A video recorded of a photographer shows him using the stock of a gun while taking pictures of birds. Using tape to mount the camera, it helps him stay agile when using heavy equipment.
The clip, shot in Asia, shows his camera mounted to a rifle-like stock. The footage was posted by a user named OctopussSevenTwo on media-sharing site Imgur.
https://imgur.com/TUni4aY
It’s likely a foreign sight to most, although the practice is not new. Many photographers use it as a means to stabilize the larger and heavier camera setups, and it’s still popular amongst nature photographers attempting to snap wildlife from a distance using weighty zoom lenses.
Taping the lens to the stock, the photographer takes aim and shoots with relative ease. Talking to the bird he’s shooting, the photographer is quoted as lightheartedly saying: “Say hello to my little friend.”
Interestingly, some manual film cameras such as the Zenit Fotosnaiper actually came outfitted with a stock such as this one. Even Leica once made camera rifle prototypes that looked remarkably like firearms, fetching thousands at auction.
Of course, such a setup is likely to raise eyebrows with the general public, and usage is not recommended in public spaces. Have you ever had experience using a stock alongside your camera? How did it compare?
hahhaaha I love this so much
These are available for some time. Google DSLR gun stock or something. Some very weird an 'Asking for trouble' contraptions out there ;)
Zenit Photosniper is one I remember laughing at years ago.
I don't understand how we have gotten to the point that a camera with a shoulder stock looks threatening. Where I live, every single LEO would instantly recognize this as a camera. I have a similar setup that I took onto an air force base to make some airshow photos. It easily passed the security checkpoint. They were very rightly more concerned about backpacks. Non-descript backpacks are actually far more threatening than this.
Totally with you. No idea what a LEO is though. Paranoia is what it is. Looks like a gun, must be a gun, oh, someone is going to shoot us but their backpack only has sandwiches in it. Funny old times we're in.
Law Enforcement Officer
Ah, got you.
It probably depends on where you live. In some areas such a device wouldn't even get a second look. In others, it would likely be considered "triggering."
And, I can just imagine the reaction from a Presidential security detail if someone in the press pool threw this up to their shoulder ...
"Where I live, every single LEO would instantly recognize this as a camera."
You don't read the news much, do you? LEOs have often mistaken cameras, cellphones, toys, and even nothing at all as a firearm, and shot innocent civilians as a result. Ever heard the term "wrongful death lawsuit"?
I concede that I am at most half as literate as yourself and far less valuable to the human race. Thank you for allowing me and people who think like me to exist.
:-)
I'll give up the sarcastic reply I was contemplating and just admit that I don't know, either, how we got to the point that a camera with a shoulder stock looks threatening. But, the fact is that to many people, including armed police officers with quick trigger fingers and large magazines, it does. You're lucky to have discerning and disciplined LEOs with good eyesight in your area. Many others are not so lucky.
Here is a hypothesis. In my area we generally have an armed citizenry. From county to county I would estimate that half to two thirds of the people have a firearm on their person or in their vehicle. So a LEO that sees a person with a camera rig like this may assume there is a fair possibility that they ALSO have an actual firearm. I have been asked about guns, and asked to see my guns by local police. So, my hypothesis is that where there are so many present, the police and citizens are actually more relaxed about it. They only apply armed force where most reasonable people would presume it necessary. They places that you cite where police or others accidentally or enthusiastically shoot people are those where firearms are particularly stigmatized. It could be that articles like this one present more harm than good in that they feed the fears of those who have not been around guns or perhaps get all of their information about them from the news. If one (not you necessarily) doesn't personally shoot then I think it is a good thing to get to know some people who do. The overwhelming majority of police and citizens are quite sane and reasonable about these sorts of things.
Yeah, well, don't try carrying one of these in New York City.
Immediately brought to mind the Zenit Photosniper.
I've always thought the idea of a camera the feel like and operates like a gun could be a great alternative to trophy hunting. You get the look/feel/experience of hunting with a rifle and even get to take home a trophy (photo) but without any need to actually kill what you are hunting. Could even add in software that could simulate firing and provide feedback on if you landed what would have been a killing blow had it been a real gun.
Except you don't get a delicious turkey sandwich that way.
Which is why I specified "trophy hunters", I have no issues with those who hunt for food. Personally, I take issues with people who slaughter an animal merely to hang its head on their wall.
Cool, but full disclosure, I eat turkeys and deer and hang the non edible parts on the wall.
Yeah, that is fine. :) But there are a ton of hunters who will shoot a bear or a lion, chop the head off, then leave the corpse behind.
Side note: You hang the non-edible parts of turkeys on your wall? ;)
The sandwiches were removed before mounting. :-)
Might be the greatest caption ever
I love trophy hunting with a camera, I stealthed up to about 40 feet of a cow moose and her calf, I got two really good snaps before I lost my guts and got the heck outta there. Basement flooded, took everything and killed my cameras so I started all over with a digital. It isn't the same as a film camera, disappointing but I'll get used to it I suppose.
Could get one of those from Spiratone back in the 70s.
Black folks...don't try this in the USA ...lol
You are right, and that is very wrong (and disturbing). I think things are changing though, however slowly. I see more and more persons of different ethnicities enjoying shooting sports and hunting and by the accounts the people I have interacted with, they are not being harassed for it.
mmm hmm.... I do HFT shooting and get all kinds of looks whenever I purchase pellets...forget about walking out of my condo lobby with the case.
I am sorry to hear that and I hope that it is not always that way for you.
I wonder if he got that idea from the awesome 90's show Northern Exposure? I first saw that with Holling Vincoeur on the show...not very practical, imo, and better than bullets...
So he's "Shooting" birds. With a gun. Got it? Got it?
I think this shouldn't have to be said, but there's a pretty obvious disclaimer (at least here in the USA) that you probably shouldn't walk around with anything like this—particularly in a metropolitan area—unless you're ok with either being repeatedly harassed or accidentally shot...
It is really not that similar to a gun at all.
People get accidentally shot for all manner of things that look far less like a gun. Besides, you're thinking of it from the perspective of a photographer—not the average person who has no idea what these things are. I've had encounters while using my Pentax Digital Spotmeter with people who thought it might be a weapon of some sort...
If you used a Sekonic L series and wore a star trek shirt that would never happen. Or at least, the only encounters you would have would be people trying to give you an atomic wedgie.
LOL! It's a messed up world we live in...
Similarities are meaningless -- from a distance, it looks like a rifle. There are too many paranoid people out there.
lol ask the photographer that was recently shot because the cop thought his camera was a gun
the sad thing is that it isn't really that difficult to put a gun in a camera or disguise it in an apparatus that looks like a camera. Whenever I go out to an event (I love protest rallies) I always check in with on sight LEOs, introduce myself, ask questions and let them see the rig I carry. All nonchalant but by doing that I take myself off their radar as a potential threat
Well done, Old Sport.
Don't try this at home, folks.
My father in law was doing this 20 years ago, with a Pentax and remote shutter button to shoot elk, and deer.
My dad had a setup like this (one that didn't involve tape) for his old Nikon film camera back in the 1970s. I think it was manufactured by Nikon as well, though I'm not positive. But it's been a long time since I've seen one. I'm curious whether it would provide more stability than proper handholding technique.
Ha! I've never seen this before... I have some old parts laying around, my have to try this.
Follow up story, photographer shot while using gun shaped camera rig to shoot birds.
I'm wondering how back button focus works on this setup? You'd need a 10 long inch thumb.
My dad built his own gun stock for his camera back in the 80's
Nothing really new, Novoflex did it 30 or 40 years ago…
http://www.photoinfos.com/Fototechnik/Objektive/Noflexar-Schnellschuss-S...
60 year old idea. Still, nice to reuse what is a good idea. Would have needed quite some work to function with a modern camera.
These things are as old as telephoto lenses. Saw my first one in the 1960's. But there is no way I'd use one -- doing so could get you shot by someone with a gun.
Olympus OM2 with motordrive attached to Novoflex 100 to 400mm lens on Pistok grip
This setup belonged to the husband in our complex at Whistler who passed away last year. She told me that he had some camera gear that she had never seen in a locked suitcase. When she found the combination she asked me to look at it for donation (I was thinking a good Non Profit store in Squamish).
It took me two ours to figure out how to assemble it but I figure it's value would be as an auction item for the new Whistler Museum. Has anybody had experience with this & what do you think the value would be?
https://www.photoinfos.com/Fototechnik/Objektive/Noflexar-Schnellschuss-...
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