Advice: DSLR on sightseeing trip to NYC??

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

--
Paige Miller


It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack

In article , Paige Miller
wrote:

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Personally, I'd rather have it with me. Two reasons:
1) you can't take pictures you might find unexpectedly when you don't
have it. Eventhe best lenses don't take much in the way of pictures
when stashed away somewhere.

2) I trust hotel employees about as much as I do airline baggage
handlers.


If you carry it, make sure the camera/bag strap is securely OVER your
head, not just over your shoulder, so a snatch-and-run can't make off
with it; don't flash it about to show what a great photographer you
are by what a nice camera you have... keep it concealed as much as
possilble, with a jacket over it, or something similar - in short, use
the same principles they preach to women about purse snatchers.

And you should always have expensive gear specifically added to your
homeowners' or renters'(or business, if applicable) insurance (I have a
separate itemized policy for mine, but then I've got a lot of gear).

--
You need only reflect that one of the best ways to get yourself a
reputation as a dangerous citizen these days is to go about repeating
the very phrases which our founding fathers used in the struggle for
independence.
-- Charles A. Beard

In article ,
Paige Miller wrote:

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80

That is certainly debatable. There are those that say it isn't wise or safe
to visit NYC, period.

Ignoring that, you should take the camera. I can't imagine that you spent all
that money to NOT use the camera.

Keep it around your NECK and not slung over your shoulder. You would probably
do well to also keep it under a jacket.

What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Do not travel alone and, in addition to gawking at - and photographing - the
sights, be aware of your surroundings.

NYC has a visitor's bureau that can probably provide all the information you
need. Have fun!

http://www.nycvisit.com (Thank-you, Google.)
--

JR

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:10:53 -0500, Paige Miller
wrote:

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Maintain situational awareness and look like you know what you're
doing. And don't be afraid to grab the camera by the strap and wail
the tar out of somebody with it.

"Paige Miller" wrote in message
...
I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the sights.
Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave it home?
What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

--
Paige Miller


It's nothing until I call it -- Bill Klem, NL Umpire
If you get the choice to sit it out or dance,
I hope you dance -- Lee Ann Womack


Don't let the "friend" take a picture of you with your camera :-)

Yuri

"Paige Miller" wrote in message
...

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the sights.
Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave it home?
What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Being somewhere like NYC *without* my DSLR would be like living a nightmare!
I would probably be more worried about being run over by one of those mad
cabbies than having my camera stolen. I'd probably take my 35mm f2 which
is very discreet. Having something like the 70-200 f2.8 would possibly
draw attention, but it could be used as a weapon as a last resort! Have fun
and post a link to your pics.

cheers adrian www.boliston.co.uk

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:10:53 -0500, Paige Miller
wrote:

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Well, *of course* you take it with you.
Others have given very good advice: keep the strap around your neck at
all times. Don't give the camera to a stranger to take your picture.
Make sure your insurance (homeowners or renters) covers it.
As well, I recommend a new neck strap:
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/st...rId=1250022 6
or:
http://tinyurl.com/2zo5rs
This has two steel cables in it, and does not identify the camera as
an expensive digital model.
And, *TAKE PICTURES!* :-)

--
Senator Barack Obama announced
his candidacy for president
Saturday from the courthouse
steps in Springfield. He looked
good. When most Illinois politicians
are photographed standing on the
courthouse steps they're wearing
orange jumpsuits.

Bill Funk wrote:
On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:10:53 -0500, Paige Miller
wrote:

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Well, *of course* you take it with you.
Others have given very good advice: keep the strap around your neck at

this immediately identifies you as a tourist / target.

all times. Don't give the camera to a stranger to take your picture.
Make sure your insurance (homeowners or renters) covers it.
As well, I recommend a new neck strap:
http://www.campmor.com/webapp/wcs/st...rId=1250022 6
or:
http://tinyurl.com/2zo5rs
This has two steel cables in it, and does not identify the camera as
an expensive digital model.
And, *TAKE PICTURES!* :-)

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 17:10:53 -0800, Paige Miller wrote
(in article ):

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?



I would take the camera.

Safety precautions: never be alone in a strange city. Criminals are far less
likely to approach two people. Too many things can go wrong and there are
easier targets. Also, criminals are less likely to attack people where there
are several witnesses, even in New York City. Contrary to popular lore, a New
Yorker just might take it into his head to chase down a camera snatcher and
beat the tar out of him, so snatching a camera in public is risky. Crooks
don't like risk. Also, avoid large crowds, especially crowds where people are
pressed together. Not only are such places a favorite of pickpockets, but if
somebody merely stumbles and falls you can be badly hurt. If you are absorbed
in taking pictures, you have less time to react to danger. Besides, if
people are pressed that close together, it is hard to take pictures anyway,
and sooner or later someone is going to knock your lens hood off or even
damage the lens. Photographers need a little bit bigger personal space than
other people.

Use a PacSafe camera strap. It has two wire cables running the length of it,
making it more difficult to cut. It is a lot longer so you can have the
camera over your shoulder, with the strap diagonally across your chest, and
still down on the opposite hip where it does not attract so much unwanted
attention. This also makes the camera a lot easier to grab when you want it.
It also does not have big yellow letters on the strap that say "STEAL ME,"
er, "NIKON D80."

--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor

On Wed, 14 Feb 2007 15:37:33 -0800, bob crownfield wrote
(in article 13NAh.4169$E71.2887@trnddc04):

Bill Funk wrote:
On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:10:53 -0500, Paige Miller
wrote:

I'm going to be visiting NYC soon, walking around and seeing the
sights. Is it wise/safe to take my Nikon D80 with me or should I leave
it home? What safety precautions would you recommend while walking around?

Well, *of course* you take it with you.
Others have given very good advice: keep the strap around your neck at

this immediately identifies you as a tourist / target.


Not if you wear it properly. The PacSafe strap is long enough to wear it
across your body so that the camera is low, on your hip, and not so
noticeable. Yeah, wearing a camera strap that has big yellow letters that say
NIKON D80 on it might be asking for trouble. All my Nikon camera straps are
still in their original shrink wrap.


--
Waddling Eagle
World Famous Flight Instructor