Dropped the D800 on the grass while the 85 1.4G was mounted. No noticeable damage. Seemed fine. But something was definitely damaged because nearly every shot after that was back focusing. Back focusing was particularly bad with zoom lenses. Prior to dropping it my D800 was the most accurate focusing camera I've ever owned.
No worries, NPS sent out a replacement D800 and 85 1.4G. Sent mine in for service. The repair estimate came back to me today: $235 for the D800 and $420 for the 85. Wow. These are just estimates, maybe they'll go down, but I doubt it.
I'm insured through Marsh, so in the end, I'll only be out shipping costs and a $100 deductible. But I wanted to share my experience. Don't drop your gear, haha, even if it's just from your waist onto the grass. The D800 is fragile. And always have insurance
Great that you have insurance, and glad it's not a personal/financial tragedy, but don't think it's fair you should be stating that the D800 is fragile. Could easily have been the case that a D4 in the same case would be damaged as well. Lens damage appears worse than body by estimates - is the 85 1.4 also fragile? What dslr and lens combo should I buy so I won't worry when I drop it?
I dropped my D800E with 200-400 mounted in the sand during a safari. Luckily it was the last day. When I got home the bayonet of the camera and lens were replaced and everything was calibrated. Within a week it was fixed for €400 so not too bad. My insurance covered the damage.
At least I'm sure now I don't have the 'left focus issue'
I thought they are supposed to build like tanks. On my 9th anniversary I dropped my 30D with a 50 f1.4 mounted, from chest level on the concrete. My heart sank but I picked it up, checked it, started shooting, and has never missed a beat. It's been more then a year and still going strong. Guess it didn't hit the right spot
I 'submerged' a d700 and 85 1.4g early in the summer. The esimate to bring the 85 back to life was over $500. The lens was fried. It didn't AF and had water between the elements. I got a call a week later stating the repair would cost $204 including shipping. It came back like new.
I didn't bother to send back the d700 as was freah water. it worked normally after 4 days of rice/dehumidifier and hasn't skipped a beat since (shot about 20 weddings after the sinking).
Also dropped a d7000 from 5 feet to pavement a month ago and was perfectly fine. For what is in these digital bodies they are pretty damn tough.
Still waiting on NPS to return my gear. The wait time hasn't been too bad, but communicating with NPS is one of the worst experiences you can imagine. There's nothing professional about Nikon Professional Services. They absolutely refuse to communicate by phone. Which is funny because the emails I get from them often tell me to call the same number, which automatically goes to voicemail. But hey don't take my word for it, check out Trey Ratcliff:
But again, the repair time hasn't been too bad, the status at the moment is "In Shop" so I expect to get my gear back later this week. I could be wrong. Very thankful I waited for them to send me replacement gear prior to sending in mine for repair.
MichaelUribe wrote:
I like the smashed photo shot.
Did the camera still work with busted LCD?
No, it was dead. Nikon Service Repair in El Segundo replaced the entire back panel with the LCD screen, fixed the loose circuit board, adjusted the autofocus system, and did general check up.
The D800 is a pretty solid body since the sensor is on the other side of the LCD screen.
P.S. And for those asking... no, the strap was not attached but wouldn't have made a difference anyway since it fell out of the camera bag from a vehicle. But a plastic LCD cover would probably have saved it.
What dslr and lens combo should I buy so I won't worry when I drop it?
Saturday morning I was hustling along the pavement back of the seawall, to try to beat the sunrise and get a shot in light I wanted. One pavement slab was sticking up an inch or two. I caught my toe on it. If you had been there to see it, you would have thought you were watching a man with a camera inexplicably attempting suicide by doing a swimmer's racing dive headfirst into a concrete bench. To save myself, I flung my arms forward and let the camera go. The 5D II hit the vertical concrete seawall just past the bench, about as hard as I could have thrown it, doing my best. It bounced back 8 feet, as I found out after I became oriented enough to look around, get help, and get to the emergency room.
Damage report: the lens hood on my Zeiss 50 MP was crushed, but the lens itself was fine. There is a cosmetic scrape on the right top of the camera, but it works fine. I'm not fine, but will be in a bit. I have never understood the complaints about the 5D models seeming flimsy.
That's the second time I have dropped a camera in 40 years of professional use. The first time was a Nikkormat that I put on the seat beside me in a Plymouth Valiant. I stopped, opened the passenger door to get the camera, and it fell out and bounced on pavement, striking on the prism housing. That one continued to work fine too.
Cameras are made rugged enough that with a little luck you get away with stuff. I was definitely lucky with the 5D II. It struck the concrete much harder than if it had simply been dropped on a sidewalk. If it had taken the initial hit on a corner of the camera body instead of on the lens hood, it would have been an explosion of camera parts. But I'll bet most modern cameras survive an ordinary drop surprisingly well.
splathrop wrote:
Saturday morning I was hustling along the pavement back of the seawall, to try to beat the sunrise and get a shot in light I wanted. One pavement slab was sticking up an inch or two. I caught my toe on it. If you had been there to see it, you would have thought you were watching a man with a camera inexplicably attempting suicide by doing a swimmer's racing dive headfirst into a concrete bench. To save myself, I flung my arms forward and let the camera go. The 5D II hit the vertical concrete seawall just past the bench, about as hard as I could have thrown it, doing my best. It bounced back 8 feet, as I found out after I became oriented enough to look around, get help, and get to the emergency room.
Damage report: the lens hood on my Zeiss 50 MP was crushed, but the lens itself was fine. There is a cosmetic scrape on the right top of the camera, but it works fine. I'm not fine, but will be in a bit. I have never understood the complaints about the 5D models seeming flimsy.
That's the second time I have dropped a camera in 40 years of professional use. The first time was a Nikkormat that I put on the seat beside me in a Plymouth Valiant. I stopped, opened the passenger door to get the camera, and it fell out and bounced on pavement, striking on the prism housing. That one continued to work fine too.
Cameras are made rugged enough that with a little luck you get away with stuff. I was definitely lucky with the 5D II. It struck the concrete much harder than if it had simply been dropped on a sidewalk. If it had taken the initial hit on a corner of the camera body instead of on the lens hood, it would have been an explosion of camera parts. But I'll bet most modern cameras survive an ordinary drop surprisingly well.
By comparison, my D800 fell from my hand onto the grass, so what's that, maybe 3-4 feet? The lens hood hit the ground first, that was the main source of impact, and then the camera fell on it's left side. The grass was soft, I know this because there was a bit of mud on the lens hood where the lens sunk into the grass. The result? Over $700 worth of damage. 3-4 foot fall, landing lens hood first, onto muddy grass, over $400 damage to the 85 1.4 and over $300 to the D800. I think that it's fair to call the D800 fragile, meaning handle with care, don't drop it.
My D700 slid off of a 4ft stool today onto a hardwood floor. I had a tripod adapter on the bottom and it wasn't sitting flat. It hit lens first. Total damage, Lens hood broke into 3 pieces, no damage to camera or lens. Small dent in hardwood floor. I got lucky this time. I've been a photographer for over 30 years and this is the first time i've ever had an incident like this. My heart almost jumped out of my chest.
