Kerplop...Kerplop... DOH!

photolady95 · 02-07-2019, 05:45 AM

White Knight K-50 fell off the back of my computer tower three days ago onto hard Terrazzo flooring, picked it up, looked it over, nary a scratch nor a broken part. on lens or camera.

Luckily for you, your lenses didn't land in salt water. That would be a hazard for me and why I only carry my camera with one lens to the places I shoot, the rest stay in the Jeep in the backpack until I need another.

**Rondec** · 02-07-2019, 06:30 AM

Originally posted by aslyfox

what about a wind, would the camera hover in front of you or be blown away ?

Well, I believe that a camera strap is probably pretty important with style of camera, but I would think you could handle it pretty easily with a wrist strap.

Garry Conway · 02-07-2019, 08:01 AM

I like the gravity camera, when can I get one?

Several years ago I was photographing during a hurricane, winds 150 km an hour. While I do know better, I pulled out my trusty K5 with a fa 28-105 lens and photographed waves breaking on the shore (directly into the wind and rain). What can I say not my finest hour.

When I returned inside I toweled off the water and let the camera and lens sit to dry. About an hour later I tried taking a shot and of course it didn't work - wouldn't focus. I shut the camera, took out the battery and when I took the lens off there were water drops inside between lens and camera. I dried off what I could and left it out on the table for a few days. When I tried it again it worked perfectly. Still use the camera and lens without problems and the lens is now my main walkabout lens on my K1.

On another occasion I dropped a kenko set of extension tubes in a swamp never to be seen again.

photoptimist · 02-07-2019, 08:14 AM - **1 Like**

Thanks for all the advice, commiseration, and shared stories.

The rice trick is good one! And had the lenses contained electronics or the water contained salt, I might have tried a distilled water rinse (although I'd have been worried about the rinse forcing water into the dry parts of the lens, especially the glass). Fortunately, our low ambient humidity and warm air from the computer seems to have dried the lenses out.

Yes, I do need to watch zipper on the waist bag! I wish the bag had the same little plaintive bleeeep.....bleeeep.....bleeeep alarm that our refrigerator has when the door is open too long.

Still, I blame gravity for all this and look forward to Rondec's recommended anti-gravity system. Surely Pentax can upgrade the Pentax pixies to add wings or helium or something!

Froggy · 02-07-2019, 11:44 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by photoptimist

So I'm at a local wetland park yesterday, thinking of getting a shot of a pair of geese disgruntled by my stomping about. I pull off the lens cap and promptly drop it. Of course, it makes a bee-line for the water and I can hear gravity and the geese snickering. Oh, well... it was only a beat-up old lens cap.

Then I see a convenient stick on the shore, realize I can cleverly reach the cap with the stick, deftly snag it on the first try, and bring it ashore. YAY! That was when I hear kerplop, kerplop, look down and see two lenses have dropped out of my unzipped waist bag and are now underwater! ARGH!

They were only a M50/1.7 and a M28/2.8 but they were nice Pentax lenses and did not deserve a watery grave. Plucking them from the water as quickly as possible and shaking out the water, I was relieved to see no evidence of liquid on any of the internal elements. At home, I wiped off all the water I could find, tried to suction out water from various crevices, etc.

Putting them in the gentle warm breeze coming from my computer fan seems to have dried them out. There's no water spots or haze on the elements and the aperture blades seem snappy. The helicoids don't seem quite as smooth as they were but that might be my anxious imagination at work.

Time will tell whether corrosion or residual muck takes it's toll but I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. Those old M lenses may not be WR, but their simple, non-electronic construction, and good mechanical tolerances on the barrel seem to have prevented total inundation.

-----

How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences?

I have a M50 1.7 on a Ricoh X7 which spent half an hour at the bottom of a river in the Yorkshire Dales over twenty years ago. The camera was a right-off but the lens still works perfectly. I dried it out in a box with silica gel packs in.

35mmfilmfan · 02-07-2019, 12:22 PM - **1 Like**

Of course, in the UK, once we leave the EU, we shall return to proper British gravity (not this feeelthy foreign rubbish that has been foisted upon us), not to mention pounds and ounces; miles, yards and feet; pounds shillings and pence, and Steam Railways, and Britain will once more take her rightful place in the nineteenth century.

**dhodgeh** · 02-07-2019, 02:39 PM

I feel your pain......

A couple of weeks ago, while changing lenses, my 43 Limited slipped out of my hands, hit the pavement, bounced a couple of times, and then rolled around a bit.

I must have looked completely aghast, because my wife asked "Honey, what just happened?

Fortunately, it was no worse so wear and survived the fall. Whew.......

**Apet-Sure** · 02-07-2019, 03:12 PM

Originally posted by photoptimist

How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences?

Well, one day I learned a lesson that I should not have had to learn. A local group of outdoor enthusiasts was having an outing along some trails through the woods. I thought it might be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone. So, in addition to my K10D, I took my sister-in-law's pit-bull so he could get some exercise. He's sweet natured, but VERY strong. I was walking at the back end of our group, and thought I'd hold the camera above my head to get a shot of the group on the trail, which was gravelly/muddy. Just as I did, Max decided to lunge with all his might against the leash and pulled me off balance. With both arms occupied, I was unable to break my fall. At 62, I didn't bounce like I used to. The camera went from being perhaps 7 feet in the air to slamming into the gravel and mud, landing on the lens. The dog thought it was very entertaining. I hurt, and feared the worst for the camera and lens (M50mm f1.7). There's no telling how many Gs they were exposed to. Fortunately, I had a skylight filter on the lens just for protection; I usually take it off before shooting. We all survived OK. I learned that rambunctious dogs and camera gear don't mix. That would be obvious to most photographers.

Originally posted by reh321

One day my wife and I were walking a hilly trail when I tripped over an exposed root

On our honeymoon in the Appalachians, my wife tripped over *every* exposed root. We had a lot of laughs about it.

**aslyfox** · 02-07-2019, 03:19 PM - **2 Likes**

Remember

Murphy's law - "any thing that can go wrong, will go wrong "

and Finnegan's Corollary to it

" Murphy was an optimist "

**robgski** · 02-08-2019, 05:06 AM

Originally posted by photolady95

Moral of the story.........zip waist bag before reaching for lens cap?

Always a good lesson, usually learned the hard way.

**ThorSanchez** · 02-08-2019, 07:59 AM

I had the K-3ii in a coat pocket with the 40XS attached. Getting out of my wife's car while pulling it out of the pocket something got snagged and it fell about three feet onto a paved driveway. Landed on the front, right on the XS. Put a few minor scratches on the body, and slightly decentered the XS. Camera still works great. And it gave me an excuse to get the 40LTD as a replacement.

One other time I was rock-hopping across a small stream with the K-30 and an older non-WR 55-300. Slipped, fell, and the camera and lens were both partly submurged for a fraction of a second. Pulled the lens, put it in a ziplock with some rice and it and the camera were fine.

PDL · 02-10-2019, 02:30 PM

This has happened to me, twice with about 15 years between incidences.

First: Taking a image of the street lights near my home where there is a curve in the road. On occasion at night the fog rolls in and the lights show display a nice "wedge" of light illuminating a slight S curve. Met the requirements for nice image, S curve, diagonal lines etc. Swapped lenses (18-55mm Kit and the 50-200mm almost kit - *ist Ds) and set the 18-55mm on a guard rail post. After attaching the 50-200mm I twirled around and my pseudo bag bounced the 18-55 onto the side walk and into the gutter. It came through without anything but superficial scratches. I gave the *ist Ds and those "kit" lenses to my son, who at last report is still using them.

Second: 2017 in Bath GB I was taking images of the Royal Crescent building with my Bower 8mm Ultrawide. Again, while changing lenses the Bower fell out of my hand and bounced off the sidewalk. There was some damage, it appears that either the lens cracked internally or the front element has separated from "some thing". There is a ring of what appears to be frost all around the lens. It still works and the lens has never been a "sharp" one. I have used it ever since but it still pains me to remember when I did it. I used it on our last vacation in 2018 and I will continue to use it until the glass falls off.

I have had some minor drops, mostly having my camera bag fall over and having a lens or something else roll out onto the floor. Mainly embarrassing but not having done any great damage. When I am around water or near an large drop off, I will take a step back and concentrate on the task at hand changing anything. Sometimes it pays to be a bit paranoid.

**ChrisPlatt** · 02-17-2019, 10:31 AM

You Tube

Chris

**robgski** · 02-17-2019, 11:24 AM

I had another incident today that reminded me to add quick release clips to my camera bags. Zippers are great for completely sealing a bag against weather and dust, but inconvenient when shooting and moving. Today I hitched my bag up on my shoulder as it was slipping, I hadn't zipped it up, and the K-5's momentum took it out of the bag and onto the concrete, popping the plastic covers off both LCD's, damaging the 2x teleconverter mount, and possible damaging the AF mechanism. A quick release clip would have secured the bag and still allowed me convenient access to the camera. Live and learn.

Shenloanne · 02-21-2019, 02:34 AM

Originally posted by monochrome

I was near death from heart failure each time.

I dropped a K100D and tamron 70-300 LD Di macro on ice after doing an impressive prat fall in 2009. The shutter went biccies, like it was laughing at me from beyond the grace and the front element of the lens was at a strange angle. Both of em a write off. Christmas morning too.

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
doh	jgnfld	Pentax K-70 & KF	12	04-22-2017 03:33 AM
Ever had one of those DOH! moments?	Tako Kichi	Pentax DSLR Discussion	11	09-29-2016 03:59 PM
Doh-nut	wolvesrule	Monthly Photo Contests	0	11-16-2014 01:51 PM
Don't know how this happened! Doh!!!	foots	Pentax DSLR Discussion	2	02-15-2008 08:41 AM

02-07-2019, 05:45 AM	#16
photolady95 Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: May 2009 Location: Cruising the forum watching his back Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 12,712	White Knight K-50 fell off the back of my computer tower three days ago onto hard Terrazzo flooring, picked it up, looked it over, nary a scratch nor a broken part. on lens or camera. Luckily for you, your lenses didn't land in salt water. That would be a hazard for me and why I only carry my camera with one lens to the places I shoot, the rest stay in the Jeep in the backpack until I need another.

02-07-2019, 06:30 AM	#17
Rondec Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Gladys, Virginia Photos: Gallery Posts: 27,663	Originally posted by aslyfox what about a wind, would the camera hover in front of you or be blown away ? Well, I believe that a camera strap is probably pretty important with style of camera, but I would think you could handle it pretty easily with a wrist strap.

02-07-2019, 08:01 AM	#18
Garry Conway Junior Member Join Date: Apr 2016 Location: Port Williams, Nova Scotia, Canada Posts: 48	I like the gravity camera, when can I get one? Several years ago I was photographing during a hurricane, winds 150 km an hour. While I do know better, I pulled out my trusty K5 with a fa 28-105 lens and photographed waves breaking on the shore (directly into the wind and rain). What can I say not my finest hour. When I returned inside I toweled off the water and let the camera and lens sit to dry. About an hour later I tried taking a shot and of course it didn't work - wouldn't focus. I shut the camera, took out the battery and when I took the lens off there were water drops inside between lens and camera. I dried off what I could and left it out on the table for a few days. When I tried it again it worked perfectly. Still use the camera and lens without problems and the lens is now my main walkabout lens on my K1. On another occasion I dropped a kenko set of extension tubes in a swamp never to be seen again.

02-07-2019, 08:14 AM - 1 Like	#19
photoptimist Pentaxian Join Date: Jul 2016 Photos: Albums Posts: 5,128 Original Poster	Thanks for all the advice, commiseration, and shared stories. The rice trick is good one! And had the lenses contained electronics or the water contained salt, I might have tried a distilled water rinse (although I'd have been worried about the rinse forcing water into the dry parts of the lens, especially the glass). Fortunately, our low ambient humidity and warm air from the computer seems to have dried the lenses out. Yes, I do need to watch zipper on the waist bag! I wish the bag had the same little plaintive bleeeep.....bleeeep.....bleeeep alarm that our refrigerator has when the door is open too long. Still, I blame gravity for all this and look forward to Rondec's recommended anti-gravity system. Surely Pentax can upgrade the Pentax pixies to add wings or helium or something!

02-07-2019, 11:44 AM - 1 Like	#20
Froggy New Member Join Date: Nov 2011 Photos: Gallery Posts: 15	Originally posted by photoptimist So I'm at a local wetland park yesterday, thinking of getting a shot of a pair of geese disgruntled by my stomping about. I pull off the lens cap and promptly drop it. Of course, it makes a bee-line for the water and I can hear gravity and the geese snickering. Oh, well... it was only a beat-up old lens cap. Then I see a convenient stick on the shore, realize I can cleverly reach the cap with the stick, deftly snag it on the first try, and bring it ashore. YAY! That was when I hear kerplop, kerplop, look down and see two lenses have dropped out of my unzipped waist bag and are now underwater! ARGH! They were only a M50/1.7 and a M28/2.8 but they were nice Pentax lenses and did not deserve a watery grave. Plucking them from the water as quickly as possible and shaking out the water, I was relieved to see no evidence of liquid on any of the internal elements. At home, I wiped off all the water I could find, tried to suction out water from various crevices, etc. Putting them in the gentle warm breeze coming from my computer fan seems to have dried them out. There's no water spots or haze on the elements and the aperture blades seem snappy. The helicoids don't seem quite as smooth as they were but that might be my anxious imagination at work. Time will tell whether corrosion or residual muck takes it's toll but I'm pretty happy with the outcome so far. Those old M lenses may not be WR, but their simple, non-electronic construction, and good mechanical tolerances on the barrel seem to have prevented total inundation. ----- How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences? I have a M50 1.7 on a Ricoh X7 which spent half an hour at the bottom of a river in the Yorkshire Dales over twenty years ago. The camera was a right-off but the lens still works perfectly. I dried it out in a box with silica gel packs in.

02-07-2019, 12:22 PM - 1 Like	#21
35mmfilmfan Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2016 Location: Norfolk, UK Posts: 4,338	Of course, in the UK, once we leave the EU, we shall return to proper British gravity (not this feeelthy foreign rubbish that has been foisted upon us), not to mention pounds and ounces; miles, yards and feet; pounds shillings and pence, and Steam Railways, and Britain will once more take her rightful place in the nineteenth century.

02-07-2019, 02:39 PM	#22
dhodgeh Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: FLA-USA Photos: Albums Posts: 214	I feel your pain...... A couple of weeks ago, while changing lenses, my 43 Limited slipped out of my hands, hit the pavement, bounced a couple of times, and then rolled around a bit. I must have looked completely aghast, because my wife asked "Honey, what just happened? Fortunately, it was no worse so wear and survived the fall. Whew.......

02-07-2019, 03:12 PM	#23
Apet-Sure Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: Goldsboro North Carolina Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,872	Originally posted by photoptimist How about the you? Has your Pentax gear (or other beloved photographic accoutrement) had any near-death experiences? Well, one day I learned a lesson that I should not have had to learn. A local group of outdoor enthusiasts was having an outing along some trails through the woods. I thought it might be a good idea to kill two birds with one stone. So, in addition to my K10D, I took my sister-in-law's pit-bull so he could get some exercise. He's sweet natured, but VERY strong. I was walking at the back end of our group, and thought I'd hold the camera above my head to get a shot of the group on the trail, which was gravelly/muddy. Just as I did, Max decided to lunge with all his might against the leash and pulled me off balance. With both arms occupied, I was unable to break my fall. At 62, I didn't bounce like I used to. The camera went from being perhaps 7 feet in the air to slamming into the gravel and mud, landing on the lens. The dog thought it was very entertaining. I hurt, and feared the worst for the camera and lens (M50mm f1.7). There's no telling how many Gs they were exposed to. Fortunately, I had a skylight filter on the lens just for protection; I usually take it off before shooting. We all survived OK. I learned that rambunctious dogs and camera gear don't mix. That would be obvious to most photographers. Originally posted by reh321 One day my wife and I were walking a hilly trail when I tripped over an exposed root On our honeymoon in the Appalachians, my wife tripped over every exposed root. We had a lot of laughs about it.

02-07-2019, 03:19 PM - 2 Likes	#24
aslyfox Seeker of Knowledge Join Date: Aug 2016 Location: Topeka, Kansas Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 24,582	Remember Murphy's law - "any thing that can go wrong, will go wrong " and Finnegan's Corollary to it " Murphy was an optimist "

02-08-2019, 05:06 AM	#25
robgski Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,817	Originally posted by photolady95 Moral of the story.........zip waist bag before reaching for lens cap? Always a good lesson, usually learned the hard way.

02-08-2019, 07:59 AM	#26
ThorSanchez Site Supporter Join Date: Dec 2012 Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 2,807	I had the K-3ii in a coat pocket with the 40XS attached. Getting out of my wife's car while pulling it out of the pocket something got snagged and it fell about three feet onto a paved driveway. Landed on the front, right on the XS. Put a few minor scratches on the body, and slightly decentered the XS. Camera still works great. And it gave me an excuse to get the 40LTD as a replacement. One other time I was rock-hopping across a small stream with the K-30 and an older non-WR 55-300. Slipped, fell, and the camera and lens were both partly submurged for a fraction of a second. Pulled the lens, put it in a ziplock with some rice and it and the camera were fine.

02-10-2019, 02:30 PM	#27
PDL Pentaxian Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: PNW USA Photos: Gallery Posts: 2,128	This has happened to me, twice with about 15 years between incidences. First: Taking a image of the street lights near my home where there is a curve in the road. On occasion at night the fog rolls in and the lights show display a nice "wedge" of light illuminating a slight S curve. Met the requirements for nice image, S curve, diagonal lines etc. Swapped lenses (18-55mm Kit and the 50-200mm almost kit - ist Ds) and set the 18-55mm on a guard rail post. After attaching the 50-200mm I twirled around and my pseudo bag bounced the 18-55 onto the side walk and into the gutter. It came through without anything but superficial scratches. I gave the ist Ds and those "kit" lenses to my son, who at last report is still using them. Second: 2017 in Bath GB I was taking images of the Royal Crescent building with my Bower 8mm Ultrawide. Again, while changing lenses the Bower fell out of my hand and bounced off the sidewalk. There was some damage, it appears that either the lens cracked internally or the front element has separated from "some thing". There is a ring of what appears to be frost all around the lens. It still works and the lens has never been a "sharp" one. I have used it ever since but it still pains me to remember when I did it. I used it on our last vacation in 2018 and I will continue to use it until the glass falls off. I have had some minor drops, mostly having my camera bag fall over and having a lens or something else roll out onto the floor. Mainly embarrassing but not having done any great damage. When I am around water or near an large drop off, I will take a step back and concentrate on the task at hand changing anything. Sometimes it pays to be a bit paranoid.

02-17-2019, 11:24 AM	#29
robgski Loyal Site Supporter Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Shenandoah Valley, Virginia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 8,817	I had another incident today that reminded me to add quick release clips to my camera bags. Zippers are great for completely sealing a bag against weather and dust, but inconvenient when shooting and moving. Today I hitched my bag up on my shoulder as it was slipping, I hadn't zipped it up, and the K-5's momentum took it out of the bag and onto the concrete, popping the plastic covers off both LCD's, damaging the 2x teleconverter mount, and possible damaging the AF mechanism. A quick release clip would have secured the bag and still allowed me convenient access to the camera. Live and learn.

02-21-2019, 02:34 AM	#30
Shenloanne Forum Member Join Date: Jun 2018 Posts: 99	Originally posted by monochrome I was near death from heart failure each time. I dropped a K100D and tamron 70-300 LD Di macro on ice after doing an impressive prat fall in 2009. The shutter went biccies, like it was laughing at me from beyond the grace and the front element of the lens was at a strange angle. Both of em a write off. Christmas morning too.