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|| SportsShooter.com: Member Message Board
Gary Fong lens lock
Marvin Gentry, Photographer
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Birmingham | AL | USA | Posted: 10:58 AM on 07.15.11 |
| ->> Hey with another football season just around the corner and after having equipment stolen last year. I am wondering if anyone is using the lens lock by Gary Fong? |
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Curtis Clegg, Photographer
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Matthew Jonas, Photo Editor, Photographer
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Evergreen | CO | USA | Posted: 3:25 PM on 07.15.11 |
| ->> Wow. That looks like a great idea and it isn't named after part of an animal, either. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 3:30 PM on 07.15.11 |
| ->> Wouldn't a pac-safe be a better idea then that? Seems to me that if that was on the end of a 400 or 600 someone would at least TRY to yank on it if they were going to steal it... Maybe just hard enough to damage the mount before giving up. It's not like they care if the mount breaks. I could be wrong. |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 4:22 PM on 07.15.11 |
->> Good point, Eric. And if the mount doesn't break first, that plastic lens cap thingy will.
Of course, that's true of any anti-theft device. They can all be defeated. You just want to make it difficult enough to make them steal someone else's stuff instead, or increase the risk of detection. |
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Jason Myers, Photographer
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West Palm Beach | FL | USA | Posted: 4:38 PM on 07.15.11 |
| ->> Just got a pac safe this week for my soft sided every day bags...Solid and makes me feel much more secure if I have to set it down somewhere. |
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Kent Nishimura, Student/Intern, Photographer
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Honolulu | HI | USA | Posted: 5:00 PM on 07.15.11 |
| ->> +1 on getting a PacSafe. love it! |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 10:16 PM on 07.15.11 |
| ->> Fellow shooter and I were discussing this today also. I can't tell what material the "lens mount cap" is made of but he said why couldn't someone just smack it hard with a hammer and break the plastic? not dissing the product but I saw no info on what the materials this thing is made of. |
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Curtis Clegg, Photographer
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Sycamore | IL | USA | Posted: 10:32 AM on 07.17.11 |
->> Chuck L. I suspect that any potential lens thief that is walking around the sidelines or media room with a hammer also has a pair of wire cutters in his or her tool belt.
If the Fong device is cheaper, more portable, and easier to use than a Pac-Safe there's a good chance it will get used more. |
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Matthew Sauk, Photographer
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Sandy | UT | United States | Posted: 12:19 PM on 07.17.11 |
->> I can't imagine a thief wanting to spend time to try and get a lens when the chances of destroying it are high by smacking it with a hammer.
I think the devices does what it needs to do, make someone think twice about taking it. If something was just laying there it is easy to walk and grab, this item makes it where you have to spend time trying to steal it.
People that steal stuff usually don't like to sit around trying to take something.
IMHO |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 1:53 PM on 07.17.11 |
->> Any photographers actually used one, or both?
Any thieves actually thwarted one, or both? |
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Peter Caty, Student/Intern
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Syracuse | NY | United States | Posted: 2:46 PM on 07.17.11 |
| ->> I can't say I would trust this. Won't it be better to invest in a ThinkTank or Pelican case, lock the bag and secure the handle to something rather than just leave a lens out in the open. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 11:19 AM on 07.18.11 |
->> I watched the video and the first two 'weaknesses' that I thought of was: 1. It's plastic, if it doesn't have a metal core, the tabs that the cable/lock pass through are an easy failure point. 2. If the cable passing though the cable tab doesn't take up 99% of the opening of the tab's hole it's an easy target to lever off the tab.
I may not have a hammer in my bag BUT I do have 2 'water-pump' wrenches in my bag for tightening clamps on remotes and I almost always have a Leatherman type tool in my pocket. I'm willing to bet that if this is just pain old plastic I'd have that separated from the cable in 15 seconds. Not that that I would ;)
As for whether someone would bother to futz with this thing or look for a better target.... Well that is the common premise of all theft deterrents. On a 24-70 probably not, on a 400 500 or 600? I wouldn't want to be the one to tell my insurance company that I left a $10k lens out in the open secured with $30 worth of plastic.
I could be totally wrong but from what I see on the site, I'm not remotely convinced that this is what I would want securing my lens.
E |
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Bill Danielewski, Photographer
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Boston | MA | USA | Posted: 11:58 AM on 07.20.11 |
->> Just received the lock via the mail. I agree with many of the comments above. I would not plan on securing the lock to the lens and a post (or something) then walk away from it for an extended period. It is plastic and would not take very long for someone with a strong set of sheers to snip the lock rings and be gone.
However, my concern is at game-end. In the past I've nervously left my 200-400 back with my gear (the remainder of which is secured) to race to the scrum with my two bodies with smaller lenses and then return to my gear when done. It is during this short period I am most concerned with someone simply walking by, picking up my 200-400 and walking off.
For 30 bucks and a few seconds, I can secure the 200-400 to the handle of my Pelican case and know that, yes it can be taken with a bit of work but chances are better any thief is going to walk by mine and (unfortunately) grab the next lens - the one that is not tethered.
$30 bucks for peace of mind at game-end. Worth it for me. |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 12:35 PM on 07.20.11 |
->> Bill if it were me I'd take the foot off the lens and have a small hole drilled through it. Just big enough to pass your cable through, not so big as to remove enough material to weaken the foot.
You can always order a replacement foot if you sell the lens and the buyer objects. And just to be clear, I think that the design is great,the choice of material is poor. |
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Chuck Liddy, Photographer
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Durham | NC | USA | Posted: 12:38 PM on 07.20.11 |
| ->> @Eric. GREAT IDEA!!! |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 1:04 PM on 07.20.11 |
| ->> Hey I'm not just a pretty face Chuck! BTW if anyone does take my advice ::shudder:: Take the foot to a machine shop and let them drill the hole and have them press in a stainless or tungsten sleeve or eyelet. This will prevent the cable from wearing the hole larger and larger over time. |
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Bill Danielewski, Photographer
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Boston | MA | USA | Posted: 2:51 PM on 07.20.11 |
| ->> Eric - I like the idea but that's drilling a pretty big hole if you want to get a cable with looped ends through. The other possibility is a hole big enough for the lock to go through then connect both ends of the cable to the lock after wrapping the cable around something (handle of pelican case in my earlier example) - same concept as the Fong guard. I think the gear guard is enough of a deterrent for the few times I'm on the move without the 200-400. Majority of the time, my 200-400 is just one of many long lenses left unattended at game-end. Just seeing it cabled to the Pelican is, in my view, enough of to have the would-be thief move on to the next lens. |
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Baron Sekiya, Photographer, Photo Editor
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Hilo | HI | USA | Posted: 7:28 PM on 07.23.11 |
->> As expensive as heavy glass is you would think Canon and Nikon would build in a system that would allow a locking system to work.
A nice attachment point big enough for a cable to go through for a locking system or safety line for when shooting in crazy spaces. Have it built right onto the lens so it's obvious that if you break that the lens is screwed.
Every laptop I've owned has a Kennsington lock slot on it. |
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Chuck Steenburgh, Photographer
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Lexington | VA | USA | Posted: 9:03 PM on 07.23.11 |
| ->> Umm...Eric couldn't your design be defeated by the thief just removing the foot? I'm not following... |
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Eric Canha, Photographer
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Brockton | MA | United States | Posted: 10:19 AM on 07.25.11 |
| ->> Chuck, sure. If the thief is carrying a set of hex wrenches and is willing to take the time to remove the 4 screws holding the foot on my 300 then the lens is his. But that is going to take longer than most thieves are willing to take in the open. IMHO. |
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