Disaster strikes - tell me your stories.

[benjaminjk]

I have been a member for quite some time, but this is my first post to the group, - Hi.

I'd like to hear your disaster stories. Here is mine:

Last week I was out shooting with my 4x5 camera. I have a Calumet 45nx with a 135 mm f5.6 Schneider Symmar S lens. When I picked up the camera and tripod to reframe the shot about a foot to the left, my tripod quick release failed and the camera tumbled in to the river. I use a arca swiss style quickrelease, i am not sure what happened, I must not have had it locked down all the way.




I had a similar instance happen about 3 years ago, the only difference is that at the time I was using a different type of quick release, and the quick release actually broke - presumably from the weight of the large camera. I actually switched over to the arca swiss style plate becasue of this.

[Steven Ruttenberg]

I have dropped my Canon bodies and a few lens over the years, all needing to go back to factory for repair. Nothing yet on my 4x5. At least they have zero electronics and can be dried off and gg replaced if it breaks. Your disaster doesn't look too bad. I never use quick release, don't trust them or me. I prefer to use the screw type arca swiss clamp, much more positive design with less chance for error. Although, once, with kids screaming at each other, my wife mad at me and the kids, me mad at them, I did forget to completely tighten the clamp and when I picked up my tripod, I felt the ugly drag of the camera sliding off and into the dirt. Body survived, lens needed repair. As a result, I don't carry my camera on tripod normally now, but if i do, I crank down on every locking feature of the clamp, ball head and tripod at least 5 times I check this before I move them as a unit.

[jp]

http://www.largeformatphotography.in...ra-caught-fire

Still working great after I patched it up.

[Jac@stafford.net]

Okay, not LF but when I was a daily news photographer in Chicago I once jumped out of my little car, put my camera bag on the roof, took what I needed, and rushed into the scene. It was intense. I was hyper (a symptom of my youth), got back into the car and drove half a mile or so, braked for a stop and the bag slid down over the windshield. OMG! Luck. I was headed for the Dan Ryan Expressway from which there was no escape.

[Michael Graves]

My first 8x10 Eastman 2D. I had a tripod mounting block on it and didn't lock it down. I was in a hurry to catch some rapidly changing light and grabbed the camera out of the back seat. When I turned around, the camera slid out of the tripod mount and down onto the pavement. The ground glass shattered and several pieces of the wood splintered.

I don't use that one any more.

[Mark Sampson]

Dropped my new 180/5.6 Nikkor-W of the edge of a cliff, watched it tumble down 60 or 80 feet and land at the water's edge, then bounce into the waters of Penobscot Bay. I could see the cable release swashing back and forth in the tide. No obvious way down to it, oh well. jp498, that was near the Owls Head lighthouse. You could go look for it but I did that in 1985...

[Tin Can]

Once upon a time, my family had one camera. It was a Pentax H1 or H3, I forget. We were on a stone bridge and my brother knocked off it the bridge onto rocks maybe 25 ft down.

I scrambled down to 'save' it. It was in the Never Ready factory case. Big dent in the prism cover. The leather case was clearly damaged.

The camera worked fine for another 30 years until I gave it to my brothers' son. He lost it.

I was sad, so I bought a Pentax MX for myself that I still use.

I don't like loaning my cameras or my 'horse', meaning motorbike.

[Sfroza]

In 1982, I had a Nikon FE that was my pride and joy. I was in school at the Colorado Institute of Art. Our assignment after the lecture was to shoot a news event of our choice, return, develop and print. We were given 30 minutes from walking out the door to present our effort. After shooting my roll I returned to school and in the parking lot. I thought that I should repack my camera bag before running to the darkroom. I placed my camera and lens on the hood of my truck and bumped the door reaching in to grab my bag, looking through the doors window I watched in horror as the camera slid from the hood and into the paved parking lot. The camera crashed to the ground on the right top corner, crushing the cover at the film advance and the multiplexposure levers. After a quick examination I found that the lens was fine, film advance still worked but the damaged cover impinge on the multiplexposure lever. I rushed to the darkroom and finished my assignment and returned to class. My instructor noticed my damaged camera, made an example of me to the class and informed the class of our next assignment due first thing in the morning. Multiplexposure.

[mdarnton]

In the 1970s I worked at a small newspspaper in upper Michigan. The office was on the third floor, and the stairway up was continuous--infinite steps, basically. One day I reached out for the rail at the top, and my camera, a Leica M3 with googled Summilux, slid off my shoulder, down the nylon sleeve of my jacket, and off my hand. It took every step, alone, all the way down to the bottom. When I caught up, it was fine, except the main finder prism had come uncemented. Cost me $80 to get it fixed!

[esearing]

For those of us that like to shoot streams and rivers, floating loupes are a blessing and a curse, if you chase it into dangerous waters.