msmoto said:
All shooting at the same time via radio triggers....yup this is certainly different from the 1960's....

Suppose this means another D4.....hundred, I mean...

So given the limited number of channels on say a PW how do they prevent firing each others cameras ?
Are the remotes fired by, and at the same time as the operators main camera ?

Great video, sevencrossing. Did anyone notice the interesting cropping of the videographer's head shots of the photographers during the interviews?.... placed them off to the side....

And, lot's of bodies, no lens changing going on....I posted a shot of one of the photographers at the John Edward's trial in Greensboro, NC, had two or three remote bodies, plus two on board. All shooting at the same time via radio triggers....yup this is certainly different from the 1960's....

Suppose this means another D4.....hundred, I mean...

This not exclusively nikon
but it give some intersting insight how the real Pros work

Reuters photographers and editors discuss their strategy for covering Olympics track and field events from every angle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqGsbcTJZMM&feature=player_embedded

Pictures by the fastest man in the world with the fastest camera!

http://www.aftonbladet.se/sportbladet/os2012/article15239832.ab

Includes a photo of Usain using the D4

Just some minutes ago, Usain Bolt took some pictures with a Nikon (D3s or D4) after winning his second gold medal at the 200m race.

tcole1983 said:
So I have notices something as I watch. When they pan the Canon lenses obviously stand out more then the black Nikon. But why does every Canon camera have a huge 400+ mm lens on it while the Nikons seem to have shorter lenses. I don't see many of the big guns really.

That's because I arranged for the Nikon guys to get ringside seats, and the 'away team' to sit in the gods! LOL.

As a public funded broadcaster the UK's BBC is providing pretty massive coverage of the event.
I've been watching quite a bit of TV since landing back in the UK at the weekend.
Occasionally they slip in a little technical piece - yesterday they showed the remote cameras used underwater in the swimming pool - all driven from a control room below ground next to the pool. There wasn't enough detail to see what cameras and lenses were inside the waterproof housings though.

I was amused by the description of the video camera rig used to follow the divers through their routine from the high board right down into the water. The camera is on some sort of rig inside a plastic pipe - the pipe looked opaque from where the documentary filmed it but must have a clear side towards the pool. The camera is simply hauled up to the top of the tube using a thin rope, then dropped to fall down the tube as the divers go through their routine. Physics says that the camera and divers both accelerate at the same rate and i guess they've tweaked things to get the air resistance of the camera to match that of the divers :-) The footage looked great !

Otherwise, there are cameras on trolleys hung from pairs of overhead cables, cameras on a balloon platform above the main stadium, motorised cameras around all of the running and cycling tracks, you name it ... and always the kit is hidden from view inside the housing !

And above all - some fantastic performances by great athletes. Something truly worth recording for posterity .

Cheers.

Interestingly enough, if I want the range of 200-400mm, I can put the TC-14EII or 20EII on the 70-200mm f/2.8 VRII and get very good results, and have a fairly light weight lens. Some time ago, I did some comparisons using this and here is one of the 2x on the back at 200mm

http://www.flickr.com/photos/fantinesfotos/6911905024/sizes/o/in/set-72157630044833773/

One can see that the ability to grab a good image is most likely there and saves the weight of the 200-400 when you have already the 400 and 600 to carry around...or your grip has this stuff...

And the possibility is, with a preview of the shoot, Andrew knows he will need the longer lenses and not the shorter ones. Actually the 300mm f/2.8 would be my next choice and not the zoom.

And, BTW, if you want to see the blocked video, search on YouTube for "Olympic photographer vs. lens cap" Sadly he is shooting Nikon.

msmoto said:
Well, I thought someone would post a link like this, but if not, here is a list of Andrew Weber's gear:

interesting

a 600mm f/4 AND a 400mm f/2.8

but no 200-400 f4

Saw a Nikon shooting photographer last night at gymnastics using a D4 and a D800. He had the stock straps on both so it was fairly easy to make out even with the TV camera panning by. This was probably the classic use of the 2 cameras. He grabbed the D800 for up close shots of the girls as they returned from the main stage. I'm sure the D4 was for rapid firing during the excercises.

Interesting article about the competition between Nikon and Canon at the Olympic Games:

http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201207260015

<<

Takao Fujita, a 48-year-old photographer who started shooting Nikon from the Beijing Olympics, said, “Their sales pitch becomes even greater at each Olympics.”

Nikon representatives began approaching him to ask him to try their new models.

“If professional photographers judge our cameras favorably, customers buying entry-level cameras may tend to choose ours,” said Hidehiko Tanaka, manager of Nikon's Customer Relations Department

>>

abetanco said:
There were some nikons cameras at the basketball game between USA and France.

Any member of this forum working or visiting the Olympics at London?

I went to a Nikon class in April in Seattle & one of the instructors, Nick Didlick is in charge of the photographers for the Olympics.

kanuck said:
Yes NSX there is supposed to be massive robotic arms with D4s mounted on them I heard. I believe the story can be found at Nikonrumors:

http://nikonrumors.com/2012/07/27/this-robotic-arm-equipped-with-a-nikon-d4-camera-is-ready-for-the-olympics.aspx/#more-42562

The thing is just massive!

I'm curious how much practice the guys driving the rigs get with shooting- there seems to be a camera shooting through the viewfinder, but I'm sure it's got to be somewhat weird shooting like that.

Also, the Canons may be more visible, but didn't they have problems with supply with the 1DX series?

The D4 was always in demand, but with the 1DX availability pushed so close to Olympics, it seems unwise to field such a new camera that you've had relatively little time to practice with.

So I have notices something as I watch. When they pan the Canon lenses obviously stand out more then the black Nikon. But why does every Canon camera have a huge 400+ mm lens on it while the Nikons seem to have shorter lenses. I don't see many of the big guns really.

All of the Nikons I see in the crowd somebody must be testing a new body.

Yes NSX there is supposed to be massive robotic arms with D4s mounted on them I heard. I believe the story can be found at Nikonrumors:

http://nikonrumors.com/2012/07/27/this-robotic-arm-equipped-with-a-nikon-d4-camera-is-ready-for-the-olympics.aspx/#more-42562

The thing is just massive!

You can keep up with Nikon user Mark Rebilas at the Olympics here:

http://www.facebook.com/markjrebilasphotography

abetanco said:
Here is a canon photographer at the Olympics

Olympic camera guy leaves lens cap on

ROFLMAO
PIMP

Too funny! And he's like "uhh... what's going on here? Why's my camera not working?"

msmoto said:
And then the Canon lenses pointed towards the person next to them...must be the spares when the first camera fails, LOL.

Either that or it's for when they leave the cap on their first camera LOL

Here is a canon photographer at the Olympics

Olympic camera guy leaves lens cap on

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWw99GXBdwk&feature=player_embedded

if You wonder how does the new N800/5.6 behave, follow this link: http://www.leonneal.com/blog/2012/07/31/nikon-800mm-f5-6-preview/

I want one :)

OK, beat up on Canon? Actually in past years the Canons outnumbered the Nikons by a wide margin. But we are catching up. Now just for humors sake... the guy in the middle of iris chrome's link above has not figured out there is another release/or a hand grip is available....LOL. And one does not need to close the "other" eye, LOL. And then the Canon lenses pointed towards the person next to them...must be the spares when the first camera fails, LOL.

Kinda like at the John Edward's trial...lots of Canons.....maybe they need a lot of them to get a good shot? LOL

Please do not take anything in this post seriously....

Gabbb said:
The Nikon Canon ratio seems to be improving. I've seen a lot of gold rings :-)

You're right. Look at this photo courtesy of CR:

http://www.canonrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/olympics01.jpg

I can count 4 definite Nikon shooters and 1 possible (upper right corner) vs 6 definite Canon shooters ... given the fact that this is a biased photo (I did find it on CR after all) I'd say the actual Nikon to Canon ratio is more like 2:1 ;~p

Btw, has anyone seen the Canon booth photos on CR? Impressive, huh? Anyone has photos for the Nikon booth?

The Nikon Canon ratio seems to be improving. I've seen a lot of gold rings :-)

Robots at the Olympics with Nikon cameras.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eED6Uot0Yw

Well, I thought someone would post a link like this, but if not, here is a list of Andrew Weber's gear:
2 Nikon D4 bodies, 1 Nikon D3
Nikon 600mm f/4
Nikon 400mm f/2.8
Nikon 70-200 f/2.8
Nikon 24-70 f/2.8
Nikon 14-24 f/2.8
Nikon 24mm tiltshift f/3.5
Sigma 50mm f/1.4
Sigma 28mm f/1.8
Sigma 10mm f/2.8

And...
11-inch MacBook Air
iPad 2
Bose in-ear headphones
1TB drive, 500GB drive
2 16 GB memory cards, 4 8 GB memory Cards 4 4GB memory cards and 4 2 GB cards
Vagabond Mini Portable power
Nike Fuel band
Compact flash card read a XQD Card reader, Nike Fuel band, Memory Card holder

Full article at: http://www.gottabemobile.com/2012/07/22/inside-an-olymmpic-photographers-gear-bag/

And the article about the gray/black lens rival... http://ajw.asahi.com/article/economy/business/AJ201207260015