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Oh dear looks like someone forgot there pills this morning..
$12000 for an hours worth of fun with a claw hammer
http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/latham-swings-at-snapper-report/2006/01/20/1137553734932.html

It musta been one of them there fancy cameras

Holy crap . While he's obviously pissed at having his photo taken the idea of him systematically destroying the camera seems to say the guy may get on well with Damir Dokic .

whatever the sum of money which he's going to pay or to compensate the photographer and his gears, all come out from my and your pay packets.
Don't worry! let him play and we pay

I just laugh at the fact that he took to it with a claw hammer destroying it, yet he returned the pieces including the memory card & the photo's were intact.

Obviously he hasn't come to terms with the digital era yet.

Maybe why he spent so long smashing it up. He was looking for the film .

If you want a real giggle have a look at Warren's cartoon in the Daily Telegraph, the 'punch' line is; In his retirement, Mark whiled away the hours combining his passion for panel beating and photography... It shows a carricature of ML with a sledgehammer raised above his head next to a photo of a D70 camera.

Bob.

.

I find it incomprehensible that a man who offered himself to the Australian public as the alternative Prime Minister would be so:

1. Rage filled that he deliberately stole and later violently destroyed someone elses property.

2. Abused both physically and verbally a person who clearly identified himself as a press photographer.

3. Is so technically inept that he couldn't even work out how to destroy the images. Remember if this nutter had been elected, he would have been responsible for the selection of high tech equipment such a the Air Forces' next fighter and the new Navy destroyers...

Maybe we should put him in touch with Poon. He might be able do a better deal on a Canon 1Ds Mk II

And we pay him $75,000 a year out of the public purse

It was a D2x he destroyed.

what a bastard!

Get a crappy D2x and approaching him do the same thing and get a full new replacement set of gear still our money.

Michael wrote:It was a D2x he destroyed.

what a bastard!

Sorry, I just assumed it was a Canon as that is what the bulk of PJs use (at least for sport).

Birddog114 wrote:Get a crappy D2x and approaching him do the same thing and get a full new replacement set of gear still our money.

Wash your mouth out Birdy - there is no such thing as a crappy D2X.

johndec wrote:

Michael wrote:It was a D2x he destroyed.

what a bastard!

Sorry, I just assumed it was a Canon as that is what the bulk of PJs use (at least for sport).

I just saw the segment on ten news.

they didnt show the exact camera but they showed an identicle one which was a d2x and a 80 - 400 vr

johndec wrote:

Birddog114 wrote:Get a crappy D2x and approaching him do the same thing and get a full new replacement set of gear still our money.

Wash your mouth out Birdy - there is no such thing as a crappy D2X.

Or a "plastic toy D200"

Birddog114 wrote:
Or a "plastic toy D200"

I wouldn't know about that

Michael wrote:
I just saw the segment on ten news.

they didnt show the exact camera but they showed an identicle one which was a d2x and a 80 - 400 vr

At a quoted $12K, I'll sell them as many units as they want Even Vanbar will sell you that for $9357.00

johndec wrote:

Michael wrote:
I just saw the segment on ten news.

they didnt show the exact camera but they showed an identicle one which was a d2x and a 80 - 400 vr

At a quoted $12K, I'll sell them as many units as they want Even Vanbar will sell you that for $9357.00

Full Maxwell RRP

Typical TV - Channel 9 showed a D2H

sirhc55 wrote:Typical TV - Channel 9 showed a D2H

I heard on the radio today that the Telegraph have retreived the camera and CF card from Campbelltown police and are going to publish the contents of the card and a photo of the results of "Maniacal Marks Camera Repairs Pty Ltd" in tomorrows edition, so those of you that are good at jigsaw puzzles may be able to figure it out.

His action is not defendable but depression makes you do some strange and stupid things.

yep it was a d2x he smashed. or at least a d2x shown in pieces on ten news
I was surprised it was a nikon also as most pj guys use canon.
bastard. they should make him eat it, and fork out for a new one.

I just hope he cant use his former position or status to sleaze his way out of it.

Steve

I fully support Mark Latham. Why would a guy take pictures of you and your family for an hour and a half? The fact you work for a rotten news organisation does not give you any special rights, I think I would have smashed the guy's face as well!...
Cheers,
Gerard

Michael wrote:It was a D2x he destroyed.

what a bastard!

Phew! Thank goodness it wasn't a Canon!

Just watching the ABC news the guy was in Latham's face for an hour and a half.

I smell a rat my guess was he was trying to make Latham snap!

and it worked.

1 & 1/2 hours to get a photo of someone eating a burger? I don't think so.

maybe he had a broken d2x out of warranty and this was his idea to get a new one??

hour and a half sounds a bit rich to me also.

the press do some slimey things sometimes

Steve

glamy wrote:I fully support Mark Latham. Why would a guy take pictures of you and your family for an hour and a half? The fact you work for a rotten news organisation does not give you any special rights, I think I would have smashed the guy's face as well!...
Cheers,
Gerard

Glamy,
Back to bed please!

I think he's just guarenteed that instead of one guy staking his place out he will have a flotilla of them tommorrow . Whats the word for a group of photographers ? Gaggle ? Flock ? ..............

Mini-meet?

Bob.

.

Who spends 1.5 hours at a Hungry Jacks, even with kids??? Sounds like a bit of bullshit coming from both sides, as i would expect in a situation like this.

I blame the weather...

myarhidia wrote:I just laugh at the fact that he took to it with a claw hammer destroying it, yet he returned the pieces including the memory card & the photo's were intact.

Obviously he hasn't come to terms with the digital era yet.

haha yeah, that's the funniest part of the story. What a nutcase
It says something about how tough CF cards are!

It's also funny how the majority of people here were most disturbed by the fact that a D2X got smashed (which I was too when I saw the story... R.I.P D2X ). Even if the photographer did ask for it...

Stephen

avkomp wrote:yep it was a d2x he smashed. or at least a d2x shown in pieces on ten news
I was surprised it was a nikon also as most pj guys use canon.
bastard. they should make him eat it, and fork out for a new one.

I just hope he cant use his former position or status to sleaze his way out of it.

Steve

Most the PJ's I've ever dealt with use Nikon.

strange

This is what on the Daily Tele today:

http://www.dailytelegraph.news.com.au/s ... 22,00.html

Perhaps Maxwells will fix it if they tell them that it was flashing the BGLOD just before it exploded

The Tele has got way more than $12k worth of advertising out of it, so they are well ahead!

well from the pics he at least did one job right.


MATT

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

when you live in a country where the press tell fairy tales on major news items, who knows what the ''actual'' truth is in this matter

We have had some lively debates in the past on this forum about the ethics of photogarphy, and it would be wise not to let our political views cloud our judgement on this issue.

It would seem that the real story is somewhat different from that which appeared in the popular press and I am more willing to believe the ABC report. In which case, whilst I do not condone Latham's actions, I do understand them. Here was a man out with his children being virtually stalked by a camera man. I have to have some sympathy for him and none for the photographer.

Oneputt wrote: I have to have some sympathy for him and none for the photographer.

Not me. The man has serious anger management issues. The photographer, employed by a daily newspaper, was doing his job. He was sent out by his newspaper to photograph Mr Latham (still a public figure, in my view, since his book launch) in a public place. Yes, Mr Latham had his kids with him, and yes, I understand that he may well have become annoyed at being followed and photographed.

But he tried to assault the photog; he stole the photog's camera; he took it home to his tool shed where he proceeded to smash it into very small pieces.

Subsequent to that it appears that he sideswiped a television journalist with his car. I think that his behaviour is erratic and dangerous. And what sort of a role model is he being for his kids that he is meant to be so concerned about?

I am actually wondering why he has not been charged with stealing or wilful destruction. I bet if it was you or me who smashed up someone's camera we'd be charged quick smart.

And it was a D2h, not a D2x.

Bob.

.

Given Latham's history, it might be reasonable to make the claim that the newspaper sent that photographer out with the plan to provoke a reaction....

Cheers

One positive has come out of all this.

Now i know what the inside of my camera looks like.

According the the Daily Telegraph report (referred above), the D2h is designed to be used in a war-zone, which is fine by me.

Nikon distributor John Wallace said yesterday the ultra-tough camera must have been smashed with a heavy object such as a sledgehammer to end up in its current state.

"They're designed for Iraq and East Timor. It's pretty bullet-proof so for this camera to end up in pieces it must have been absolutely smashed," said Mr Wallace.

Interestingly, i took a Fuji FinePix P&S to Iraq and a disposable Kodak film camera to East Timor and both of those survived. I also took a Nikon Coolpix 5700 to the Solomon islands but that has died 2 years later.

Now then, where to take my D2h...........

What kind of story were they going to write to accompany photos of Mark Latham dining with his kids at Hungry Jacks? Given that it was the Daily Telegraph, it doesn't surprise me as it is full of crap anyway!

A public figure he may still be, but that does not warrant taking snaps of him at Hungry Jacks, if it's not a newsworthy item (which it isn't!) <-- my opinion

Poor camera...

And $12000 for a D2H and 80-400? Was there a 100GB CF card in there?!!!

Maybe I should start stalking Mark Latham so I can seek $6000 in damages for my D70s and kit lens.

bloop wrote:What kind of story were they going to write to accompany photos of Mark Latham dining with his kids at Hungry Jacks?

"Latham Assaults Journalist"

Which is exactly what they got!

The lows to which some journalist will stoop. Pffft!

Cheers

Ha! Good one!

bloop wrote:And $12000 for a D2H and 80-400? Was there a 100GB CF card in there?!!!

Funny enough the CF card was about the only thing he didn't mangle, so he is not up for a new one of them

apparently this is the camera.

What a mess. He didn't miss did he .

Consider this...You are having a quite morning with your children at the shops. A couple of smart arse photographers from some righteous newspaper stomp up and stick their cameras into your face and start "hosing you down" shooting at high speed. Your children look distressed because they don't understand what is happening. Dad is suffering from depression....a clinical, debillitating medical condition. What the hell did they think was going to happen? They got exactly what they were hoping for? They are lucky he didn't work their skulls over! And I'll bet their editor danced with glee when he heard what happened. That's how it works. On the other hand...he is on a $75000 taxpayer paid pension and other perks so he has to bend a little.