Broken D300s

[imagesbyelizabeth]

My worst nightmare happened yesterday at a wedding. About five minutes before the ceremony started my camera strap came undone and my d300s, 70-200 and Sb-900 fell to the cement. After putting everything back together and evaluating my camera, it was taking pictures fine. I have a few scratches on the body and my lens hood. From the looks of it there are some broken glass particles on the lcd display on the top of my camera (the one that displays the shutterspeed/aperture/etc.

I thought everything was working fine until I tried doing some off camera flash pictures for rings and once I tried to pop the flash up, it wouldn't take any pictures. I press the shutter button but it doesn't do anything. Also it doesn't turn off. I can turn the switch to off but the display still works and it still takes pictures.

I am in the middle of a busy wedding season and can't really afford to send it in and be without a camera. Any suggestions? I'm in the Denver, CO area so if you know of any places, let me know!

 

[milano]

You could possibly rent while you send it in. It's not ideal by any means but you do what you gotta do I suppose.

 

[bmell]

This place is in Boulder. I have not used them but a friend of mine has and he had a good experience.

http://prophotorental.com/default.asp

Good luck!

 

[Nanobeast]

Sorry to hear.

May I ask what camera strap you were using?

 

[fabulas]

so sorry to hear that. I bet that was extremely scarry....and right before the ceremony too! Best of luck!

 

[imagesbyelizabeth]

Just got an email from Nikon and it will cost $325 to fix it!!! At this point, I just want my baby back!!

 

[soxOZ]

Sorry to hear.
May I ask what camera strap you were using?

Glad to hear that it will be fixed, but I would also be interested in what camera strap you were using and how/where it broke.
This would be handy information to have if someone has the same type of strap... Thanks..

 

[Max713]

Sorry to hear.

May I ask what camera strap you were using?

Glad to hear that it will be fixed, but I would also be interested in what camera strap you were using and how/where it broke.
This would be handy information to have if someone has the same type of strap... Thanks..

Yes, this! I regularly let my D90 hang from it's factory nikon strap.
This post makes me think I need to add a safety pin or something similar!

 

[lazeeb0i]

Glad to hear that it will be fixed, but I would also be interested in what camera strap you were using and how/where it broke.
This would be handy information to have if someone has the same type of strap... Thanks..

Strap did not break but came undone

 

[ashman]

I am always checking my camera when I use it, in between taking shots, making sure I didn't accidentally turn VR on, or hit a dial, and that my strap is in good shape. Its a good habit to get into, I realize these things can happen, but whats that saying...an ounce of prevention.......glad to hear its not crazy expensive fix.

 

[imagesbyelizabeth]

The strap didn't break but instead came undone. I always complain about my strap being in the way and my camera swinging around so at a wedding the night before, my boyfriend let me try out his BlackRapid RS-5 strap. I took my camera strap off and when I put it back on, I pulled a 'stupid' and didn't put it completely back together. So here I am, $325 later, paying for that mistake!

 

[crashton]

We all learn from our mistakes Elizabeth. Some mistakes hurt more than others. Hope your camera comes back soon so you may keep on shooting.

 

[Ed-Gein]

Blame Scott. lol

Sorry to hear that. I have a spare D70 that i use for timelapse duty i can part with, but i dont think it is going to be what you are looking for.

I absolutely hate straps. I used to have one on my D40 then D90, and several times it would get hooked on something and nearly yank the camera out of my hand. I got a BR strap and used that for a bit, never put the regular strap back on, and fell in love with the feel of the camera without a strap. My D7000 has never seen a conventional neckstrap, i never use them anymore. The only time i use the BR is if i am hiking or using my camera in large crowds and that is just to prevent somebody from knocking the camera out of my hand or snatching it

 

[imagesbyelizabeth]

We all learn from our mistakes Elizabeth. Some mistakes hurt more than others. Hope your camera comes back soon so you may keep on shooting.

Thanks Chuck! I am currently using my boyfriends D200 but I miss my camera so much!! Hopefully it will be coming back soon!!

I've always said that in photography, the best way to learn is from your mistakes, I just never thought this would be one of mine!

Blame Scott. lol

Sorry to hear that. I have a spare D70 that i use for timelapse duty i can part with, but i dont think it is going to be what you are looking for.

I absolutely hate straps. I used to have one on my D40 then D90, and several times it would get hooked on something and nearly yank the camera out of my hand. I got a BR strap and used that for a bit, never put the regular strap back on, and fell in love with the feel of the camera without a strap. My D7000 has never seen a conventional neckstrap, i never use them anymore. The only time i use the BR is if i am hiking or using my camera in large crowds and that is just to prevent somebody from knocking the camera out of my hand or snatching it

There is no one I can blame for this besides myself! I wish I could blame someone else so they could help pay for it, but I've learned my lesson!

Thanks for the offer on the camera Chris, but I think I'll stick with Scott's D200 for now. I have a d40x but after shoot with my d300s for almost a year now, I can't bring myself to go back to that camera.

I am a very clumsy person so the fact that I've made it this far without dropping anything is a miracle. Although I have dropped my sb-900 a few times, I haven't dropped any lenses or cameras yet! I need a strap for money saving purposes, I just gotta remember to put it back together when I'm done!!

 

[STBear]

Might be time to look at insurance if you feel you are clumsy. Had my 18-70 replaced after I banged it into a table. Saved me a few bucks.

 

[vicmac64]

Sorry to hear that - know the feeling - at an event my 24-70 fell off the camera (must have pressed the lens lock button inadvertantly - in any case as I went to adjust zoom off it came and slipped through my fingers and hit a tiled floor at the venu - bounced a couple of feet before hitting the tiles a second time. You could have cut the silence with a knife then someone whistles backwards. very embarrassing , but grabbed the lens got it on the cam and started to shoot again as if evrything was ok. But I knew it wasn't - so off to Nikon it went and 2 weeks later (I'm a member of NPS) it was returned with a heft bill for the equiv of $900. So you got off pretty light in the end. The consolation for me was that when I inspected the lens I could see no wear anywhere and so have a feeling I got a brand new replacement lens.

On a side note never shoot weddings without a back body and lens. I'm sure you don't but its only when something goes wrong at a wedding that you will find out what difficult customers are.

 

[chewbecca]

I'm glad that it was at least fixable!

I so fear anything happening to my camera! Even though I use my strap, I might as well not because I NEVER let it hang from the strap because I fear happening to me what happened to you.

This is also why I'm going to get a second camera body to have on hand.

 

[imagesbyelizabeth]

Might be time to look at insurance if you feel you are clumsy. Had my 18-70 replaced after I banged it into a table. Saved me a few bucks.

Sad thing is I've been looking into insurance and I have the paper work all filled out....only problem is it is in my drawer, not the insurer's hands! I finished filling it out right before I moved out of my dorm at the end of the semester so it just got thrown in a box then life got hectic after that!

Sorry to hear that - know the feeling - at an event my 24-70 fell off the camera (must have pressed the lens lock button inadvertantly - in any case as I went to adjust zoom off it came and slipped through my fingers and hit a tiled floor at the venu - bounced a couple of feet before hitting the tiles a second time. You could have cut the silence with a knife then someone whistles backwards. very embarrassing , but grabbed the lens got it on the cam and started to shoot again as if evrything was ok. But I knew it wasn't - so off to Nikon it went and 2 weeks later (I'm a member of NPS) it was returned with a heft bill for the equiv of $900. So you got off pretty light in the end. The consolation for me was that when I inspected the lens I could see no wear anywhere and so have a feeling I got a brand new replacement lens.

On a side note never shoot weddings without a back body and lens. I'm sure you don't but its only when something goes wrong at a wedding that you will find out what difficult customers are.

I have a back up body, only problem is it's my D40x. It will work if I have to use it, but after shooting with my D300s for a year, even the step down to my boyfriends D200 is bad enough. I used to shoot weddings with the D300s on one shoulder and the D40x on the other but after a while I found that the only thing I was using the d40 for was to hold my lens that I wasn't using because I always switched lenses anyways!!

When I win the lotto I'm going to buy two D3's and a 24-70 and get some good insurance! Until then I'll be extra careful and live the poor college photography student life!!

I'm glad that it was at least fixable!

I so fear anything happening to my camera! Even though I use my strap, I might as well not because I NEVER let it hang from the strap because I fear happening to me what happened to you.

This is also why I'm going to get a second camera body to have on hand.

Rebecca, I've always feared dropping my camera, I was just hoping it would be because I was diving to save a baby from falling out of the drunk bridesmaids hands or something, not a stupid mistake like this!

 

[nextelbuddy]

hmm Scott has D700 and you have d300s, both comparable in size and weight. i know you cant change the past thinking about it but just think about it, could have just left the strap on his camera and tested it out there as well.

good thing your 70-200 wasnt attached to the camera when it fell as well..


325 doesnt sound too bad of a repair, would you be able to let us know what the repair shop tells you that they fixed?