Entire Kit Stolen, Time to Rebuild

Get the Leica M8.

me

That is such a great idea to have it all insured. It was well worth it I'm sure. That really sucks that your stuff was stolen. I would be out of luck as mine isn't insured. I should probably do that huh? Any recommendations?

MDJAK wrote in post #3656498
Get the Leica M8.

me

He doesn't mean that. Lenses are way too expensive for the budget.

Holy moley. That totally sucks. But thank goodness you were covered and can shop again! 5D, 24-70L 2.8, 70-200L 4 IS. Or if you think you'll be doing portraits of the new arrival (congrats btw!), maybe invest in a 50 1.4, or 85 1.8? I loved using a 50mm when my kids were not mobile yet (but that was on the crop). The 5D is expensive, though, so depends how much you could spend after your investment in that. Are you more interested in getting good glass and the 40D (when and if it ever arrives)?

I got personal property insurance through state farm for my camera and lenses. I insured all my stuff after loosing a 10D and two lenses a few years ago. Insuring my camera equipment costs about $7/month. The rest of the stuff is covered by my home owners (minus $500 deductible) since the car was in my garage.

I haven't got the check from the insurance company yet, so starting this thread might be putting the cart before the horse. From talking to them on the phone though, it sounds like I should get full replacement value of the camera and lenses. I'll let you know how it works out. A friend of mine had his entire kit stolen a year ago and the police actually caught the thief trying to pawn the stuff. The thief got 60 days in jail. I filled out a police report a week ago and haven't heard anything yet. His stuff was taken from his home and he got replacement value minus his deductible through his homeowners insurance.

was it obvious that you had your camera equip in your car? if not, im going to say that its a big possibility that it is someone you actually know.

Three weeks ago my truck was broken into. I had just purchased two CASES for my equipment and they were in the back seat (4-dr truck). I bet the theives thought they REALLY scored until they opened the cases. They still got my cell phone, nearly $180 cash, and did nearly $1000 in damage to my truck...

A few years ago, some thief broke into my dad's van and stole a briefcase. There were three on the floor with one under the seat. They took the one under the seat. They totally missed the other cases with one having an expensive laptop and the other an expensive mobile printer. I guess they took it because it looked like my dad was concealing it and thought something expensive was in it. All they got was huge training manuals, plus some research papers that my Dad got for my school project.

Last year, one of friends had his little old POS civic broken into because his wallet was exposed. They took the wallet with about $10 but left the expensive $1000+ scuba equipment that was in the truck, and it was a hatch... he also had an expensive P&S digital camera in the glove box. Also, his car was unlocked.

that's just wrong dude!

ToddziLLa wrote in post #3656228
Ouch, that sucks.

If that were my budget, I would get:

EOS 5D
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

B&H total: $ 5,407.95

Then I would pay out of pocket for CF cards, grip, flash, stands, etc.

Ditto. I bet after you receive these 3 items, you'll look back on your gear being stolen as a good thing.

5D, 24-105L, 70-300 DO, 580EX

Add a Thinktank bag that is comfortable enough to carry so they don't get your stuff again. I am worried about leavin my gear in my car in this heat. Next time your insurance company may not be so easy. OH, don't forget the 200 pound Rottweiller.

What's the deal with people thinking they know what a company's move is? You can wait all you want, but a 5D is available now and the 40D will still not touch it. Maybe 4fps faster (being 40D in theory should have around 8fps and a 5D w/ 4fps) but with what you shoot how's that matter? ISO isn't going to be better and it'll probably still be 10mp.

So get the 5D, 24-105 IS, 70-300 DO, 580EX, and whatever else with the around $500 you should have left. Maybe a 12-24 from Sigma since it's not DC and will work on a FF.

Man, if I had that to start over with. Dang, it'd be nice.

RbnDave wrote in post #3656176
Last week I had my entire camera kit stolen out of the trunk of my car. List of stolen items: Canon 20D, Canon 17-40 L, Sigma 70-200 f2.8, Canon 50mm f/2.8, Canon 100-400 L, feisol tripod, arcatech ultimate ball head, Lowe Pro Computrecker, and all my CF cards.

Luckily everything is insured and I should be getting full replacement cost.

If you had $5500 to build a new kit what would you buy???

BTW, I plan on waiting for the 40D release before buying a new body.

In spite of all the 'get a 5D' replies, I will claim that most amateurs (even enthusiasts) do not need the slight improvement in image quality, at almost double the purchase price (and double the depreciation cost) compared to today's APS-C body from Canon. When an occupation pays for the gear, the pain of depreciating the additional $1300 is lessened!!!

Canon 30D, Canon 17-55 EFS IS, Sigma 50-150mm f2.8, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon 100-400 L, Gitzo tripod, Markins ball head, LowePro bag, and CF cards
most closely matches what you had, and reduces size and weight in the process, with no sacrifice in lens speed!

Do not forget that a Canon 5D and 24-70mm weigh almost 5 ounces more than the 30D + 17-55mm, and is bulkier, too.

If you really must have a 5D...

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 EF IS, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon 100-400 L, Gitzo tripod, Markins ball head, LowePro bag, and CF cards
most closely matches what you had, reduces the lens count. And now the 5D + 24-105 comes in a kit from Canon!

ToddziLLa wrote in post #3656228
Ouch, that sucks.

If that were my budget, I would get:

EOS 5D
EF 24-70mm f/2.8L USM
EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM

B&H total: $ 5,407.95

Then I would pay out of pocket for CF cards, grip, flash, stands, etc.

Ditto on the above. But I would also toss in a few primes at a later point.