SLR allowed at Thomond?

MrAbc

Hi all,
I've been looking around the rugby sites and don't see official info on permission for using cameras... practical info would be better anyway...)

Basic story: I was lucky enough to get pair of tickets for the Munster game at Thomond on Sat and I'm wondering if there would be any difficulty in bringing an SLR into the match; or might only large lenses be stopped; or is it just not an issue at all??

Naturally digicams are no problem, I guess, judging by common usage... but would anything bigger raise concerns for the entrance security bods? [assuming they even look, of course]


I'd bring a digicam in any case... but I'd be interested in supplementing it with a few shots from 35mm --- I could just bring a compact old SLR + 24mm lens [small blip on anyone's radar] or then [my iffy alternative?] modern slr + 80-320mm lens (or a 135mm maybe).

[ I do figure an older slr would be less of a loss should anything go amiss in the rain or crowd, shall we say ;-) ]


I'd be grateful of any advice on the permissions or a few recommended gear options in general, for that matter. NB: I'll just be in the terrace area.


Cheers.

Fajitas!

Leinsterman brings his kit in the whole time, I don't think theres a problem!

peckerhead

I've used mine without any hassles. I've even seen punters with digicams on tripods — although I wouldn't recommend trying to use a tripod on the terraces this Saturday!

MrAbc

Yay! That's sounding good, guys.

[ LOL@tripod on terraces - that'd be one way to get on the TV coverage...
...I'd be the guy skewered on his camera during the (hoped-for!) celebrations ]

I'm thinking, then, I might bring the digicam and the slr with both 24mm + 135mm and skip the zooms.
Maybe a 2x TeleConverter for fun(& alternative to digicam's 35-135 range)
[->2x24mm instead of bringing 50mm; 2x135mm instead of the long zoom]

A bit of flexibility without killing myself with weight?

Pshan

MrAbc wrote:

Hi all,
I've been looking around the rugby sites and don't see official info on permission for using cameras... practical info would be better anyway...)

Basic story: I was lucky enough to get pair of tickets for the Munster game at Thomond on Sat and I'm wondering if there would be any difficulty in bringing an SLR into the match; or might only large lenses be stopped; or is it just not an issue at all??

Naturally digicams are no problem, I guess, judging by common usage... but would anything bigger raise concerns for the entrance security bods? [assuming they even look, of course]


I'd bring a digicam in any case... but I'd be interested in supplementing it with a few shots from 35mm --- I could just bring a compact old SLR + 24mm lens [small blip on anyone's radar] or then [my iffy alternative?] modern slr + 80-320mm lens (or a 135mm maybe).

[ I do figure an older slr would be less of a loss should anything go amiss in the rain or crowd, shall we say ;-) ]


I'd be grateful of any advice on the permissions or a few recommended gear options in general, for that matter. NB: I'll just be in the terrace area.


Cheers.

Divided loyalties here:
- But peeved that someone can get a ticket so easily who has never been to Thomond Park
- Seems more interested in taking snaps and video clips than watching and supporting Munster (this is a huge game for them and they need every ounce of support)
- Love to see pictures taken at games by non-press photographers (please post some here)
- As mentioned above don't dream of taking a tripod (could try a monopod) to the terraces.
- East Tce or behind either goal best place for photographs (best place on the East tce are the between the 22s and the end lines - you should get some lineouts, scrums, Munster Tries (hopefully) and maybe some penalty shots.
- don't bring too much equipment - you'll spend too much time minding it - unless you have a spare ticket and I'll take it off you hands and mind some of that very expensive equipment for you.

Whatever you do enjoy the game.

Fenster

Bring a wide-angle if you have it, I'm sure you'd get fantastic shots of the crowd, which is the thing that usually catches my interest.

snickerpuss

I brought my SLR to landsdowne before, nobody minded, they didn't even check my bag.
Its probably same at Thomond.

MrAbc

Many thanks for the photo advice guys - I'm looking forward to a great weekend!

Hopefully, if I manage (aided by some luck, given maybe tricky lighting for an evening match) to capture any images worthy of being called photographs I'll try to post here afterwards.

Let's hope Munster can keep the tigers quiet



[PS: pshan... kindly stick to the photographic side of things, please, as I find it disheartening to have my support for Munster questioned, on top of having my interest in getting a few nice images, by which to remember a really special event, disparaged in such an off-hand manner. Why do you think I'm going to the trouble of trying to bring a better camera! You know nothing of my financial circumstances or my long-standing desire to go to a game. I find it disappointing to have to justify myself, but your comments compel me. I had better leave it at that.
Thanks for your other thoughts anyway.]

phog

Well how did you get on - get any decent pictures? The weather was terrible for most of the match but did you capture anything worthwhile?

MrAbc

Yeah, the weather was atrocious at times and unfortunately the match result didn't end up any better :-(

On the photo front, between the bad weather spells and the whole lot of us in the crowd heaving with the Munster struggle, I only came away with a handful of snaps from the digicam and a few quick shots with the 135mm lens. [and lucky I fitted that to the camera body before going in!]

I've dropped off the roll for processing and I'll put together a post, as soon as it's back, of the few snaps and hopefully something from the couple of film shots -- along with a few words on the experience.

Until then.