Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: jduncan on November 23, 2010, 02:55:11 pm
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http://thenextweb.com/me/2010/11/23/kuwait-dslr-camera-ban-now-in-effect/
I hope some clarifications will solve the issue. Also banning just the DSLR is a typical politician mentality. It remains me of the USA ban on encryption technology. It presupposes that people from other countries don't understand basic math and that the "bad boys" (the ones violating the laws to begin with) will obey that particular law. In this case you can do far more "evil" with a camera phone that you can do with a big camera. Just picture a pervert trying to take an abusive picture with a Hasselblad. It don't make any sense. As I say, maybe, it's bad journalism and the law does make sense. But as stated on the english sources it looks arbitrary.
Here are other links:
http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzAwMTg4ODg1
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/news/Kuwait_photographers_face_DSLR_camera_ban_news_303839.html
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http://thenextweb.com/me/2010/11/23/kuwait-dslr-camera-ban-now-in-effect/
I hope some clarifications will solve the issue. Also banning just the DSLR is a typical politician mentality.
Does that mean that pseudo SLRs and View Cameras are permitted? or would the authorities not know the difference?
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that might mean that the waiting list for the Leica M9 gets a bit longer...
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that might mean that the waiting list for the Leica M9 gets a bit longer...
GF1, PEN and NEX might be cheaper alternatives to avoid the legislation ;)
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More silliness from a part of the world that majors in daftness. Next, Apple making an iPhone burqa for the Saudi market ... You heard it here first, folks!
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GF1, PEN and NEX might be cheaper alternatives to avoid the legislation ;)
Yes, until they find that those cameras cameras are called EVIL cameras, then they get stoned…
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Yes, until they find that those cameras cameras are called EVIL cameras, then they get stoned…
Yeah jokes apart is quite unsettling. If we add this to the problems in the USA (not only in terms of photo taking but also in terms of the modification to the orphans works law) we are moving to a very challenging environment for photographers and photo aficionados.
More and more countries are moving in a direction that looks quite totalitarian according to the parameters of my generation. I never witness a totalitarian system, nor a war (I am from costa rica). But I am old enough for my parents to be children of the late 40s so they were very close to one. Same runs for repressive regimes. Some people forget that they start with silly things, but they never stop.
Between the empire of the corporations (you cant picture a bear, so you don't hurt the profits of the people that receive help from the government that get its money from you), the populist totalitarian leftish regimes, the religious totalitarians and the like we are moving in a direction I don't like.
Even so, we see the roots of a people movement that may act as counterbalance. A lot of good news in terms of women rights. We see a male activism that is much needed and it tarting to take form (not to stop women rights but to affirm men and boys value as humans). The next decade could be full of light.
We don't know how it will end up. But we know that it will be full of struggle.
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I really don't understand why anyone would get bent out of shape about what middle-eastern countries do. Honestly, what does anyone expect from them except repression and more repression?
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They worry because, like the Blackberry email privacy issue, once the idea is established it is easier to spread.
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I really don't understand why anyone would get bent out of shape about what middle-eastern countries do. Honestly, what does anyone expect from them except repression and more repression?
I agree with Lost, plus Have you seen pictures of Kuwait?
http://www.wayfaring.info/wp-content/uploads/2007/04/kuwait-towers-1.jpg
http://www.weltrekordreise.ch/bild/sw60434kuwait.jpg
Do you believe that we are missing something?
Also, there are actual people living in Kuwait, including people that buy DSLR that are now blocked from using it outdoors. I have the good fortune of been born in a little country. I have easy time placing myself on the shoes of others. Is easy for me not to look down on other people or countries. I wrote about other problems that photographers are facing on first world countries in anticipation to reaction: "this will never happened here they are barbarians you know".
It's not just Kuwait. The problem is the lack of rational thinking by some powerful elites. The use of scare techniques to persuade the people to accept the lose of fundamental rights. That's the point. Kuwait is an other case more.
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The reports were false; DSLRs have not been banned in Kuwait.
(All of the reports were based on a single, unsubstantiated article in the Kuwait Times, which has since issued a retraction (http://www.kuwaittimes.net/read_news.php?newsid=MzAwMTg4ODg1).)
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I agree with Lost, plus Have you seen pictures of Kuwait?
It's all very stupid.
We have some well-viewed photographs of the interior of Singapore airport on Flickr - usually found by google search. Of course, the pictures were taken with a cheap P&S, so obviously they are nothing to worry about. But there is no way that we could have taken these (post 911) pictures with an SLR.
If governments really cared about security and photography they should ban travel zooms. We have a tiny Panasonic pocket camera with stabilised 25-300mm effective zoom range. Much better terrorist tool, and unlike when using my SLR, I have never been hassled when taking pictures with a P&S.
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It's all very stupid.
We have some well-viewed photographs of the interior of Singapore airport on Flickr - usually found by google search. Of course, the pictures were taken with a cheap P&S, so obviously they are nothing to worry about. But there is no way that we could have taken these (post 911) pictures with an SLR.
If governments really cared about security and photography they should ban travel zooms. We have a tiny Panasonic pocket camera with stabilised 25-300mm effective zoom range. Much better terrorist tool, and unlike when using my SLR, I have never been hassled when taking pictures with a P&S.
(ok i misunderstood this reply initially )
The good news it that is was a News Paper error. :)