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| Sixty NPS staff members from 13 countries are gathered to help photographers at this year’s Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. |
The PyeongChang Winter Olympics offers a chance for athletes to shine on the world’s most prestigious stage, but it’s equally as important an event for the hundreds of professional photographers covering the proceedings. In order to capture the most critical sporting moments, they need everything – camera position, angle and timing – to come together at once. This is no place for gear trouble, and that’s where Nikon Professional Services (NPS) comes in.
NPS can be found at most major worldwide sporting events, including the Olympics, as well as international entertainment fixtures such as film and music festivals. NPS also provides camera support services at smaller domestic events like national sporting championships.
There will be 60 NPS staff members from 13 countries on hand, offering support in around 10 languages.
As preparations gear up for this year’s PyeongChang Winter Olympics in South Korea, we spoke to a senior NPS technician and veteran of 15 Olympic Games about what’s involved.
At the PyeongChang Olympics, there will be 60 NPS staff members from 13 countries on hand, offering support in around 10 languages. Planning for the event started two years ago, and as well as D5 and D850 bodies the NPS inventory will include a range of specialized prime and zoom lenses. The exact figure is confidential, but the total value of all the gear is equivalent to ‘several hundred luxury cars’.
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Located in the main press center, the NPS depot will serve all press photographers, regardless of NPS membership. Services offered will include camera check-ups, cleaning and repairs – as well as technical advice and loaner equipment.
Nikon’s professional DSLRs can keep shooting well below freezing, but the extreme temperature difference between inside and outside shooting environments can still present challenges. Among the services available to photographers will be solving a problem unique to shooting in winter – condensation buildup inside lenses.
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| It may look like a studio light at first glance, but it’s actually a Robotic POD ? an MRMC robotic motion control rig incorporating an AF-S NIKKOR 200-500mm f/5.6E ED VR lens and D5 combination. |
The PyeongChang depot is also newly equipped to offer support for robotic remote shooting systems made by Mark Roberts Motion Control (MRMC), a British company that’s now part of the Nikon group.
Major international events like the Olympics are the front lines of technological development
Major international events like the Olympics are the front lines of technological development, and several press agencies will be using MRMC’s Robotic POD (pictured above) at the Winter Games. The latest remote head, it incorporates a D5 body and boasts a less complicated system than conventional models to allow for easier control. With accurate zooming, focusing and rotating, the Robotic POD enables remote shooting in a much wider range of scenarios.
But the depot isn’t just there to help when a photographer has gear trouble – NPS hopes it will serve as an ‘oasis’ amid the high-pressure environment of the games, providing a valuable opportunity for photographers and technicians to talk and share ideas.
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Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)