Photog gear for the Olympics

[brendanryder]

thought some of you may be interested in drooling over some gear.
i know im not allowed to post pics that arnt mine so heres the link to his gallery.
http://www.vincentlaforet.com/Gear/

a good 60k worth of gear.

 

[Westside guy]

Wow, I didn't know a photog would (or could) take that much equipment along on an assignment! Is he shooting with several assistants? It wasn't clear from the narration...

 

[brendanryder]

Wow, I didn't know a photog would (or could) take that much equipment along on an assignment! Is he shooting with several assistants? It wasn't clear from the narration...

i have no idea. i just found the pic and then found the gallery. i would say there would be 3 shooters, each with 2 cameras.

i checked EXIF and the picture off all the gear was taken with a nikon

 

[djbahdow01]

i have no idea. i just found the pic and then found the gallery. i would say there would be 3 shooters, each with 2 cameras.

i checked EXIF and the picture off all the gear was taken with a nikon

Nah if you read along he is using 3 cameras for remotes (the reason for all the PWs) and he will have 3 on his person. So most likely it will be just him. Maybe an assistant to help lug everything around but still.

This is the olympics with a variety of events each kind of needs a particular lens. Depending on the venue and lighting.

There are a few other good gear stories on sportsshoter.com some with video. Just check out this months newsletter on the main page.

As for shooting with a Nikon its a D3 so he wasn't messing around.

 

[apearlman]

An amazing display of forethought.

i checked EXIF and the picture off all the gear was taken with a nikon

I guess this means the Nikon stays home.

The narration is just as impressive as the photos. It's just a beautiful example of preparedness and redundancy. The guy is just ready for any situation -- even safety straps to prevent remote rigs from falling. Even we amateurs could learn from how he thinks about his gear for a big event.

I do wish we knew more about his assignment. Does Newsweek just tell him to send amazing pictures, or do they have specific needs, etc.?

 

[Westside guy]

He's also an Aperture user.

 

[peskaa]

Hah, nice stack of kit. Interesting to see he's taking TS-E lenses...

 

[rogersmj]

Good. Lord.

That was fun to look through. I can't imagine getting that amount of gear to and from China. Anyone want to ballpark the sheer $$$ value of what he's got going with him?

Edit: Ok I did some guesstimation on my own (although Canon gear isn't my strong suit)...

About $29k in camera bodies
Maybe...$30k-$40k in lenses? A little more, possibly? I'm not looking all those up.
Nearly $10k in computer equipment (two 17" decked out MBPs with second hard drives for each)
Another $10k-$15k in mounting equipment, CF cards, remotes, cases, and other various items

Wow.

 

[brendanryder]

Good. Lord.

That was fun to look through. I can't imagine getting that amount of gear to and from China. Anyone want to ballpark the sheer $$$ value of what he's got going with him?

5 1D's mk III @ 8000 ea = 40,000
5D =3000
800 5.6 = 12000
600 4 =8000
400 2.8 7000
500 4 =6000
200 2 =5000
300 2.8 =4000
70-200 =2000

so were at 89,000 already.
plus 17 other L and gold series lens at around 1200 a piece. =20000

so 109,000
plus tons of other stuff.(cases, flash, cabels, ballheads, clapms, monopods, tripods, pw)

so probably around 125,000$

dam, thats alot.

 

[rogersmj]

5 1D's mk III @ 8000 ea = 40,000

Not quite...he's got two 1Ds MkIIIs ($8k each) and three 1D MkIIIs ($4k each), plus the 5D = about $31k (apparently my math sucked the first time I went through that...)

 

[Westside guy]

Plus, for fun, add the equipment he used to shoot it. He shot at ranges from 19mm to 70mm; plus he got down to f/2.8 in at least one shot.

D3: $5000 (US)
Nikkor 17-35 f/2.8: $1500
Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8: $1700

So that's another $8200; and it's assuming he has no Nikon gear other than what he used.

 

[Abstract]

Where does he pack the kitchen sink?

 

[rogersmj]

Plus, for fun, add the equipment he used to shoot it. He shot at ranges from 19mm to 70mm; plus he got down to f/2.8 in at least one shot.

D3: $5000 (US)
Nikkor 17-35 f/2.8: $1500
Nikkor 24-70 f/2.8: $1700

So that's another $8200; and it's assuming he has no Nikon gear other than what he used.

That's his "point and shoot"

I have to wonder...with that sheer amount of gear and rigging, etc...wouldn't that make you more of an equipment technician than a photographer? I mean, how do you concentrate on getting good shots when you're trying to manage SIX cameras?

 

[brendanryder]

Not quite...he's got two 1Ds MkIIIs ($8k each) and three 1D MkIIIs ($4k each), plus the 5D = about $31k (apparently my math sucked the first time I went through that...)

ya i thought they were all the same, i didnt realize there was a caption for each photo.

i found this interesting.
"This is my 17" MBP - and the customs paperwork. I removed the CD/DVD bay in the laptop - and installed a second hard drive by OWC - so I have over 200GB of hard drive space in his laptop - on two separate drives - redundancy is always key. Photo ©Vincent Laforet"

 

[Abstract]

That's his "point and shoot"

I have to wonder...with that sheer amount of gear and rigging, etc...wouldn't that make you more of an equipment technician than a photographer? I mean, how do you concentrate on getting good shots when you're trying to manage SIX cameras?

He could be managing a photog team, or is head photog, and just took a photo of the team's stuff. I'm sure it's not all for him. He just carries things that make it possible to shoot what he has to shoot, and that's probably a few 300 mm f/2.8s, several 400 mm lenses, a 600 mm, etc. It's the Olympics. Even if you get a good spot, things may still be far away from you, and you need big glass.

 

[jbernie]

let alone the rack mounted server which appears to have a large number of drives.

Be interesting to see how much it cost to ship all the gear and extra insurance and all that. Obviously relative to the cost of the gear and the amount of income to be earned it is minor, but still, for the average person like us....

 

[bmcgrath]

Wow......!!!

I would like to have some of those lenses for my 30D!

 

[brendanryder]

He could be managing a photog team, or is head photog, and just took a photo of the team's stuff. I'm sure it's not all for him. He just carries things that make it possible to shoot what he has to shoot, and that's probably a few 300 mm f/2.8s, several 400 mm lenses, a 600 mm, etc. It's the Olympics. Even if you get a good spot, things may still be far away from you, and you need big glass.

i belive its all his.
because 3 cameras are "remotes" and will be placed in position and triggered via PW multimax. and then i could see him using 2 cameras( long lens and a short) and then 1 for backup?

if u look at all the pics theres captions telling you about it. i dont think he has any duplicate lenses