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Tape over big "LEICA" name on the front of the SL?


pmendelson

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That is a matter of taste. I was polite enough not to ask why did you want me to elaborate on the nature of Gaffer tape. My kindness clearly was not returned. Shame on you.

 

Some people are on the ignore list for a reason.

 

Your observations in this thread are much appreciated, as is your photography in other threads.

 

Thank you,

 

Matt

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That's a great question. I would suggest to wear high heels. It will elevate you to the level of sight of most people, and then you can follow my advice to a T.

 

I appreciate your suggestion. However, I know from experience that I am very unstable wearing high heels, and the lurching back and forth with each step, while not calling attention to me, may call attention to the red dot...rendering all and sundry as deer in headlights....would platform soles be an acceptable alternative?

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I appreciate your suggestion. However, I know from experience that I am very unstable wearing high heels, and the lurching back and forth with each step, while not calling attention to me, may call attention to the red dot...rendering all and sundry as deer in headlights....would platform soles be an acceptable alternative?

 

platforms are so 1970... how about stabilizing yourself with crutches?

Edited by Irakly Shanidze
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Irakly, I understand that you are now working to some extent, for Leica.  Does your contract call for a certain number of posts per week on the LUF?  I've found your posts by and large rather helpful and thought-provoking, but this thread has made the natives quite restless.  Time to hand out the pills and say goodnight.

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Your reference to Gaffers tape is, to me, impossible to understand. Explain.

 

Gaffer tape is a cloth adhesive tape commonly used in film and theatre. It is like a wider version of "hockey tape" (something common in Minnesota). Gaffer tape leaves very little residue when removed, and is less likely to damage sensitive surfaces.

People often confuse gaffer tape with duct tape, but duct tape leaves a lot of residue behind (it isn't designed to be removed). It will also remove paint from many surfaces (drywall, wood).

So-called "camera tape" is a narrow, less adhesive version of gaffer tape. It was commonly used for marking film magazines (roll#, film type, etc), and for light-proofing cameras, magazines, and film cans. Ironically, it would not work in this application. It's not meant for long-term adhesion.

As I mentioned earlier, what you want for this application is vinyl "electrical tape."

 Irakly also mentioned sailing tape, which sounds similar to what pilots call "600mph tape." Anybody who has seen a Nascar race will recognize the tape they use to fix cars. That's the wrong application for cameras, unless you are actually rigging the camera for flight.

 

As for the film trope that Irakly mentioned, that is gaffer tape. It is gentle on actors, available in several colors to suit the mood of a scene, and ubiquitous on film sets. I doubt that real-life psychopaths are as stylish, considerate, and free-spending as film stylists. They would probably use duct tape.

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Irakly, I understand that you are now working to some extent, for Leica.  Does your contract call for a certain number of posts per week on the LUF?  I've found your posts by and large rather helpful and thought-provoking, but this thread has made the natives quite restless.  Time to hand out the pills and say goodnight.

 

Scott, if I didn't know better, I would find your supposition insulting. No, I do not work for Leica, and no, I do not have to fulfill any quotas. I just find this particular thread ridiculous and despite that I did leave some helpful comments here. Then, when I detected a trolling attempt, my response was in accordance with my usual ways of dealing with trolls.

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Guest NEIL-D-WILLIAMS

I never thought I would be someone who tapes over the name of a camera to make it less noticeable in general or tempting to thieves, but the large "LEICA" name on the front of the SL would seem to attract attention when one might want to shoot with less attention, no? I have a SL arriving tomorrow and I may just add some tape as my first "accessory" to the camera.... I think I would also feel a bit self-conscious about advertising the fact that I am shooting with a Leica with that big name on the front in a way I didn't feel with my Q or my M10.

 

Wondering if any of you did the same...

pathetic

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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I know quite a few professional photo journalists who do tape their canonikons. Notably, one of them used to write "Fuck" with white paint over the tape. Not sure if it helped him, but his work was quite solid, including some compelling stuff from Iraq and Palestine.

 

In the UK it might attract the attention of the constabulary if they wanted to be difficult over things (a photo journalist might actually want to maintain a lower profile if possible) as they could consider such text to be offensive and either make the owner remove it or, if he/she refused, take whatever further action they deemed fit. Really a bad idea here.

 

I've tried taping over conspicuous white lettering for a very different reason than stated - because I shoot through glass at time (aquarium) and there is nothing more irritating that a reversed name reflecting back - but it always comes off eventually and whatever tape I've tried (electrical/duct/gaffer/specialist) has always left residue, which inevitably seems to end up on me. So I rarely bother unless I know its going to impinge on the image.

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In the UK it might attract the attention of the constabulary if they wanted to be difficult over things (a photo journalist might actually want to maintain a lower profile if possible) as they could consider such text to be offensive and either make the owner remove it or, if he/she refused, take whatever further action they deemed fit. Really a bad idea here.

 

In UK probably "Hail The Queen" would be an appropriate substitute for the word in discussion :)

As to shooting through the glass, a polarizing filter helps much better than any type of adhesive tape.

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does it have to?

Paul mentions shooting things in a fish tank. You have to point to where the fish is if you want to take a picture of a fish. Also, looking at oblique angles into fish tanks produces some ungainly distortions. So: yes, at times it has to. 

 

Edit: Also, he reports seeing reflections of his camera in the glass of the fish tank. This says something about the angle at which he is looking into the tank.

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does it have to?

 

Unless you want refractive distortion due to shooting through an air/glass/water interface at an angle. shooting perpendicular to the glass s essential I used to shoot a lot in aquaria wearing black gloves and sometimes using black card with a cut out for the lens. When card wasn't possible I'd black out as much as I could with tape, wear dark clothes and use oblique flash to light inside the tank. Ideally its best to keep the lens as close to the glass as possible but this isn't always viable with some subject matter. So to answer your question - yes!

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Unless you want refractive distortion due to shooting through an air/glass/water interface at an angle. shooting perpendicular to the glass s essential I used to shoot a lot in aquaria wearing black gloves and sometimes using black card with a cut out for the lens. When card wasn't possible I'd black out as much as I could with tape, wear dark clothes and use oblique flash to light inside the tank. Ideally its best to keep the lens as close to the glass as possible but this isn't always viable with some subject matter. So to answer your question - yes!

 

 

The easiest way to do it is to use a larger-then-life lens rubber hood pressed against the glass while shooting.

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I've just come in on this one and I will repeat what I said before on this forum. Frankly, anyone who buys a Leica with a view to taping it up, needs a psychiatrist more than they need a Leica. If you are going to buy a car or a camera or a house or whatever, which is just going to make you be in fear of it being robbed all of the time, then the best thing to do is not to buy the thing or have it insured or to do something logical with it. Putting tape on something you just bought is like saying, 'it is not really what you think it is'. 'Real Leica thieves', if such exist will not be put off by such nonsense. Most of my large collection of vintage Leicas have just an engraving on the top, but then a 'real Leica thief' would know what they are, wouldn't they? I like Pico's suggested tee shirt above as it gets over the so-called 'issue' very quickly and leaves no doubt in the mind of the 'Leica thief'. I doubt if 'Mercedes thieves' have such issues.

 

William

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[...] Frankly, anyone who buys a Leica with a view to taping it up,[...] If you are going to buy a car [...]

 

I do know people have had their autos de-badged, and for good reason. For example VW's super top of the line auto. OI! Who wanted their logo, or to wait for it to be declared another brand?

Edited by pico
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I do know people have had their autos de-badged, and for good reason. For example VW's super top of the line auto. OI! Who wanted their logo, or to wait for it to be declared another brand?

 

You'd never fool a 'Volkswagen thief' !

 

William

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