How far has your camera bounced?

How far did you drop it?

What make and model was it?

How high did it bounce?

What sound did it make?

Did any one else see or hear it bounce?

What sound did they make?

What sound did you make?

OK.......this is the reason I no longer use tripods. Bouncing cameras. Problem is, when they bounce they are finito. I wrecked 2 Hasselblads & an Eos 1N before I "saw the light" Problem for me as a wedding photographer is that I get so caught up in creating the image that I forget whatever else may be happening. I like to shoot on an angle so I would often have the camera positioned in a manner which would cause the weight to be off centre..........BANG.
Last time it happened I was using a brand new Blad, I died inside but immediately looked at the couple & said "no problem, I have another in my bag" & carried on shooting as if nothing had happened.
The sound you inquire about is a rather loud crash.


No more Manfrottos for me.

Cheers,

Paul

Out of a moving car....

I once dropped my D1x out of a car moving about 20 mph. I was leaning out trying to get a shot while my wife drove and the strap was loose around my neck. Luckily it hit the grass and just kinda rolled. No harm done save for the few missed heartbeats....

The water stopped the bounce.

Not as expensive as those, but on New Years day I was out shooting at Aasleagh Falls. I need to reposition the tripod legs in the water when I see my 400D/sigma 10-20 fall off the (supposedly) locked remote plate. It made a huge plop.. I grabbed it straight out and immediately removed the main battery (some also reminded me about the smaller timing battery). I shook as much water out as I could and wrapped it in cloth to try. After 3 days in a towel on the heater, it worked fine. It did have liquid layers on the LCD, but these went a day or 2 later. Both lens and camera are working fine. The 400D was only a backup but I like using it for Landscapes (higher mp and bigger screen than my 20D).

Like a Ping-Pong ball!

Hi, Will,

In 1978, I was traveling to Nigeria to attend a bid opening. The only camera I took along was a brand-new Olympus XA-2, a lovely little "clamshell" design full-frame 35-mm film camera.

There had just preciously been a rash of aircraft hijackings, and incresed security measures were in effect at JFK airport in New York, where I was to catch my international flight. They had set up a series of cafeteria-style tables in a hallway on which to examine passengers' carry-on luggage. A I took the XA-2 out of my briefcase, I slipped, and it went straight to the terrazzo floor. It bounced like a Ping-Pong ball, about a foot in the air on the first bounce, making a corresponding sound.

I was very discouraged, but a quick test shot suggested that the camera had survived fine. In fact, it worked just fine during the whole trip.

Tripods being bumped into and trpped on can be disasters. That crunched one 28mm EF lens, but it was repaired and one Canon Elan film camera. Only works on P for program now!

A poor Contax to Eos adapter fell out of my camera at Big Sur and I caught the valuable lens, knocked over my tripod, caught that, went forward and caught myself. Three strikes and I survived!

Asher

Took my (then new) 30D out of the backpack, figured I might as well take the backpack with me as well.
Put the camera on top of the car, took my backpack out the car, put it on, and slammed the door shut.
****!
Too late, just as I turned around, I saw the camera bounce on the road.
Luckily I had the 300/4 on, and the hood extracted, which took the grunt of the impact.
First day out with the new camera, and I bent the hood on the lens, bent the lips on the flashshoe, scratched the upper display and shaved a little color of the camera :-(
But the upside was, nowadays I'm not afraid I'll get a little dirt on it, when I'm out and about.

fun thread!

I'll participate

I had the camera smashed on a police cruiser during a political rally (the officer opened the door very quickly and broke the hood of the 24-70, then the camera went down to the street "lens first" and I had to change the lens on the spot, no harm to the camera (1Ds) but the bill for the lens was 200 bucks. The officer said "sorry", actually... but those things do happen.

The 1Ds met the street several more times with no damages other than cosmetics. The lenses do appear to be more fragile (hoods "go" very easily)

it is a good habit to turn the strap to make a double grip to the hand.. dunno how to explain it better..like in this picture here



that's a nikon but it can be performed on canons too

How far did you drop it?
1.80 m

What make and model was it?
Canon EOS 40D plus the BG and a 50mm/1.8

How high did it bounce?
20cm (the parts of the lens, the battery grip and batteries have ended up within a cirle of some 4 meters)

What sound did it make?
Similar to the sound which is generated by a falling 5D, only at a 1.6 crop factor.

Did any one else see or hear it bounce?
Lots of drunken people.

What sound did they make?
Hahahahahahahaha, whaahaahaahaa, hiihiihiihiiihii, etc.

What sound did you make?
Sh**********t!!!!

When visiting a friend, I hung my 20D with an EF 200mm f/2.8 on a wall mounted coat rack in the hallway by the camera strap. As I continued to walk inside, the whole coat rack detached itself from the wall and crashed to the tile floor. Most of the fall was probably cushioned/muffled by coats, but the 200mm's lens cap took a hit and came out semi-crushed on one edge. Later MTF testing revealed that the lens and camera were as good as they were before the incident.

Bart

How high did it bounce?

I'm not sure how high it bounced because I didn't see it fall.

While I was covering the Napa Marathon last Feb. the zipper worked loose on my Canon backpack and my 30D with EF-S 17-85 IS fell from shoulder height to the pavement. Then the Tamron 70-300 fell, followed by the thrifty-Fifty and last of all my half-century old Argus C-3.

The 30D is fine with a scratch or two. The 17-85 had to go to Canon for repairs, the 70-300 and the thrifty-Fifty both got dings in the focusing ring, but work fine.

The Argus "Brick" left a dent in the pavement, and works fine.

I have since learned that the zippers on the Canon backpack can work open if not fully closed, or secured. Now there's a mini-carabiner on the zipper pull to keep it closed. And I now use a SlingShot 200AW for my daily shooting.

Hi, Will,

My best bounce was a brand-new Olympus XA-2 (a very compact full-frame 35-mm film camera), in about 1980. I was on my way to Nigeria, and it was the only camera I took. It was during one of the first periods of concern over air hijacking, and new security procedures were in effect at JFK airport in New York. I had laid my belongings out on a long "cafeteria" table for inspection, and an improvident motion on my part sent the XA-2 off the table onto the terrazzo floor.

It bounced like a ping-pong ball, and so far as I can remember, made about the same sound.

A quick check showed it to be, thankfully, undamaged and fully operational (as it is to this day).

The last camera I had that I suspect would have survived such a bounce was my Canon EOS-300D (EOS Digital Rebel), whose plastic shell was resilient and durable. This construction was of course reviled as "toy-like" by many at the time (you know, like a Corvette).

Years ago I used to give presentation on camera care and maintenance to students doing a photography course. Most of the course was legitimate except for the bit about how to hold a camera securely. The demonstration camera was a nice looking Leicaflex SL with a 50 f2 Summicron on the front.

After explaining that this was a $8000 camera with a $3000 lens I would throw it casually to my colleague on the other side of the room. He would deliberately contrive to miss the catch and the camera would bounce off the carpet and hit the wall. Everybody groaned and some of the students had near heart attacks. When the fuss died down I explained that the Leicaflex had fallen off a boat previously and had spent two days in seawater. It was an absolute junker that looked good only on the outside.

The best rebound I ever got was about 2 feet and I think that still stands as the world Leicaflex bounce record.

I had a Canon 1v + 70-200mm f2.8 do a pole vault on flagstone from about three feet up as I was walking. It landed on the deployed hood, flipped forward and ended up resting on the flash shoe. It wasn't until I tried to put the flash on that I spotted the bent rails. I pried them up with the Swiss Army knife screwdriver tool and the shoot went fine from there on. That's a rugged beast, I need to take it out of the closet and use it.