German Travel Writer Has Camera Gear Stolen During Visit To Dublin

A German travel journalist invited to Ireland to write a guide book has had thousands of euros worth of equipment stolen by thieves. Dirk Heckmann has been travelling the Wild Atlantic Way in recent weeks, as part of a collaboration with Fáilte Ireland to write a guidebook that will promote Ireland as a caravan and motor home destination. Last Tuesday evening, Dirk’s grey Gymer Sierra Nevada campervan was broken into and several pieces of valuable equipment were stolen. The theft occurred between 5:30pm and 8:30pm in Dublin’s Phoenix Park between the cricket grounds and the sports grounds and hard disks containing all of Heckmann’s work were among the items stolen. “There was a camera body, six lenses, a 17” notebook, lots of hard disks where I put all my pictures on from the first three weeks. Everything is gone now,” he said. “The back door was open; they broke in the door on the left hand side. Paper was flowing in the car, all my information that I had picked up on the road. It’s all gone expect my clothes, they left my clothes there. It’s not the cheapest stuff as it is all professional stuff, good lenses so it is about €20,000.” Dirk told presenter Anton Savage that he is not insured and is now trying to decide whether to continue his trips. “I’m not insured, that’s the problem I can’t pay insurance for that stuff because it is so expensive, it would cost me €400 to €500 a month. The most important thing for me is to get the pictures back from the three weeks.” “I’m thinking what to do next, shall I go home or shall I stay here, I think when I leave I have nothing but if I stay here, I can write the book. I have one lens and one body. Now I’m thinking, how do I buy one more lens and hard disks.” Anyone with any information on the stolen equipment can get in touch with Dirk via The Anton Savage Show on [email protected]. The gear stolen included: Camera: Canon 7D Mark II Lenses: Canon EF 100-400mm Canon EF 100mm Macro Canon EF 16-35mm Canon EF 70-200mm Canon MP-E 65 mm Macro Sigma Sports 150-600mm Also stolen: An Apple Mac Notebook 17 inch 2 Lowe Photo Backpacks Manfrotto Tripod 055 Alluminium Monopod Canon Teleconverter 1,4x 2 Hard Drives from Jobo Giga Vu sonic (500 GB each) Drone:  Typhoon Q500+ Other smaller Equipment such as 10 Canon Batteries, etc