Rugby Player Signs (and Ruins?) $94,000 Lens In Celebration of 200th Try

Hanssie

When I was a teacher, I had a 4th grader mistake a permanent marker for a dry erase marker. She wrote all over one side of my white board, and I nearly had a heart attack. The janitor easily and magically wiped it off by coloring over it with a dry erase marker, and all was well.

Kenyan rugby player Collins Injera scored his 200th try on the World Sevens Series this Sunday and celebrated by immediately pulling a permanent marker out of his shoe and signing the game ball. He then ran over to the cameraman who was filming and signed the camera lens. This is a practice that is common in tennis, except in tennis, the players actually sign a protective covering that is placed over the lens, so an expensive piece of equipment doesn’t get ruined.

[REWIND: HOW NOT TO CLEAN YOUR CAMERA AND LENS]

Injera-signs-camera

The price tag on the sports broadcast lens? An estimated $94,000. According to a report on ESPN, the lens is ruined and will be quite costly to repair/replace. Perhaps, they should try using the white board marker trick. A quick search on Google also suggested that nail polish remover with acetone will remove permanent marker from glass, but using a harsh chemical like that on a camera lens is enough to make any photographer cringe. Though, if that does the trick, then it would save a broadcast company a large chunk of change.

Fast forward to the 0:33 second mark to see the moment Injera sets his sights on the unsuspecting cameraman.

[Via Pop Photo]

Hanssie

Hanssie is a Southern California-based writer and sometimes portrait and wedding photographer. In her free time, she homeschools, works out, rescues dogs and works in marketing for SLR Lounge. She also blogs about her adventures and about fitness when she's not sick of writing so much. Check out her work and her blog at www.hanssie.com. Follow her on Instagram

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