Ever Dropped Your Camera?

I was wondering how many people have actually dropped their camera. I never have but am paranoid about it and was wondering what steps people have taken to prevent, or at least, cut the chances of it happening. If I'm out shooting, I like to carry mine by a wrist strap and don't like to use shoulder or neck straps in general. I think I'll be okay as long as I continue to use a wrist strap.

A little paranoia is quite normal in humans.

Besides, glass lenses dropped onto a concrete floor seldom bounce.

I have not, and hope I never do. I have bags that allow for easy loading and unloading of the camera and I will always keep the Cinch looped around me in some way when I am out with it.

If I do..well, that is why I have insurance.

Never.
But I think neck straps are better than wrist.
You can let it go by hand but seldom lose your neck.

I have numerous times in my shooting have had the strap snag something as I pass by something and almost jerk the camera out of my hand . But now I pick it up by the strap..

EL_PIC wrote in post #16693997
Never.
But I think neck straps are better than wrist.
You can let it go by hand but seldom lose your neck.

-Marie Antoinette

I remember driving down a highway with a friend of mine and passing a herd of pronghorn antelope. He stuck his head and camera out the window to take a snap, then hit the camera on the door frame when coming back in. Cameras and lenses dropped onto the highway at 75 mph do not survive!

Yes, I dropped my 2 week old T3i off our kitchen island. The camera god was kind to me, and the camera (and attached kit lens) suffered no damage. It did however throw a pretty good scare into me, and made me much more cautious with my gear. That was over 4 years ago, and I've not dropped a camera since.

I've had camera, and gear, in bag get knocked off my gun safe by cats. About a five foot drop with no issues. I've dropped my bag with all gear in about 3 feet, bag was unzipped and nothing feel out, no damage done. Camera and 100-400 rolled off car seat to the floor when having to stop quickly, no damage there either.

Things happen over time. (knocking on wood)

Many years ago I bought the new Minolta Maxxum 9 to shoot my daughters wedding. Already had a Maxxum 7 but wanted a 2nd SLR camera for back-up and it was a good excuse to buy a new camera. Ordered it a month ahead so I would have some time to play with it. I had it about a week, was going to go out and shoot some and sat it on the table along with my camera bag. Went to get something out of the camera bag and grabbed it, the bag strap caught the camera strap and the camera went sliding off the table onto the floor. Landed on the corner of the body and the lens, broke the lens mount and cracked the body at the mount.

After inventing a few new four-letter words I called the Minolta and explained the situation, sent it in and they had it fixed and returned to me in time for the wedding. I think it was right around $175 or so for the repairs (not cheap back then but still...) I was always impressed with Minolta equipment and service but this was above and beyond as far as I was concerned. I with they hadn't dropped the ball so badly when the digital age came around, I probably would still be shooting Minolta today.

Several memorable drops in my time.

1. When I was working as a photographer for a large heavy industrial plant, I was photographing the installation of a gigantic lathe in a machine shop. I was on a crane track getting a few overhead pics. Nikon F/Nikkor 35mm f/2.8 on a tripod. I was just wrapping up, unscrewing my camera from the tripod, the crane moved which gave me a start. I grabbed the tripod not knowing the camera was hanging on by a thread. Camera fell off the crane track onto a piece rolled up conveyor belting then slipped onto the concrete floor.

Camera and lens looks a bit second hand, but usable. I still have said camera and lens.

2. Working for a newspaper before digital. A hang glider went over a cliff, I was assigned to cover it. Police rescue already on the scene, patient about 30 meters below. I was traversing a slippery path, slipped and dropped my Nikon F4/ 80-200mm f/2.8. Camera and lens slid the rest of the way coming to rest about 10 metres from the patient. I kind of crawled, then ran back to the car, grabbed my Nikon F90X and managed to get the patient being hauled cliff top by police rescue. My F4 was sitting on the stretcher between the patient's legs being also hauled up. Nikon a right off, patient only minor injuries.

3. There is a Nikon F4 at the bottom of the Pacific Ocean about five or six kilometres off the New South Wales coast

I have had numerous instances of cameras taking nose dives into sand, water, and mud. After the first sand incident, I quickly learned that insuring my gear takes away all of the worry. I no longer blink an eye. Just focus on shooting. I think that a lot of people baby their gear like it is an expensive piece of jewelry. But to me, that takes away all of the enjoyment in shooting because it is distracting me from what I love to do. Make beautiful images.

Some of the stories would give me a heart attack.

Evan wrote in post #16695517
I have had numerous instances of cameras taking nose dives into sand, water, and mud. After the first sand incident, I quickly learned that insuring my gear takes away all of the worry. I no longer blink an eye. Just focus on shooting. I think that a lot of people baby their gear like it is an expensive piece of jewelry. But to me, that takes away all of the enjoyment in shooting because it is distracting me from what I love to do. Make beautiful images.

That's good advice, Evan.

I haven't but TSA did years ago. My 5D was only a few months old and had the 100-400L attached to it when TSA in Hawaii decided to take it out of the bag for inspection. Took a hard 4' drop on the floor and much to my surprise, nothing was broken. However I did have a strong urge to hit the bar afterwards.

This one is truly sad... not even having the pieces left to mourn over...