Paris and digital camera

We take our cameras to Europe and beyond and have not had an issue - so far. If your camera is in the bag when not in use such as on the metro, etc., you can secure the zipper with a small combination lock to prevent access to sticky fingers. I would also suggest never putting your camera or camera bag down anywhere without your hand being attached to it. One of our fellow travelers lost his camera because he was in a taxi and in a hurry and left the camera behind when he got out of the taxi. Another fellow traveler had their camera bag stolen at a hotel check in of all places. Neither of those instances were in France so I would suggest the same precautions everywhere. You can always insure your gear against loss but then your photos would still be gone. We use multiple memory cards when traveling in case the camera goes missing so we haven’t lost all of our photos. And situational awareness is always good but sometimes you might be distracted and stuff can happen.

Thank you Mary. That helps a bunch! I feel a little better now about taking the camera.

Forums like this, give you the impression that Paris is an out of control, crime, scene with thieves roaming and grabbing things off your body

I’m a 63 year old female who has gone to Paris at least once a year for the past decade probably. I’ve carried a good DSLR (I no longer do because I’m tired of the weight) I’ve carried and shoot cameras. I carry an iPhone I carry a purse which is not a safe ( it is neither slash proof or has locking zippers).

And nothing ever happened.

Now do I make take precautions. if I see the petition girls I give walk far away. If anyone comes near me with a bracelet I say NO. I have never fallen for the Shell game and the only time someone tried the gold ring scam on me I laughed so hard on i nearly cried. ( I can’t imagine how people fall for the scam because the woman who found the gold ring in front of me had to be the worst actress ever.). I also have very little in my wallet and purse. So if they take it, they take it, they got €40 and one credit card - back ups of all of that are at the hotel safe.

When I did travel with my DSLR, I did make sure that it was covered by my homeowners insurance. The only place I ever had a problem with it was Naples. I know somebody was planning to try to grab it from me but unfortunately I caught on and also a local caught on and warned me so the camera was moved. So it was hard for him to get, he went looking for an mark

One suggestion that I do use for my DSLR is I have a black rapid crossbody strap for my DSLR. It is not slash proof ( I personally think that puts your life at risk based on what I saw in Naples) but it is harder to just grab something off of a Crossbody strap and if you’ve never use the black rapid straps - Game changer, just absolutely love them

The biggest thing is just to be aware of what’s going on around you. When you’re on the subway and it’s packed, make sure you have your hand on your camera bag or your purse. When you’re at a café, do not hook it over the back of your chair or even put it on your table just sitting there and - people can move fast. (There’s a woman in my local grocery store here in Atlanta who got robbed. She left her wallet sitting in her purse and leaned over to get lettuce and when she picked out her lettuce and it was gone. how long did that take, 30 seconds ? ) if someplace is very very crowded or you feel something is wrong - move. I think people tend to get distracted. They used to be a lot of pickpocketing at the Louvre and having watched people when I’m there people aren’t always paying attention to their belongings. I’ve watched people sit down their bag and start rummaging in it for a book or camera turn around look at the art and leave the bag sitting on one of those benches in the for a few minutes. Yeah that’s not going to end well a lot of times.

I do agree with the multiple cards, which is something I started doing years ago not because of theft , but because I had a friend who had a card go bad on her and her whole trip was on one card. I now change with each new destination if I’m traveling around and that way if a card goes bad, I only lost one card. The other thing I do is I have a device that backs them up to my iPad. Haven’t used it in a long time but I would download the photos to my iPad, which put them in the cloud)

Thank you Carol. Very helpful and reassuring info. I lived in Naples for 2 years back in the late 80's. I was active duty and stationed at the NATO base. Beautiful area and lots of great, friendly people. But also the usual sketchy subjects. :-)

I've traveled in Europe with a (relatively) expensive digital camera for years. I've learned my biggest vulnerability isn't walking around, but sitting down! When you stop at that lovely cafe and sit down, your instinct might be to pull off the camera and set it down on the table, or hang it over the back of your chair. DON'T. That's actually when it can be snatched in an instant. And, in spite of myself, I have to admit to leaving the camera behind on one or two occasions (wine might have been involved!). It has always been resolved with a happy ending, but it again demonstrated the chink in my armor isn't on the streets but during breaks!

Also, this is probably superfluous given your life experience, but our marriage is split between two roles -- I do the photography, but my spouse watches over the situation while I work. I gentle "heads up" snaps me out of my photography focus if the situation merits it.

History Traveler.

The risk of leaving me behind is the other reason I use the cross body strap. I find if it’s cross bodied on me I just set it on my lap when I sit down someplace but when it was around my neck I was much more likely to take it off. Maybe that’s just me, but it does seem to make it less likely that I leave it.

Do you need to carry the bag with you? The camera with a zoom lens should hopefully be all you need for a day out and about. Do you or your wife carry a day pack? Put the second lens in it.

Hi markcw. I have some specialty lenses I use, and having them available to switch out is important. I also have other items in the bag, such as cables, disks, remotes, etc. that are important, and so putting them in a bag my wife carries isn't really feasible. Thanks so much for the input!

Thanks History Traveler. Excellent points and very helpful. My wife and I tend to split off quite a bit, mostly because we have a very different eye for what is photographic, but we do keep an eye on each other.

First off, kudos for doing your homework and prepping for your trip to Paris—it's such an amazing city with so much to offer, including, unfortunately, the reality of pickpockets in crowded tourist areas. Given your background and heightened situational awareness, you're already steps ahead in keeping your belongings safe.

Regarding your Nikon DSLR and its gear, while it's understandable to be concerned, your setup and vigilance significantly reduce the risk of theft. The sling-style camera bag, combined with the camera's large strap around your neck, makes it a tough target for opportunistic thieves. Most pickpockets look for easy, unnoticed grabs, and your gear doesn't fit that bill, especially if you're actively monitoring your surroundings.

That said, it's always wise to take a few extra precautions:

Keep the bag in front of you in crowded areas or situations where you feel it's necessary.
Consider using a bag with a theft-proof design (like reinforced straps or lockable zippers) for an extra layer of security.
Stay aware of common distractions pickpockets use to divert your attention. Your military training will undoubtedly serve you well here.

Paris is relatively safe for tourists, especially those who take sensible precautions like you plan to. Enjoy capturing the beauty of Paris with your DSLR, and have a fantastic trip!

I've traveled with a heavy digital SLR for years (actually it's a "mirrorless micro four-thirds" aka M43 camera, but to all but the most pedantic camera geeks, it's just a DSLR - it's just a bit less heavy and bulky than a traditional SLR/DSLR). By any honest contemporary standard, it's bulky, heavy, fragile, expensive, a PITA to haul around, way too much trouble for 99.9% of people to bother with such a thing. But it does take lovely pictures when the operator doesn't do something stupid. Sometimes iPhone snapshots are nearly as good, but there are some times when circumstances dictate that the big camera comes out (maybe with the big lens) and at those times the difference in photo quality are obvious and dramatic (eg: I get the bird photos where you can see individual features and read the expression in the bird's eyeball; my iPhone-loving spouse gets...small blurry dots in the distance...are those birds?). But the improved photo quality at those times comes at a cost. Even without the long lens, it's quite heavy, and an annoyance as I walk around grumbling on a hot day with it buried in my day pack.

To your question: relax and stop worrying. Nobody's going to snatch your Nikon as long as you maintain a good level of situational awareness (and it sounds like you've got that box checked). I'm not retired military, but I sometimes come across/carry myself as if I were. I was just in Colombia, and was warned on other travel forums that things were way too dangerous there to openly carry a DSLR in public anywhere by anyone - someone would surely ride up on a scooter, point a gun in my face, and wrestle my camera away from me... Complete and utter hogwash, just fear-mongering.

Thieves always look for an easy mark, and there are plenty of those everywhere. Make it obvious that you are not their easy mark, and they'll move on to a softer target. Remember, you don't have to be able to outrun the bear, you just need to be (look) faster than the next potential victim they spot.

You will be fine. I would offer a couple small, probably obvious suggestions:

• Go through your camera bag before you set out each day, and remove all the stuff you won't need for that day's shooting: give some thought to your plan for the day. Are you shooting wildlife (bring the long zoom lens)? Need the wide-angle lens or not? Leave out charging cables, the 3rd or 4th battery, the 4th or 5th extra memory cards, lenses (and filters) you're sure you won't need for the day, etc. Leave them behind in your room (maybe the room safe?) in a pouch or other container. It'll lighten your load and simplify things.
• About leaving things behind: I've developed the following habit, and it's a good one even at home, but especially critical when traveling...every time you stand up and walk away from any place (a table at a restaurant, a park bench, a chair at an airport, the back seat of a cab, as you walk out the door from your hotel room, etc.)...before you take one step away, stop, turn around, and look at where your arse was just sitting, for anything you may have left behind. If it's a dark place (like the back seat of a cab, or anyplace without good lighting), have a little flashlight handy and shine it there as you look around. Make this a habit that you always perform, without exception. This has saved me many times, as recently as 2 weeks ago, when I arrived by cab at a hotel in Bogotá at 2 am, I was sleepy and tired after 24 hours in transit, it was dark outside, dark in the cab, I had been fumbling with cash and going through my pockets; I got out of the cab, and before slamming the door to enter our hotel, I pulled out my mini flashlight and looked around the cab's seat: there was the key to my house back in Seattle, sitting on the floor (it had spilled out of my pack as I was fumbling with other things). Lesson reinforced!

Don't worry, you will be fine. Enjoy Paris!

Pickpockets in Paris aren't interested in expensive camera equipment - they just want iPhones (or cash or credit cards or jewelry). With your finely honed situational awareness to boot, you will be fine.