If you're worried, take the equipment down to the front desk on your way out
and ask them to store it in the hotel's safe.

Personally I would have the camera with me all the time, never know when a
photo opportunity may pop up, especially in Sydney, Alice Springs as well I
guess.

I have left some of my camera equipment in hotel rooms in China, Russia,
Egypt and others. Guess you always take a chance, but I never lost anything.

www.alldigital.fotopic.net

If you pack clothes in hard luggage and your room does not have a safe
for passport, etc. you can leave your suitcase partially packed with
clothes and stick gear which you wish to leave in the room in the case
and lock it.

Buy a travel safe.  These are bags with wire mesh that you can
lock valuables in.    I always carry one, and always use
it when I leave things in the hotel room.  I've never had
a problem, and I've been from Australia to Europe, a lot, as well
as all over the US.  The biggest challenge with the travel
safe is what to lock it to.  Sometimes I simply lock it
inside my suitcase (I've added a cable to the suitcase so
I can lock my CF tripod and the travel safe to the inside
of the suitcase).

Roger

I also take my laptop with me when I travel, and have left it in my
room in many places in both Europe and Asia. I use a cable to lock it
to the desk; I know someone could cut the leg or whatever I lock it to
off, but it does eliminate the spur-of-the-moment theft by hotel
staff.

Depends on what you are leaving behind. A laptop should be locked up
with a cable lock, at the very least, and logon at least should require
a difficult password. Many hotel rooms have safes but few of those are
large enough to hold a laptop.

I am currently living and traveling in the Philippines. To be honest, I
feel safer here than I would in Australia. It seems like it is always
the developed countries where I get burgled. Last time was in Rome...
Part of it stems, I think, from the idea that stealing an expensive
camera in a third world country is a major crime. In developed
countries it is petty theft. If someone stole my camera in a lot of
towns in the Philippines the cops would lock the whole town down along
with the few roads leading in and out of town. And they would find it.
Someone might steal a PC laptop, but a PowerBook? Who would want it?
Who could unload it without attracting a lot of unwanted attention? And
then who could use a stolen PowerBook protected by FileVault? Better to
just give it back for the reward note taped on the bottom, no questions
asked. The mayor himself would help look for it. Can't picture that
happening in Australia. Perhaps cash would be another matter, but
something rare and hard to fence can be a problem for a third world
thief.

The other thing to consider is that your gear is probably not worth
what you think it is. Checked the market for used laptops lately? It
might not be worth stealing.

But if it really bothers you, get the wire mesh travel safe. I like
those myself.
http://www.pac-safe.com/
Wish I had known about those before I fell down here. Wonder if I can
find one in Manila?

I've read all other posts in this thread and think that the answer depends
on some variables including how expensive or high-end your equipment is and
where your are traveling to.

One thing is to leave a $ 8,000 Canon EOS 1Ds MK II in the room and another
is to leave a $ 600 Nikon D50.

I am against the use of cables to lock notebooks, special safes, locks and
such devices. The use of these safety devices to leave items inside a hotel
room only serves to signal to hotel employees that what you have left behind
is very valuable and this only serves to entice even more those already
thinking about taking your equipment. The less attention you bring to what
you have in your possession the more likely you are to not have anything
stolen.

My suggestion (and this is the protocol I adopt for my own trips) is to
always take only equipment I can carry with me at all times. In case a
notebook needs to be taken for the trip, Apple's 12" Powerbook is a great
solution as it can easily fit in any backpack without adding too much weight
to it. In case a notebook is not indispensable I would highly advise in
favor of an Epson P-2000 or the latest P-4000 as a good way to back-up your
digital memory cards until you return and have the chance to transfer them
to your computer. This is a very small device you can also easily carry in
you bag or backpack and the weight can be considered negligible for all
practical purposes.

Choose carefully the lenses you want to bring along and I usually limit
myself to no more than three lenses. A wide-angle zoom (16-35mm) and fast
prime (24mm f/1.4) for night photography without flash are two I consider
essential and always take with me. To cover the telephoto end I choose
between a flexible zoom such as a 24-105mm which is a great all around lens
or I may choose to take a longer telephoto zoom such as a 70-200mm or
100-400mm depending on where I am going and what I intend to shoot. These
three lenses can fit well within the size of an average photo backpack. I
have a Lowepro I really like that allows me keep all these items and still
leaves room for some accessories such as a spare battery, cable release and
a small Manfrotto 3001 very light tripod that I strap on the outside of the
backpack. It is also all padded and carrying it is very comfortable.

The tripod is the only item I leave in my suitcase inside the room if I feel
I want to reduce the load I am carrying since it is hidden in the suitcase
(which is locked) and would represent much of a loss in case it was stolen
since it is very inexpensive compared to everything else.

I agree that the camera should always be with not just for safety reasons
but also because you never know when you will run into a great photo
opportunity that would otherwise be lost if the equipment was left in the
room.

Best regards,

Joseph Chamberlain

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

On 2/1/06 5:40 PM, in article w7GdnaATkKmZ_nzeRVn-oQ@adelphia.com, "MrB"
<brooksro@hotmail.com> wrote:

Don't know about OZ. I'd like to think that they're respectable bloaks, but
who knows. When in London, or Paris, I usually either use the in-room safe, or
check with the concierge, anything of great value, that I don't take with me.
If it won't fit into the in-room safe, the concierge usually has a lock-box
for it. I also tip him/her for the time.

Hunt