PDNPulse.com is reporting that thieves in New York were stealing Nikon D2xs cameras out of traffic cameras, and that reminded me of a news report in Austin a few months back at some of the most dangerous intersections. Austin has recently installed its first red light cameras, and a local TV station KEYE zoomed in on a red light camera (below), and holy crap, I could get a ticket thanks to Nikon! This appears to also be a Nikon D2xs, although I don't recognize the lens.
I was planning to go get a better picture, but can just imagine the headline "Local Photographer arrested while photographing Red Light Camera".
There is no state income tax in Texas, but apparently some of the other taxes (sales, property, business etc) we pay end up equipping traffic cameras with better Nikon gear than most local photographers use.
Update: A reader has pointed out that the first cameras were installed in Austin over a year ago, these were additions installed at Hwy 360 and Lamar this year. He also adds "the lens is a Tamron AF Aspherical XR DI probably a 28-300 mm 1:3.5 - 6.3". He goes on to provide further information: "Also included in this setup is a video camera and a secondary proprietary 12 mega-pixel camera for the capturing of the license plate. This is an antiquated set up that has quite a few limitations such as inability to capture multiple violations since the camera system has to first complete a series of three images prior to being free to address a secondary violator.". Good to know - thanks Charlie!
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