Do you put tape over your camera?

rookieshooter

When I bought my first DSLR, some pros I knew told me to put gaffer tape over the make and model of the camera so that when you are in a crowd nobody would know what it was.

I still do that now but have been told by several people that it is silly. The size of camera -- a Nikon D700 -- tells people that it is a serious camera, so no need to hide it. I've also seen pros in the field wearing the strap that says Nikon D3, etc.

so am I crazy? I should probably just take the tape off.

Qarik

rookieshooter wrote:

When I bought my first DSLR, some pros I knew told me to put gaffer tape over the make and model of the camera so that when you are in a crowd nobody would know what it was.

I still do that now but have been told by several people that it is silly. The size of camera -- a Nikon D700 -- tells people that it is a serious camera, so no need to hide it. I've also seen pros in the field wearing the strap that says Nikon D3, etc.

so am I crazy? I should probably just take the tape off.

you mean to discourage thieves? I am willing to bet if a thief is cunning enough to steal by models, then he knows his cameras and a piece of tape will not help you. If a thief does not know his cameras then the tape is useless as well. *shrug*

I would vote you are crazy!

Art Scott

rookieshooter wrote:

When I bought my first DSLR, some pros I knew told me to put gaffer tape over the make and model of the camera so that when you are in a crowd nobody would know what it was.

I still do that now but have been told by several people that it is silly. The size of camera -- a Nikon D700 -- tells people that it is a serious camera, so no need to hide it. I've also seen pros in the field wearing the strap that says Nikon D3, etc.

so am I crazy? I should probably just take the tape off.

not any more .....I used to do it so people cwould not come up trying to see what i was shooting while i busy shooting and to keep the cleints that thought only Leica and hassleblad were the only cameras that could take a great photo from being to distraught by seeing KIEV on the front of my Medium Format Gear:D....and Minolta on the front of my 35mm gear........I finally took all the gaffers tape off everything after going digital............but I do still keep blk gaffers in vehicle in case I have a prob with somthing reflecting unwanted light.....like I gaffed the white lable on my Adorama PRO 4 way Macro Focusing Rail because it was bright white and at times reflected light where I did not want it.........

Nikolai

I never heard of this custom before and I don't think it helps.
Cameras get snatched if the owner is not careful. Unless you completely wrap it in a duct-tape and cover with mud I doubt it would stop any would-be thief.

pathfinder

I have never heard of this either, Nik.

InsuredDisaster

I took a black marker an painted over "NIKON" on my DSLRs to stop Chinese people from coming up to me and saying "OOOOOOOOO, NIKON! *drool, drool* D san bai, VERY GOOD!"

GoofBckt

Ahahaha! This is hilarious!

InsuredDisaster wrote:

I took a black marker an painted over "NIKON" on my DSLRs to stop Chinese people from coming up to me and saying "OOOOOOOOO, NIKON! *drool, drool* D san bai, VERY GOOD!"

rookieshooter

I will add that I was at Wired magazine a few weeks ago and their photographer's camera was blacked out completely. I knew it was a Canon of some sort but that was it.

Anyway, I'll take the tape off probably.

Rock

I don't see the point. I tell people all the time that I shoot Canon if they ask. In the end it is not the camera brand that creates the images.......

Llywellyn

Unless you were doing something this extreme, not certain how it helps deter anything.

Nikolai

Llywellyn wrote:

Unless you were doing something this extreme, not certain how it helps deter anything.

, good one!

divamum

Am I missing something? Why would would anybody care whether one was shooting Nikon or Canon? I've yet to see any commentary anywhere which doesn't say "Theyr'e both good, as are many of the other marques" so... what would it matter?

Nikolai

divamum wrote:

Am I missing something? Why would would anybody care whether one was shooting Nikon or Canon? I've yet to see any commentary anywhere which doesn't say "Theyr'e both good, as are many of the other marques" so... what would it matter?

Apparently some brands are more popular in some places than the others. Especially in the underdeveloped countries. I remember the "iron curtain" times in USSR when Adidas and Levi's were absolutely *the* brands to have (especially since it was next to impossible to purchase them legally). Maybe in today's China Nikon is in similar position...
Yet again, OP's question was not brand specific, but rather "hiding true value" one.

rookieshooter

Interestingly I found another forum thread discussing gaffer tape on a camera body and they said the point wasn't to deter theft, but rather to keep the camera body in pristine condition. And when you pull gaffer tape off, there's no residue. So it looks like from that perspective it's just to keep the camera looking new.

http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=52650

Ekaj

rookieshooter wrote:

Interestingly I found another forum thread discussing gaffer tape on a camera body and they said the point wasn't to deter theft, but rather to keep the camera body in pristine condition. And when you pull gaffer tape off, there's no residue. So it looks like from that perspective it's just to keep the camera looking new.

http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=52650

+1

I do this when I am hiking with my camera. Scrapes and scratches are inevitable when going through brush or climbing on rocks.

I saw some photog walking around spanish market here in santa fe the other day with his camera wrapped in a flag bandana. He wasn't fooling anyone, clearly an slr wrapped in a bandana. Anyways I think he was some sort of perv, because he was following females around every time I saw him...

Art Scott

rookieshooter wrote:

Interestingly I found another forum thread discussing gaffer tape on a camera body and they said the point wasn't to deter theft, but rather to keep the camera body in pristine condition. And when you pull gaffer tape off, there's no residue. So it looks like from that perspective it's just to keep the camera looking new.

http://forums.photographyreview.com/showthread.php?t=52650

There is a difference in gaffers tape.....when in the theater I got a shipment in that I had to use to tape ends of the ropes on the FLY system.......it had gaffers written all over it, and had been remarked by an unscrupulous vendor.....my director dang near shot the idiot........it turned out to be cloth duct tape, I had sticky sh** all over the place within 2 weeks of stretching and cutting then wrapping the ropes....it was nasty...... .............
So make sure you are using a high quality gaffers for anything aand there won't be any residue left behind....unless one uses it to cover cracks and breaks in a motorcycle seat and then the sun make it a gooey mess.....................

colourbox

pathfinder wrote:

I have never heard of this either, Nik.

I've heard of a few photogs who black out the name with gaffer's tape when shooting in poor or sketchy areas in foreign countries. I'm not saying it makes any difference...

The most legitimate reason I've heard was when somebody (LaForet?) was out shooting with a body that was not yet announced to the public.

I've been tempted to black out the "C" so that my camera would say "anon" as a joke, like the way some people paint over the "TOYOTA" on the tailgate so it says "YO"

rainbow

I use a black sharpie on my camera bags' tags/logos so that it is not easy to tell "Lowepro" or "Canon" from a distance. I am usually more concerned about identifying my pack as a camera bag. Once the camera is out of the bag, it is "out of the bag", so to speak, and tape would do nothing to deter unsavory folks.

kwalsh

I've read of some street photographers covering up the shiny parts of compacts or range finders to make the camera a bit less obvious in discrete shooting. The idea being the camera manufacturers put all the shiny parts in to attract peoples attention in the store so covering them up will make the camera a bit less obvious. No idea if this helps at all, I've never done street photography and have never really "gotten it" as it were...

I could certainly imagine covering up shiny parts might help in some wildlife photography, but again no first hand experience.

ChatKat

Yes.
I've talked about this several times. When you travel, especially in some shadier areas, It's not a bad idea to give pople the idea that you are carrying a very old beat up camera to make it less tasty for those who would relieve you of your gear. I do know a well travelled photographer who had a Leica, Covered the whole fitted hard case with duct tape to make it look fake. I have taken eletrical tape and covered the name badge when I first went digital. I did sew a patch over my first Canon Backpack logo but now I travel with a Crumpler so it doesn't look like a camera bag. And when I travel I use an Optech Binoculars Strap and wear a sweater over it so camera can't be ripped off from around my neck. It sits above my waist and it doesn't look like I have a camera from the back.

colourbox

Also, there is not much point in covering the camera logo for the many people who still use the massive-logo neck straps that come with SLRs. I think they are huge ads and tacky looking, and in some cases may scream "Mug Me, I'm a Tourist." I have a nice solid black OpTechs neck strap that is also cushy and more comfortable than the one that comes in the camera box, and far less conspicuous.

I routinely remove the logo patches from bags if I think they are too loud or imply valuable contents. I don't even use camera bags. Just normal backpacks and shoulder bags with camera equipment in padded cases, because I don't use much equipment and want to carry only one bag for the day. If I'm not actually shooting, I don't want to look like I have a $1000 lens on me.

Cygnus Studios

The only time that I have blacked out the Nikon was when I was seeing the name in the reflection of the product I was shooting. I don't really see the whole point of doing it to confuse people.