DIY Photography

Hacking Photography - one Picture at a time

  • News
  • Inspiration
  • Reviews
  • Tutorials
  • DIY
  • Gear
Search

Submit A Story

Unleash your inner stalker with the help of a $60k zoom lens

Jun 2, 2015 by Allen Mowery 2 Comments

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

There’s a little bit of creepy in all of us.  Don’t take my word for it, it’s practically scientific fact.  Stop it!  I’m not judging you…it’s perfectly normal.  But, if you have an extra $60k sitting around looking for a home, you can take your creepy to a whole, new level!

Don’t believe me?  YouTuber SirJonnyCargo shows how he took a Fujinon XA55 Digipower lens designed for video set work, made a few modifications, and attached it to a Panasonic Lumix GH4.  With the crop factor and a 2x teleconverter added, he took the effective focal range of the lens from a measly 9.5-525mm (::scoffs::) to a whopping 44-2,415mm full-frame equivalent!  That’s some serious reach, AT&T.

The capabilities of this rig are phenomenal, allowing SirJonny to easily close a gap as wide as miles!

 

 

fujinon-super-zoom-07

fujinon-super-zoom-06

Where things could get messy…

Photography laws vary from country to country, and since I’m not an international legal expert, I won’t attempt to undertake discussing them all.  However, having gone to United States Law School of Google, I want to draw your attention to how this could land you in some trouble.

A setup like this not only breaks down barriers, it obliterates the crap out of them.  As a photographer, you don’t have to be in the middle of the action to capture the true feeling of it, you can simply park your butt on the sidelines a mile away and still get a good vantage point.  In the US, photography in public is legal.  Photography of people in public is perfectly legal.  Publishing images for non-commercial purposes of anyone photographed in public is legal.  The law assumes that when people are in public (and “public” can be very liberally interpreted), they have automatically resigned their expectation of privacy (with a few, minor exceptions).  For goodness’ sake, it’s only logical that if you wanted to stay hidden you wouldn’t make yourself visible.  It’s great, and I love it!

But, technology like this can invade anyone’s privacy anywhere…which, admit it, has a segment of you readers wetting your pants right now.  Private homes, public facilities, ATM machines…all become more easily-accessible to the man with a $60k lens.  And, while you may not be held criminally liable for images you capture or share that stretch beyond the normal boundaries, you could likely find yourself in civil court arguing as to why you had a right to creep on your neighbor’s cousin who was visiting them for the weekend.

Then again, we’ve seen before where courts have upheld a photographer’s decision to invade the privacy of others, so help yourself.  Your lack of proper decision-making could be my next post…

[via Gizmodo | Images via video screen grab]

FIND THIS INTERESTING? SHARE IT WITH YOUR FRIENDS!

  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Flipboard
  • WhatsApp

Related posts:

Sony finally unleash full frame 50mm f/1.4 lens and 70-200mm f/2.8 pricing This experiment could help you cope with your inner critic on a photo shoot Hasselblad unleash new A6D 100MP medium format aerial camera DJI’s new Mavic 2 Pro & Zoom drones come with 1″ Hasselblad camera and 24-48mm zoom lens

Filed Under: Gear Tagged With: Camera Gear, fujinon, right to privacy, zoom

About Allen Mowery

Allen Mowery is a commercial and editorial photographer, pseudo-philosopher, and wannabe documentarian killing time amidst the rolling hills of Central Pennsylvania. When not shooting client work or chasing overgrown wildlife from his yard, he loves to capture the stories of the people and culture around him.

« Legoizer Turns Your Photographs Into A Lego Mural And Tells You How To Build It
‘The Drone’ is a Parody Trailer That Will Make You Lock Up Your Drone and Throw Away the Key »

Submit A Story

Get our FREE Lighting Book

DIYP lighting book cover

* download requires newsletter signup
DIYPhotography

Recent Comments

Free Resources

Advanced lighting book

Recent Posts

  • Insta360’s new teaser says they’re entering the gimbal market
  • Users report blurry photos from Samsung Galaxy S23/S23+ cameras
  • Whale with severe scoliosis captured by drone video
  • Photographer builds 11-foot electronic waste skull to show Bitcoin’s impact on climate change
  • Fuji’x April X Summit reported to be cancelled

Alex Baker is a portrait and lifestyle driven photographer based in Valencia, Spain. She works on a range of projects from commercial to fine art and has had work featured in publications such as The Daily Mail, Conde Nast Traveller and El Mundo, and has exhibited work across Europe

Dave Williams is an accomplished travel photographer, writer, and best-selling author from the UK. He is also a photography educator and published Aurora expert. Dave has traveled extensively in recent years, capturing stunning images from around the world in a modified van. His work has been featured in various publications and he has worked with notable brands such as Skoda, EE, Boeing, Huawei, Microsoft, BMW, Conde Nast, Electronic Arts, Discovery, BBC, The Guardian, ESPN, NBC, and many others.

John Aldred is a photographer with over 20 years of experience in the portrait and commercial worlds. He is based in Scotland and has been an early adopter - and occasional beta tester - of almost every digital imaging technology in that time. As well as his creative visual work, John uses 3D printing, electronics and programming to create his own photography and filmmaking tools and consults for a number of brands across the industry.

Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.

Copyright © DIYPhotography 2006 - 2023 | About | Contact | Advertise | Write for DIYP | Full Disclosure | Privacy Policy