Nothin' that a little gaffers tape won't fix ;)

[Sw1tchFX]

Woke up early this morning to take some pictures up at the Vista House. The wind was a little...brisk. To the tune of about 60MPH..
I had the D700+50mm f/1.4G on a tripod (Manfrotto 3021's + 488RC4), even moved it into the grass in case of something happened. Everything was pee-chee for the first hour.. Well I turned away for a little bit to warm up my ears and shield them from the winds when I turned around and saw it in slow motion...

Camera and tripod scoot back a couple feet, than tip right over onto the back plate of the camera. CRACK! Right on the asphalt.


-LCD screen popped off (Was able to jam it back in)
-Back plate snapped off on the left side (now it can open up like a film door lol)
-Left side plate cracked down the side
-HDMI output crushed
-Playback button jammed (unusable, but the workaround is to take a pic and use the instant playback to check photos)
-Pop up flash can't do anything but full power in TTL or Manual
-Pop up flash can't do Commander anymore
-The directional pad on the back will only go up, down, or left in the menus, for AF selection it will only go to the upper left > center button won't work during shooting, only menus
-OK button is functionality intermittent
-At least with my 50mm, it now needs a -20 AF fine tune, will test this out more tomorrow
-The 50mm lens now makes a grinding and whining noise during AF depending if the camera is tilted up or down


Otherwise....Works great lol.


I got work coming up and I can't afford to shoot it on my backup or rent a D700 for every assignment for the next month or two (you know how Nikon is). Put on some gaffers tape to patch it up and will have to keep on truckin'..

I'm a little concerned on how much it's going to be to fix it..There are obviously some major system malfunctions, the back plate, left plate, bottom plate and top deck will need to be replaced, probably a new LCD, something could be up with the AF system alignment or mirror position, the shutter could be wonky since it's not syncing with the flash.. This was not a cheap accident.


Pics or it didn't happen:

So uh... Yeah... Lesson learned: Watch your angles when shooting in strong winds!

 

[Bo4key]

Ouch!

Might be cheaper to just replace it, no?

 

[tirediron]

Fouch! Sorry!

 

[Derrel]

Man...that blows...no pun intended, but as you know the winds up there are very gusty. In the mid-1930's my grandfather and grandmother used to go up to Crown Point, park their old 1927 Maxwell car, and watch as old "phaetons" (aka convertibles or rag-tops) rounded this one corner...he told me the wind would rip the top down, or off, on about half of the cars!!! Fun times in the pre-television days!!!

 

[baturn]

This is why I carry a rider on my house insurance. Hope you did too.

 

[cgipson1]

Ouch.. sorry to see that! Ditto on hoping you are insured! If so, that would be a lot faster than getting this one repaired.....

 

[EIngerson]

Man, sorry that happened.

 

[Sw1tchFX]

Yeah, I've got a rider, but the whole process is just going to be a pain in the rear.

 

[Garbz]

NASTY sorry to hear that.

 

[Dao]

Oh no ......

now it can open up like a film door lol

Just this sentence explains how serious the damages.

Sorry to hear that!!

 

[Robin Usagani]

So sorry man.. Hopefully it is insured.

 

[mwcfarms]

I cried a little for you when I saw that! Thank god for insurance, hopefully they can fix it for you.

 

[Netskimmer]

My heart sank when I saw the pic but I'm glad you've got everything covered (referring to your insurance claim mentioned in another thread). This does kind of confirm the idea that the whole full magnesium vs part magnesium body stuff is b.s. though.