In case you've ever wondered...

what a $240 Singh-Ray polarizing filter looks like after smashing into a rock while attached to a lens, which was attached to a camera that was mounted on a tripod in a precarious position along the banks of the Colorado River. Now you know.

Nice self-portrait.

I shall title it, "Self-Portrait With Tears".

Better the filter than the lens I guess...

Craig

Oh, the lens is also damaged. To what degree I don't yet know. What I don't have a photo of is the 2 stop Singh-Ray GND that is probably floating through Cataract Canyon right about now.

So sorry to hear about this.
An expensive accident, for sure! Wind gust?

I shattered a Lee GND the same way near Kebler Pass. Turns out after moving around a bit, I accidentally set one of the tripod legs inside a shoulder strap of my backpack. Picked up my backpack to grab something, and flipped the tripod over, hard. While the GND was destroyed, the lens was still in decent shape.

I never thought to take a photo of the filter, though.

Definitely not a pretty site. In Brainard Lakes I once saw out of the corner of my eye my 4x5 Wisner heading for the ground due to the wind. Luckily I caught it.

Does your commercial insurance policy cover this?

RichieV

Yes, insurance does cover it with a $500 deductible. Better than nothing.

I wish I could say it was a stray wind gust but really, it was just me being an idiot in a hurry.

I would have sceamed aloud! (From the lens, not the reflection :) )

Sorry to hear about things...bummer.

Ouch. In a similar hurry last year I lost a Singh-Ray polarizing plus filter off of Glacier Point in Yosemite. It slid out of my cokin holder and landed somewhere in the valley. At least you got to take a picture of your filter.

$240 for a polarizer!!!!!!. I thought I spent alot when I paid $125 for my Heliopan polarizer. Reminds me of the time last spring when I was shooting the Sangre de Cristos from the scenic byway that goes through the Wet Mtn. Valley (Hwy 69???). Clumsy me stumbled crossing the road and dropped my tripod with my 80-200mm lens attached. As I was falling to the ground everything slowed down and I just knew I didn't wanna take stock of the damage when I picked myself back up. Luckily I had the lens hood still attached as it took the brunt of the impact and shattered good. There are probably still pieces of that lens hood scattered along the roadside.

I'm sorry to hear about your accident Bret.

I had a Singh-Ray 3-stop hard edge slide right through the holder at Dead Horse Point in November, and I split it's replacement in half this past weekend in Big Bend National Park.

Doh! Sorry about that Bret!! Did you at least get the shot first?

About ten years ago while shooting this sunset on Loveland Pass with my 4x5, I saw my 35mm on another tripod start to topple. I didn't quite make it, but I still have the Nikon 80-200 f/2.8 lens/paperweight to show for it! I'm certain you could hear me scream naughty words all the way down in Keystone!!!

I'm sorry to hear of all these mishaps but in some way, it's a bit comforting to know it has happened to others. Do I hear a collective "UGH!"?

Adam, you can use your new split version for panos.

Sorry about your mishap, Brett, I'm glad to know I'm not the only who has trashed equipment stories. Maybe this thread should be a sticky, so every time someone breaks something expensive, we can feel each other's pain.

Well now, you should all shoot Canon. I dropped my 20D with 70-200 from four feet in Feb. It landed square on the lens on ashphalt. Only damage was a very slight ding on the filter ring. Every thing works just fine but holy molly, scared the nonsense outa me!
John

Sorry to hear that Bret. Unfortunately when you do this stuff for long enough, accidents like that are bound to happen. I've done some silly things myself (which I'm not about to go into). While I can't say that I've had a single accident that expensive, the sum of all my dumb moves easily exceeds it. I've really tried to slow myself down and be a little more methodical when handling my equipment, but its hard when the light is fleeting and you're trying to get the shot.

Bummer, dude.

I'll share my worst story. I went to Wind River Range for a 6 day backpacking trip and on the first day in the Cirque of the Towers I was hiking along a lake and decided to jump about 5 feet over to a boulder in the lake. In mid-air I feel my wideangle lens, which I use 90% of the time, fly out of my jacket pocket (which I thought I had zipped closed) and see it fall right into 3 feet of water. After fishing it out and letting it dry for the rest of the day I put it on the camera and much to my dismay it worked! Autofocus, everything. Well, after about 20 minutes my camera battery dies, brand new from the day before. And since it was brand new I had decided not to bring a spare (film camera). So after awhile I tried the camera again and found the battery still had a little charge, ended up I could take about one photo an hour with my 70-300 lens for the next 5 days.

OUCH..in more ways than one. Glad you didn't get shattered or end up floating down river.

Pam

Bret:
The composition is nice, but the highlights on your fingers are blown out The travails of actually getting out and capturing mother nature - priceless!

Sorry for the loss, an expensive one that.
I remember breaking my heliopan warm pol filter that way.

Thanks for the condolences and for sharing some of your equipment breakage stories. I think I'll just slow down a wee bit from now on!

Yikes! I once tossed a 4x5, 75mm grandagon, and a tripod off a cliff by accident. Miraculously everything survived except the camera which shattered into bits. Lens and tripod were fine.

At least you didn't bust up a $3000+ dollar camera + lens combo.