Do you think that this "camera down the trousers" idea has been Mick
Jagger's trick for all those years ...........
OM content - perhaps this could have been the opportunity to use an OM-10
or even OM-1in case the roadies had got hold of your OM-3 ......
OUCH!
At 06:52 07/07/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Last night I managed to smuggle OM equipment into the Amsterdam Arena
>stadium, where the Stones where playing, and shot two rolls.
>Photography was not allowed, and people where bodysearched at the
>entrance.
>How did I manage it? Some "balls" and camouflageing techniques. A
>friend gave me the first idea, when he suggested I could hide a small
>camera in... my underpants. A small camera. Hmmm. Using my girl friends
>Yashica T5 (35 mm lens) to shoot people at a distance of maybe 50, 60
>meters? I don't think so. "Yes when you look through the microscope you
>will see Mick Jagger dancing" :-)
> But still the idea of smuggling in equipment didn't leave me alone. I
>only discovered photography wasn't allowed at the concert *after* I got
>the ticket, and I'm always very frustraded by such stupid rules. After
>all, it's just my hobby, I'm not making any money out of these pictures
>and I don't even publish them on the Web. Anyway, just for fun, I tried
>if this "pant's hiding" could also be done with an OM body. Yes it can.
>Don't ask how it feels (just try it, if you dare :-) - I put on *two*
>pairs of underpants, wrapped the OM-3 body in a plastic bag which I
>sealed with tape, put two-sided tape (used to tape carpets on the
>floor) on the bag and stitched it in between the two pairs, body cap
>down. A pair of trousers that are *not* as tight as Mick Jaggers pairs
>("you don't want my pants to drop down, now do you?" :-), and a long
>sports collar that hanged over, and it's completely invisible if you
>don't know. And of course, at stadium entrances the guards are not
>allowed to search you in *those* areas... The only thing is you have to
>learn to walk normally (like a "man" :-) with a $750 camera hanging in
>between your legs...
>Now part two, how to smuggle in a long lens? I got the idea when I saw
>an ad for a Diastone telelens-to-telescope adapter. The guards don't
>mind when you bring in a telescope, now do they? Even when it looks a
>bit unconventional? No they don't. I attached it to a Tokina
>80-200/2.8, and mounted the Olympus 1.4xA converter too, giving me a
>280/4. Yes this is one of the nice things of this Tokina - it has no
>fixed rear element allowing the 1.4xA to be mounted. For those of you
>that don't know this lens - although it is much smaller than those from
>N*k*n and C*n*n, it still is as big and as heavy as an 300/4.5 Zuiko.
>Anyway, I put it in a inconspicuous lens bag, with the Diastone adapter
>clearly visible on top - and the body searching guard "bought" it (he
>also "bodysearched" the lens bag to see if I didn't have a camera body
>hidden in it... :-). The most thrilling part was maybe even right
>*after* the body search, when I had to climb the stairs *up* to the
>second ring of the stadium. I was afraid my "big shapes" would be
>visible from downstairs ("is this an OM in your pocket, or are you just
>happy to see me?" :-).
>But everything went well and the first thing I did when I was upstairs
>was finding a man's room to remove the body and slide it in the inner
>pocket of my leather jacket. Once seated, my neighbours couldn't
>believe their eyes when I unwrapped the stuff and mounted the lens to
>the OM-3... I got some applause, and a free beer too.
>[ BTW, these telescope adapters are nice accesoiries, also for field
>work. Because there is no matte screen, the image is very bright, and
>the magnification is much higher than the lens mounted on a camera. It
>turns a 200 into a super tele. ]
>I shot one roll of Fuji 800 and one roll Fuji 1600. I didn't bother
>too much about the constant changes in light intensity caused by the
>light show - I used F2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/250 all the time,
>mainly because the people on stage where still too small to let their
>face cover the OM-3 spot meter area. I also used a home made
>"stringpod" to -hopefully- prevent those shaky shakers. For this I
>attached the camera base plate of my Manfrotto tripod to the tripod
>mount of the Tokina. The base plate has an eyelet at the bottom; to
>this I attached the shoulder strap I used to carry the lens bag. For
>those of you who missed the stringpod thread a while ago - when you put
>the other end of this strap or string under your foot and build up
>tension, you get some monopod-like effect gaining maybe some 2 stops
>for hand-held photography (thanks again, Doris, for the idea).
>Was the 280 mm focal length enough? No, my seat was in the middle of
>the stadium; the distance was - I guess - more than 50 meters, and
>could have used a 600 mm. I could have smuggled in the 300/4.5 and the
>2xA converter instead, but then - what film speed would you need for a
>600/9.0 and maybe a shutter speed of 1/500? Better enlarge those shots
>that are really sharp. I'll just be glad if a few pictures are really
>sharp and properly exposed.
>How was the concert? Good, of course. They should have learned it by
>now.
>
>Hans
>
>< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
>< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
>< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
>
>
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|