alan c. Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 1985: Nikon FTN in backpack thrown at least 40 feet, Central Park. landed on concrete, total loss to the light meter/finder. 1993: Leica M2 fell out of bag while running down subway stairs on way to shoot a $50 assignment. Destruction of rangefinder. $700 repair. 1997: Leica M3, SAME THING, in Hong Kong. another destroyed rangefinder. Also cracked glass of 28mm Leica Finder. Expensive trip. 2000: Nikon 80-200mm f/2.8, fell to the ground in Israel. Destruction of lens mount. Focusing jammed. $400. 2003: Leica M4-2 with winder, fell to floor at Staten Island Ferry Terminal. Totally jammed. $300. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen_S Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I did a salto with my beloved inherited Super Isolette in the everready case above a bicycle handlebar. The shutter released but nothing worse happened. We landed on soft forrest ground. Another time I dropped it into the full watering tub. I had enough cash for a rescue CLA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dean_williams Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 A couple of Nikons, an FT3 (Nikkormat, really) and an FE2 I still use have both been banged around. The Nikkormat fell out of my rig twice, on seperate occasions, onto concrete. I was in a hurry to get "the shot". My FE2 fell out of a tree to the forest floor. I shouldn't have been in that tree anyway. They both worked with out complaint afterwards, although they showed the scars. My Spotmatic hit the floor on the prism housing leaving a dent. Still going. The one that wasn't my fault was the one that really ticked me off. A new tripod with one of those quick release things. Had it for about a week and was out with my oldest Yashicamat (late 50's). The screw that held the release handle popped out, stripped, and dumped the old 'Mat into a nasty pile of rocks. The 'Mat still works. The tripod no longer resembles it's original form, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
david_m Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 I dropped a Minolta Autocord on carpet on its focussung panel - had it fixed. Dropped a Retinette 1A on its lens - it became a 'shift lens' - I scrapped it. A Pentax Spotmatic landed on its frame counter, bent it and counter no longer works - but the camera does. Dropped a Yashicamat in sand - no damage - brushed it off and continued shooting. If you have never dropped a camera, you are not shooting enough! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davecollopy Posted February 4, 2005 Share Posted February 4, 2005 TW, your experiences are so similar to mine it sends shivers down my spine. I think it's more than the simple $20 investment why we can't let go. Once we've nursed these babies backed to health they're more like children than they are like cameras. I've dropped so many cameras it's to the point where I'm afraid to take out my favorite camera, at least until I can find one or more duplicates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glenn_thoreson Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 This will make you drop your camera. Or your teeth. I have a friend who, a few years ago, asked me to copy his colonoscopy pictures and make prints so he could send them as Christmas cards. So, I did. And he did. Just when I was sure that took the cake, a couple of months later a cartoon strip in the paper came up with the same scenario. For Andrea - it's ok, you're safe, I made him take the negatives, too. Sorry, been sniffing the fixer again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john lehman, college alask Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 Two dropped vintage camera experiences (both with the same junker Rolleiflex which I had bought for risky use). One, a cross country skiing accident involving me, a sharp dropoff, and coming from the other direction, two snowmachiners chasing a moose. I broke the ground glass (and a ski boot) when I leaped off the dropoff; the snowmachiners gave me the finger when they passed (the moose didn't). The next year, the strap broke near the top of a Mexican Pyramid at Monte Alban; it rolled down the slope in its Yashicamat leather case. No damage. We won't go into the royal cremation in Bali when I fell into an open grave with two Rolleis :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mike_elek Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 these stories are hilarious ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ian blacklaw richardson Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 The leather strap broke and my Leica M3 crashed onto concrete in the summer of 84. The rangefinder was skewed and then the lever wind seized up. I didn't cry, (honest) sold the remains and bought a Nikon EM, fom the sublime..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
agardner58 Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 This was great to know I'm not the only one! Gotta say though, if anyone takes the prize for someone least likely for me to let hold my camera...it would have to be Allen Chin! No hard feelings Allen, I definately felt your pain, but not with my camera! ;-) On that other topic...I'm not that far from 50, and my doctor wants me checked soon too...but I'm out of there if he asks me to get on all fours! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frank granovski Posted February 5, 2005 Author Share Posted February 5, 2005 I'll be 51 in a few weeks and I swear that I'll never drop a camera or flash again and I swear about that other thing too. It's my wife's turn now. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janice_mackay Posted February 5, 2005 Share Posted February 5, 2005 The camera stories are great, though I'm not too sure about the colonoscopy ones! I've dropped cameras several times while travelling, so maybe jet lag, or just general stress and tiredness had something to do with it. Once while waiting for a boat in Egypt, I stood up and my Pentax K1000 fell off my knee and hit the ground - either metalled road or concrete, can't remember exactly. I thought the strap was around my neck - wrong! The fall dented the edge of the skylight filter I had on the camera at the time and left a small chip on the filter itself. Later I discovered there was another chip on one of the lens elements (not visible from outside), which only shows in certain lighting and can easily be cropped out of prints. By the way, the boat trip that followed was dreadful - my first and worst episode of seasickness to date. And if I hadn't been so sick, I would have been petrified by the size of the waves compared to the size of the fishing boat we were in. It didn't help that none of the crew spoke English. :-( While travelling in Canada in 2003, I dropped my Voigtlander Vito CL *twice* in exactly the same way. I use a small backpack for carrying the cameras, and usually keep the Vito just inside the top opening. Thinking the top of the bag was zipped up, I picked it up and slung it over my shoulder and the Vito went flying, landing on it's head. Thankfully the other cameras in the bag stayed secure in their compartments. There is now a dent on the top right corner of the Vito, to show the camera belongs to me. :-) The first time this happened I was in an airport, and had been pulled out of the line to undergo a thorough search of my carry-on luggage etc. The guy doing the search had been commenting about all the camera gear and film I was carrying and how I must be a keen photographer... then I throw my camera across the room as I'm about to leave. *Not* a good look! The Vito case was already cracked on that corner and had been glued when I acquired it, but after dropping it for the second time the broken bits fell out. I now have a replacement case. I've learned from my mistakes so far, and try to always double-check that the bag is zipped and/or the strap is around my neck or my wrist before moving on. A friend did the same thing with an unzipped bag while photographing a while back, and dropped a very new expensive lens (not classic) onto rocks. I think she was able to retrieve the lens but the repair was not cheap. I'm glad to say that in my experiences the camera has continued to function well afterwards. I'm sure the plastic-bodied modern cameras would not have done so well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karl_adams Posted February 6, 2005 Share Posted February 6, 2005 Yes, I dropped a Voigtlander Vito B also - it was an Ebay purchase that had just arrived. I unpacked it - looked it over (it was very nice) checked the shutter (slow speeds sounded fine), loaded up a film, put it back into the never-ready case, slung the strap over my shoulder and heard it drop sickeningly onto a concrete floor. Alas the strap was rotten, and I'd forgotten to check this. The camera now has a nasty dent on the top-plate, though it works fine. I don't like using the camera because it always reminds me of my stupidity in not checking the strap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john falkenstine Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Minolta x-700 with Tokina Zoom lens, while trepsing through Arizona Countryside on a rainy day in the early eighties, suddenly found myself tipping forward drilling the camera into the dirt...gotta watch out for old barbed wire fences, especially that bottom strand. So I picked myself up, wiped the mud off the lens and kept on shooting. The camera was fine, but the lens got a nasty fungus on the inside...and I still have it..makes excellent "soft focus" unit..:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john falkenstine Posted February 7, 2005 Share Posted February 7, 2005 Oh darn, its not a vintage camera.....but I feel like it is.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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