Last Friday Blur played their reunion gig at Hyde Park in London. I went along, meeting with friends and family to see the former BritPop band make their comeback. Obviously I took along my camera to have some mementos of the concert.

As I was in London for a couple of days, not just for the gig, I chose to take my dSLR, a Canon 450D with a 50mm for taking pictures of my friends and a 55 to 250mm for band shots. The photos would genuinely be for my own use. I'd checked out the terms and conditions beforehand. Nothing was stated about cameras on the tickets and on the expanded terms it was the usual "you may not use equipment for recording or transmitting any audio, visual or audio-visual material."

I decided I should be safe with my consumer level dSLR. Everybody has them nowadays don't they? However, upon entering I was told it was a professional camera and wasn't allowed it. The security actually only saw the camera with the 50mm. But anything with a detachable lens was a no go from their viewpoint. Although nobody was able to provide anything in writing to that effect. Even after speaking with the person in charge of security, I was given two options; not to come in or to pay £6 and put my camera in a locker.

I opted for the latter and after a bit of grumbling about a lack of clarity in the terms and wishing I'd brought along my Canon G10, went and enjoyed a blinding set by Blur. Throughout the gig though, I noticed at least ten other people with dSLR's and one person with a high definition camcorder! I could only think that I (and a few others) had got the one person on the gate who was doing their job to the letter and beyond. I also thought the whole "put it in a locker for £6" was a con.

I can understand that the band and the organisers want an element of exclusivity. But in this day and age of camera phones and good quality point and shoots isn't that a bit of a mute point? And isn't it all good promotion anyway? Realistically, nobody with any type of camera is going to get great photos from the crowd. They probably wouldn't be as good as those from photographers in the press area.

I used my cameraphone for the most part, but towards the end of the gig, I went back to the locker and retrieved my camera unchallenged. I managed to get a couple of shots during the band's last song. Which kind of made the whole camera confiscation a pointless exercise.