Tape over the camera brand during rugby game?

I was just watching a rugby game on TV and noticed during one of the close ups of the side line a photographers camera had tape covering up the camera brand. Not to ask a bone head question, but why? Most would be able to tell that the camera looks like a Canon. So why even bother to hide? Like what difference does it matter that we know you are using a Canon? It's not like his secret is out?

Perhaps the "other brand" was a sponsor of the event and required "hiding" the brand to avoid advertising the competition.

Or they were using a top secret camera Testing it out for the manufacture

Anyone who follows sports knows the cameras with the white lenses are Canon so why hide the moniker on the body? Unless as john said the event was sponsored by Nikon. Marketing a new developmental camera model / testing one at an event would require covering the model number not the brand. Interesting to say the least...

There could be numerous reasons the photographer was asked to tape the logo including the ones mentioned above. There are many companies involved in televised sports, and any one or several of them may not allow logos except from sponsors and advertisers. The reason for Canon's white lenses is to get around this. They can make us tape the logos, but folks can still see the photographers are using Canon if they know about Canon's white lenses.

I tape over or otherwise cover logos, model numbers, and other identifying marks on my cameras for several reasons.

1) Logos annoy me. I don't wear clothing with clothing brand logos on them, and I don't feel like advertising for Canon either. I support my local college basketball team; other than that I don't do logos. If they want me to advertise for them it will require some sort of compensation.

2) It discourages the fanboys. Every conversation that has started by someone walking up to me and commenting on my red ring has been a complete waste of time.

3) It may discourage some thieves. While photo-geeks can probably ID my camera, the average joe, law abiding or not, probably can't. I don't want people to know I'm walking around with $5000+ in camera gear. Examples: Recently a Russian camera store was completely cleaned out of their Canon and Nikon gear by burglars, but they left all the Leica S2 gear behind. When I shot with Hasselblad cameras people regularly asked me why I wasn't using "pro gear" like Canon and Nikon. Most folks are clueless about the gear, but may have heard that the 5DII or 1D logo means it's a fancy and expensive camera.

There's actually a lot of discussion on the net about this. A suitable search will find various forums and posts on the subject. I came across this years ago and from what I recall most of the reasons were either about discouraging potential thieves or not wanting to advertize the brand for various reasons.

Another place you'll come across this is live band performances on TV. You'll usually find logos on instrument amplifiers have been taped over. Apparently this is largley about the show not wanting to be seen to support particular brands.

Interesting post Henry. You have me thinking about this. That's a kicker about that store in Russia, even for thief's it's all about common brand recognition!

Thank god they left the Leicas!

If you watch a football game, notice the pros along the sidelines. Unless it's changed for this season, they'll most likely all be wearing the same vest with whatever logo is the sponsor's for that event. If they use gear of another brand chances are they'll have any brand names covered up. I don't think that's the intended use for gaffer's tape for most photographers but that's the reality of sports today.

I think Rob touched on something like this before, that if you're shooting an event you probably want to wear something plain & dark, and blend into the background. The most I usually did was wear a gray vest that had the logo of the team I was shooting, or maybe a team pin (and their logo was on my press pass). Since so many people in the arena were wearing the team logo it wasn't exactly too noticeable.

Carrying an R6 around FL, someone once asked me, what is a "Lee-ik-ka"?

MLKstudios wrote: Carrying an R6 around FL, someone once asked me, what is a "Lee-ik-ka"?

I was packing up gear after some wedding portraits, and a guest approached me and asked if my camera was a Canon. I replied "Nope, this is a Hasselblad." He gave a disgusted snort, said "I thought pros used Canon", and walked away completely unimpressed with my no-name Swedish camera.

Did you see my story about photographing Roger Tory Peterson with a 503? He commented that Victor used the same camera when they were in Sweden to take their pic (him and his wife).

He was shooting birds with a Canon -- an EOS-1 (way before DSLRs).

It's all about marketing, eh?

I don't do much sports photography, but surprised to hear that certain events will have photographers cover up logos That really sounds excessive IMHO.

Dragonflies wrote: I don't do much sports photography, but surprised to hear that certain events will have photographers cover up logos That really sounds excessive IMHO.

I've seen people with tape over logos on shirts, hats, and jackets. If you want the photographers' pass you have to follow their rules.

Rob pix4u2 wrote: Anyone who follows sports knows the cameras with the white lenses are Canon so why hide the moniker on the body? Unless as john said the event was sponsored by Nikon. Marketing a new developmental camera model / testing one at an event would require covering the model number not the brand. Interesting to say the least...

People do not need to follow sports to know Canon uses white lenses, but even with that being said, Canon users could use a non Canon lens, so it's black like everyone else. Couldn't tell a Canon between a Nikon while in the stands or on the field.

You're right, I think the logo needs to be covered up more on camera straps, caps etc. As Henry said the photographers don't have much choice, they have to follow the media rules of the team, venue, league. So do fans actually, some places have rules on what type camera, lens is acceptable to bring in.