Photography Have you ever dropped your lens?

[Jack]

I was taking photos of the sunset on the last day of vacation, put camera on the roof of the car to take few shots with the phone, then sat in the car and drove away. The sound of camera hitting the back of the car and road is something I will never forget. I manage to save memory card though, so pictures were saved, but camera was beyond repair.

then it wasn't long until you got new camera. I bet you learnt the lesson

 

[Jack]

Not so much "dropped" but:

1. I fell off my bike once on a slippery little bridge with a rough gravel surface. Had the K-5 IIs with the Sigma 85mm/f1.4 (dubbed "the Beast" in my house as it is such an enormous piece of glass) around my neck. I hit the gravel shoulder-first after which the camera swung around and the front of the lens hit with a thud. Luckily I ALWAYS keep lens-hoods on for protection (as opposed to flimsy UV filters). Couple of scratches on the hood but the lens and the camera were fine. Likely, the rather large hood on the Sigma acted as a shock-absorber by deforming in an elastic way before springing back.
2. Tried to do a night-shot of the moon in my own back-garden with the 55-300mm. Forgot that the stairs had 5 steps, not 4 while walking with my head in my neck and camera at eye-level, and went on a gracious belly-flop on the pavement stones in the garden, KP hitting bottom corner first while I tried to hold it off the ground. KP: few scratches on the black paint. Me: torn ligament in my ankle.

I like the second story. Have you damaged the glass?

 

[MikeB]

Not so much "dropped" but:

1. I fell off my bike once on a slippery little bridge with a rough gravel surface. Had the K-5 IIs with the Sigma 85mm/f1.4 (dubbed "the Beast" in my house as it is such an enormous piece of glass) around my neck. I hit the gravel shoulder-first after which the camera swung around and the front of the lens hit with a thud. Luckily I ALWAYS keep lens-hoods on for protection (as opposed to flimsy UV filters). Couple of scratches on the hood but the lens and the camera were fine. Likely, the rather large hood on the Sigma acted as a shock-absorber by deforming in an elastic way before springing back.
2. Tried to do a night-shot of the moon in my own back-garden with the 55-300mm. Forgot that the stairs had 5 steps, not 4 while walking with my head in my neck and camera at eye-level, and went on a gracious belly-flop on the pavement stones in the garden, KP hitting bottom corner first while I tried to hold it off the ground. KP: few scratches on the black paint. Me: torn ligament in my ankle.

Not at all - I've been very lucky!

 

[Jack]

Not so much "dropped" but:

1. I fell off my bike once on a slippery little bridge with a rough gravel surface. Had the K-5 IIs with the Sigma 85mm/f1.4 (dubbed "the Beast" in my house as it is such an enormous piece of glass) around my neck. I hit the gravel shoulder-first after which the camera swung around and the front of the lens hit with a thud. Luckily I ALWAYS keep lens-hoods on for protection (as opposed to flimsy UV filters). Couple of scratches on the hood but the lens and the camera were fine. Likely, the rather large hood on the Sigma acted as a shock-absorber by deforming in an elastic way before springing back.
2. Tried to do a night-shot of the moon in my own back-garden with the 55-300mm. Forgot that the stairs had 5 steps, not 4 while walking with my head in my neck and camera at eye-level, and went on a gracious belly-flop on the pavement stones in the garden, KP hitting bottom corner first while I tried to hold it off the ground. KP: few scratches on the black paint. Me: torn ligament in my ankle.

I'm really happy that never dropped or scratched any of my lenses. And the most important the glass. During this time I'm not even using them a lot. Only m50 and the pancake lens. But, I'm trying to be very careful with my equipment, especially lenses, taking in consideration how much they cost and i bought them brand new.

 

[MikeB]

[CQ='MikeB, c: 1823, m: 1628'][/CQ] I'm really happy that never dropped or scratched any of my lenses. And the most important the glass. During this time I'm not even using them a lot. Only m50 and the pancake lens. But, I'm trying to be very careful with my equipment, especially lenses, taking in consideration how much they cost and i bought them brand new.

You know, (almost) all of my lenses were bought new as well but in 15 years of shooting DSLRs I have never really scratched or dinged a lens' optics or aperture. Some of my current lenses (like the DA*50-135mm/f2.8) have been with me for over 10 years doing their thing. But, in the end, I did buy cameras and lenses to use them outside - most of my stuff is weather-resistant Pentax gear so I can go on shooting in rain, sleet or snow. I treat my photo gear like I treat my car: as a tools, not holy implements to be worshipped and protected at all cost.

 

[Jack]

I'm really happy that never dropped or scratched any of my lenses. And the most important the glass. During this time I'm not even using them a lot. Only m50 and the pancake lens. But, I'm trying to be very careful with my equipment, especially lenses, taking in consideration how much they cost and i bought them brand new.

You know, (almost) all of my lenses were bought new as well but in 15 years of shooting DSLRs I have never really scratched or dinged a lens' optics or aperture. Some of my current lenses (like the DA*50-135mm/f2.8) have been with me for over 10 years doing their thing. But, in the end, I did buy cameras and lenses to use them outside - most of my stuff is weather-resistant Pentax gear so I can go on shooting in rain, sleet or snow. I treat my photo gear like I treat my car: as a tools, not holy implements to be worshipped and protected at all cost.

I found that buying brand new equipment, are very expensive. I want to buy new lens this year, but will see . Still thinking. I do treat my equipment with great care too.

 

[Jack]

I'm really happy that never dropped or scratched any of my lenses. And the most important the glass. During this time I'm not even using them a lot. Only m50 and the pancake lens. But, I'm trying to be very careful with my equipment, especially lenses, taking in consideration how much they cost and i bought them brand new.

You know, (almost) all of my lenses were bought new as well but in 15 years of shooting DSLRs I have never really scratched or dinged a lens' optics or aperture. Some of my current lenses (like the DA*50-135mm/f2.8) have been with me for over 10 years doing their thing. But, in the end, I did buy cameras and lenses to use them outside - most of my stuff is weather-resistant Pentax gear so I can go on shooting in rain, sleet or snow. I treat my photo gear like I treat my car: as a tools, not holy implements to be worshipped and protected at all cost.

By the way MikeB , will be interesting to see your equipment. You can share it here:

Equipment

Show off your equipment here.

macroderie.com

 

[MikeB]

I'm really happy that never dropped or scratched any of my lenses. And the most important the glass. During this time I'm not even using them a lot. Only m50 and the pancake lens. But, I'm trying to be very careful with my equipment, especially lenses, taking in consideration how much they cost and i bought them brand new.

You know, (almost) all of my lenses were bought new as well but in 15 years of shooting DSLRs I have never really scratched or dinged a lens' optics or aperture. Some of my current lenses (like the DA*50-135mm/f2.8) have been with me for over 10 years doing their thing. But, in the end, I did buy cameras and lenses to use them outside - most of my stuff is weather-resistant Pentax gear so I can go on shooting in rain, sleet or snow. I treat my photo gear like I treat my car: as a tools, not holy implements to be worshipped and protected at all cost.

It really depends on timing and the type of equipment. I have set myself a couple of rules:

1. Never be an early adopter - buying cameras and lenses as they are newly released to market costs you up to 50% more than waiting until the next model comes out and prices drop just prior to old stock running out. New models lose a large portion of their value in the first year.
2. If you buy second hand, buy on a reputable forum you are a member of. Ebay and Craigslist are notorious for crappy and broken equipment. Try to avoid buying electro-mechanical products (camerabodies) second-hand, buy used lenses sparingly and only if they fill a gap in your camera-bag. Buy gadgetry (GPS, Filters, remote triggers etc.) online from shopping sites.
3. Be extremely careful when comparing similar products from different manufacturers and evaluate whether a 1% increase in quality warrants a 100% increase in price. I know that latest Laowa 100mm 2:1 macro is awesome but at €549, does it really beat that crappy old Tamron 90mm with a 2x converter or bellows by 300%?
4. Be a trend-breaker, not a follower, it saves money. Don't buy stuff because you saw others saying "you must have it". Think before every buy: "will it really, REALLY improve my images or open up a new branch of photography for me? If the answer is no, don't buy.
5. If you are strapped for cash, consider selling off unused equipment or stop software subscriptions which are not really necessary. As an example, I know PS is awesomely powerful but 95% of the people only ever use 10% of its capabilities. Just the fact "everyone uses it" is not a reason to spend the money. Just two to three years of a software subscription could pay for a new lens! If you must have it, you must obviously.
6. Learn your craft A. In the end there are only so many ways to manipulate pixels. You can pay a lot to automate or learn to do it yourself (and gain a deeper understanding of optical and mathematical principles as a bonus).
7. Learn you craft B. That goes for equipment as well - If you do not own an UWA lens, learn how to stitch multiple images. If you do not own a TTL automatic flash, learn how to expose flash with the M setting on your camera. if you can't afford a good tripod, use a beanie bag.
8. Stop buying photography magazines and don't pay for online tutorials or courses. Mags repeat the same subjects every few years and nowadays Google is your friend. YouTube is full of awesome free tutorials.

 

[Jack]

I'm really happy that never dropped or scratched any of my lenses. And the most important the glass. During this time I'm not even using them a lot. Only m50 and the pancake lens. But, I'm trying to be very careful with my equipment, especially lenses, taking in consideration how much they cost and i bought them brand new.

You know, (almost) all of my lenses were bought new as well but in 15 years of shooting DSLRs I have never really scratched or dinged a lens' optics or aperture. Some of my current lenses (like the DA*50-135mm/f2.8) have been with me for over 10 years doing their thing. But, in the end, I did buy cameras and lenses to use them outside - most of my stuff is weather-resistant Pentax gear so I can go on shooting in rain, sleet or snow. I treat my photo gear like I treat my car: as a tools, not holy implements to be worshipped and protected at all cost.

First of all, everything what you wrote above, I would definitely say that should go in resources page, to let newbies and other photographers know, that photography is all about image not what lens, camera brand is used or owned.

I don’t trust or believe in magazines, there is nothing new to learn from there nowadays, everything you need you can find for free on YouTube, google and photography forums.

I also don’t sell my used equipment as I’ve learnt the lesson, you sell it, and you realise after that you need that piece of kit back. And it does go for pennies on eBay. So any equipment which I bought , I definitely won’t sell it.

When I do shopping, I never buy from unsecured or second hand website like eBay, always the brand website, trusted shops or amazon at the end.

Taking in consideration with new RF line released by Canon, I definitely won’t afford switching to it. cost a fortune, so I’ll stick with EF lenses at the moment, still does provide great image quality and stability.

 

[MikeB]

By the way MikeB , will be interesting to see your equipment. You can share it here:

Equipment

Show off your equipment here.

macroderie.com

I see an image is mandatory there. I don't think I have ever laid out all of the bits and pieces I own for a picture that way but I'll give it some thought in the coming weeks. For now, suffice it to say I own 2 camera bodies of which I mostly use the KP. (the k-70 is currently on loan to my daughter. I have rectilinear lenses (both zoom as well as primes) ranging from the Sigma 8-16mm at the wide end through to the 55-300mm (420mm with the HD-DA 1.4x converter) on the tele side. Special purpose lenses include the Tamron 90mm/f2.8 1:1 macro you have seen me use here, a Samyang 8mm fisheye, some Lensbaby models (latest addition a Burnside 35mm) and some older, Sovjet-era glas for experimenting. A Yongnuo and Metz flash and a few tripods (including my "frankenpod"), ND filters and remote triggers make up the rest.