In Manchester, New Hampshire, four thieves broke into at Hunt’s Photo and Video. They smashed a glass door with an ax, filled huge buckets with gear and stormed out. They were caught on the store’s security camera and the footage shows that they did it all in just 53 seconds.
Massive haul of Leica cameras and lenses stolen from Ffordes’ Scotland camera store
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In the early hours of yesterday morning, thieves broke into the Ffordes Photographic Ltd camera shop in Inverness, Scotland. They took a huge amount of Leica cameras and lenses, and now the shop is appealing for help.
Ffordes initially took to Facebook to let people know what was going on and who to contact if they have any information. They have also now released an extensive list of all of the items that were stolen along with serial numbers.
$3,000,000 worth of stolen Hollywood film equipment found in Argentina
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If you’ve been working in Hollywood lately and noticed a piece of equipment disappearing here and there, it might currently be in Argentina. Sky News reports that a huge haul estimated to be worth around $3 million has been discovered in Argentine as part of a cooperative investigation by the FBI, US Police, US Embassy and Argentinian Federal Police.
The haul seems to be primarily Arri equipment, although there seems to be a fair bit of Canon & Sony kit, too, judging from the video posted by Sky News. Argentinian police say that the equipment was being targeted in Hollywood and other US cities before being smuggled into the country. It was then being sold to local gear rental companies.
Look after your gear: my camera backpack got stolen from a church at a wedding
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I was shooting a family formal portrait after a wedding ceremony at a church in Arcadia, California. My backpack was placed 3 rows from the front of the pew, to the side, along with my assistant’s camera bag. An outsider came into the church and then knocked over a flower vase that was filled with water. Everyone, including the bride and groom, myself and my assistant watched the commotion after hearing glass shatter. I then told the wedding couple it was time to get back to the family formal portrait-taking, because the church lady was rushing us…we were short on time.
Virginia court rules that stealing photographs for commercial websites is “fair use”
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Well, this one has some potentially scary consequences for photographers rights, as well as other copyright holders. The case involves an image created by photographer Russell Brammer in 2011, stolen in 2016, and then taken, cropped and used by Violent Hues Productions, LLC on their website to promote a film festival.
Singapore photographer busted for sharing stock photos as his own
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Singapore photographer and Sony Ambassador Daryl Aiden Yow was recently busted for sharing stock photos and other people’s work as his own. Yow is particularly popular on Instagram, with 104K followers at the moment of writing this and plenty of gorgeous photos. But as it was revealed that the photos aren’t his, the story went viral and even Sony responded to it.
I interviewed a person who stole my photos
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A few months ago a girl came in to apply for a social media position at my last job. I was one of three photographers at the company and we had an opening for another photographer position. She mentioned to the HR recruiter that she also does photography. The HR guy comes and grabs me to tell me this and was wondering if I wanted to interview her for the open photographer position as well. So I said, “Sure, let me see her portfolio.”
To my f*$#@ing surprise my work was included her “portfolio”. I was in total shock and told the HR guy that she has stolen work on her portfolio. She had an engagement session and the couples same wedding on her website with very low-res photos. I took a few minutes to compose myself and decided to interview and ask about her work without “outing” her. I went into the interview with the HR guy and I asked her about her experience and what kind of gear she uses. She BS’d everything saying, “I have one of the “D” cameras, 7 lenses, a wide, a zoom, and super-zoom. I have it all.”
$35,000 worth of gear stolen from The Camera Store
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On December 16, 2017, Calgary-based business The Camera Store had $35,000 worth of gear stolen from their store. The thieves took high-end gear, including a Leica MP Safari kit, a Hasselblad X1D camera, and three lenses. They are offering a $5,000 reward for any information that leads to a conviction.
Beware: scammers using Facebook Marketplace and Venmo to steal camera gear
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For two weeks now, there has been an ongoing scam that caused twenty people from LA to lose thousands of dollars in camera gear. A user under the name “Andy Mai” uses Facebook Marketplace and Venmo payment system to pull the scam and steal the gear.
Four victims of the scam have been verified, and in total they lost $25,000. However, after two sellers shared their story, it turned out that there may be as many as 20 scammed people, with the total loss of as much as $100,000. As it turns out, the scam occurs mainly because the sellers are unfamiliar with the Venmo’s policy, And in addition to this, the scammer(s) keep making new accounts and pulling off the same scam all over again.
Midwest Photo Exchange suffers burglary, hundreds of lenses and cameras stolen
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After a massive theft in Veydra HQ, Midwest Photo Exchange in Columbus, Ohio suffered a robbery too. In the late night of March 15th, someone broke into their new facility, stealing hundreds of gear elements. As MPEX tells DIYP, it appears that the thieves planned the break in advance. It also appears that it was carried out by experienced individuals.
