sergiu_m

<p>Wow... noticing the pictures you posted I can quite surely say that there is some bad luck in all of this. You see, in medicine (long time ago, in a galaxy far far away... I was a physician) when discussing fractures we were able to see people falling from 0.5 meters with a nasty, even cominutive, fracture (yes it might happen), and people falling from 3 meters with a "clean", easy to fix one, or even without a scratch. What I see here is that the "body" of the 5D is in the same situation: it fell exactly on the "wrong" side, meaning exactly on the worst line of fracture possible - just look at the metal "cast & assembly" lines (to me the maximum kinetic energy blow was exactly there). Hoping it is a correct one, this theory was reinforced when I saw the picture with the lens - it has just a "clean" cut, the easiest one, but nothing else (worth repairing?). It is possible that with just a slight variation in the drop angle our discussion should have been "wow, look how it survived a 80 foot fall!". I am very sorry for your loss and very glad we are talking about a "fracture" just for the camera, and not a human.<br />P.S.: in my opinion, any statement like "A Nikon (or any other camera) would have survived (except maybe for the bolted metal 35 mm Russian made cameras:):):))" is silly. Watch your steps in the bathroom, you might discover that I am right... :(</p>

<p>EOS 3. Still operational, still impressive, still a brick. Currently loaded with Portra 160 VC. :)</p>

<p>Here is a "story" with a comparison that might seem dumb (to most of you): once upon a time I had a PowerShot S2 IS... In a mountain trip.. same disaster happened. I know, there is a big difference between a S2 an a brick like 70-200 IS, but nevertheless: first I have removed the batteries and put the camera on a rock in open air for several hours for "natural" drying, hoping it was not dead. Then I have packed it in a dry cloth during the rest of the trip and after returning home I have put it into a large bag full of small bags of silica gel. I have put this "package" near a heater for several days and... surprise: the moisture dissapeared; a bigger surprise: the camera was still functioning! After a couple of shots at f/8 there were a couple of nasty spots there but still... not a tragedy. Went to the Canon service center and they were able to clean these.<br>

If this comparison will look to "forced" to you, please apologize: I know the huge difference beteween a bridge and a piece of pro equipment. Nevertheless, I will give it a try, knowing from you that it was fresh (and not salt) water. Good luck anyway.</p>