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

My closest call was almost buying an EOS-M. I waited and waited for a Canon mirrorless to come out. When it did, I bought a Sony NEX-7 and a year later a Fuji x100s. But I still have a T4i and four very good Canon lenses.

The belt strap on the official (included) zippered 100-400 pouch I was wearing came loose at the seam, and it fell from my waist onto a rocky outcrop I was passing over, during a photo hike at a state park in Texas. I failed to convince Canon that it was their lens-case strap that failed me, and caused the breakage to the IS system. All over a simple, poorly-sewn seam, booooo. Boo canon strap maker.

Dropped my almost new 6D with my 70-200 F4l IS on it out of my camera bag from about 3 feet onto a concrete sidewalk. The Meike grip got scratched up pretty bad, but evidently cushioned the fall. Camera, lens and grip all work perfectly. What made it worse was that the wife had just warned me it was getting ready to fall out and I assured her it would not.

had a water housing leak and let in a fair amount of salt water onto a 1D2 and 50mm Everything still works perfectly

Geejay wrote in post #16479441
In 1981 the porter in Hotel Carter, NYC stole my camera gear from the luggage check room while we were at lunch. This was the last day of our first trip to the US, and his haul included about 6 rolls of shot film.... All we could do was get a police report number and then leave for the airport.

We were young and very naive, but I'd love to have those images of the twin towers back...

I guess one should forgive and forget, so I hope he finds out who his father is one day....

Hotel Carter, circa 1981. you were lucky you weren't murdered for your camera. Sodom and Gomorra had nothing on the "Square " back then

# 1. dropped 1D2 &16-35L on the second day of a vacation. Both had to go to Canon.

# 2. dropped 70-200L on a bus floor getting out. No damage.

# 3. opening up an umbrella on my picnic table knocked over my 1D4, 500mm L f/4 IS II, and 1.4x MKIII. It fell onto the deck and broke the extender in half, and decentered the autofocus on the 1D4. The lens was/is OK. Converter & camera repaired by Canon.

# 4. hasn't happened yet.

Fricks wrote in post #16479717
had a water housing leak and let in a fair amount of salt water onto a 1D2 and 50mm Everything still works perfectly

I had the same close call, but I think mine wasn't even less close. I only had an o-ring for one of the buttons leaking and the puddle that formed in the housing didn't even get deep enough to touch anything inside.

Only thing I can say about that is 'Nice camera MATE"

Ive had two that I can recall. Once in Tahoe I was changing my Lee GND and it slipped and landed on a rock. I had JUST got it and I overpaid because they had been out of stock so long, but I wanted it for this trip. I thought for sure it was done for. Picked it up, brushed it off, there was a tiny chip on the corner and no other damage. Totally still usable and works fine two years later.

Another time I was out at Rodeo Beach and the tide was pretty average. Waves were normal, no problems. Shooting for about a half hour and the water had gotten up to my knees once. I see a larger than average swell rushing in out of nowhere. I grab my tripod and just hold it up as high as I could. Wave slams into me and is almost over my head. Surge washes out, I do a quick check for damage. Everything looks fine. My bag was on a rock behind me, everything dry there too. Not another swell like that for the rest of the evening. Weird.

I had a stylist knock over a light stand during a shoot at the beach. Boom! There went one strobe. =(

Got a 5D wet with some salt water; took it apart & cleaned it and got it working for a while again before it died once more. Here's a shot of what the 5D looks like naked:

I almost took a pic of a fat girl.

Tried doing a selfie..lens cracked, shutter warped

Took my gear on rafting trip through interior Alaska, kept everything in a "waterproof" duffle. So much for listening to North Faces' claims about waterproof. Rained most of the time, everything got soaked, dried out and all was fine (except my nerves for a while)

Thought this would be the last shot my trusty 20D would ever take
But it lives on

my speedlight and umbrella got snatched away by a gust of wind. couldnt find it after that, as it was taken out to sea. i have since changed to using reflectors for outdoor shoots.

One night I was taking pictures for a party and dropped my camera while trying to adjust something with my flash.

Few weeks later I was grabbing my gear out of the trunk and didn't check my bag to see if I zipped it back up and I threw it over my shoulder and my camera flew out.