[Snapppy]

Theres Nikon F of mine at the bottom of Portsmouth harbour. I was on a small boat and changing lenses when someone fell into me, as the boat was swaying around the Nikon slipped out of my hands, hit the deck and went over the side. First and last time for me not having a neck strap ......or so I thought.

A Nikon F301 of mine with a Nikkor 135mm got dropped in a rock pool. I had taken the neck strap off as I was sunburned and it was getting in the way of a very low shot with me kneeling forward on my elbows to get a picture of a very large crab. The crab was enormous, coconut crab I think, with pincers that could remove limbs. As I lined up for the shot the crab came rushing out of its hidey hole at a surpising speed and scared me badly. As I leapt up I put my hands down to push myself upwards and of course dunked the camera in a salt water pool of wet sand. Back at my hut I showered the Nikon F in some fresh water, sparingly, and the lens and all was ok. She carried on working for about another 5 years when she was sold on.

Nikon F .....another one was used to batter a wallaby in Australia, knocked the wallaby into next week and nary a mark on the F. My youngest son was about 5 at the time and we were out in the hinterlands. A curious wallaby came up and seemed friendly enough then it reared up, kicked my son to the floor and then kicked him again as he tried to get up, it was just an immediate reaction ro scare the animal off, those things can kick....I just swung the Nikon off my neck and blatted the wallaby on the bonce using the camera as a kind of weighted mace. The Nikon was fine, the wallaby less so I suspect at any rate it took off.

Crazy stories! Can't say I've ever had to use my camera in self defense before.

[35mmfilmfan]

No actual damage yet, but sometimes I use my K20 on a monopod, out of a train window on a Heritage Railway, fired by remote, for shots of the loco. It's amazing how close to the track some of the overbridges are ...

[Kerrowdown]

Admit Your Worst Camera Abuse - Stories and Pics

My LXs sustained some battle scars... with dings on the Action Finder/Viewfinder (see attached)

But nothing like Sir Don McCullins Nikon F... https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=2&cad=rja&ua...lErqMDpw8xs0ow

[crossed-up]

Woah! What were you doing with that K3 setup? And where are the results of this project?

I was just experimenting with the car mount rig which I hadn't used for a few years, with a view to doing some video work. Here's the thread with some of the images on.

On the Road Again - PentaxForums.com

[Snapppy]

I was just experimenting with the car mount rig which I hadn't used for a few years, with a view to doing some video work. Here's the thread with some of the images on.

On the Road Again - PentaxForums.com

Thanks, that's awesome. Shots look great!

[blues_hawk]

To keep the lens element from frosting or fogging over I rubber band some of those disposable hand warmers to the hood. I buy a big pack for hunting and what doesn't get used then gets used on the camera. I let the weather sealing deal with the rest.

Awesome tip! I always have those things laying around.

[MossyRocks]

Awesome tip! I always have those things laying around.

I do as well and they only have a finite lifetime even unopened so this way they get used before they are useless and just need to be tossed.

[Fries]

I try to be careful with my equipment but I can be somewhat of a klutz... My first camera was a cheap point and shoot Fujica that was hanging on my hip belt whilst hiking. Somehow I managed to sit on it. After that the shutter button didn't work any more. I gave it a slap and it sort of self repaired! Years ago I was trying to photograph the Northern Lights with my K-5 and the DA*16-50 on a slippery road. After a gust of wind my tripod fell down. The lens was almost in two pieces. After the repair, payed for by my insurance, it worked for another year and then the zoom mechanism got stuck and it developed optical flaws. I could not honestly sell it so I still have it and bought a new DA*16-50. About two years ago I was shooting video on the flats of the Waddensea on low tide. I walked away from the camera (K-3) and lens on my tripod when I heard a dull sound behind me. Although the height was minimal the tripod had tilted over and the lens with expensive ND-filter was buried somewhat in the mud. The lens and filter didn't survive that; the salt water did its ugly work... So I bought a new DA*16-50 with the insurance money. A year later I was using the same set with the new lens again for video shooting a payed gig in a small boat. Just when I stepped to the side to moor the boat the guy in the front of the boat uttered a single "oh" and I watched the whole set go overboard.

I dived behind it...with two iPhones in my pocket! One survived. I just managed to get a grip on the one tripod leg and was able to get everything back in the boat. Only my Røde microphone and the battery grip of my K-3 survived. The camera was running when this happened. It starts at 1.56:

Vimeo

.

When they tried to repair the camera (the insurance company insisted on it) they found a surprising amount of sand in it. Although not that surprising when one looks at this video: Vogelvrij op Vlieland gemist? Start met kijken op NPO Start at about 16.17 minutes. So I bought a second hand k-3 and a new DA*16-50... I don't think the insurance company is very happy with me as their client.

Inside the camera they found

[Snapppy]

I try to be careful with my equipment but I can be somewhat of a klutz... My first camera was a cheap point and shoot Fujica that was hanging on my hip belt whilst hiking. Somehow I managed to sit on it. After that the shutter button didn't work any more. I gave it a slap and it sort of self repaired! Years ago I was trying to photograph the Northern Lights with my K-5 and the DA*16-50 on a slippery road. After a gust of wind my tripod fell down. The lens was almost in two pieces. After the repair, payed for by my insurance, it worked for another year and then the zoom mechanism got stuck and it developed optical flaws. I could not honestly sell it so I still have it and bought a new DA*16-50. About two years ago I was shooting video on the flats of the Waddensea on low tide. I walked away from the camera (K-3) and lens on my tripod when I heard a dull sound behind me. Although the height was minimal the tripod had tilted over and the lens with expensive ND-filter was buried somewhat in the mud. The lens and filter didn't survive that; the salt water did its ugly work... So I bought a new DA*16-50 with the insurance money. A year later I was using the same set with the new lens again for video shooting a payed gig in a small boat. Just when I stepped to the side to moor the boat the guy in the front of the boat uttered a single "oh" and I watched the whole set go overboard.

I dived behind it...with two iPhones in my pocket! One survived. I just managed to get a grip on the one tripod leg and was able to get everything back in the boat. Only my Røde microphone and the battery grip of my K-3 survived. The camera was running when this happened. It starts at 1.56: .

When they tried to repair the camera (the insurance company insisted on it) they found a surprising amount of sand in it. Although not that surprising when one looks at this video: Vogelvrij op Vlieland gemist? Start met kijken op NPO Start at about 16.17 minutes. So I bought a second hand k-3 and a new DA*16-50... I don't think the insurance company is very happy with me as their client.

Inside the camera they found

Woah! You are very unlucky! I guess that's what happens when you are working hard out there with a kit. Thank goodness you have insurance!

[Fries]

Woah! You are very unlucky! I guess that's what happens when you are working hard out there with a kit. Thank goodness you have insurance!

I earn some of my income using this stuff so insurance can really save the day! Luckily I don't feel unlucky.

[Grippy]

My Pentax cameras have been lucky to avoid any abuse as yet, although I have been know to be in the surf with my K50 and tripod up at the Gold Coast facing towards the buildings trying to get some wide long exposure shots of the buildings. My Oly cameras copped a fair bit, my E1 and E3 got dunked a few times by waves (I like to be close to the action), the E1 dropped out of the back door of my car into a hole of bulldust when 4x4ing and the car got crossed up and stuck and early one morning my tripod quick release broke and my E3 with 9mm lens fell to the concrete, bouncing under the little wooden fence racing down the 2m little hill towards the water of the Torrens River here in Adelaide, I just grabbed the strap as the camera was about 10cm from the water, it survived and went on for years.

[TedH42]

A few years ago, a friend and I were hiking up to a pass near Telluride, CO in summer (August). We were a little slower than planned, and didn't make the pass before the storm hit. We hustled back down, first in hail, then rain. My kit for the day was a K-5, FA20-35, FA31, FA77, and a DA18-55 backup for inclement weather. The FAs, which had done a marvelous job on the way up, all went in the waterproof bag, but I thought: "This is just the time to really test out the weather resistance of Pentax equipment". So the 18-55 went on the K-5, and this combo was deliberately left out in the elements for the full trip down, in the pouring rain, hanging on my chest from the neck strap. We got soaked. 3 hours of rain out of the 4 hour trip down, with some pictures taken here and there. Nary a problem, on the hike down or later on. Just wiped it off with a towel when we got down. Still working today. Pentax is tough, certainly in this case.

I actually don't consider that abuse - it was a deliberate test, with possible fatal consequences for the kit.

[ashurbanipal]

Wow, reading through these stories makes me feel lucky! I've had several close calls (tripod nearly tipping over, camera nearly falling off table, etc.), but the only one that really scared me was on a trip to Yellowstone National Park. We'd hiked several miles earlier in the morning, then took the loop road to see as much of the park as we could before heading back to the campsite. The sunset was really pretty, so we pulled over at a suitable location to watch. My tripod was buried under the backpacks, so I was lazy and just set the camera (K-30) up on the concrete curb of the sidewalk to get a decent shot of the sunset. I neglected to properly stow the camera strap, though, and somehow manage to loop it around the toe of my boot. When I went to get up after taking the picture, the strap pulled taut and yanked the camera out of my hands, and it fell onto the concrete. Fortunately neither the camera nor the attached lens was seriously damaged; only left with a small scuff mark on one corner of the camera.

[ehrwien]

Some might call this abuse. I would call it appropriate use.

Making full use of the WR/AW sealing. In a Zodiac inflatable dinghy. On the open sea. In Antarctica. In a blizzard.


The Pentax advantage

That's an ad worthy picture!

[bertwert]

And I thought I was bad for dropping mine into 2 feet of powder, then having to dig in the snow to find it!