Vincent,

I just arrived home tonight from a big corporate shoot in Dublin (with my EX3) to read this.

This really is my worst nightmare / something I'm sure we all worry might happen one day (but hope never will). It makes me feel that the £365 I spent on specialist camera insurance for my EX3 (and MBP) a few months ago (a combined value then at £8,500) was worthwhile. Basically a quid a day for some peace of mind should I ever be as unlucky as you.

I hope you get over this Vincent and get back up and running soon. Good luck mate!

What a disaster. I am covered on my home insurance. If you have home insurance I should imagine you have a good chance.

Seriously Vincent hope you can get it sorted.

Thank you all for your support and sympathy. There is an outside chance that my household insurance may cover this, but as I am a professional photographer it may come under business use, the insurance company are getting back to me - which no doubt means they are looking for the "get out" clause.

I am not in a position to purchase a new camera at this moment, as all the bills come flooding in, in January. But I will be back with a new EX4 later in the year.

In the mean time I am going to have my Canon XH A1 converted to also shoot in NTSC, at least I will be able to complete the DVD project.

My bottom line on this is, anyone who is using a Manfrotto 525 tripod, make sure you tighten the leg screws with the supplied Allun Key, and as Noel said "never leave a camera on a tripod"

What a day it has been.

Inside your home accident is covered by your home insurance , outside your home and to cover all type of accidents a specific insurance is requested in witch your camcorder and all accessories must be listed.

Car insurance like home insurance may cover this type of accident but limit de $$$ covered.

Credit card may have you covered if you are lucky.

Only specific insurance for your camcorder cover this , my insurance cover this type of accident and it his a commercial insurance.

Good luck.

Hi Vincent,

Just read your thread and may I add to the list of condolences concerning the camera, not that was the end of the world for you but because of the disruption to your business income. I was more upset for you about the job you are part way through and all the trouble you have to go to now to ensure consistency.

At least you are sorting it out.

Seriously, if we lived in the same city, I would have offered you one of my HD cameras to help you out.

Hope you can sort out your job first and then your camera (insurance).

Best wishes

Thank you David, the thought is much appreciated.

Today I feeling very positive about things. I had a good look at the camera (at 2.00 am) and the body does seem to be OK. The lens will be a write off but I can purchase a new one for £1000 - this will be a cheaper option than hiring a camera for two weeks (£1104). Despite my dissapointment yesterday, the footage looks absolutely stunning I am well pleased.

I will bounce back today - life goes on.

What the heck, turn lemons into lemonade, get a lens upgrade while you're at it.

I am not aware of any lens upgrades, do you know something that I don't?

Vincent,
sorry to hear about this. Walking away from my EX1 while it's on a tripod give me the willies, moreso when I've got cables running off it around an auditorium full of careless people. So far we've had one Z1 take a similar fall when a dog ran into a tripod and another one when the car it was resting on drove off. So not that it's any help but you're not alone.
The good news is that you have an EX3 and this shouldn't cost too much to fix. With the EX1 it's a lot of labor to replace the lens I'm told. I'd try to get some idea of cost before you spend money on the Canon, that also could be expensive.
We have looked at better lenses for our EX3s but they are more expensive than the camera and then some.

Vincent.


Don't throw the lens out. If the front glass element itself is not broken or chipped, despite all the entrails hanging out, provided you have all the entrails, every little bit, I reckon it might be fixable good enough to be a backup manual spare.

My imagining is that if the lens has broken, it has possibly taken the hit sacrificially and the rest of the camera might remain okay. The lens is pretty much the heaviest part in memory cameras.

Just the thought of my camera heading for the ground makes my nether orifice clamp shut.

If you intend to throw the lens out, send it here. I would be interested in studying it.

Finally and most of all, I entirely sympathise with you. I had a camera fall out of the mount when I thought the plate was correctly located in the channel and fumbled the desperate grab. I put my foot out and managed to convert the fall into a soccer roll onto the grass.

Another day, I had a 81EF filter fall out and tumble almost in slow-motion for the concrete. I did not get my foot under it in time.

I experienced a similar nose dive with my EX-1 awhile back.
I was at a commercial shoot with a room full of talent (and the client).
Was sliding my camera into the locking channel of my tripod head while in discussion with the group. Did not notice the wonkyness when locking it down. My EX-1 went flying 6 feet onto a ceramic tile covered cement slab floor. Landed right on the lens cap and bounced twice. Picked it up expecting the worst and found not a scratch. Works perfectly to this day.

Kevin Jones

Vincent,

I just spotted this thread. When I read it I tried to put myself in your place and my heart dropped out. The vast majority of us aren't getting wealthy overnight in this business and saving up for cameras like these can often require mental (and even spousal) justification for the cash outlay that might go for something else "more important". What happened to you is simply awful and I am really sorry.

Regards,

John

This is why we should all throw in the towel and change our occupation to typist or painter or something where the tools aren't so friggin' expensive! You guys, first! ;-)

Sorry to hear about this. Really, though, if the body is still okay (I always hope for the best), the mistake, while costly, can be rectified without it being a complete loss.

Consider, its not just a camera, but a camera system that you've invested in with a bag, accessories, etc. A $1000 hit is no fun, but it just means no beer for a month.

Hope it all works out for you.

Dang, Ted, that's a lotta beer!

If you were to give up beer, think of all the "toys" you could buy!

Okay, perhaps it's an exaggeration and more than beer, but it's easy to go out with the wife and find we've spent $80 in drinks. If you do that once a week, plus maybe have a bottle of wine or two at home during the week, It's an easy $100! So, maybe it'd take three months of cutting it out.

Nah, never mind, there has to be other things to cut.

This really is a sad story, and I'm surprised that I'm having such a hard time shaking the enormity of it. Rather oppressive feeling - plus that sick in the pit of your stomach feeling.

The benefit of these stories, and I'm very sorry that it comes at Vincent's expense, it the harsh reminder we all get about how a trivial and innocent mistake can really cost us. The next time I stick my camera on my tripod, be assured, I'll take an extra moment to be sure I've not made a small but tragic mistake.