"Tight schedule" forced ban on DSLRs, says London Transport Museum [update]
A sign posted outside of the Aldwich Station in London. Image © Tim Allen / www.timallenphoto.co.uk.
A ban on digital SLRs at Aldwych Underground Station was imposed after London Transport Museum feared that the use of professional equipment "could delay the tours" of the station
Author: Olivier Laurent
06 Dec 2011 Tags: Street rights
Last week-end, photographer Tim Allen noticed a sign outside London's Aldwych Underground station banning the use of digital SLRs in the abandoned station. The sign reads: "Due to their combination of high-quality sensor and high resolution, digital SLR cameras are unfortunately not permitted inside the station".
Speaking to BJP, Wendy Neville, a spokeswoman for the London Transport Museum, which administers the station, explains the ban: "Terms and conditions for the recent sale of tickets to visit Aldwych Underground station clearly stated that digital SLR cameras were not permitted, as these are classed as professional equipment."
"There was not a ban on taking photos during tours," she adds. "However, there were restrictions on professional cameras and tripods because we were concerned that people using them could delay the tours for others, as it was a very tight schedule with more than 2500 visitors going up and down a spiral staircase of about 160 steps to get to and from the platforms."
She adds: "We wanted to make the tours as enjoyable and safe as we could for everyone. With the huge public interest in seeing the disused Tube station it was better to have the event with this restriction rather than no visit at all. We apologise to visitors who wanted to use this kind of camera during tours to the stations."
Asked to explain how professional DSLRs, as opposed to other photographic equipment, could delay the tours, Neville says that "some DSLRs are big," and that the London Transport Museum didn't want to risk the safety of the majority of people for a "minority."
She adds: "The important thing to take from this is that we were able to make that event happen. A lot of people volunteered their time."
However, the London Transport Museum has yet to explain why its sign blamed the high-quality sensor and high resolution of DSLRs for the ban, while its most recent statement claimed the cameras were banned for safety reasons.
Comments
After being harassed myself by a rail worker who deemed my DSLR camera, but not a nearby family's compact camera, as forbidden by a rail bylaw, "in case I was a terrorist", I can sympathise with Tim Allen's bemusement!
Their argument doesn't add up to me. Surely they should restrict the use of tripods and not DSLR's, if they are worried about people being slowed down on their tours?
What excatly does the Sensor Specs or the Resolution have to do with anyhting ..As others have commented Tripods I can understand being banned ( although I doubt many would use them anyway ) but DSLR's ...Total nonsense.
Presumably it was an attempt to protect image rights down there. All the issues could just as well apply to a compact camera - using a tripod, taking too long over a tour. Isn't just a poorly-worded attempt to say we don't want anyone profiting from pictures taken down there?
Okay, then someone should shoot with a Nikon F100 or F5 on film. Or maybe a 4x5 Graphic.
Making it up as they go along...
This kind of nonsense show with incredible clarity that whoever responded to this question was making it up as they went along. anyone with half a brain would know that the easy way through this would have been to say "no tripods".
No - the real reason is that they still don't "get" what terrorism reconnaissance actually means. If I wanted to do such a thing (for the record, I don't) then I would take a mobile phone with me. The resolution is sufficient for purpose - a compact camera would give even better results for that purpose.
Shame on LUL, taking the LUL's out of photography once more...
So they'd be fine with me setting my lumix compact zoom up on a tripod or maybe even gorilla podding it to various things on the tour? Cool.
That's it, I'm getting out the Sinar 5X4!!
Who really cares to be honest! Just another example of daftness getting dafter.
I am afraid this just demonstrates most non-photographers' total ignorance of digital technology. With some compacts way ahead of some DSLRs on resolution why DSLRs? I love the idea of large format too, let's dig out some "proper" cameras and do a wet collodion session on a real full frame camera :-)
I don't think this is about terrorism reconnaissance or flow of visitors through the station. It's to encourage peopel to purchase photo merchandise as a momento rather then being able to take your own.
That wouldn't cause delays like one of those 'big' DSLRs, would it? In those lighting conditions an exposure would only take, oh, several minutes. But it wouldn't be one of those nasty, smelly DSLRs, so that's OK.
Such pathetic excuses and utter tosh. As someone already said, they're just looking to the possible profits from photographs and they don't want anyone else getting a slice, as usual.
Banning DSLR because its classified as "Professional Equipment" is outragious!!!
So if i bring an classic 35mm SLR it would be fine then since its not digital and not professional equipment? plus it doesnt have a sensor :/
All professional photographers should flash mob the station with plate cameras and huge flashguns and see how they deal with that! Flashes, tripods, monster cameras - what fun!
I see that the Barclaycard Wireless Festival are banning lenses longer than 6 inches. Unfortunately there's no direct link visit http://www.wirelessfestival.co.uk/2011/info/ and click the 'cameras' item in the right hand menu where it says...
"All cameras will be permitted, though you will not be able to take in a professional camera e.g. SLR camera with interchangeable lenses over 6 inches long.
Video cameras are not permitted on site."
So will everyone have their mobiles confiscated if they do video too?
To Emma Campbell, there is no railway bylaw preventing photography at stations with a DSLR. Ask for a copy of the bylaws at your local station, and next time it happens, contact the train operator concerned (or Network Rail), and the trade press, such as Railway Magazine.
As for Underground's excuse, it's flimsy and pathetic, if its the best they can come up with. High end DSLRs have better sensors, can use higher ISOs, so dont need long exposures on a tripod.
I am wondering if the fact that the SAS occasionally train there has something to do with it.
As for this Barclays Festival, someone better tell them that DLSRs can also take video......
What simple people we have in authority !
About as insane as the recent silliness at Hyde Park Winter display. What about my Leica? It can whip the pants off of a lot of DSLRs. If you're going to ban one camera, ban all. Usually it's the moms with cameras while navigating prams that threaten my safety, not photographers.
If they mean "we want to protect our right to be sole supplier of good quality images" why not just say so? Otherwise the sign and the statement issued are at odds making the authors of both look like even bigger morons than we'd otherwise assume.
They may well be that dumb, I'm pretty sure most of the rest of us aren't.
Um, it takes longer to get a picture on a compact, because they have shutter lag, whereas my DSLR does not....
I was out for a short walk yesteray and chose my Compact ( Lumix ) in preference to one of my DSLR's, over a three hour period I clocked up 906 images all high quality and virtually the same resolution as my DSLR. Banning tripods would be understandable, but corporporate ignorance and bigotry overshadow common sense, what does the guy do with a film camera, suppose I would be OK with my two GX680 III's.
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