F5: STOLEN F5: Please keep an eye out DVXnation!

Ryan Patrick O'Hara

Ryan Patrick O'Hara

Veteran
Two days ago, flying out of LAX for a job in Reno/Tahoe, I checked 7 cases/bags with American Airlines for a direct flight. It's a short flight and when I arrived, only 6/7 made it to my destination. Of course, it was the camera body case/ accessories that was behind. Annoyed but not concerned, the bag wasn't lost. In fact, despite the short flight (roughly 100min) I had a voicemail from American Airlines right when I checked my phone after landing. They said it would be brought in on the next flight from LA, upon which they would transport it to me in Tahoe.

Fast forward about 8 hours later, the delivery service (wheresmysuitcase.com) drops off the case to the front desk. When I arrive, you can imagine my surprise when I open the case and find a big old hole where the F5 should be sitting.

Needless to say, we were shooting in 11 hours and it was around 9:30 at night. I turned ghastly white and almost threw up.

This is turning long winded, but needless to say, I am currently filling out three police reports (LA, RENO, TAHOE) while traversing the endless automated bureaucracy of American Airlines and the TSA. There is a 5% chance that the TSA took the camera out of the case for inspection, and never returned it as an honest yet costly mistake. However, because of circumstances and recent luck, I'm shooting out of the gate with theft as my main suspicion. LAX is very well known as being one of the most TSA theft prone airports.

That said, I call on you DVXnation to keep an eye out for a Sony PMW-F5 serial number 0100190. This camera does not belong to me, but it was lost on my production and I am going to do everything in my power to track it down. If you find this camera or can offer a lead to its recovery a reward will be granted.

Thank you for reading this and please scour the boards, ebay, or CL and beware of anyone selling an F5 with a poor description, copy and paste description or for a suspicious price. The markets this camera would most likely be coming out of would be Southern California, Nevada, or Lake Tahoe area.

Thanks again, and it's truly sickening to lose such a beautiful camera.

Please feel free to PM me, call (330-322-2421) or email at RyanPatrickOHara[at}gmail(dot}com

-ryan
 
Hopefully it will turn up. Years ago when traveling Southwest a case with 2 35mm Arri Bl Mags disappeared. Two days after the insurance paid I got a call from Southwest saying they located the case. Since the insurance paid it didn't belong to me anymore. I always wonder what the insurance company did with these magazines?
 
Ryan,

Sorry to hear.

Just forwarded the info to my colleagues on both coasts.

Best,
Bern

PS Years ago TSA at LAX mistakenly removed all the cables for a RED One from a case & almost sunk the shoot. Days later they were eventually located in their Lost & Found.
 
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yes he posted the serial # in the first post, I don't want to quote it incase later he wants to remove it from this thread, etc..
 
What a nightmare. I had the same thing happen to me coming back from Fiji with the first use of a brand new camera. I lost all my footage too. It just makes you sick.

For mine it happened at the departure airport and they sent the luggage around the world so it was much later by the time it got back to discover the camera was actually missing. Then the airline said I reported it too late. :kali:

I'll definitely keep an eye out.
 
I don't want to sound like an A-hole, but did you actually check your camera in and not carry on?

You do understand that EVERY bag, case, nook and cranny is opened if that case shows electronics by the TSA. I fly all the time and camera, laptop and hard drives go on the plane with me and my assistant. They never leave my sight except when they are in the overhead compartment.

Hope you locate the camera. But that kind of stuff goes carry on. Even if you have to fly another person just to get another case on the plane and in the overhead compartment.
 
I have thousands of travel days under my belt and long ago gave up carrying the camera with me. Sometimes they get lost and/or stolen, but it is sufficiently low risk that I didn't bother anymore. Takes a LOT of stress and trouble off the shoot. And yes, I had a few Vipers get lost in Argentina, but they were found. It sucked and I was scared.

Just saying that it is normal and not ridiculous to do it that way. One of my rental co partners had a camera that he was carrying on stolen when it was inches away from him. He turned to look at something and it was gone and never found. It can go bad even when you are careful. Thieves are patient and looking for the slightest mistake you may make. My thinking is that I would save my strength and enjoy the huge insurance policy that I always paid for.
 
May the person who took this camera take rebirth in the belly of a pregnant Yak with a yeast infection!

Will keep an eye out.

I'm old school, used to carrying on a camera but as said before it never hurts to make sure your insurance is paid up!
 
dustylense said:
I don't want to sound like an A-hole, but did you actually check your camera in and not carry on?

You do understand that EVERY bag, case, nook and cranny is opened if that case shows electronics by the TSA. I fly all the time and camera, laptop and hard drives go on the plane with me and my assistant. They never leave my sight except when they are in the overhead compartment.

Hope you locate the camera. But that kind of stuff goes carry on. Even if you have to fly another person just to get another case on the plane and in the overhead compartment.
Click to expand...

Well you said it, and yes you do sound like a know it all. I've carried cameras onboard for years, when I was shooting news. These days I never do. Some places you go it can be a hassle with the limited carry on (like they won't let you on the plane until you check it in, only now you don't have a hard case for it). Then if you do decide to carry it on, would you rather carry the camera onboard, or the lenses, or what about the steadicam, that's expensive, how about the second camera body, or the stills gear for timelapses.

Different people travel with different sets of gear for different types of jobs. If you assume everyone is dong what you're doing, well I guess you start to look silly on forums.

PS this is the internet, there are people on here from outside the US, imagine that!
 
I still carry my camera on...a habit from my news days. Back then, the camera always travelled with the lens.
Nowadays my lenses travel in the hold, even though they're worth more than the camera, and I would be just as screwed arriving with a lensless camera.
It's a crapshoot. Sooner or later your number is gonna get called and something important isn't going to make the trip with you. Ryan did nothing wrong here, he simply lost the cosmic lottery that day and I hope karma takes good care of the thief.
 
dustylense said:
IYou do understand that EVERY bag, case, nook and cranny is opened if that case shows electronics by the TSA.
Click to expand...

That isn't true. I have cable ties on my pelicans so I can tell if they have been opened (even if TSA does not put one of their cards inside afterwards) and I routinely have cases with tons of cables, batteries, monitors, scopes, wireless mic systems, lenses, etc. arrive without ever being opened. In fact, on my most recent trip the only case that was opened either direction was my tripod.

However, with that said, I always carry the camera onboard with everything I need to shoot. Not just for security, but also in case I do want to shoot anything. I can carry my F55 with LCD VF, battery, rods, one lens, 17" Mac Book Pro, iPad, and quite a bit of other stuff in one of my Cinebags packpacks. Yeah, it's as heavy as a sack of wet cement, but it's easy to carry on my back or slung over the shoulder and much smaller than a roller bag.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/804692-REG/CineBags_CB_25B_CB_25B_Revolution_Backpack.html
 
After I had my camera stolen I changed my MO a bit. I no longer travel with black Pelican cases that scream "there's something worth stealling inside." Instead I bought a camera bag that looks like a regular carry on, designed specifically to fit most airline requirements for carry on. And it has wheels and a handle like any normal carry on. Stealth mode and no hidden TSA search. If they search it its while going through the security line with me there.

The Think Tank Airport Security bag.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/847315-REG/Think_Tank_571_Airport_Security_V_2_0.html

I can fit the camera all necessary accessories and two zoom lenses in it. You can shoot 99% of everything with two zoom lenses.
 
There are both size & weight limits to carry-on luggage. While the domestic USA limits are slightly larger than most other countries, I've never had my international-sized roller (ThinkTank International) conform to any airline's weight limit, & had to jump thru hoops to get it onboard a number of times.

We fly regularly, both domestic & international, & rarely are there more than a few empty seats anymore, or space for everyone's carry-on. Luckily I almost always travel Business, or 1st, Class so have priority boarding & where the airlines often play a bit looser with the rules, but even so I've had numerous troubles.

I've had the immense pleasure to work with Ryan a handful of times & he's an adamant professional. I imagine most of the productions he works on there simply is no way to carry-on all camera gear, especially with today's shrinking budgets.
 
It's not always do-able to carry onboard the body and all expensive/non-replaceable stuff.

Between body/lenses, laptop, media, drives, backup drives...

Once on a trip to New York I had to put the laptop in my suitcase because I just wasn't going to be able to get on the plane otherwise. Did everything I could to protect it in the bag. The trip more or less killed it, got squeezed by heavy bags even though it was in a hard sleeve and had 5 inches of padding all around.

It's always smart to bring it on, but also not always possible!
 
My buddy lost a large anvil with 2 400W Jokers on it on a trip back from Indonesia. 2 Years later it was discovered in the back of some baggage room at the airport in japan. They sent it along and all was fine inside. Pretty odd.
 
Bern Caughey said:
There are both size & weight limits to carry-on luggage. While the domestic USA limits are slightly larger than most other countries, I've never had my international-sized roller (ThinkTank International) conform to any airline's weight limit, & had to jump thru hoops to get it onboard a number of times.
Click to expand...

Yes, international is much trickier. European airlines have smaller overhead areas and smaller (more variable) requirements. I've never been bothered about weight for domestic, I think in part because it looks like a regular carry on and in part because I handle it like it's light weight when anyone is looking.

The glass and the batteries are actually the heavy part and since I only bring two zooms and I can put batteries in check in it's not too heavy.
 
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