Editorial

London Undeground Apologizes For DSLR Ban But It’s Still Unclear

How could London Underground mess up their sign so? No DSLR was allowed in their Aldwych Underground Station “due to their combination of high-quality sensor and high resolution” — then they backtracked and said it was for safety, since heavy cameras and tripods could pose a safety hazard as visitors negotiated spiral staircase with over 160 steps; and again now a third time saying that excessive photography (apparently people using DSLRs tend to take excessive pictures) would cause delays because people were held up by visitors taking pictures. So, which one of the three reasons is it? And if any one of those was deemed valid, why remove the ban now?

Let’s examine the 3 reasons given one by one.

1. Compact mirrorless cameras now take high quality and high resolution pictures, so banning DSLRs won’t help one bit.
2. Put a sign that says no one is supposed to take pictures on the staircase. No one is stupid enough to anyway.
3. I believe advanced photographers take less pictures than happy go-lucky snapshooters.

The reasons do not hold water and London Underground has still not come out and tell us the real reason for the original ban. Probably some company wanted to gain exclusive rights to take and sell pictures and postcards there. A perfectly good reason and one that every photographer would accept. But, please no bull.

via pdn