It happened to me! What Disasters or Near-misses have you had while Shooting?

[ic-racer]

First day I mounted my 300mm lens on the front of my Century view. I composed a picture near a pond and as I tilted the camera forward, indeed the lens board popped out and the 300mm lens and Copal 3 went in the water. The Copal 3 releases 3 bubbles when submerged.

A race back to my workshop saved the lens and shutter. I had to completely disassemble both front and rear cells to remove all the moisture. That was a harder than opening the shutter, which did not need a complete disassembly. 15 years later the lens and shutter are still working flawlessly.

[ic-racer]

A few years ago I re-build a camera battery pack with new cells. For whatever reason, inside the casing, the original had a red wire on the - and a black wire on the +. I was so stupid not to check. I had the replacement pack professionally made and spot welded with the orientation of the cells exactly like the original. Of course they put a red lead on the + and a black lead on the -.
When I inserted the rebuilt battery pack, it instantly destroyed the camera body electronics

[Tin Can]

Be careful with RV wiring they also have strange customs, as I am discovering

[islomane]

In September 1986 I was in St. Anthony, Newfoundland, on my way to Labrador with my Deardorff 4x5 Special and Deardorff 8x10 cameras. I’d set up both the 4x5 and 8x10 when rain and blustery winds arrived unexpectedly. I rushed to put the equipment away, but a gust of wind caught the 8x10, causing it to fall to the ground. It was in pieces. Amazingly, the ground glass didn’t break. The focusing knob for the front extension absorbed most of the impact, breaking off, but I was able to put the rest of the camera back together after buying a set of small screwdrivers at a hardware store, and was able to continue using the camera while touring the Lower North Shore of Québec and Labrador, exposing dozens of color transparencies.

[John Layton]

Had just gotten a Mamiya 6 system (2 bodies/3 lenses) and in setting these up for the first time with my old crusty Norman P-2000 flash system on a location shoot - I quickly fried both cameras...not realizing that a simple, 10.00 sync voltage regulator would have saved the day. Live and learn!