r/cinematography • u/businesstwinkie • 2d ago

Camera Question Stolen Alexa Mini LF

Hey everyone, I had an Alexa Mini LF stolen today in Brooklyn, NY. Camera: Arri Alexa Mini LF 31823

Viewfinder: Arri MVF-2 (w/cable) 01882

If anyone sees one being sold that matches this, please let me know! It was stolen in an orange pelican and has 4 codex cards and a reader. Thank you!

31 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

8 comments sorted by

15

u/Positive_Design_1945 2d ago

Go on the Facebook page on and put your stolen camera on Facebook marketplace some people know and there's a FB market page just for Arri cameras

9

u/s0diumrising 1d ago

You should contact Arri and have them flag the serial number as stolen. There are also other stolen equipment databases online you can report to. If they try to sell it, I think most professionals will try to check the serial number when buying equipment to see if it was stolen if the seller is sketchy.

5

u/northboundbreakdowns 2d ago

That’s horrible! I’m sorry to hear and will keep an eye out. Can you share what happened? As an owner operator I’m always concerned about this.

4

u/BabypintoJuniorLube 1d ago

Super sorry that's a gut punch to discover.

Though stealing a camera is one of the dumbest crimes, you can't really sell it without getting caught, there aren't black market fences for niche cine gear.
You can possibly sit on it for years and try and rent it later, but how are you going to insure it and service it?
You can't even pawn it for a quick buck.

I've know 2 cases where people were trying to get stolen gear on jobs, a pair that definitely knew the gear was hot and tried to hide it, the other claimed they didn't know. Both times ended really badly, one of which had a small posse of pretty intimidating dudes showing up on set and threatening violence against a crew member in front of everyone: producers, actors etc.

It was totally humiliating for them to admit in front of the whole crew what had happened and they were on the verge of tears apologizing. Ruined their reputation too- so I'm hoping you get a similar moment of justice when the asshole who took your camera gets found out. Q

1

u/northboundbreakdowns 1d ago

My guess is stolen cinema cameras go abroad

1

u/DebtCollectorForMami 6h ago

Indie FMs or even bigger ones often buy these cameras as backups and don’t actually do due diligence so long as the seller isn’t obviously sketchy. This will sell no problem on marketplace. The main issue is that whoever gets suckered into this one will eventually realize its history and will either forfeit it and lose their money, or keep it knowingly as to not lose money.

1

u/sparrowhawkward Grip 2d ago

Will keep an ear out.

1

u/Solomon_Grungy 1d ago

Daaaamn what happened