O Wow,do you have any pics of the tripod now. I'm pretty sure that if you send this to nikon or the maker of your tripod they will give you something or offer to use your story and pics in some type of ad. To hell with the gear thank god you made it out alive.
sivrajbm wrote:
Wow that proves it bears like Canon...Glad you made it out ok with just a little gear damage.
More than Canon gear they like to eat Canon shooters.
Holy SH_T. I would have done the same thing. Looking at what happened to your gear and learning from your tragic accident, I think when and if this happens to me I will lay my gear down. These pictures and story rocks. This is what life is all about. Experiences like this is what makes the world go around. Could have been home sitting on the couch.
Wow this is just amazing. A once in a lifetime encounter that will live forever because you had your backup camera with you! This is why I always stress backup!
Javier, I did not make my point. The gun is to shoot near the vicinity of the bear, to scare it off. The last thing to do, is kill an animal in their environment, acting on pure instinct.
Canon might enjoy this as well: "Even grizzly bears prefer Canon!"
You should see if Gitzo (or whoever made your tripod) and Wimberly will help you out on fixing / replacing the gear. No reason they should, but your story with photos might compel them to consider it.
I guess that is one of the downsides to a carbon fiber tripod - it is not grizzly proof!
Interesting story and some awesome photos. We hope to go to Alaska in the next year or so and make it out to Katmai to take some photos of bears.
The only bear shots I have so far are of Alaskan brown bears from a visit to Denali National Park in 2003. Using a D100 with a 70-210 f/4.5-5.6, I had to crop quite a bit to get this perspective since we were a long ways from the bear. We were on a tour bus and observed a mother bear teaching her cub how to fight for about 15-20 minutes. With all the people moving around it was not a stable platform, and I only had a monopod to stabilize the gear. Strangely, no other tour buses came by the entire time. This certainly shows how the newer and better quality gear definitely gives better results, especially for those that get within 35' of a grizzly with a 600mm lens on a D4!
I wish I had the OP's gear (and his talent) for these shots. This outlines how poor the shots were that I was so proud of back then. I doubt my D100 and 70-210 would have faired as well as the OP's D4 and 600mm lens if that bear had attacked it!
"Yeah, that's a tooth mark from the time I fought off a grizzly with my D4. Wanna see some of the pictures?"
Dude, I would never sell that camera just for the bragging rights! Grown men will cringe, women will find you irresistable, and you'll give small children nightmares just in the telling.
dlabrecque wrote:
"Yeah, that's a tooth mark from the time I fought off a grizzly with my D4. Wanna see some of the pictures?"
Dude, I would never sell that camera just for the bragging rights! Grown men will cringe, women will find you irresistable, and you'll give small children nightmares just in the telling.
Yes! He is The Most Interesting Man in Yellowstone!
What a great story, thanks for sharing. And true kudos for sticking around and capturing the attack with your backup camera! Do share with us what Nikon has to say after seeing the pics!
Wow, looks like your gear bearly got out of there! A question is gnawing at me though - did you surprise the bear, or were you wearing noise-makers? I hear it's good to use these so you don't surprise a bear, so wondering if this guy was just curious or startled/angry?
One day I plan to visit Yosemite, so you can be guaranteed I'll have bear spray, but this post makes me thing about bringing a decoy tripod / camera setup also
It seems funny because in nearly every other conceivable situation, getting cosmetic damage on a camera literally one day old would be so crappy. But here, it's hardcore .
Obviously I'm just kidding like you