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Garden bans SLRs, flashes
By adamg on Thu, 09/29/2011 - 9:12am
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Comments
Yes, but is ok for them to
Yes, but is ok for them to use random stobe lights during games to make you look up at the adds?
Detachable lens != SLR.
There are detachable lens cameras which are not Single Lens Reflex.
True, although...
...DSLRs without the ability to interchange lenses are somewhat rare. There are some out there, again they are rare.
Do you suppose some incident led to this policy? Maybe someone used a giant lens as a weapon? Or they're possibly afraid of someone hiding something inside the camera body?
A frustrating policy in any case.
pure stinginess
They want to be able have absolute control over their brands, and they don't want patrons getting something for free, they'd otherwise have to pay for.
Really though, it's a dumb move. In cases like this, people are most likely just to go without, rather than pay for someone else to take their picture.
I remember being amused at a Celtics game when one of the at the game photo jockies came over and asked me and a friends if we wanted our picture taken.... while I was holding my own DSLR's.
The old rule was DSLR's were ok, but no large telephoto lens, no professional equipment beyond what an amateur might carry, and be courteous to others.
On a side note, Mike Lowell absolutely hated getting his picture taken. He wanted royalties from any and all pictures of himself. So much that when he caught me in the stands behind the visitors dugout in Chicago last year he'd bow head and stare at the ground when coming in from the field so you couldn't get a good straight on shot. Every now and then giving you a dirty look.
I'd heard about that, but it was funny to see in person. Still doesn't matter, as he had to play the game, and it was easy to capture him when his attention wasn't on such trivial things.
Last time I got to see Manny in action too...
Why is it frustrating?
They didn't allow cameras at all in many venues and events ... but then phones came to have cameras.
Now the futile flash use has become really annoying during concerts, and the phone cameras are better but still not great ... so they just ban the more sophisticated cameras to protect their image and let people post all the krappy vids they want to you tube.
Seems pretty reasonable to me, for a privately owned space.
Frustrating because you don't want another person's photo
Some of us are ok with just buying posters, and getting stock photos. The rest of us want our own photos.
You want them
... but you are not entitled to them. Like I said, there was a time when there were no cameras allowed at all.
Private venues have a right to make such rules.
not surprised
As more people take up photography as a hobby, and as sports teams / businesses want to control their IP tighter and tighter, assume this will continue.
First they came for the
First they came for the cameras, then they came for the pillow fights and flash mobs...
exactly
it probably makes no sense to them to let someone take their own high quality picture for free when they can sell it to them instead
Distraction
This isn't just about controlling IP. It is about how distracting the flashes are to the players. Note that many MLB teams are trying to ban or dissuade fans from doing the wave in the stands for the same reason.
http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/22297882/...
I totally agree with them about the flashes being banned. Detachable lenses however does seem odd.
I'm amused when fans use
I'm amused when fans use their flashes when taking photos of the field or court. I'd like to think they just have the camera on auto and it fires away, but I suspect that many people think their camera's tiny flash is going to illuminate the field. (If they're taking pics of themselves, that's another matter.)
The distinction of banning detachable-lens cameras is pretty arbitrary, since many point-and-shoots today offer long focal lengths and are very proficient in low light. If management is so concerned about (paying) fans stealing revenue from their own photogs, then ban all cameras and phones outright. Don't make a silly distinction between types of cameras.
Poppycock
There's always 12-24 Press and team photographers, on eye level, using much brighter flash equipment.
PR excuses are just that, things that seem reasonable to hide the real intention of rules or bans, so smucks will eat it up and defend it.
Same BS as "Photographing this building is a security threat".
Most press photographers
Most press photographers haven't used/needed flashes with the latest generation of pro cameras (last 5 years) and upgraded HD lighting. Its really only the team photographer and Sports Illustrated who use strobes in the Garden. And those flashes have a short duration 1/4000 to 1/10,000 of a second and are out of most players eye-line. (Mounted on the ceiling vs first row of the stands) Compared to the average Joe with his point and shoot who uses a flash with the obnoxious orange focus light, slow red-eye flash, etc which is distracting to players and others.
New policy?
Where's the new part?
The policy says no flash, and no cameras with detachable lenses. That sounds exactly like the same policy that was in effect the last time I was at a Bruins game. They don't want people not to be able to take snapshots, but they want to be able to control access by professionals. The problem is that technology has put "professional" quality cameras in the hands of a lot of people who still don't realize that their little flashes are useless and distracting.
How do flashless "professional cameras"...
...distract anyone?
huge-ass telephoto lens
At a recent game at Fenway Park, a woman in the row below mine was using a camera with a long telephoto lens, pointing it here and there while play was in progress, clearly interfering with the enjoyment of the fan in the adjacent seat (who said nothing to her, unfortunately). An inconsiderate photographer, flash or no, can certainly cause distraction.
But why ban interchangeable lens cameras
...just because those cameras _could_ use super-telephoto lenses. My camera _could_ use one -- but I could never afford to buy one to put on it. ;~}
So if the same woman were
So if the same woman were shouting into her phone the entire game, should management ban all cell phones?
Clearly the Garden's interests in banning SLRs do not lie in the comfort of fellow fans. They lie in ensuring a monopoly for official photographers. Never mind that many of today's point-and-shoots have lenses that rival SLR lenses of old. Never mind that the distinction between consumer and professional equipment continues to fade.
Keep in mind that this is the same management that sees no shame in exploiting 9/11/01 to limit the (potentially food-and-drink-carrying) bags that fans may bring in.
http://www.tdgarden.com/policies.html
Enhanced security measures were adopted by the TD Garden as part of a multi-level security protocol developed by the industry at large subsequent to the events of September 11, 2001. A heightened government advisory may result in additional security screening and/or restrictions.(Note that it has been over ten years since I attended at event at the Garden so I have no idea how strictly the policies are actually enforced.)
except
The ones they use. Or the ones on the floor. or....
Yup, total Bullshit.
Any petitions or protests against this new policy?
I'll happily support it.
http://vixdubs.tumblr.com/pos
http://vixdubs.tumblr.com/post/10807510852/an-open...
Not new
Not a new policy. It was in effect last year when I checked before a Bruins game. On camera flashes are useless from the stands anyway and certainly distracting for players. And long SLR lenses can get in the way of other fans around you.
Graduations?
Still allowed at university graduations, right?
Tablets?
I almost brought my tablet to Yankee Stadium this year to score the game and take pictures and videos. But fortunately I read the evening before the game that they banned tablets as part of their No Laptop policy. I would have been screwed if I hadn't read that, as I took a ferry to the game and had no where to lock it.