First Case of Camera Neglect

[aparmley]

So there I was, outside of my house testing the sharpness of focus at different Av settings. I had my Rebel XT mounted on my tripod, had the self timer on, and I was shooting away... Then I heard a rather unusual sound and I turned around and found that my dog had wrapped himself [the rope he is tied to really] around my landscaping lights and had taken off after some type of animal, bird squirrel whatever... and I saw my landscape light tops jump off their stakes like giant size popcorn kernels popping on the stove... I get up and walk over there to assess the damage when my dog realizes what he has done assumes I am on my way to decipline him. So my dog senses this and takes off running away from me- I ignore him because I knew that I wanted to get a look at what he had done to my lights.... before I can even get over to them a voice said, "turn around" in my head, so I did. What did I see.... My dogs rope is now wrapped around my camera tripod and he is running and the rope is getting tighter and tighter around my tripod... Let me just give you all a few seconds to let this soak in, I want your visuals to develope for a minute so you can begin to see what I saw...

BAMMMMMMMM! down she went camera and all wrapped up in my dogs rope and now in for a ride down the rock driveway... Imaginery camera cuts from camera to camera owner who is falling to his knees in slow motion while the deep slow distorted "NO!" echos through out the tragic scene...... Yea that was my afternoon!

"911, Whats your emergency?" Yes I would like to report a case of Camera neglect please!

Well, dispite a few scratches and such on the lens casing and a rattling sound coming from my flash all appears well... I will be checking it out thoroughly later for any other damages I may have over looked...

So I was thinking... Anyone else out here have a story of camera neglect you would like to share... Maybe we can start a small group therapy session to help us learn where we went wrong and what we can do in the future to prevent such tragedies!

[TheObiJuan]

The sound from the flash is normal. I heard it too on my ol' 350D.

I had all my gear in my camera backpack and was heading out to shoot. I lifted the backpack and put one arm in the shoulder strap. As I tried to put the other arm into the strap I felt the bag was getting lighter and that the bag was unzipped. I turned around and saw my camera and lenses slam to the ground. I wished I had carpet! I quickly ran to the camera and checked it for breaks and what not. I tested all the lenses and flash and everything was fine. This was my cameras first 5' fall.

[aparmley]

Oh man... Wait... its first? How many have there been ?? Mine took a side way plunge from about 36 inches up....

[TheObiJuan]

Three times. ;)
Active sports shooting means I have to run and jump and etc do dodge paintballs and try to get the best shot possible.

I also had an accident when I thought I put my arm into the neckstrap, so that it could be around my shoulder, but I guess my arm didn't make it's way into the strap bc the camera slammed to the ground. (grass atleast)

[TheObiJuan]

Oh yeah, I was climbing up a granite boulder with my 20D and 50mm in my right hand. I stumbled and the right hand with 20D attached slammed to the ground. It broke my fall but made a nasty grinding sound. It didn't leave any marks though or no dents. :p

[JTL]

Ah..the day my best camera ever got hurt and never fully recoverd...also the day I learned (well, truthfully, I still haven't learned) to not walk backwards while looking through the veiwfinder...

I was at the Cliff House in San Francisco with my trusty Roleiflex SL 350 (what a great camera!) and believe it or not, while stepping backwards trying to frame a shot, I stepped off the edge!!! In that split second of panic, I thought I was dead! Well I only tumbled down 15-ft. or so but my camera and lens took a beating. After I realized that I wasn't dead, I was yelling "oh no, my camera!" The light meter never worked right after that, even after a trip to the repair shop. It's sad that my classic camera paid the price for my stupidity...:(

[Bluedog]

Dang I'd been sick to say the least :( ... Hope it all works alright for aparmley.

[aparmley]

Well as far as I can tell, and I am no certified Canon electronic repairman, the camera has come away from it all in perfect operating condition still... I have taken about 20 or so pictures with it and they all appeared to be normal, very plane jane boring pictures like the 2000 that came before the spill, but normal none the less!

[nick_the_guy]

I bought a lens once and only after an hour, accidentally touched the lens. I didn't have any lens cleaner so I thought "hmmm, the lens is Nikon and my eyesglasses have Nikon lenses, so...let's use my eyeglass cleaner"...Fortunately, the camera store was able to clean off my lens PROPERLY and I don't have to feel bad about destroying a $700 lens after only an hour's usage. I didn't sleep that night until after I came back from the store. Excellent service, that's exactly why I bought my camera from the local shop instead of a big-box discount store. I bought my store rep a coffee for that one and a UV filter for myself.