Originally Posted by
peachfront
The other guy's advice not to wear high tech cameras is equally bad. For many people, a major purpose of travel is to explore their photography hobby. So if they can't take a good camera, they may as well stay at home.
"Don't bring your good camera" is just plain annoying because it can't be followed if you are serious about your photography.
Let me extend my remarks. I like photography as well, and I always take a mid-range camera on my travels. But I NEVER have it dangling around my neck in a town square! Instead, I keep in in my bag, and remove it only to shoot photos; then I put it away again. The point I was trying to make is that if you WEAR your camera, you are basically displaying it like jewelry, and it will attract attention. The goal is to keep your camera out of sight as much as possible!
When I'm in high-risk areas, I don't carry my expensive Nikon DSLR with lenses, etc. Instead, I carry a Nikon "prosumer" 8700 8.0 MP camera that shoots decent quality pictures but is much smaller and more compact--easy to hide in my daypack or even briefcase.
Another suggestion I would make, if photography is a serious hobby, is to carry multiple memory cards and swap them at the hotel regularly. For example, spend a morning shooting, then stop by the hotel during lunch and switch to a new card (or download your images to your laptop or a FW drive), EVEN IF THE CARD IS NOT FULL. You don't want to spend all day shooting 1000 photos and then have your camera stolen (or confiscated by Guardia Nacional, as still happens in some places) and lose everything!