On September 17, a few photographs of Prime Minister Narendra Modi went viral on social media, where it was claimed that he tried to click photographs of Cheetah released on Konu National Park while the lens cover was on. There are two types of photographs making rounds.
In the first type of photograph, assuming that the lens cover or the lens cap was on because the lens glass was not visible, several netizens tried to mock PM Modi. Among those, the majority were leaders and ‘proud’ workers of Congress including Renuka Chowdhury of Congress and other opposition parties.
Congress leader Renuka Chowdhury wished PM Modi for his birthday and added an image that had text “Modi does not even know he has to remove Lens Cap to click a photo.”
Congress leader Suprabha said, “He was clicking photos without opening the cover of the lens. Such a joker.”
Upon examination of the photographs in circulation, it was clear that the lens cover was not on. PM Modi was using a Nikon camera with a zoom lens attached to it. The Nikon lens cover not only has visible curves and depression from where the lens cover lock is pressed to release but also has Nikon written on it in bold letters.
There is slight writing on the rim of the lens visible in the photograph when we zoom in. That is because of the UV lens filter that photographers often use to save the lens glass from scratches and dust. It also reduces the UV impact on the lens and sensor. Such filters, especially those of high quality, have detailed written on the rim. When they are attached to the camera, everyone can’t differentiate between the rim of the lens and the rim of the filter. With the filter on, it is generally not possible to see the lens glass from a far distance, and in this case, it completely vanished due to the light and angle of the photograph.
The next photograph was a morphed one that was shared by many Congress and other opposition party leaders and senior workers, Congress Sevadal accounts of different states and Jawhar Sircar of TMC. To be noted, Sircar is ex-Prasar Bharti chief, where he must have spent at least one-fourth of his career around cameras. Sircar deleted his tweet after people pointed out the morphed lens cover.
Sircar wrote, “Keeping the lid on all statistics is one thing, but keeping the cover on the camera lens is sheer farsightedness.”
State Spokesperson Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress Aman Dubey said, “The extraordinary art of photography without removing lens cover. I am a fan.”
Daman and Diu Congress Sevadal wrote, “Photography without removing lens cover… who does that!”
Maharashtra Congress Sevadal said, “The digital camera of 1980 must not have lens cover.”
Samyukt Kisan Morcha member and activist Himmat Singh Gurjar wrote, “The extraordinary art of photography without removing lens cover. I am a fan.”
Congress leader Inamur Nashtar said, “Who clicks photographs without removing lens cover. We have not seen such a great artist. He is more concerned about Cheetah and not pyres. Our leaders are connecting India and he is collecting Cheetah.”
National Secretary, Congress, Ishita Sedha said, “Only a extraordinary human can click photographs without removing lens cover. He is certainly a legend.”
Samajwadi Lohiya Vahini’s state President, Uttar Pradesh, Ram Karan Nirmal said, “Only a Prime Minister who works 18 hours a day can click photographs with lens cover on.”
When we examined the photograph, it was clear that someone morphed the photograph and flipped it horizontally before adding the lens cover to it. Every camera has its company name imprinted on the in-built flash. In this photograph, Nikon can be clearly seen written on the flash on the camera, which is inverted horizontally.
Interestingly, the person who added the lens cover was visibly unaware of the photography equipment as he/she added a Canon lens cover on a Nikon camera lens. The size of the camera lens for different companies generally does not fit each other. Thus, the lens covers are of varying sizes. We also found the actual photograph of PM Modi that was flipped and used for propaganda.
So, no, PM Modi did not try to click photographs of Cheetah while the lens cover was on.
