I had to laugh when I read this.... I was out with my friend and another lady we came across who enjoyed her Camera (Nikon) shared of how she had dropped her camera several times and such. We listen to her and after she left, I made the comment in 40 years I never once dropped my camera. He confirmed he had not either. Well guess what, several weeks later I am in the kitchen fooling around with some still life shots and as I walk around the kitchen I stepped on my shoulder strap that was hanging loose. Well it went to the floor and the lens (18-200 mm) was not working quite right. It was jammed. I manually worked it and after a short time it worked. The photo's look good and I can now attest that the durablity of the Nikon camera and lens are pretty darn good.... A key learning for me was not to "verbalize" to another soul that "In 40 years I never once dropped my camera". From now on, I know just thinking that will not bode well for my gear and I always put the strap around my neck. It's not fun getting old :)
All you abusers post your Nikon Drop test experience here.
(108 posts) (64 voices)-
Posted 1 year ago #
-
I knocked a new 24-70 mm off a shelf about 2 meters from the hardwood floor. (Only an idiot would put a lens on a shelf that high. Oh, wait...it was me.)
The right hand reached for it at about a foot down, and knocked it sideways. The left hand mad a grab and knocked it back, the knee slowed the fall at about knee height, and it continued down to the floor, landing on the lens hood.
Still works great. Some people shouldn't be allowed to have expensive things, though.
Posted 1 year ago # -
Three weeks ago I was shooting some flowers with another photographer and his tripod came apart (centre column came out, but it's not supposed to on that model). I put my camera + tripod combo down, to help, but I didn't put the tripod down on level ground. Needless to say the combo (Gitzo tripod, D700 and 24-70mm F2.8G) took a noise dive, lens first. Result? The lens hood broke (the plastic mounting ring cracked). The hood got pushed back onto the lens, but a little bit of force got it off. The lens and camera still work just fine, and the replacement hood cost $44, which considering how much damage could have occurred, isn't bad.
Posted 1 year ago # -
PB PM said: .... The lens hood broke (the plastic mounting ring cracked). The hood got pushed back onto the lens, but a little bit of force got it off. The lens and camera still work just fine, and the replacement hood cost $44, which considering how much damage could have occurred, isn't bad.
I hear you. After my mishap I'm very happy I had the lens hood on the lens. Cheap insurance.
Posted 1 year ago # -
I am in a camera club and they make fun of me for my drops:
-Nikkor 8mm/2.8 dropped about 18", front element first, on to a wooden table.
-Nikon F4s slipped off my shoulder and rolled.
-Nikon F2A dropped out of helicopter.
-Nikon F3 fell out of locker, 50mm Series E lens shattered and jammed on camera.
there are more but I am sad now....Posted 1 year ago # -
Ay caramba there are some sorry tales here! I just dropped my D7000 18" onto a thick carpet and I am still smarting from the kick up the pants I gave myself for moving a bag that wasn't fastened. It had the 18-105 on it too - fortunately the plastic mount wasn't troubled by the fall.
I should live in a padded cell....
Posted 1 year ago # -
spraynpray said:
Ay caramba there are some sorry tales here! I just dropped my D7000 18" onto a thick carpet and I am still smarting from the kick up the pants I gave myself for moving a bag that wasn't fastened. It had the 18-105 on it too - fortunately the plastic mount wasn't troubled by the fall.I should live in a padded cell....
:) It was carpet, lucky you :)
Posted 1 year ago # -
18 inches? My D200 rolled down a rock wall 12ish feet fell off a small ledge flat onto rock...
Recently I accidentally fed one of my bodies a sprite... Still works great but oh how that flash sticks...
Posted 10 months ago # -
I was shooting at a hockey rink and had set my D70 with 24-120 VR on the edge to grab something. I had it squished between my body and the glass. I leaned just a bit too far and it fell to the concrete. Luckily it landed on the lens shade, which broke. Everything else works just fine.
Posted 10 months ago # -
@ben_v3 Black Rapid Strap... prevents these things.... But, I have dropped them as well....so...
Posted 10 months ago # -
-
D7000 + 70-200mm f/2.8 VR1 falling five feet off a tripod onto my foot -> ouch
Same lens falling off its strap, face-down onto a boulder -> the hood soaked the damage, and the new cheapo knock-off hood actually fits snugly unlike the old one!
Same 70-200 and a Tokina 12-24mm f/4 both saw some use in a couple hurricanes -> the 70-200 fogged up a couple days after hurricane exposure, and the zoom ring got stiff for a couple weeks but it has been fine ever since
Posted 10 months ago # -
2007:
Minus 2 degrees outside, tidal wave crashed over me and D200 with 18-70 G lens. Have a shot somewhere of the exact instance.2008:
After riding back along King St. Toronto from picking up my wedding photos, bicycle tyre slipped into streetcar track, and I flipped back wheel over front into the centre of the intersection. D200 was in backpack and hit pavement first. Wonderful dull crack. Traffic stopped. I limped to the side, in a rush of shock, said I was fine to a kind lady who took pity on me, and rode home. Some cracked plastic on the body, screen protector died, but none the worse for use.Since then, numerous drops and bangs from tables onto granite flooring, from tripods, onto carpet. None of my lenses are light anymore:
50/1,2 Ai
35/2 Ai
105/2,5 AiSSo the sound is always terrible, and deep. Still, it keeps on chugging along, though electronic lenses no longer work well (camera stalls sometimes and other errors). I hope to be able to gather enough dosh to replace it with a D800 or D600 next year.
Posted 10 months ago # -
I have learned that the Black Rapid is not without its faults or issues... A while back I was shooting tidepools. I had crouched down to photograph this crab under a rock with the camera that was not on the black rapid(d90 10.5mm). It took me more than a minute for me to realize that the camera on the black rapid (actually the lens) was partially submerged in saltwater... The lens that happened to be submerged was my 14-24mm of course and not something I paid $200 for. Luckily no water got inside (miracle?) and the lens doesn't stick or anything to this day...
Less notable but also a good reason to choke up your strap at times (or get a brad accessory) I have had my dslr swing into my you know whats a few times...
Posted 10 months ago # -
Here's my list of shame:
I dropped by D7000 about 3' onto a steel boat deck. No damage.
My 70-300mm roll off a bed and hit a tile floor. The protective clear glass filter shattered into a bazillion pieces but the lens was and remains fine.
I had my binoculars swing hard into the front of my old 80-400mm. The wire that holds in the glass of the protective clear glass filter popped (I got it back in). No harm.
My wife recently dropped her V1 onto a tile floor. Protective filter obliterated, no damage.
My buddy had a camera bounce off of a bench on a pelagic birding trip and hit the steel deck. The filter on his 80-400mm was toast, the lens was fine.
If you read all of the above, you probably don't need to ask which side of the use of a clear protective filter debate I land on (with "land" being the operative word).
Posted 10 months ago # -
Actually the most amazing "near miss" I ever witnessed was on one of the pelagic birding trips I run. A buddy was shooting Canon (yeah, I know, but I still like him) and I believe the lens he had on was the 300mm f/2.8. Somehow he managed to detach the lens when we were 40 miles or so from shore and it plummeted down on the seaward side of the railing. Amazingly he caught the lens AFTER it had passed the top of the railing. Not every day you get to see somebody make a $6,000 catch like that!
Posted 10 months ago # -
I think this is the first D4 abuse in this thread.
My thinktank retro shoulderbag dropped from a table onto a hardwood floor. Of course it landed upside down, where the bag has no soft padding. The D4 with an atached 70-200 took a full hit. The hinge of the flap to the memory card compartment broke. Evrything else seemed to be ok.
Went to Nikon service center. They said they would need a week to get the parts, if the parts would not make it for some reason, they would take them out of on of their D4's.
A week later they repared the flap, serviced the camera, measured it to make sure there was no misalignment. The price they charged me was very reasonable. Great service I must say. I am not a NPS member.Jürgen
Posted 10 months ago # -
My buddy had his D5000 knocked out of his hands by a football tossing machine about 3 months ago. It thew the camera about 10 feet or so. It still to this day.
Posted 10 months ago # -
A friend who is new to photography watched me change a lens on my D7000 while standing by using the top of my nova shoulder bag as a work surface. he commented that it looked like an accident in waiting (it isn't actually) then he put his brand new 5Dmk2 on its screen on top of a rock wall while he changed his 24-70'L' for his 70-200'L' - when he had finished there was a scratch across his screen you could catch your nail in.....
I told him he was stupid buying all that gear when he didn't even know what exposure was, would he listen?
Posted 10 months ago # -
My backup body dropped from the floor of my SUV to the road surface this last week.
[SIGH]
Still works just fine. Great shots from Nikon tanks (um... cameras), as usual.
Posted 10 months ago # -
So far the only thing of real value that I've dropped has been my SB-900 - from about 4 feet high onto a brick pavers walkway. Barely a scratch and it's never flenched in it's awesomeness.
Posted 10 months ago # -
I use an alternative to letting my equipment actually hit the ground that is getting a little hard on my body as I age owing to concussions and almost breaking my neck once. I physically launch my body to reach the equipment, catching it before it hits the ground while protecting the camera gear with my body. If I lose balance launching I hold the gear up and away from my body to cushion the equipment with my fall. If both hands come into play, which happens, this ends badly. Regardless this is my first, and someday might be my last, instinct and it has nothing to do with good sense, or money. It a reflex response to my horror of dropping gear, and it is usually more expensive, especially after an emergency room visit, than the lost of the equipment.
Posted 9 months ago # -
My previous D5000 survived torrential downpours, snow and even a drop from about 2m( my height). But it died when the tripod it was on fell and it flew 3 flights of steps and 2 hills and into a ditch. Only thing which broke was the shutter mechanism and a circuit board but it cost a bomb to repair so Nikon SG offered to sell a new D5000 at a discount.
Posted 9 months ago # -
captainelmo said:
My previous D5000 survived torrential downpours, snow and even a drop from about 2m( my height). But it died when the tripod it was on fell and it flew 3 flights of steps and 2 hills and into a ditch. Only thing which broke was the shutter mechanism and a circuit board but it cost a bomb to repair so Nikon SG offered to sell a new D5000 at a discount.You can't say fairer than that - pretty good for an entry level camera, and kudos Nikon too.
Posted 9 months ago # -
Juergen said:
I think this is the first D4 abuse in this thread.My thinktank retro shoulderbag dropped from a table onto a hardwood floor. Of course it landed upside down, where the bag has no soft padding. The D4 with an atached 70-200 took a full hit. The hinge of the flap to the memory card compartment broke. Evrything else seemed to be ok.
Went to Nikon service center. They said they would need a week to get the parts, if the parts would not make it for some reason, they would take them out of on of their D4's.
A week later they repared the flap, serviced the camera, measured it to make sure there was no misalignment. The price they charged me was very reasonable. Great service I must say. I am not a NPS member.Jürgen
Wow... You must of felt sick to the old stomach. Glad it turned out well
Posted 9 months ago #
Reply »
You must log in to post.
