edh Loc: Oregon North Coast

Was reading one of the threads here and it made me think this might be fun. (well kinda) Does anyone have any sad camera destruction stories?

I'll start.. 20 or so years ago I was messing around with my Pentax Spotmatic, which I had been shooting for probably 15yrs. and loved.. I had been in and out of my Dodge Dakota all day and was finally ready to head for home.. Started the truck put it in reverse, felt a small thump at the left rear, and knew immediately that I had just run over the 2nd love of my life.. My camera which I had left on the ground while collecting all my other hiking stuff..

Think I cried..

ed

snowbear

About 20 years ago my Minolta SRT-201 fell off of the mantle and hit the tile hearth. It dented the front-bottom corner; I couldn't advance or rewind the film. it wasn't fatal, though.

Nikonian72 Loc: Chico CA

In 1972 I was stationed in Iceland with the U.S. Navy. I had recently acquired a new Nikon F2 and several lenses. There are very few gravel roads, and even fewer paved roads, so we traversed rivers, mountains, shore lines, and lava fields, via 4-WD vehicles, and a whole lot of foot hiking.

One outing, three-days from civilization, my new F2 took a 10-foot drop onto volcanic basalt. The only obvious damage was a raised bump in the nickle-covered brass housing, directly beneath the film advance lever. I could not advance the film.

That evening in camp, I spent 30-minutes with a rock hammer, gently "persuading" that bump to flatten. Eventually, I was able to advance the lever, continued shooting that trip, and every outing after that, never taking the body in for official repair.

They don't build 'em like they used to!

RMM Loc: Suburban New York

Getting out of a canoe, I wasn't quite fast enough. One foot on the dock, one foot on the canoe, which slid off to the left. I went in backwards. My Olympus C2100-UZ only got a brief dunking, but it never recovered.

dfalk Loc: Chugiak, Alaska

There is a Kodak Instamatic on Claxton dropzone that I dropped while trying to fish it out of my sleeve after my parachute opened.

judy 2011 Loc: Northern Utah

Yikes. Your poooor cameras!

Acountry330 Loc: Dothan,Ala USA

I had my D-90 fall off of the vettes dash and break the rear screen. Everything worked but could not use the viewer for anything.

MT Shooter Loc: Montana

I had my F4S fall victim to a cheap camera strap. Got dropped over 40 feet onto Granite rocks. It landed on its viewfinder and the viewfinder was destroyed. After finally removing the crushed prism I could find no other damage, not even to my 80-200mm f2.8 ED lens (the hood was egg shaped, but I straightened it out). I had a waist-level finder in my bag for macro work and put it on. The Indestructibe F4S lived on!!! It only cost me $240 for a new prism finder. One of the main reasons I still shoot Nikon, even though I know my D7000 would be toast in the same situation. I switched to OpTech straps at that time and have used nothing else since!

Danilo Loc: Las Vegas

The F2 was the last of the really great Nikons! Too bad for me, I traded 2 of them for a couple Canon F1's which I used for about a year. When I went back to Nikon the F3 had come along, so I went with those...great cameras, but they're not F2's!

sinatraman Loc: Vero Beach Florida, Earth,alpha quaudrant

one of the reasons i like Nikon so much is that their cameras were built like tanks. emphasis on were. the mid 80's to90's entry level film slrs (n-55,65, 75 etc) were plasticy and would break if you looked at them funny. but the older nikons and the dslrs are still made tough. the only camera I ever killed and it was my fault was an N-70 i had and while loading a roll of film my hand slipped and my fingers went right through the shutter.

randymoe

It was my first digital camera. A Nikon Coolpix 100 first sold in 1997 for $1000. I bought mine in 1998 for $400. I was riding my motorcycle when the camera jumped out of the very poorly designed belt case. I tried to catch it, but failed. I quickly pulled over and ran back just in time to watch a truck barely run over it. I snatched it up, but...

The images show the damage and the carrying case.

Camerahand Loc: Huntsville, Tennessee

In the early 70s I took a Kodak (one of the 110s) to the bottom of the river when I fell out of a boat. The next day, I put a hair dryer to it, gave it a small shot of WD-40 and it continued to work for a couple of years.

Then, in the 1980s, the company I worked for bought me a Nikon that was to be my "neck" camera. I had been carrying a Canon AE-1 EVERYWHERE I went because I was required to have it close at hand even when I was out of the truck. The first day on the job with the new Nikon, I got out of the truck and heard the camera going "flop, flop, flop" and I knew it was rolling off the seat. It rolled into a hole filled with thick, brown soupy mud. I stood there and watched the lens cap (on the lens) disappear into the crud. BUT, the camera was an Action Touch which is waterproof to 15 feet. I soon got it to clean creek water and gave it a good bath. It still works today.

THEN, in the late 80s or early 90s, the company bought me a Canon F-1 for serious use. Talk about heavy; that thing was like carrying two bricks around your neck. I had put only about ten rolls of film through it when I dropped it onto a gravel road. Bent the release pin that you have to depress before you can rewind. That was about a $50 repair bill.

Sometimes when you use 'em, you have to abuse 'em.

Turbo Loc: Raleigh, NC

About 5 yrs ago I took the boat ride "under" Niagara falls.

The water mist was thick and the wind was strong. I took a few pics with my trusted Minolta A200. Then the camera simply quit and never took a pic again. Somehow, the water got in and fried the circuitry.

Brucej67 Loc: Cary, NC

Back in the 70's I was shooting a wedding with a Mamiya RB and nature called, I hung the RB on coat hook and the camera slid off and needless to say smashed to the ground. I had to finish the rest of the reception with my 35mm Leica I had in the car.

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

My first SLR, a Miranda Sensorex, hit the floor as a tripod leg shortened itself. I was taking a picture of our jack-o-lantern, and trick-or-treaters came to the door.