Given the extreme heat, I’ve been prioritizing survival and refraining from taking photos while out and about. As a result, I end up spending a lot of time indoors, either on or off, just zoning out. At my age, I’ve mastered the art of pretending to work while actually zoning out.
I’ve been slacking off and browsing online shopping and auction sites, but it really hits me how expensive cameras and lenses have become lately.
It’s surprising that there are people who can just drop tens of thousands of dollars on such expensive equipment, but I can’t fathom the nerve it takes to walk around with it hanging around your neck without a second thought. Don’t they worry about it getting bumped, dropped, broken, or even stolen?
So, this time, I decided to reconsider the warranties and insurance options available for cameras and lenses in case of damage or breakage after purchase.
For example, when you buy a new camera at Map Camera, they offer an additional year of warranty on top of the one-year manufacturer’s warranty. At Bic Camera, you can opt for an extended five-year warranty by paying 5% of the purchase price.
These are great services for such valuable cameras, but they all come with the condition that the warranty only applies to “natural defects”—meaning the camera malfunctioned due to normal use. Issues like “accidentally dropping and breaking it” are not covered.
On the other hand, there are now portable property damage insurance policies that cover cameras. These policies cover your own belongings, even if the camera is used, and they also cover cases like dropping the camera or water damage, which are common when taking landscape photos. They seem reliable… but, of course, insurance isn’t free.
Since I had never properly researched and compared options before, I used my “downtime” this summer to compile a list of some of the information available as of early August 2025.
This is a personal memo based on my own research, so the information may not be entirely accurate. I will not be held responsible for any losses incurred as a result of relying on this information for purchases, so please view it with that understanding.
We have listed two examples of portable insurance that are easy to apply for online. The maximum compensation amount for these insurance policies is 100,000 yen, but considering the recent inflation in camera prices, we have set the amount at 200,000 yen for comparison.
Many of you may already be aware of this, but after reviewing it again, I noticed a few things.
(1) The warranties provided by manufacturers or retailers only cover “natural defects,” while damage insurance (personal belongings insurance) covers “damage other than natural defects,” such as drops, impacts, water damage, fire, and theft, and does not cover natural defects.
※It’s like the relationship between “Zen-itsu” who can only use the first “Kata of rightning” and “Kaigaku” who can’t use all “Kata”s but the first one, right? That’s what I thought after watching the movie “Kimetsu no Yaiba(Demon Slayer)”
(2) When purchasing relatively expensive equipment, if you are concerned about both natural defects and other issues, it is necessary to use both the manufacturer/retailer’s warranty and personal belongings insurance.
(3) In my case, where I often buy used items, it’s best to purchase from a store that offers a warranty for natural defects on used items and then get personal effects insurance to cover other issues.
In fact, even the LUMIX G9PROII I bought last fall, which I thought was “quite affordable,” cost over 200,000 yen used. Considering recent high-end models, even with a compensation limit of 200,000 yen, it’s simply insufficient in this terrifying era.
It might be time to seriously consider how much risk I’m willing to take while continuing this hobby with insurance, or when to make a decisive decision to withdraw or downsize. While pretending to work, I found myself getting a bit serious.
