40D + concrete = upgrade time. Who'd have guessed?

[Andrew_McP]

Mmm... I took my 40D+100-400L yesterday for its first outing since March, when my back decided to give me 6 months of agony. I was happy just to be able to carry the darned thing, but after a long, fairly overcast walk, I stumbled across some fish (roach?) trying to climb the pipes in a rather ugly weir.

I spent far longer than I planned trying to get a decent shot, but in the end I overstayed my welcome without much luck in the lousy light, and had to rush to catch a train back home. I usually carry my camera when out in the countryside, but not in built-up areas. So for the walk home it went in the rucksack.

Weary, and way past my bedtime (for working nights) I got to within 40 yards of home when a sudden, disorientating loss of weight from my back was followed by a nasty crunch behind me.

Ah.

After many, many years of careful camera use I managed to damage my SX50 just before my back started playing up. And now there's a 40D + 100-400L sitting on the car park.

To cut to the chase, I had a very lucky escape; the lens is absolutely undamaged. And the camera's almost completely undamaged too! It landed quite nicely on one corner than slapped full length onto the ground, spreading the load.

However the mirror mechanism is messed up. I can take one perfect shot, but the mirror stays up. I can reset it by switching to manual focus, taking another shot, and then the mirror drops down (after a long exposure) ready for another perfectly normal shot.

I am tempted to poke around inside, but when I have a perfectly functional camera apart form that I'm scared of breaking it! So this may be an opportunity to relegate the 40D to wide angle duty, where I can afford a few seconds between shots, and start looking at all those 60D/70D/7D threads again.

File this under cautionary tales. Or clumsy old men.

That's three cameras I've killed or tried to kill in my lifetime.... Praktica MTL-50 in 1984, and now two Canons in 2013. What with my mother being very ill at the start of the year, followed by six months of sciatica for myself, and now this potentially expensive carelessness (I forgot to tie the zip closed as I usually do) and I'm going to be glad to see the back of 2013.

It's enough to make a rational man superstitious!

 

[Andrew_McP]

A few years ago I dropped my entire bag into a lake that contained a Nikon D90 + 4 or so lenses. All trashed and nothing recoverable.

That helps put things in perspective. I was remarkably lucky. I couldn't really justify another 100-400L now they cost 1.5x what I paid for mine 3 years ago. And the 40D owes me nothing, buying that reawakened my interest and 'forced' me to get out and about more to use it.

When I returned to the car the back window was smashed, the rear seat down and my Sony A77 + 6 lenses missing.

Ok, now I definitely feel like my "misfortune" was trivial. Still, camera gear is -- somewhat painfully! -- replaceable. But you can't replace a much loved childhood toy. It all goes to remind us just how easily a good day can turn into a very bad one though.

I really like the look of the new 70D.

If Santa asked me what I wanted for Christmas, the 70D would be on the list. But part of me -- the part which worries about errors like the one I made this week -- likes the idea of owning kit I don't get stressed using. So a cheap 60D would be very tempting if it had microfocus adjustment (so I can tune my 100-400L properly) and there are some good deals on 2nd hand 7Ds to be had.

Still, at least I've got a genuine reason to go through the upgrade hassle now. Before it was easy to convince myself the 40D was perfectly adequate. Mainly because it is... was.

 

[Andrew_McP]

I recently repaired my 40d mirror box and shutter think its was about £170

Given the second hand price it wouldn't really make sense. But I do hate having almost-working hardware, so I suspect it won't take me long to get annoyed with the finger dance I have to go through to get a shot and either poke around inside until I regret it, or find an alternative 2nd body.

Do you chaps not have these things insured???

I don't believe in accidental damage insurance. I'm insured for the catastrophic, life-changing stuff, like fire and theft, but not self-inflicted damage.

60D doesn't have microfocus adjustment.

A good point. But my desire for MFA could easily be swayed by a good price. As I said above, for me there's a balance to be struck between kit I'm comfortable using, and kit I spend too much time babying... at least until it gets its first scratch.

Do not understand how the camera fell out of a bag??

Camera was at the top of a small rucksack which closes with a zip rather than clasps. So as I walked, the weight of the camera & lens jiggling about must've eased the zip open, a little at a time.

It's not the rucksack I usually use and I forgot to tie the zip closed when I got off the train. Rookie error. I have no sympathy for myself. But it does no harm to share my shame and remind folk to be careful.

 

[Andrew_McP]

I feel your pain. My 40D's shutter gave up on top of the Rockerfeller centre, nice timing.

Fate can be rather brutal, can't it. And thanks for reminding me a 2nd hand 50d might make a better (MFA capable) replacement and, eventually, second body if the 40D becomes a liability.

However some more tinkering shows I can persuade the sticky mirror to flip back down with a relatively gentle tap. Well, gentle compared with a drop from height onto concrete! So I think a bit more investigation may allow me to return this body to something approximating normality... Albeit with a few scratches and an aura of unreliability.

I may turn out to have been embarrassingly fortunate here, which would allow me to return to the original upgrade plan, which was to hang fire until the normal spring cashback, then try to stretch to a 70D.

Edit: a more elegant temporary solution to my sticky mirror turns out to be switching to continuous shooting mode and firing off two shots at a time. It's a bit wasteful of card space, and if I accidentally fire off three shots instead of two I'm no better off. But it's a lot more convenient than slapping the camera after every image. It just means I get one good image followed by a black image, and at least those are easy to filter out & delete.

 

[Andrew_McP]

Why on earth not?

Part of the reason insurance costs -- of all kinds -- are so high now is that people expect to be protected from their own stupidity. For me insurance is all about protecting myself from things which are *not* my fault. So I'd rather pay less per month and rely on savings to cover my rare lapses into carelessness.

If I was a Pro making money from this kind of thing I might have fully comp insurance, but generally in life I try not to skate so close to the financial edge that I don't have some slack to cover problems.

I'm still mystified how anyone can accidentally damage a Praktica though as they were built like tanks.

I can still remember the trauma. It was on my fairly low bed and somehow I got hooked up in the strap as I got up and dragged it onto the thinly carpeted floor. Not a very traumatic fall, but something inside jammed and that was it. I didn't have the money to investigate a repair. I was definitely skating close financial edge back then!

 

[Andrew_McP]

£60 a year for 'all risk' amateur insurance with E and L based on around £2500 worth of kit.

I don't earn a huge amount, but I'm very careful where I put my money. For instance I don't drive because it's cheaper to use public transport & taxis when I need it, and I never eat takeaways or let money dribble through my fingers in places like Starbucks.

I keep my recurring bills to a minimum as well, so £60 a year may not sound a lot for you, but my total contents bill for this year is £147, covering 20k's worth of valuables (60k total) for fire & theft in a ground floor flat, so that'd be a big hike.

By keeping on top of recurring costs, and being careful with my kit, I can afford to have a few nice toys without worrying too much. And my track record looking after kit is pretty good, over the long term. But clearly I need to worry just a little bit more, and the good thing about this week's experience is that it's really going to sharpen my wits for a few years!

While on the subject of insurance though it's worth noting that often insurance for specific items like camera kit can be worth it, because insurance companies are notoriously wriggly when it comes to how your valuables insurance is applied. It's easy for them to point to small print indicating that only a proportion of that valuables cover is for mobile items like laptops & cameras, and say some of it is aimed at items like jewelry.

I hate doing it, but reading the small print on the policy every year, and checking with the insurer what's covered is always worth doing.

 

[Andrew_McP]

A fiver a month to protect me from dropping a £800 lens on a £1000 body is a cost I'm happy to write off.

And I absolutely understand why many people will make that choice.