What is the biggest disaster or close call you had with a camera and gear?

This is mine and I think i get D1ck of the year for this one..!!

I decided to take my 60D with 17-55 2.8 in camera bag to an Army re-union in Manchester, England.
We all got very drunk and on the way back to my friend’s house (Where i was staying) in Oldham, which is about 10-15 miles from Manchester, i feel asleep in the taxi (Drunk as a skunk).
When we got to my mates house i got out of the taxi and went to bed, i woke up the next morning and realised i had left the camera bag with camera inside in the taxi..
well, pissed off i travelled back down south (Home) on the train.. Got home and the wife went ballistic.. (I am "Big time" in the dog house for getting drunk and losing the camera and lens).

My friend phoned me up a couple of hours later and the taxi driver had returned the camera back to my friend’s house everything in tact (He drove from Manchester back to Oldham to return the camera in bag)..
Apparently the next taxi customer found the camera bag in the back and gave it to the driver.
My friend has since sent the Camera bag with contents to me by recorded delivery and I have a beloved camera back.. 
That’s the last time i take a good camera out on the lash !! Lesson learnt and D1ck of the year trophy on my mantelpiece ..

Not a disaster. That's a good ending.

Frodge wrote in post #16447692
Not a disaster. That's a good ending.

A close call.. !!

Yeah. I would go take the taxi driver out to breakfast.

I had a EOS 10, which travelled in a bag together with a soft drink. Unfortunately, the drink bottle leaked. The camera drowned in sweet fluid, which dried and glued everything together. I took it apart and washed out all the cog wheels, but the shutter was still stuck. That was the end of that camera.
But I replaced it with an EOS 30, which still works.

My T90 died due to too little use. Rather common problem with that model - the shutter sticks if you don't use them frequently enough.

apersson850 wrote in post #16447727
My T90 died due to too little use. Rather common problem with that model - the shutter sticks if you don't use them frequently enough.

How often did you have to use it to prevent this?

I nearly bought a 1d mark III. Lucky I passed up on the opportunity and then the AF issues came out.

Ah, the T90, affectionately known as the tank. Probably just as well because when the shutter release solenoids stuck, the best thing was to bang the bottom corner under the shutter button side quite hard in the palm of your hand. Some people felt it was due to the use of permanent magnets in the solenoids and the armature or plunger portion in time getting magnetized. But it was a great camera in its day...mid 1980's as I recall.

That's an interesting theory John....

Yes, I also heard about banging the T90 camera into something semi-soft-hard, to make it work again. But not in time, I had already scrapped it by then.
How often you needed to use it to keep it working I don't know. Obviously more often than an occasional shot every second month or so.

On a shoot last weekend at an old mill in southeastern Missouri, I decided the only way to include the mill and the waterfall in a photo was to wade out in the pool at the bottom of the falls. I strapped on my hip waders and waded out into the three foot deep water with my 5DIII on a tripod with a 16-35 F2.8 L II and polarizer. I made some shots and then started back to shore. About half way back my feet went out from under me, and to my horror I dipped the camera and lens completely into the water for a brief second. The camera had a remote cord attached. After getting back to shore I quickly dried my dripping gear with a paper towel. I returned to my cabin and dried all the water I could find on the exterior, the memory card slots and battery compartment were dry. Underneath the polarizer the lens was dry and the lens mount and mirror chamber were dry as well. This could well have been a disaster, but both the camera and lens work perfectly. I used the camera the rest of the weekend and zero problems. Dodged a bullet I believe.


Colin Smith

Frodge wrote in post #16447761
How often did you have to use it to prevent this?

This isn't something unusual. For the very best mechanical watches, manufacturers suggest wearing them one day a month. Have a $20, 000 self-winding IWC and don't want to wear it? They have a machine for you!

Was shooting an event, and had a couple of cameras doing video and one for stills. Our Sony FX7 was standing on a tripod, a couple yards away from me, semi-unattended and rolling as Camera B. One of the entertainers on stilts lost his balance, teetered around a bit ... guess where he went? Of course: Right over to the tripod, reached out to grab the camera & tripod to regain his balance. Well, the guy stayed upright but the tripod & camera went over.

I was too far away to stop it, but luckily there was another bystander who was able to grab it right before it hit the concrete. WHEW, close call.


Also, on a separate occasion, I poked myself pretty hard in the face with the center rod of a shoot-through umbrella, less than an inch from my eye.

Setting up a kingfisher perch and my right foot slipped into the river. I extended my left arm out naturally and smacked my 70-200 2.8L lens hood right off a wall. Took the damage well, as it could have been worse. It was a soggy walk back to the car lol

In the mid 80's my Dad let me borrow a SLR, purchased in Vietnam during his tour in the Navy, for my trip to Disneyland. I was 13 maybe. When I jumped of the go-cart ride in Tommorowland I left the camera on the seat. We walked over to the Matterhorn before I realized what I had done. Ran back to check EVERY yellow car to no avail. Somebody stole it. Went to lost and found and left my information. Camera never showed and I had a horrible remainder of a vacation thinking about the paddle I was gonna' get when I got home. Dad was very nice about it and said accidents happen. Turns out he had bought a new Minolta before I left.