Why do photojournalists "tape" their cameras?

<p>I hope this doesn't sound like a too stupid or too obvious question, but I haven't been able to find the answer or the reasoning behind it.</p>

<p>Every time I see a documentary about a photojournalist I notice that all his/her cameras are "taped". Looks like electric black tape and they either cover the entire camera or they cover the camera brand name and model. Why do they do it?</p>

<p>It would seem pointless to cover the brand/model so they avoid theft. After all the cameras they use are usually the D3 or Canon 1D which are huge, anyone can clearly see they are pro-level and very expensive.<br>

Are they trying to avoid the camera getting scratched? maybe trying to avoid dust getting in the sensor/film chamber?<br>

Also, if I wanted to tape my camera as well, is this a special type of tape I need to get or is it the common electrical tape?</p>

<p>Thanks in advance,<br>

Julian</p>

<p>It's probably gaffer's tape. This tape looks like duct tape, but the adhesive leaves less (ostensibly no) residue when removed from common surfaces. It is similar to first-aid tape, but thicker like athletic tape. It's commonly available in white or black.</p>

<p>An example of gaffer's tape for sale: http://www.adorama.com/SearchSite/Default.aspx?searchinfo=gaffer%20tape</p>

<p>In movies, any visible logo often requires a release from the company that owns the logo. [This requirement is often imposed as a legal protection by the producers or distributors of a program. It reduces the likelihood that they would be sued later.] If you were seeing this in a film or TV production, taping up labels is a common practice to cut down on the legal paperwork broadcasters would require before transmitting the program. It's a protection against allegations of the mis-use of a name or symbol.</p>

<p>For example, what if a photographer wielding Brand X cameras acted like a jerk. Then some lawyer someplace is going to complain, possibly sue, the broadcaster over sullying his client's "good" name. I know it sounds like a bunch of hoo-hah to the ordinary person in normal applications of recording, but we live in a litigious society. One man's free advertising is another man's infringement. It's similar to requiring a model release before commercial use of someone in a photo for sale.</p>

<p>Or, it could be a simple desire not to advertise or show something on the part of the person who has the taped-up stuff.</p>

<p>Since the cameras mentioned are not of my favorite brand, I presume they're taped up because that's what holds them together. ;-) Times are tough and equipment is expensive. Maybe they're making do.</p>

<p>Or, savvy about the retransmission of symbols.</p>

If you want to tape then don't use electrical tape or duck tape and instead use gaffer tape which doesn't

leave a residue. Gaffer tape is specially designed to peel off delicate surfaces, carpet, or high heat

surfaces (lights) without leaving residue.

 

This topic has come up quite a few times; just search for tape camera or taping camera. Most of the

taping threads I've read have eventually degraded into an amusing flamewar where people who don't tape

come up with various reasons that taping is pompous or stupid. Heh.

<p>A silver colored camera attracts more attention than a black one. Also the tape can help reduce the likelyhood of abrasion damage. </p>

<p>Let's make that "commerical use of a photo with someone in it." Out of order referents there. </p>

<p>If it's gaffer's tape you want, here it is in all the standard colors.<br>

<a href="http://www.filmtools.com/2blacwhitgre.html">http://www.filmtools.com/2blacwhitgre.html</a><br>

Or, if you REALLY want to impress the girls, go to where Hollywood goes and get every color on the planet.<br>

<a href="http://extranet.mole.com/public/index.cgi?parent=1434-1561&cmd=view_category&id=1102&item_page=1">http://extranet.mole.com/public/index.cgi?parent=1434-1561&cmd=view_category&id=1102&item_page=1</a></p>

<p>Enjoy !!</p>

<p>Bill P.</p>

 

<p>Thanks so much for your responses guys. That makes things clearer now. Also thanks for the advice on which type of tape I should get (should I choose to do so).</p>

<p>Regards,<br>

Julian</p>

There is a tradition in Leica photojournalism of buying black cameras and then covering up the logos to make a camera that is less conspicuous -- a camera that attracts less attention. And since leicas are expensive, covering up the name makes that less obvious and less of a theft target. This may not be what you're seeing, but it could be.

<p>Oh, come on Guys...when you see a photo of a photojournalist with the brand of his camera taped over its because he knew his picture was going to be used and he didn't want to be advertising the kind of camera he was using.</p>

<p>John has got it 100% right. Having worked as a PJ - in various forms - for the last 20 some years and in a plethora of countries I have to admit though that I have never taped any camera. I've used gaffer tape to hold a battery back in place when the screw screwed up but that probably doesn't count. Maybe I wasn't a PJ after all... ;-)<br /> <br /> Come to think of it though I can't remember ever running into a colleague anywhere that had "taped up" his or her camera.</p>

<p>My Nikon F90x has duct tape over the rear because the original plastic disintegrated into a sticky mess. I used silver because I didn't have any black. Looks terrible. Apart from that, nice camera.</p>

<p>Ditto, Mikael, I never met a PJ who taped over his or her camera logos. Many of us use tape to scribble notes on or for utilitarian reasons. When I push b&w film I stick a bit of blue masking tape on the camera and scribble a few reminders: EI, which processing I plan to use (usually Diafine or Microphen), dates, etc. And because I lost the rewind port cover from the bottom of my F3, whenever I'm not using the MD-4 motor drive I stick a little round bit of black foam rubber in the hole and tape it in place.</p>

<p>True story - must be true because I just started it out with "true story"...<br>

Photographers have always been pretentious hipsters, even before the phrase "pretentious hipster" became a phrase so common you can Google it. Around 1970, when I was a teenager, a buddy and I got our first SLRs - his a Pentax Spotmatic, mine a Miranda Sensorex. Both with chrome finish. Around that time the black painted 35mm SLRs were beginning to catch on among the "pro" class models. Naturally, because photographers have always been pretentious hipsters, we all wanted black cameras. Chrome became unhip. The hipster infection became an epidemic. Magazines like Modern and Popular Photography actually published articles telling readers how to mimic the look of pro black cameras with black tape.</p>

<p>Add to that the rampant pseudo-Marxism that plagues the internet and the disdain for advertising, and you have the ultimate expression of the pretentious hipster at his most insufferable: the type who tapes over his camera logos because he's not gonna be a pimp for the man, while simultaneously wearing an ironic Led Zeppelin t-shirt. He probably also has a Lomo or Holga at home, bought while in college, but stopped using it because his friends harassed him for being a pretentious hipster.</p>

<p>The other variant is the type who bought the Sears labeled KSX version of the popular Ricoh SLR in the Pentax K-mount, which was already painted black, then used black enamel to carefully disguise the fact that his camera had "SEARS" prominently displayed on the front. Okay, that was me in 1981. During my pretentious hipster college phase. Dammit. But I actually was at that Led Zep concert in '75.</p>

<p>I used it to cover the <em>Radio Shack</em> label on my mixer. It worked awesome! Every now and then I peel it off just to be amazed that it hasn't left any stick'um... and disappointed that it's still a <em>Radio Shack</em> mixer.</p>

<p>BTW, if you do need to use tape on your camera for whatever reason and gaffer tape isn't available, try 3M brand blue masking tape. Great stuff. You can leave it on most surfaces for months, even years, and it won't disintegrate or become brittle, won't leave a gummy gooey residue and won't damage most surfaces.</p>

<p>John Stockdale's story reminded me of a similar problem with my Nikon N6006. Very good camera but plagued with a brittle plastic film door latch that breaks off too easily. I first used duct tape to hold it shut. I knew from experience the stuff would leave a nasty residue so I usually removed it after shooting a roll of film. Unfortunately, during a move around 2006 I neglected to remove the tape. By the time I found it a year later I had to resort to scrubbing with rags soaked in lighter fluid to clean off the gunk. Since then I just use blue masking tape to hold the film door shut. Works great, lasts for months and doesn't leave a residue. Looks purty too, if you like blue.</p>

<p>Hockey tape also does the job</p>

<p>I used to keep several lengths of gaffer's tape on all my cameras. Since zooms in the late 70's and early 80's were a little iffy, ny typical PJ kit was 2-3 F2A's with MD-2's and an unmetered F2 without a motor drive-each camera with a specific focal length more or less permanently affixed. The tape was kept for emergencies- tape the finder down when the latch broke, tape the camera back closed if the latch broke (it never did, but I knew several PJ's whose did), temporarily attach a camera to an object for an impromptu high angle shot, patching up a hole in the bottom of my well-used Domke, and as a bandage for the occasional cuts when I didn't want to bleed all over my cameras.</p>

<p>I never taped over the nameplate. To me it seemed a little pretentious.</p>

<p>I think John has the most accurate answer. Keeping a few strips of gaffer tape handy on the back of my camera bodies, flashes or battery packs is a tip I learned from a fellow news photographer years ago. I've also had a Nikon F2 where I gaffer taped the squarish part of the viewfinder in place after it became loose, and at least one camera back with light leaks along the hinge that I fixed with gaffer tape. But I've never taped up a camera just for the sake of putting tape on it and I don't recall knowing anybody who did.</p>