Your most expensive broken piece of gear?

[cosmonaut]

That you broke? I have been pretty lucky although last year I broke two Tiffen ND filters. I had them in the front pouch of my bag and slide it against a pole, pop! Yeah there glass not resin.
So what's the most expensive piece of gear you have destroyed and how?

 

[burancap]

I've been lucky. 20 some odd years ago, I drove off with my Konica AF on the roof. Made it maybe a mile or so before I caught it tumbling down the road in the mirror. It was scratched, knicked, and chipped. I still have it -works fine.

 

[swoop]

My Yashicamat 124G sits on a shelf as a monument to my incompetence.

 

[benji77]

This thread resonates well with me.

I dropped my Nikon D3s + 14-24 AFS + Nissin Flash during an assignment as it fell off my shoulders. The strap (lets just say I choose one that was too small, with insufficient grip).

The lens barrel had to be replaced, my flash hotshoe broke, camera cracked (body shell).

But the shoot went on for the next 2hr.

Till today, after the lens is fixed, its still rocking.

 

[cosmonaut]

Oh yeah. I fell off of a bridge in 2009, 30ft, my E3 survived but the 14-54mm sheared off at the lens mount. I spend eight weeks in a coma and three months in the hospital.

 

[filmtwit]

Dropped a Canon 50mm f1.8 (v1) eos lens about 8 years ago.
Never worked right and no one would fix it.

I miss that lens.

About 4 years ago I picked up two used Kowa Super 66's.
Sold one and it paid for both.
Anyway two weeks later I had remaining one on a mono-pod and slung it over my shoulder as I hiked up a trail.
The weight was too great for the quick release and after a few steps my monopod felt a lot lighter.
It had dropped about 6' and rolled another 6'.
It wasn't cocked at the time, but none the less I cocked camera and fired a shot.
It never cocked again and worst, I couldn't uncouple the lens on it.
Sold it on ebay for parts. Oh well.

 

[TXForester]

Had a Canon G6 fall out of coat pocket. It works, but I had to trim some plastic around the zoom ring. The ring still sticks sometimes and zooms past the point I where I want it to stop.

Had my Olympus E510 on a tripod and carrying it to a new spot. The tripod's quick release wasn't locked well. The popup flash doesn't work, but I don't care for popup flashes. Information in the viewfinder no long shows.

 

[dof]

Mine has to be my formerly beloved Gossen Ultra-Pro meter. This was one expensive lesson in removing the batteries before storing a piece of gear for a while. The havoc that a $2.00 battery can wreak upon a (once upon a time) $500.00 meter is genuinely impressive.

Ladies and gentlemen, let this be a lesson to you!

 

[gb hill]

Dropped a Canon 35-70 FD lens & busted the plastic focus ring. No big loss really.

 

[finguanzo]

Nikon D200 and a I think a 12-24 mounted on a big tree branch with a magic arm, fell off the tree and onto a stage during a rally, then under a car.. damage was from the fall, car missed it luckily, cf card survived...

 

[Pioneer]

Sat on my GF670 with the bellows deployed. Three weeks in the shop and a few dollars later and it works great again.

 

[noisycheese]

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away - I tripped, fell and broke my Nikkor 300mm f/4 ( http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?O=&sku=207356&Q=&is=GREY&A=details ) in half.
I sent both halves in to Nikon USA, who said it was not repairable. Polycarbonate is light, but it does not make for a very sturdy lens barrell. 🙁

 

[Canyongazer]

Picked up my backpack by a shoulder strap.

Picked up my backpack by a shoulder strap.

Thought I had zipped it closed.
I had not.

Mamiya 7II
50mm f4.5 wide angle
80mm f4 normal
all spent a month in the camera hospital.
It's been eight years and I do feel better now.
Finally.

 

[farlymac]

Rollei Automat with a Yashica Auxiliary Telephoto mounted tumbled off my workbench, caving in the face plate. Before that, the most expensive camera I broke was a Kodak Instamatic X-45 some forty years ago.

PF

 

[Gary Sandhu]

Dropped my minolta tc-1 3 feet onto a tile floor: jammed the lens closed. Sold it for parts on eBay and bought a new one.
(Cosmo's misadventure is horrible-- but glad you made it)

 

[Phil_F_NM]

Last summer my strap came off my D3 and the camera fell to a wood floor from about 4ft height. Bent the hotshoe. With channel locks and a screwdriver, I got the shoe working again, able to fit a flash and it still fires.

I once dropped a Canon 70-200 f/4 L lens out of my bag when getting out of a car. Front element had a big scallop taken out of it and it wouldn't focus at all. The repair was less than $200 so it wasn't that costly, just high on the pucker factor.

Really, the most expensive blunder was walking on a jetty in the Bay of Cadiz, Spain and stepping on a rock which wasn't stable. The rock rolled and I stepped straight down into the bay, just over head deep with my Leica M4 and 28mm Kobalux lens on my shoulder.

I took the camera apart immediately and tried to dry it but the damage had been done from the salt water and it locked up shortly thereafter.
Sherry K repaired that camera and it cost almost as much as I paid for it. I still have it to this day and it works perfectly.

Phil Forrest

 

[back alley]

i just discovered that that my minolta xd11 wont load film…the sprockets wont turn but the advance keeps advancing…but then i can't remember why i wanted to play with an slr again anyway…the film rf should be enough...

 

[randolph45]

Canon AE-1 Program + motor drive and 24mm lens I brushed off the pit wall at Las Vegas Motor speedway.Landed on the corner of the top plate putting a small dent in the plastic.Picked it up and continued to shoot with it no problem.

 

[Chris101]

This:

 

[p.giannakis]

A Ricoh 35ZF with a wobbly lens. After my intervention, the whole thing was wobbly....