Afghanistan - Combat Cameras

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Arkady

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Rob
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My D3 bodies after nearly five months in theatre - in my hands since mid-September (the previous user was mostly confined to Camp doing Group-Photos, VIP visits and handshakes - grip 'n' grins).

Now the rains have started in earnest these are a lot less dusty than they would have been after a 48-hour job...
Following the USMC Nowzad tasking, they looked like they'd been hewn from sandstone...lol

Small bit of gaffer-tape on lower-left of the right-hand body is covering the hole left by a missing screw... I have to check all screws weekly as the vibrations caused by vehicle and helicopter travel sometimes defeat the thread-loc used by Nikon...
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With rubber self-amalgamating tape added as additional bump-protection and covered with cloth-tape. Helps retian the lens-hoods as well, which can easily get knocked off when climbing in and out of vehicles as my hands are usually full with rifle, packs and other crap...
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With Sig-Sauer P226 9mm Pistol, which I've now aquired - I carry 200 rounds for this instead of the usual 30.
Note 'old' Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 non-VR lens: a replacement for damaged item sent back to Nikon in mid-September. I actually like this lens a lot...
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Showing general wear-and-tear to black paint...
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I bet Nikon would be happy to use those pics!
Hope you're in better state than they are
 
I'll take 'em of your hands if you don't want them............


You can keep the water pistol though.
 
Tools of the trade ;)

Post these pics in the for sale section, ask for top prices and add the description 'slight wear'. :LOL:
 
The union Jack on the Lens hood is class too :), hope your keeping well out there mate
 
Knowing how the equipment comes back from theare those have performed well. The environment out there is hostile for most bits of kit without the use you describe. In the area I work, equipment life is restricted to a few hours on helicopters due to the vibration.

Hope your keeping well the camera gear can always be replaced.
 
Brilliant! Thats real 'battle scars', lol!

Linky to any pics?

EDIT - just looking at your gallery!
 
LOL - nice to see my D3 straps in action!
 
Very reminiscent of Don McCullin's Nikon F3's (one of his eventually stopped an AK47 bullet).
 
The D3 is a tool when in professional hands, like a saw to a carpenter it enables him to get his work done and the better the tool the better the job.
My mate went to cover the Dubai open golf tournament the other week, and he was appalled by the way Getty togs treat their gear. They just throw it on the floor he said.
I have to say that my gear is treated reasonably well, but then again I am no Pro Tog.
 
Doesn't look too bad condition to me, the Sig looks like its taken as much abuse :D
 
You really should be talking to Nikon Rob!

That's a fantastic advertising opportunity for them especially with the USMC pics you posted. They could easily supply you with new kit on a regular basis in return. One of the most challenging test beds!
 
Battle scarred cameras appeal ro me more than jewellery cameras, and having a weapon close by all the time shows the danger you guys face 24/7.........stay safe Rob
 
OK for those unfamiliar with me and my occasional Uber-Rants:

I'm a British Army Photographer - previously incarnated as an Infantry soldier with the Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment (and before amalgamation with the Royal Hampsters, the Queen's Regiment).
I work with 11 Light Brigade at Task Force Helmand HQ in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan and I'm serving on a 6 month deployment here.
Back to the UK in April, then posted back to lovely Tchermany...

All equipment is supplied by the Army and is sourced through the Major Accounts Division at Calumet UK, not direct from Nikon, though we have a lot of input to their R&D programme for obvious reasons...

I'm pretty lucky in that we get issued the same cameras I'd choose if I were to purchase my own kit for this job.

As an Army soldier first and foremost, I carry a 9mm Sig-Sauer P226 Pistol and 5.56mm SA80-A2 rifle with as much ammunition as I can comfortably carry - notwithsanding my occasional light-hearted bleats about it being my job to only take photos, we sometimes have to get stuck in - only last friday while with the USMC, I sent 20 rounds 'down-range' against two insurgents firing at us near Nowzad. The USMC togger next to me did likewise and was utterly delighted - they get a medal for doing so - the equivalent of the US Army's Combat Infantryman's Badge - the most coveted badge for the discerning soldier...
I got a nice cup of tea from the Boss...which was the better award IMO...lol

Dougie - McCullin's Nikon was an old Nikon F - my mate Stu McKenzie just filmed an interview with Don for the Imperial War Museum...in it he digs that camera out of a box and the AK round is still lodged next to the pentaprism...Don then goes on to demontrate that the shutter and wind-on still works! Awesome stuff...
 
Love it. Makes me realise what a total nancy I am with my gear though. I've always been a bit anally retentive about my stuff (cameras or otherwise), especially when it's new. My other half got me a mountain bike for Christmas a few years back now, and on its first outing she made me get it dirty by forcing me into a muddy puddle, and I had a strop about it. Sad. :)
 
Something wonderful about seeing expensive equipment used in a "robust" way. What happens with the equipment when it reaches the end of its service life? Sent back to Nikon for examination or "bequeathed"". Lovely pic of the osprey with the men in the foreground on your Flickr.
 
velonoir said:
Something wonderful about seeing expensive equipment used in a "robust" way. What happens with the equipment when it reaches the end of its service life? Sent back to Nikon for examination or "bequeathed"". Lovely pic of the osprey with the men in the foreground on your Flickr.
Click to expand...

It all goes back to Calumet...though we keep some of it back for spares - there are a few D2x bodies in the stores at HQ Land and elsewhere for non-Front-Line issue.
That 70-200 lens I now have is the older one and was sent out at short notice when the new 70-200 got trashed going over a compound wall back in October.

Apparently this is the first 'proper' Operational outing for the MV-22, though a couple were used briefly in Iraq, but not as extensively as over here due to payload restrictions...here they're being used primarily in an SF role...
 
Forget the Sig-Sauer P226 Pistol- return fire with your D3 on continuous high drive mode! Plenty of 'rounds' from the dual CFs :D

Good to see equipment knocked about and still working...
 
Arkady said:
OK for those unfamiliar with me and my occasional Uber-Rants:etc





Dougie - McCullin's Nikon was an old Nikon F - my mate Stu McKenzie just filmed an interview with Don for the Imperial War Museum...in it he digs that camera out of a box and the AK round is still lodged next to the pentaprism...Don then goes on to demontrate that the shutter and wind-on still works! Awesome stuff...
Click to expand...

Of course, Rob. F3 would not be arround when Don was in Nam.
Yes, seen a pic of that camera. Seem to recall that the bullet struck between the rewind crank and the prism. Probably brass body. I was 90% sure I read that the cam still worked. I think the cam saved his life.
 
I think that's what's called "patina", Rob :naughty: There are some secondhand camera dealers that would describe that sort of condition as EXC to EXC+ too :LOL:
 
Rob that's a cracking HCR Group shot on your Flickr with the Osprey in the background. Was that planned or just luck?

Keep safe out there mate.

Paul
 
Brilliant, and hats off to you with your multi-tasking!

It does go to really prove a point though, in out household, the alarm bells used to go off and panic ensued when our (nearly) 2 y.o. went within 10 feet of the Mrs' new PnS.

Edited to add:

Redpaul said:
Rob that's a cracking HCR Group shot on your Flickr with the Osprey in the background.
Click to expand...

I had to double take as I wasn't aware of the native birds of prey in the middle east!
 
Excellent, Just goes to show how this "Pro" gear can really handle in real situations of true toughness.

As for being a Army Tog, I here you have the lucky side of the Tog deal as many will be doing the great and meets as you mentioned earlier?
Although saying "Lucky" is a bit of a wrong word with you being shot at!
 
gazedd said:
Excellent, Just goes to show how this "Pro" gear can really handle in real situations of true toughness.

As for being a Army Tog, I here you have the lucky side of the Tog deal as many will be doing the great and meets as you mentioned earlier?
Although saying "Lucky" is a bit of a wrong word with you being shot at!
Click to expand...

Lucky is right - I'm having far too much fun here...lol

Giggling like schoolkids as we blew up a bunch of compounds last week - the guys I was with went through about 600lbs of C4 Plastic Explosive...

And watching the £88,000 Javelin missile take out a bunch of Insurgents during the contact the day before yesterday was hilarious - and surreal - we drank tea and cheered as the building blew to bits and buried their remains under the rubble...
 
Couldn't really see that much, plus they were hammering away at the outer walls with a machine-gun...I know Nikons are tough, but I prefer to tell War Stories rather than being one...
 
Just thinking about you - wondered how you were getting on out there. Now I know.
Keep safe mate.
 
Arkady said:
Lucky is right - I'm having far too much fun here...lol

Giggling like schoolkids as we blew up a bunch of compounds last week - the guys I was with went through about 600lbs of C4 Plastic Explosive...

And watching the £88,000 Javelin missile take out a bunch of Insurgents during the contact the day before yesterday was hilarious - and surreal - we drank tea and cheered as the building blew to bits and buried their remains under the rubble...
Click to expand...

:clap: (y)
 
This an absolutely great insight into your work. I always wondered what you got along with whilst over there but I thougt it best not to ask since I'm sure you'd have better things to do. Thanks for showing us all since we know you'r doing an important job for us all. Keep up the great shots and stay safe. (Good thinking staying behind that wall. I doubt 11fps is as deadly as a few machine gun rounds).

Tom N.

EDIT: Is the Sig-Sauer on charge in that picture? =P
And also there could be some kind of sponsorship deal. The British Army. Powered by Nikon. Football teams do it, why not the army? Could get some fashionable socks with British Gas on them and allsorts. The possibilities be endless.
 
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