One of the most anticipated services at any Olympics is the Photo Service Center, where photographers worldwide can get their cameras cleaned, minor repairs done, and get loans of the latest and greatest cameras and lenses right on site.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, Kodak’s top-tier sponsorship with the International Olympic Committee ended. It wasn’t only Kodak that delivered services but Canon and Nikon, under the umbrella of Kodak’s top-tier support.

At the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Canon and Nikon delivered clean, repair and loan services directly to photographers, which has developed into a gold standard for other major sporting events to follow.

In non-Covid times a Winter Olympics will have about 700 photographers accredited, and at a Summer Olympics, about 2000 photographers accredited. So the demand for photo services is highly anticipated.

At the 2021 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, Sony, for the first time, joined Canon and Nikon as a service provider in the Main Press Center as Sony mirrorless cameras became popular with photojournalists and sports photographers.

At the Sony counter here in Beijing, not only can you get your cameras cleaned, and some repairs on sight but a peek behind the service counter reveals a stunning array of cameras and lenses ready to be loaned out at no cost. Sony has prepared to loan over 250 cameras and 600 lenses to photographers reporting on the Olympic games.

On loan are the flagship Sony Alpha 1 and a9ii’s and other cameras and full-frame mirrorless lenses from 12-24mm f/2.8 and 14mm f/1.8 through to 400mm f/2.8 and 600mm f/4’s

Large news Agencies like the Associated Press, Gannett, and others rely on these services to augment their gear to shoot some of the most iconic images of sport from Beijing.

The Sony depot here has 41 local staff working shifts under BOCOG’s strict Covid-19 guidelines support with another 30 team members worldwide online ready to help photographers working under tight deadlines in all the time zones around the world.

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