[onlineflyer]

You don't need to stick your lens in someone's face, or get too close to a wild animal to get in trouble. Years ago I was vacationing in Ixtapa, Mexico, walking along the beach with my Pentax and tele lens hanging around my neck. Someone pointed out the presidential yacht as off shore, so I quickly pointed my lens to the boat. The armed soldiers nearby didn't think that as something I should be doing. One had a rifle pointed at me while another politely told me to stop. I slowly lowered my camera and my head, and walked away without getting one shot (camera or rifle).

[Paul the Sunman]

Similar. I was living in a regional town in Northern Ireland in the early '80s, during "The Troubles". On the weekends I would go down to Belfast to train at the university gym, and stayed in the Youth Hostel on Saturday nights.

One foggy Sunday morning, before the gym opened, I was walking around Belfast with my OM-1 taking atmospheric pictures of the river and old buildings. An army armoured car drove past me and came to a screeching halt. Several soldiers with very big guns and what looked like bright red toilet brushes on their heads spilled out of the back and rushed toward me. I managed to placate them, with my accent (Australian) seemingly convincing them I was not a threat. I had actually not taken a picture of them or any other military subject.

[garywakeling]

Haha, thanks for reminding me of the time I slid down a rock face and straight into a river, 2 weeks later the K1000 had dried out and I was up and running again.... sadly I still have the scars on my arms from where I tried to hold on

[Bruce Clark]

New years Eve, fireworks at local park. Camera sitting on tripod but loosened to enable quick rotation. Lots of kids running about with luminescent glow sticks. Just on a whim, I thought it might have a nice effect if I tracked some of these kids running about with these lights in their hands. Well it did not work too well photographically. I think one would need some practice to get it right. Unfortunately some parent got the impression I was taking surreptitious images of their kids for nefarious purposes. Quick end of experimentation and forced to beat a hasty retreat. OK in hindsight I should never even considered doing anything of the kind.

[sqrrl]

Dropped my K10 in a swamp in far north queensland - I got in and grabbed it before beating a very rapid retreat - I'd been photographing crocodile tracks.

K10 survived the exercise, the lens didn't.

[tvdtvdtvd]

Geology field camp, Canyonlands National Park. We camped on the Mesa. Next morning I took a look around to take some pictures,
(had a hand-me-down Yashica TL Electro at the time). Just below the top of the mesa are a series of shallow caves cut into the sandstone,
formed by water and blowing wind. As these caves get deeper the roofs eventually collapse and here and there were large slabs of
sandstone on the ground. As sandstone weathers it releases grains of sand, and loose sand on stone can be slippery.

I found a large slab of sand stone perched at a scenic spot clear of vegetation and affording a nice view. I settled down and took a
few pictures. Now as it happens the slab I was sitting on was angled slightly, (5 degrees), towards the cliff edge. When I tried to
get up from my sitting position my foot slipped and the momentum coupled with the slight angle caused me to slide on the slab. I
immediately splayed out flat but still managed to slide a couple feet before I stopped. Caught my breath, then slowly turned
around and inched my way over to the cliff edge. 400ft drop.

I never told a sole back at camp what had happened, (I was too embarrassed). Definitely the closest I've ever come to an instant death.

[Snafu711]

Back in the film camera era I went on a snorkling trip with two cameras. I had purchased a watertight plastic bag to put the camera in - designed for making every camera an underwater camera. The bag collapsed during the first dive already and filled with sea water. Camera #1 destroyed at day 1 (it wasn‘t WR).

The next day I took pictures of a castle protecting the habor. When shooting from the tower, I tripped over a stone and hastily grabbed a handrail. Camera #2 didn‘t survive the 50 feet drop ...

The rest of the trip was somewhat frustrating, with tons of pittoresque scenes and no way to capture them. Neither the money nor a friendly photo store to get a new camera.

The happy ending: got myself new and better equipment after the trip.

[08amczb]

Once I did a night shot about the church of Fót (in Hungary) and accidentally I pushed my tripod. The lens zoom mechanics didn't survive the fall, but the K-30 didn't get hurt. Luckily it was my firs cheap Tamron 18-200 superzoom which I bought used.

[clickclick]

This was quite a few years back (1980). Was with a friend on foot spending a day in Washington D.C. taking pictures. A Wednesday, about 2PM, and in an area with a fair amount of people not that far off - L'Enfant Plaza, and the next thing I know, we have a guy pulling a gun on us saying, "give me your cameras." We did. That become my upgrade path to the then just introduced ME Super, which I still have. He got my K1000 and a Vivitar zoom that was on the camera. I had a knapsack with more stuff in it, and when he asked what as in it, I said, "hat and gloves", but I failed to mention my M28/2.8 and M50/2, both of which I also still have. And what I miss the most about this is not somehow getting my film out of the camera - think I had some really neat shots I lost. Always have wondered what happened to my gear. I'd like to get another K1000 for posterity, but eBay seems to be flooded with beaters, and nice MIJ ones seem to go for silly money.

[texandrews]

Fell off a 5 foot stepladder while shooting at an aquatic garden (one leg sunk into the mud, slow-mo fall) and fell straight down, my 645Z first to hit the ground. It was fine, I was injured. Never let anyone say Pentax is not tough!

[onlineflyer]

Fell off a 5 foot stepladder while shooting at an aquatic garden (one leg sunk into the mud, slow-mo fall) and fell straight down, my 645Z first to hit the ground. It was fine, I was injured. Never let anyone say Pentax is not tough!

Ouch, hope your injury wasn't too bad.

[TaoMaas]

I used to like to shoot at our local zoo and I figured out that if I came on days when there would be no other visitors...like during torrential rainfalls...I'd have the place all to myself. All I had to do was cover my gear and myself with a big poncho, then go shoot at all the indoor exhibits. One of the first times I did this, I came walking up to the ticket window in a downpour and the lady said, "You've GOT to be kidding me!" On one such day, I was shooting at a massive saltwater aquarium inside the aquatic exhibit and using a flash to help freeze the motion of the fish. I'd been watching through my viewfinder and shooting whatever happened in front of my lens when I began to notice that there were hardly any fish coming by. I pulled down my camera, looked around the aquarium, and saw that all the fish were gone! Or so I thought. That's when I spotted them up near the surface, floundering on their sides like they were about to die. My first thought was, "Oh no! I've killed $20,000 worth of fish!" Luckily though, it appeared that my constant use of a flash must have simply disoriented them because they all went back to their normal routines once I stopped shooting. It sure scared the wits out of me though.