More Than $200,000 Worth of Leica Equipment Stolen From UK Camera Store

A camera shop in the UK was the target of a large theft, with over $200,000 worth of Leica gear taken.

Based in the north of Scotland, Ffordes claim they were broken into on Wednesday and that it was specifically the Leica equipment that was taken. There’s suggestion that the thieves may be professional and were likely “in and out in under 15 minutes.”

Speaking to PetaPixel, Alister Bowie, manager of the shop, said:

The police suggest that [the burglars] had watched us for weeks, and they may have come in more than once pretending to be a customer and have a good look around. They may have triggered the alarm about a month ago to time how long it takes someone to come — how long the police took to come.

Three $20,000 Leica S medium format cameras were among the stolen gear, as well as 12 $6,000 Leica M (Type 240) cameras, and 60 Leica M lenses.

In a bid to recover the items, the shop have now released a full list of what exactly is missing, along with the serial numbers of each piece. They estimate the total value to be in the region of £166,000 ($216,500). One silver lining is that the gear is fully insured. But Bowie anticipates the next few months will be treacherous, adding “it’s not just the stock, it’s the extra loss of business that these insurance companies never take into consideration.”

Leica has now registered the entire list of gear as stolen. Should you come across any of it, please contact Ffordes.

Images courtesy Ffordes.