[Lowell Goudge]

Clearly no one posting here will ever sell any of their gear, given the abuses.

Since I am here, I have 2 stories.

I was kayaking with my *istD and FA 20-105 when the boat got twisted sideways and a pressure wave came over the side, swamping the boat (and camera). It went into a mode of continuous firing. So I quickly pulled the battery. When I got back to camp I opened all the covers, and took the lens off and set camera and lens in the sun for 4 hours to dry out. That was 2004. I still have both and they work fine.

A few years back I was out with my K1 MKII and sigma 70-200/2.8+2X TC. Somehow my dog got his paw through the camera strap and pulled the camera out of my hands, it landed on the lens hood first. Split the lens hood, and the impact bent both mounts on the TC so the camera showed F— and would not focus. You could see daylight through the two mounts.

Took the TC off and pocketed it. Lens and body were fine, but some time later I noticed a slight crack in the mirror housing between the hot shoe and the eyepiece. Cosmetic only so I have left it alone. Got a replacement TC for $200?

Considering my 2 incidents, with purchase price of the gear in total at about $6k to be out $200 total I have come off lucky.

But you will never see me offering my gear used. I could not sell it with a straight face

[carlb]

He wasn't a REAL cyclist - he had a bell. Real cyclists slow down and politely request room to pass - or at least, I do.

Same here, bells are a waste of time for real cyclists

[ChrisPlatt]

Quick release failure on a monopod with a Minolta Maxxum 9000 falling 5 feet onto cement. Landed on its back; camera split in two. Insurance replaced it.

Anyone who has ever used one knows a tripod can be an accident waiting to happen.
Surely there must be some good tripod stories out there...

Chris

[Alex645]

Anyone who has ever used one knows a tripod can be an accident waiting to happen.
Surely there must be some good tripod stories out there...

Chris

I was working on movie shooting on a closed freeway with my monopod, quick-release connected to a 600mm f/4 telephoto with SLR at the end. I was 'waltzing matilda' style on my shoulder when I lost my 'swag'. The camera crew around me gave me zero sympathy and teased at my accident.

Well karma showed up later that night when their 35mm Panavision motion picture camera tipped over in high winds from a wooden high hat. (Very short but stout tripod used by cinematographers.) The Panavision did not survive the short fall and neither did the assistant cameraman.

Platinum | Panavision

[Wheatfield]

Anyone who has ever used one knows a tripod can be an accident waiting to happen.
Surely there must be some good tripod stories out there...

Chris

Oh dear.

I was standing in the middle of a stream with my Tachihara sitting on the Zone VI tripod. I managed to not lock one leg, and the rig suddenly pitched forwards. I have good reactions, I caught it before the camera got wet.

Another time when I was photographing a wedding, I had the Pentax 6x7 sitting on a Manfrotto 055 tripod. I was never able to get the locks adjusted quite right, it was an evil and foul tempered piece of equipment.
Anyway, I was adjusting the bride and groom when I saw the groom go a bit bug eyed. I turned to see one tripod leg slowly collapsing.
Again, I was able to catch things before there was any damage.

I also bought a new tripod. Another Manfrotto, this time a much more robust 028.

I was walking down the street one day with my Nikon F3HP and Nikkor 50mm f/1.2 lens. The camera somehow shed the lens. I was sure it was locked on. This time I didn't save the day and the focusing helical was damaged as well as the optics knocked out of whack.

I was on my way to the camera store. This would have been in about 1976, I was driving a Mazda RX-2. A large Detroit job, I think it was a Plymouth Fury ran into me. Anyway it was quite the boat, and it ran a yield sign and nailed my car right on the drivers side front wheel. My Nikon F2s and 50/1.4 was on the passenger seat. I found it wedged under the gas pedal. It continued to work for six months and then jammed. It was repaired, and served me reliably for another decade.
I think the F2 was just about the toughest camera ever made.

I was shooting a family portrait session in a friend's studio. He had huge watermelons on sticks for lights. I think they were Bowens. There were wires pretty much every which way. The young son decided he had to burn off some steam and snagged a wire, knocking the light over. I was kneeling down doing something or other and I grabbed it and stopped it just before it hit me in the head.

That's all I can think of right now.

[Sqideyes]

A couple of years ago I went to get a shot of the full moon rising under a bridge along a black top path wearing a sling camera bag and carrying my tripod
with my K5ii and Sigma 70-200 2.8 attached over my shoulder. When I got to my location I put my tripod down to remove the bag but I didn't spread the legs
enough to compensate for the slight incline I was on. You can guess what happened next. Luckily for me the camera took the full brunt of the fall(I say that
because the lens was more expensive than the camera) and there was no damage done to the lens or the mounts. Even though the camera sustained
some serious injuries I still managed to get the shot. It is still taking images to this day albeit with a few restrictions.

I was going to get a K3(ii) to replace it but managed to pick up a lightly used K1 to keep me going. Looking at the K3iii to finally retire my battered beast.

[ZombieArmy]

A couple of years ago I went to get a shot of the full moon rising under a bridge along a black top path wearing a sling camera bag and carrying my tripod
with my K5ii and Sigma 70-200 2.8 attached over my shoulder. When I got to my location I put my tripod down to remove the bag but I didn't spread the legs
enough to compensate for the slight incline I was on. You can guess what happened next. Luckily for me the camera took the full brunt of the fall(I say that
because the lens was more expensive than the camera) and there was no damage done to the lens or the mounts. Even though the camera sustained
some serious injuries I still managed to get the shot. It is still taking images to this day albeit with a few restrictions.

I was going to get a K3(ii) to replace it but managed to pick up a lightly used K1 to keep me going. Looking at the K3iii to finally retire my battered beast.

I love stuff like this. Really don't have to be too anxious with this piece of gear anymore

[ChrisPlatt]

I think the F2 was just about the toughest camera ever made.

I was exiting a camera store with my first Nikon F (FTn Photomic) around my neck when somehow
it got caught between the heavy plate glass and metal door and the metal door frame.

The kind folks at EPOI in Garden City gave me a new front prism cover
to replace the original that now had a small bright mark on it...

Chris

[35mmfilmfan]

Nearly had another to add today - went out birding after three months of lockdown, taking with me my NTM Sigma 150-500 lens. It was incredibly blustery on the coast, and after my tripod and telescope had blown over twice, each time landing on long springy grass, I decided not to risk the lens. Frustrating, especially as Wheatears were disporting themselves upon the sward - but discretion seemed the wiser option.

[Wheatfield]

I was exiting a camera store with my first Nikon F (FTn Photomic) around my neck when somehow
it got caught between the heavy plate glass and metal door and the metal door frame.

The kind folks at EPOI in Garden City gave me a new front prism cover
to replace the original that now had a small bright mark on it...

Chris

I had a Plain Jane Nikon F (no meter prism). It was pretty much indestructible. I Miss those days when a workhorse of a camera was actually as tough as a workhorse. One of the things I noted very soon after switching from Nikon to Pentax was the equipment just wasn't built to take the level of abuse that the Nikon F series was able to absorb without twitching.

[veato]

I once dropped my GX20 and 70-300 whilst stupidly trying to change the lens when stood up with no strap. Both hit the concrete and were in a bad way. Fortunately insurance paid out and I was able to buy a (grey import) K5 to replace it.

[trixtroll]

I dropped old crappy Vivitar macro during a lens swap, but wasn't terribly concerned since it'd had been a free lens.

The more regrettable accident was when I accidentally donated some lenses to a thrift store. Digital had recently "killed film" for the first time and I had a shiny new K10D, so I decided to drop off an old ZX-M and a couple of crummy Sakar zooms. It wasn't until a few weeks later that I realized an M 50mm and an A 35mm also been in that camera bag. No idea what they were worth back in 2008, but I sure regret it now.....

[Kendra59]

About 8 years ago, my friends and I made a little trip from Kelowna, BC out to Myra Canyon, so we could go for a hike on the old railway bed, and across multiple trestles bridges. This is beautiful country, and there are many great scenes to photograph. I was trying to get a good shot of a trestle bridge off in the distance, where the rail bed arced around, but the angle just wasn't quite right. I got a bit frustrated. After all, I just spent $1,000 for a new lens, and I expected it to produce appropriate results.

I ultimately decided to improve my viewing angle by going off the approved gravel trail and up into the rocks. The view there was perfect. I got a number of great shots. Unfortunately, I tripped on the way down, went flying OVER several large rocks and the steel trail marker post, did what my friend's claimed was the "perfect" ninja roll, and fully protected my precious camera and lens. Not a scratch on them, but I didn't quite clear all of the rocks myself, breaking the big toe on my left foot.

We were miles from our vehicles, so the walk back was a bit challenging. Every now and again, I would stop on the trail and take a new photo. I heard my friends mutter: I think she has a head injury." The truth was, I couldn't have walked faster if I tried, I didn't know how long it would take to recover from my fall, and I wanted more to admire that just that darn trestle bridge when I got home. So, camera and lens +1, photographer -1... but it could have been so much worse.

[bwgv001]

I dropped my samyang lens. not usable anymore.

[hadi]

not exactly an accident, and not exactly my gear.
back in the early 90's, when i was a kid, my sister got into my dad's closet and pulled out his old manual olympus camera. She thought it would be fun to grab its strap and start spinning in a helicopter motion.
I tried telling her that it will hurt someone, and she didn't listen. I tried stopping her, and WHAM! got hit on my eyebrow, and i still have the scar from it, some 30ish years later.
the camera survived with no issues.