More Perils of Classis Camera Ownership

The article does not say what camera it was: LINK -----

 

Passenger adjusting their camera mistaken for bomb scare which caused emergency landing in Queens. | Daily Mail Online

God save us all from the Karens...... -_-

I hope that he can sue. Being stupid is no excuse.

Maybe it was a Kodak Colorburst?

What the hell kind of camera was it?

Not had that experience, however when I photographed granddaughter 's ballet recital I chose the Nikon F6 because it has an internal spot meter and did not want to take the chance that my external spot meter would be mistaken for a gun.

Oh man...there should be a sign reading "paranoid people...caution".

The Konica Pop perhaps?

Remember those rifle stock support/grips for telephoto lenses? Always figured it would be a big mistake to use one to photograph a president. I'm sure they'd shoot first and ask questions later.

We need to print "It's not a bomb, it's a camera" T shirts

 

I've been through the experience, I posted about it some time ago. An aggressive guy approached me when I was using the C3 TLR. It took a bit of convincing to calm him down. I wasn't even in a populated town, just in a picturesque wooded setting. He left in a huff when he finally could see it was only a film camera, and seemed to be disappointed it wasn't what he was hoping it would be, whatever it was he was thinking it was.

We need to print "It's not a bomb, it's a camera" T shirts

 

I've been through the experience, I posted about it some time ago. An aggressive guy approached me when I was using the C3 TLR. It took a bit of convincing to calm him down. I wasn't even in a populated town, just in a picturesque wooded setting. He left in a huff when he finally could see it was only a film camera, and seemed to be disappointed it wasn't what he was hoping it would be, whatever it was he was thinking it was.

I doubt that you could get past TSA, never mind board the aircraft with that shirt.

Poor guy, not something I would have expected. I find the idea that a terrorist would be checking how to build and use a bomb on a plane somewhat risible. If she had been more (or is it less) nosy she could simply have asked him what he was doing.

Blame it on the #$%%%$ that they feed us on through the "media" and television.

As usual, the news article had too little information to make an informed opinion about this story. For instance, I'd like to understand the airline protocol for when such an issue is raised to the flight attendant. Does the flight attendant just assume everyone on board is a bomb expert and simply accept what the passenger tells them? Do they, or should they, perform a minimal amount of "vetting" of the complaint before acting upon it? Also, if they suspected the guy had a bomb in his carryon bag why wouldn't they try to subdue him in his seat to prevent him from setting it off?

 

In this post-9/11 world, the mantra to the public has been "If you see something, say something" so it doesn't surprise me that people are more "aware" of their surroundings than before. My wife and I were on a flight a couple of years ago and noticed a middle-aged man standing in the aisle next to his seat just a couple of rows ahead of us for nearly the entire flight. He wasn't speaking to any of the other passengers, just looking around the cabin. Later in the flight, he left his seat altogether and we no longer saw where he was. When we began our final descent and the flight attendant announced that all passengers should return to their seats and buckle up, the man was still gone but we noticed his empty shoes on the floor in front of his seat. My wife became concerned and I told her to wait a couple of minutes because he might be talking to someone in the back of the cabin and just hadn't made his way back yet. However, after another 5 minutes, we decided to notify the flight attendant of the situation because it seemed odd. My wife pressed the call button and immediately, the flight attendant came over the intercom and said to only push the call button if it was an emergency. We paused for a minute and debated and then pressed the button again. The flight attendant came to our seat with a pissed look on her face. My wife explained that the man had not returned to his seat and pointed out his empty shoes. The flight attendant immediately said "That's not an emergency ma'am!". My wife then replied "How do you know? He could be in the bathroom with a medical emergency." The flight attendant was caught off guard by my wife's response and said "OK, you might be right." and proceeded to head to the back of the cabin. We never did find out what became of the man. The plane landed and he never showed up at his seat. We even hung around in our seats for awhile at the gate allowing other passengers behind us to exit the plane first but gave up after awhile.

 

When strange and out of the ordinary things happen it can cause a real dilemma for those who are more keen observers. This particular story does sound like the woman who complained was over-the-top and I would think her story should have raised red flags about her credibility to the flight attendant. I guess we need Paul Harvey to give us "the rest of the story" before we possibly overreact as well.

Like Conrad mentioned, try "snapshooting" with a Russian Zenit Photosniper...never mind trying to board an aircraft with one. :eek:

 

Zenit Photosniper - Camera-wiki.org - The free camera encyclopedia

Edited October 11, 2021 by m42dave

In western Asia, snipers were shooting photojourrnalists with long lenses -- "claiming" that they thought the lenses were RPGs.

 

Telephoto Camera Lens Mistaken For RPG

 

not just in Asia, either

Photographer Shot by Police After Camera Mistaken for Weapon

What about the woman who made the false bomb claim and caused all the disruption of the flight? Is she being charged with making a false bomb report? If not, then I guess I can be on a plane and tell the attendant, "I think that man over there has a bomb" and then after an emergency landing I can just walk away with an evil smile on my face.

We need to print "It's not a bomb, it's a camera" T shirts

 

I doubt that you could get past TSA, never mind board the aircraft with that shirt.

 

 

My suggestion was meant to be slightly humorous, but we need to be cautious when out with large cameras "squarish" in shape, or cameras with long lenses. Being approached or dobbed in under false assumption is not a pleasant experience, I can identify with the guy on the plane who was just adjusting his vintage camera. It's a bit scary for a few moments until you realize that observers have a valid reason for their concern, then if you are questioned, weave that concern into your response to them, in other words, quickly let them know you understand their concern and then proceed to tell them what you are actually doing, taking photos, or preparing equipment to take photos ... then show them the equipment and press the shutter button, waste a frame if they can't be convinced any other way.

 

Of course, on a plane you can't do this if a passenger complains to a stewardess, and perhaps the guy with the vintage camera would have been wise to not fiddle with the camera and just leave it hidden in his carry bag ... that would have been my way of thinking ahead had it been me, I think about these things, a large black photo making object, from a distance, may be construed as some other device, a terrorism device even. Leave it in the bag with a clear conscience away from prying eyes of those who don't have the intelligence to know that your camera was checked before allowing it to travel with you on the plane ... do they still check for box-cutters ?

 

I haven't seen a solution to the problem yet, it seems we are left to work out solutions individually for particular circumstances, but the problem is very real, you need to go through it to know how real it is. As much as I can, I now have a strap attached to my cameras. I look through the viewfinder more often than I need to, and I carry a tripod even if I shoot handheld 80% of the time ... generally doing all such things that others can clearly identify you as a photo head and nothing much else.

We need to print "It's not a bomb, it's a camera" T shirts

 

 

 

 

My suggestion was meant to be slightly humorous, but we need to be cautious when out with large cameras "squarish" in shape, or cameras with long lenses. Being approached or dobbed in under false assumption is not a pleasant experience, I can identify with the guy on the plane who was just adjusting his vintage camera. It's a bit scary for a few moments until you realize that observers have a valid reason for their concern, then if you are questioned, weave that concern into your response to them, in other words, quickly let them know you understand their concern and then proceed to tell them what you are actually doing, taking photos, or preparing equipment to take photos ... then show them the equipment and press the shutter button, waste a frame if they can't be convinced any other way.

 

Of course, on a plane you can't do this if a passenger complains to a stewardess, and perhaps the guy with the vintage camera would have been wise to not fiddle with the camera and just leave it hidden in his carry bag ... that would have been my way of thinking ahead had it been me, I think about these things, a large black photo making object, from a distance, may be construed as some other device, a terrorism device even. Leave it in the bag with a clear conscience away from prying eyes of those who don't have the intelligence to know that your camera was checked before allowing it to travel with you on the plane ... do they still check for box-cutters ?

 

I haven't seen a solution to the problem yet, it seems we are left to work out solutions individually for particular circumstances, but the problem is very real, you need to go through it to know how real it is. As much as I can, I now have a strap attached to my cameras. I look through the viewfinder more often than I need to, and I carry a tripod even if I shoot handheld 80% of the time ... generally doing all such things that others can clearly identify you as a photo head and nothing much else.

There is no solution. Today people are paranoid.

I really want to know which cameras are they that made her thought they were bombs?

I can't think of any camera that could make someone believe it is a bomb. I'm with many others here in wanting to know what the camera was.

Someone one another forum mentioned "Contax" in context with the news article, but I haven't confirmed it myself.

At the top on one story they show a Mamiyaflex but I think that was just a filler. Other stories mention an antique digital camera.I guess looking at a black box with dials on the outside could make an idiot think on a bomb. So the woman who started all this was okay to just walk away free but the innocent photographer left only alter finally not being "charged"?

Here's a more reasonable, and perhaps a better understood take on the incident.

 

"This incident raises so many questions for me. Firstly why didn’t the woman engage the man in conversation first, he may have been more than happy to show her how old cameras worked. Did the flight attendants even question the man and try to ascertain what the object was? According to Quartz airline personnel are trained to deal with such situations and make reasoned assessments when passengers report suspicious behaviour."

And ....

 

"Another baffling part of the story is that unless the man was somehow able to secretly hide the cameras inside his body cavities they must have already been thoroughly searched by TSA when he went through security. Any unusual looking device is almost pounced on these days by airport security"

 

Link ...

Vintage camera sparks in-flight panic and emergency landing - DIY Photography

 

And aren't there dogs to sniff out explosive chemicals ? My guess is that the camera/s security was well established and deemed safe way before the plane took off. It seems the flight crew had little faith in airport security and became jittery and just as paranoid as the female passenger. However, the camera man spoke little English apparently and perhaps awkwardness prevented him from communicating with other passengers in a coherent manner. I think that's why this whole travesty occurred.