Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with insurance and camera

Recommend a good insurance plan?

osloheart — Sun, 07 Jun 2009 17:34:42 -0800

Travel insurance to cover camera equipment? Anyone have a recommendation for a trip insurance plan that covers expensive camera equipment? Im an amateur photographer taking a pretty nice Nikon and some gear to South America for 2 months. Im not too worried about medical/trip cancellation, but if there is a plan out there that will protect my baby if my attempts at protecting her fail, Id like to know about it.
Also, I dont have home/renters insurance so I cant tack on an extra.
Thanks!

Is there such a thing as semi-pro insurance for photographers?

geeky — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 09:59:16 -0800

I suspect the answer is "No", but I thought I would ask anyway: Is there such a thing as a semi-pro level of insurance for digital cameras? I currently have about $3000 worth of digital camera equipment (dSLR, lenses, etc.) that I use for my photography hobby. The items are insured at-cost right now as a rider on our renter's insurance policy, which will cover loss, theft, etc.

That's all well and good, but my issue is this: I'd like to be able to sell prints of my photos, but the rider specifically excludes coverage on equipment for "business use". Business use, as I understand it, is defined as earning even 1 cent with the equipment. I know there are Inland-Marine policies and other business policies to cover camera equipment and professional photographers, but I don't really need all that they offer. Plus, they can be expensive. I never do paid photo shoots, nor do I intend to in the future. I don't intend to make this a full-time job or even a part-time job, and I don't want to sell that many prints.

I've scoured the web and the big photography forums, but I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Is there some sort of photographers insurance that will cover the cost of the equipment if I were to earn up to a certain amount of money per year by selling prints, say under $500?

Wait! Don't move the truck!

rbs — Mon, 01 Jan 2007 21:26:32 -0800

Has anybody ever filed a claim on a personal articles policy with State Farm? If so, what was the process? how long did it take? do they replace your stuff or give you $ to buy it yourself? I'm especially interested in answers that pertain to camera equipment. My Canon 5D and 24-105L and 28mm 1.8 got run over by a tow truck today. I'm wondering what insurance odyssey is in store for me.

Thanks.

Which camera insurance?

alidarbac — Sun, 04 Jun 2006 20:02:01 -0800

What sort of insurance should I get for my camera? (Personal article floater question) I've been slowly accumulating SLR lenses and such (close to $3000 worth now) to the point where I'd feel more comfortable if it were insured. I'm an American, live in Taiwan, and will probably continue to live abroad for the next several years. I use this stuff non-professionally and I want coverage for everything (theft, accidental damage, everything.)

I've read this thread, which points to this site, which says that I could get a personal articles floater.

Does anyone have any experience with any particular company's personal article floater?

CompCam Biz Insurance

Hands of Manos — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 20:19:56 -0800

I am trying to internationally insure my Camera and Computer equipment but I keep getting turned down because I tell the insurance person that it' for business. What do I do? I've gone through several insurance agents about insuring my camera and computer equipment. When I tell them it's for my business and that I move between the States and Mexico, I get denied.

I don't mind paying for the insurance, but no one will even OFFER it to me! I ask why and they say "because they are high-theft items" and I'd like to say "yeah no shit sherlock, that's why I want to insure it!!!"

Can someone recommend to me an insurance company that will cover me both in Mexico and the States? Thanks!

Insurance policy for cameras and laptops?

aladfar — Tue, 14 Mar 2006 11:43:27 -0800

Camera & Laptop insurance? I came across a thread that begins to answer my question, but doesn't quite provide a solution. My renters insurance will not allow me a rider to cover personal property outside my home, so I'm looking to buy a policy that will cover only my gear in the event of theft or damage. Recommendations for a specific agency or policy would be very welcome. I'm not certain if it makes a difference, but I live in Chicago. It'd be nice to deal with someone locally, but doesn't matter all that much.

Camera Insurance?

grabbingsand — Sat, 28 May 2005 19:35:12 -0800

Just ordered a new digital camera. All those months of research and comparing are finally over! But now I'm thinking about the perils of theft or damage. If some thug takes my new toy while I'm on vacation, will my homeowner's insurance cover me? It cost less than half-a-grand, but replacing it would still be economically painful. I've found some web insight into insuring a camera and equipment, but most of those posts are almost 5 years old. Any current and up-to-date information (or first-hand experiences or best practices) will be most welcome.

Insuring the goods (photo/video)

xo — Mon, 14 Mar 2005 16:27:14 -0800

Photographers and videographers: How are you insuring your gear? I've started to look into insurance for my recently-acquired DSLR, and I'm having trouble finding insurers that cover photo equipment, particularly equipment that goes to other countries with me. So far I only have $3500 worth of stuff; is that too smalltime to be covered? I do use the camera for business, so a home-insurance rider won't be sufficient. I know people with great musical-instrument policies that cover all sorts of travel and work situations at a yearly cost of 2% of the gear's value (and a $100 deductible per item), so I guess I'm hoping to find that kind of situation.

Managing Digital Photos

trbrts — Wed, 17 Nov 2004 10:03:34 -0800

As per this question a couple of weeks ago, the insurance company paid up and I'm the owner of a brand new Canon 20D. Unfortunately, the new camera didn't come wiht any database software like my old D60 did. Now I need a new way to keep track of all the photos. (MI)... My old camera came with a free program called Canon Zoom Browser. It was a download client and was also a nifty database program that stored thumbnails of your photos locally and those you had burned to CD. It was convient for finding which CD a picture you were looking for was on without having to drop them in one by one.

My new camera didn't seem to come with any of this software. Also, the older software doesn't support the new RAW file format on the 20D, so it's basically useless except for the old archives.

So here is what I'm looking for: photo database software that will keep track of images locally and on CD and is capable of handing both .crw and .cr2 RAW image formats and .jpg's of all stripes. It seems like there are a few of these tools out there. Has anyone had experience with these? Do you know of a good one? Is it too much to ask for it to be free? (I think I know the answer to that one already) Thanks in advance, MeFi photogs.