YouTube Channel Has Over $100,000 Worth of Camera Gear Stolen
Video studio and popular YouTube channel Cinecom had over $100,000 worth of equipment stolen in a burglary last week.
Cinecom’s founder Jordy Vandeput posted a heartbreaking video to YouTube yesterday detailing the robbery that took place on May 10 which saw three men rip the studio door open and steal their RED Gemini digital cinema camera, a Sony A7R III, a Panasonic LUMIX GH5, and many other items.
“A couple of guys went upstairs, they took a whole bunch of laptops and computers,” says Vandeput.
“Downstairs in the studio, they took all cameras, all lenses, and all the batteries. So our precious RED digital cinema camera is gone. The GH5, the GH4, a couple of Fuji cameras, everything is gone.”
Poignantly, Vandeput recorded the video on his phone owing to the fact it’s the only camera available to him.
“I feel defeated mostly, I’m not even angry. I don’t know even know what to feel or how to act on this. It is what it is, we have to continue,” he says.
“There’s about €96,000 ($104,000) in stolen gear which is a huge financial hit in the face for this business. So we can’t slack right now and take a moment off, we have to continue making videos or that financial hit is going to become bigger.”
Waiting Game
Vandeput says they now face a wait for the insurance and hope that it will come through for them.
He has given out the serial numbers for a few of the stolen cameras, including the RED Gemini which was not only the most expensive camera but also a symbol of what Vandeput and his team have worked hard for.
“I’ve always wanted to have a RED camera and we all worked super hard to reach that goal and to finally have that RED camera which allowed us to create so many beautiful videos and short films with it…it’s really unfortunate.”
The incident underlines the devastating impact that robberies have on professional photographers and videographers — something that is all too common.
“It’s unfortunate that there are people in this world that do such things,” adds an emotional Vandeput. “They don’t have the brains to even understand what an impact they leave behind on someone else’s life.”
Just yesterday, PetaPixel reported on 13 burglars ransacking a camera store in Corona, Californa, making off with $65,000 worth of gear.
The serial numbers for Cinecom’s cameras are in the YouTube description in the above video as well as contact information. More of their work can found on YouTube and Cinecom’s website.
