted by this attention directed at the girls. Obviously I would find it all less amusing if it didn't turn out well!

I don't want to jump to conclusions or imply some sort of major crime ring operating in the Borghese Gardens. But 5 bags in two days is a lot - and those are just the bags reported by Americans.

Our family is enjoying coming up with new theories on how it all went down. Doing so poolside in the spectacular Tuscan countryside is terrific.

Bottom line - and the lesson my husband is trying to emphasize with the girls - stay alert, even when good looking Italian men are around. Or maybe especially when good looking men are around!

janet,

It's great to hear that everything worked out and that you have a new camera. You'll probably have to buy a North American Plug Adaptor when you return home, but that's not a big deal (I know that, as I've bought two Cameras in Europe due to similar "misfortunes").

Happy shooting!