I Dropped my SLR! HELP!!!

[Pineapple]

I dropped my SLR a while ago. It fell off a counter that is about 3ft off the ground. It fell onto a carpet that is very padded and the camera was in a case. It had it's lense on it and now it makes a clicky/scratchy noise on the right side of the camera. Does anyone know what is wrong with it? If I have to take it to a repair shop does anyone know of any in the Lansing, Michigan area? Thanks!!

[DonSchap]

Specifically, what kind of SLR camera is it? D50, D70, D40, D80?

The durability of these kinds of cameras to "droppage" is always in question. You might just want to call Nikon and see what they have available to you for service. You can usually find this information in the rear of the camera's owner's manual.

[Pineapple]

My camera is a D40

[Rooz]

sorry to hear about that, hard to disagnose that online cos it really could be anything. do you have more than 1 lens you could try to see if its consistent regardless of the lens ? does it make the noise without a lens mounted ? does it still take photos ? does it still charge ? have you checked the battery compartment and memory card slot ?

sounds like you are REALLY unlucky. these things can generally take a pretty good beating. :(

[Pineapple]

I don't have any other lenses. I think my mom is getting another lense for it. I took off the lense and it doesn't make a single sound. It doesn't take photo's at all. I listened really close and I think the sound is coming from the lense. does that mean its the lense not the camera? I checked the battery and memory slots and they are fine.

[tizeye]

I had to send my 18-55 lens in for warranty repair after a similar fall. Had it our documenting a patio I was building. Fell lens first into the ground when knocked off a workbench. Thank goodness for a filter. Wouldn't turn or take picture. Also plastic ring broke loose and rattled inside and could see trying to fall out the back. My 55-200 worked fine so I knew was not the camera.

It illustrated to me how fragile that plastic is. Know what I will be paying attention to with my next lens.

[K1W1]

Thank goodness for a filter. Wouldn't turn or take picture. Also plastic ring broke loose and rattled inside and could see trying to fall out the back.
It illustrated to me how fragile that plastic is.

How did the filter stop the lens being broken?

[tizeye]

How did the filter stop the lens being broken?

The damage was NOT cracked glass. The lens elements were fine. It was the lousy plastic guides that held the glass that broke and/or misaligned as the glass was sitting at an angle preventing the lens from turning. Also, if you look in the back of the lens, that plastic ring holding that rear element was totally broken and rattling about.

As far as the filter, I had to remove some caked dirt from the exterior as the ground was relatively soft. Prefer removing from the filter than the first lens element.

[K1W1]

If the drop didn't crack the filter it would not have cracked the lens either.
Either way the lens was damaged filter or no filter so IMO having the filter fitted most likely had no affect positive or negative on the outcome.

[ssil2000]

you must be bored Kiwi, i gave up on the filter/protection i get less flaring now (and i spent 60-70 on the filter) so it wasnt a cheapy!

i tend to put the lens cap back on just before i take the camera out of my hands, that seems to work better for me :)

[Rooz]

I don't have any other lenses. I think my mom is getting another lense for it. I took off the lense and it doesn't make a single sound. It doesn't take photo's at all. I listened really close and I think the sound is coming from the lense. does that mean its the lense not the camera? I checked the battery and memory slots and they are fine.

the easiest way is to walk into a camera retailer acting like your gonna buy another lens, take your camera with you. screw the shops lens onto your camera and if theres no sound then you're sure its your lens.

[Pineapple]

Thank you everyone! I got a lense and my camera works!! so it ws just the lense (thank god) So I just wanted to thank everyone for helping me out!!:D

[Rooz]

good news. now post some pics with your new lens. :)

[woodpigeon]

Pineapple,

I read your letter and thought of a day, forty years ago, when I dropped a lens. I was on a ship that was going to Antarctica and I was on the monkey deck above the bridge. The ship was south of the Falklands and I was on whale watch. I had just purchased in the Falklands a Yashika SLR TLM camera and an Auto Yashinon-DX 1:2.8; 135mm telephoto lens. The lens, in its case, was looped over my head and I was wearing storm clothing and the jacket hood was up. I thought that the strap of the case was behind my head but it had caught on the top of my head and when I looked over the front rail and down at the deck, about thirty feet below me, the strap slipped off my head and the case and lens fell. I remember seeing the case hit the deck with an audible thud and when I got down and picked it up, the bottom of the case was broken off, the protective screw cover of the lens was in bits, and the lens rattled. I was resigned to the lens being beyond repair but a young man on the ship repaired it for me. He said it was difficult. I used that lens with no problems for a couple of years and I still have it. It is in front of me. Perhaps if I had put it into the case, lens end first, and not the screw end first, it might have been unrepairable. The screw cover must have absorbed a lot of the blow. Forty years ago many folk thought that Japanese goods were inferior. That lens incident proved to me that they were not.

Good luck, woodpigeon

[wh0128]

that really does suck, because if it wasn't your lens it could have been your mount. I know the D40 isn't that strong of a camera cause its mostly plastic.

Just remember if you ever fall with your camera aim the lens up so what happened to you doesn't happen and have the risk of screwing up your mount.

You are quite lucky. How did it fall off the 3ft counter? Did someone accidentally snag the strap or something?

[wilson44512]

i dropped my D40 last week. and i was lucky it only broke the 55-200mm lens. i sent it to Nikon to see how much it will cost to fix. my camera still works good with the kit lens