Wednesday, August 3, 2016

A VERY RARE look inside Canon's operations at the 2016 Olympic Games - Look at all this gear!!!

This is my fifth Olympic Games and I am always visiting the Canon Professional Services area to borrow equipment from them. And for all of those previous Olympics, they have always been very guarded about letting anyone, outside of Canon employees, go behind the scenes to see what they have in their inventory. And trust me, I have asked in the past.

Well, this year I was allowed into the back room to see the arsenal  of cameras and lenses, and it was incredible! I have a warning for all the photographers out there. The photos in this blog are going to make you salivate!


This is what all the press see from the outside. They can have their badged scanned and borrow just about any lens or camera that Canon makes.


They also perform repairs on the equipment as well. But this front registration is all that most people see...until now!


I was taken through a gated entryway, turned the corner and then stepped into the back storage room and was blown away. There was an amazing amount of equipment here! The first thing I saw were racks and racks of Canon 1D X Mark II cameras. I must have looked like a kid in a candy store.


Want a couple of fish eye lens?


Or maybe you would be interested in a couple of longer lenses?


I was even enamored with the box of batteries. I know, I know, this makes me a total camera geek. But this is good stuff. Trust me!


I can not even imagine what this would all be worth.


They have everything in this room, including tele converters, flashes, straps, chargers. You name it.


And since I was in a room full of lenses, I decided to grab the Canon 8-15mm lens to get some shots. I have to say, it was fun being there and having all the lens choices at my disposal. That does not happen very often.


Here is a fish eye shot of the room.


And then I grabbed the new super wide Canon 11-24mm lens which has almost no distortion, and took some more photos.


Look at this photo to see an example of how straight the Canon 11-24mm lens is. For some of the other photos in this blog, I had to do perspective correction in Photoshop, but not with this baby!



I was also allowed to see the repair operations in action. Canon has a staff of more than 70 people at the Olympics. Heck, that is more representation than many countries have here.


Here is a shot of one of the Canon technicians working his magic.

I was also taken into a really long narrow room where they perform the lens calibration. They have a rolling cart on a long track, where they mount the camera and lens, with which they can perform precise lens calibrations on any focal length lens. I was not allowed to take photos in this sensitive area, but trust me, it was really cool.


After viewing the service area, I took one more visit back into the storage room to get some tight shots.


I saw this row of 70-200 2.8 II lenses, and just had to take this shot. I love this lens.

And at this point, you may be wondering what I walked out of their with. Today I borrowed two of the Canon 1D X Mark II cameras, some extra batteries, and the awesome Canon 200-400mm lens.

I hope that you enjoyed this exclusive look at Canon.

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27 comments:

Unknown said...

The most best 8 minutes and the most beautiful thing I've seen on the internet in 2016.

GreggS said...

So, it looks like there will be some "refurbished" equipment available after the Games!

Brian Foley said...

Your links are not working at the bottom of your articles.

Unknown said...

Thanks Jeff! Makes me wonder, after the Olympics, will the gear that was used be available from Canon as refurbished?

Unknown said...

Do they sell these lens and bodies as used once the olympic games are over?

Fauland Photography said...

Thanks for sharing. Your shots are much nicer, than the ones posted on petapixel :-) So you actually do not have to take your own gear over there - that's smart ...

Now, we are looking very much forward seeing your "sports pictures" :)

Anonymous said...

Don't shoot me for this questions...lol. I know you're a true Canon user. Is Nikon at the Olympics as well?

Jeff Cable Photography Blog said...

Yep - Nikon is here as well. :)

Unknown said...

Jeff - thank you for doing these blogs! They are great! My whole family is reading them.

Anonymous said...

OMG! It looks like an armory!

Unknown said...

Simply mouth watering

Linda Allen said...

Jeff, thanks for sharing! What a beautiful sight! I enjoy your blogs and always look forward to new updates. Stay safe in Rio!

Valerie said...

Looove It! <3

Rod Harlan said...

You weren't kidding Jeff, that is I N S A N E ! ! !
Like a fat kid in a candy store, I wouldn't know what to grab first!

I'll give you $10 if you get a shot of Nikons back room. LOL! ;-)

rcortinas said...

I never felt my heart go faster. Watering Mouth? No, I am just at the edge of a heart attack. As a photography lover, equipment geek and a big canon fan, this few minutes viewing your blog are probably one of the best times I have in 2016.
Jeff, I think you are going to have to step up a few notches with the Olympic games pictures to bit this blog !!! Haha !!
As always thank you so much for all your blogs. and have a very safe games.

Unknown said...

Oh my........... I'm gone!

Unknown said...

WOW, but dont send pics like thit any more please. :)
I m speechless...

LOL

Unknown said...

Does anybody have the same thought as me, that is standing with a shopping trolly (Gigantic ones only)with some one with a stop watch saying you have exactly one minute to fill the trolly with as much cannon equipment as you can to take away with you. Gooooohhh!!! grab three cannon cameras one wide angle naw make that two two moderate zooms. next only 50 seconds to go and my trolly is just half full, must hurry whats that I see at the end of this row You have to be joking got to get that.

Rosalinda said...

Wow...just wow! I had no idea...and yeah, please see if you can take a peek at the Nikon shop for us Nikon-users huh? lol :D :D --- anyway, thank you Jeff for the awesome updates, I look forward to them!

Blaine S said...

This is INCREDIBLE! I envy you sir....
What kind of credentials does someone need to take pictures at the Olympics / rent the canon equipment?

Anonymous said...

Well... i think i can forget my raise this year @canon �� but impressive ������

L. Small said...

Wow. I didn't think I would *actually* salivate, but I did. For reals. Cool stuff!!
Ummm... off-topic, BUT: this blog is very difficult on the eyes, white on black background. I'd probably stick around to read more but I can't handle it. :)

ggelber said...

Yes but it will have zika all over it.

Anonymous said...

While it is impressive, they can no longer afford to send a thank you gift with your Platinum renewal?

Unknown said...

Wowww o_o i love canon

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing this....as a VERY amateur photographer it is awesome to see the material you professionals get to use at events like this. Not very surprising that your quality of your pictures is so very outstanding.

Anonymous said...

Saw it go viral on facebook, didn't know it was yours. 25 1DX Mark II in one shelf = 157.000 Euros :D So that one picture alone is close to a million Euros, not counting the 5D's on top and the great whites on the bottom...

I doubt that those will go out as refurbs. Probably pooled together from the various regional CPS. The regional branches service smaller events like soccer European Championships etc and are of course available at their respective offices for repairs, rents etc