Luminous Landscape Forum
Equipment & Techniques => Cameras, Lenses and Shooting gear => Topic started by: BernardLanguillier on July 03, 2014, 03:16:34 am
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Dear Otus users/potential buyers,
Quick sharing of information. I happened to "drop" by d800 + Otus 55mm f1.4 combo twice in the last 6 months, which is twice as many times as I had dropped lenses in the previous 30 years of my photography life. :-[
Technically, I was not holding the camera/lens those 2 times. It did fall first on hard wood flooring from the top of a poorly closed backpack once (max 50cm), and did fall on a concrete floor from a height of 35cm when the sliding door of a car was opened without warning by the driver.
Regardless, since the hood was bumped and dented, I sent the lens to Cosina for repair.
The bad news, and the reason why I am posting this here, is that they have just reported to me that the lens itself had been damaged with measurable optical issues. Besides the cost (this is not covered by warranty) the concern is therefore how fragile the Otus is.
I would urge Otus users utmost care when carrying/using the lens.
Cheers,
Bernard
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Hello Bernard,
That’s terrible news. If the cost of repair is extreme it might be an idea to consider the new Sigma 50mm Art lens.
Cheers
Simon
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That’s terrible news. If the cost of repair is extreme it might be an idea to consider the new Sigma 50mm Art lens.
I was perhaps just unlucky, who knows.
Cheers,
Bernard
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thats what insurance is for.
you are insured aren’t you? :-\
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thats what insurance is for.
you are insured aren’t you? :-\
I am not, but fair point. :-)
But an insurance will typically not protect you from the downtime resulting from an un-expected failure.
Cheers,
Bernard
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I was perhaps just unlucky, who knows.
Cheers,
Bernard
Yes, maybe. FWIW, I dropped my 70-200 just once. It landed on soft, freshly plowed earth (from 50 cm, max). I had to sent it for repair. IS unit was damaged and alignement had to be redone. A friend of mine dropped the same lens on concrete, more than once. He also dropped it at home on a wooden floor and his lens is optically perfect and fully functional…
So it may be bad luck only or it could also be that the Otus is simply fragile.
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Sorry for your loss, Bernard. I have always treated my copy with the utmost care - but the size and potential for damage has not stopped me from traveling with it. If mine became damaged I would buy another immediately - it's become indispensable for my work.
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Sorry for your loss, Bernard. I have always treated my copy with the utmost care - but the size and potential for damage has not stopped me from traveling with it. If mine became damaged I would buy another immediately - it's become indispensable for my work.
Indeed, this doesn't change anything in terms of value delivered by the lens, it is just one thing to keep in mind.
Cheers,
Bernard
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Yes, maybe. FWIW, I dropped my 70-200 just once. It landed on soft, freshly plowed earth (from 50 cm, max). I had to sent it for repair. IS unit was damaged and alignement had to be redone. A friend of mine dropped the same lens on concrete, more than once. He also dropped it at home on a wooden floor and his lens is optically perfect and fully functional…
So it may be bad luck only or it could also be that the Otus is simply fragile.
Another data point: I sent a Nikon 70-200mm for CLA, and it was diagnosed with "impact damage" and needed extensive repairs. I cannot recall ever dropping or banging the lens into anything (it also seemed to be working fine). There might just be certain angles from which lenses are quite fragile.
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I am not, but fair point. :-)
But an insurance will typically not protect you from the downtime resulting from an un-expected failure.
Cheers,
Bernard
you must be gutted :( (or so wealthy a dropped otus is of no consequence) hopefully the repair is reasonable.
as for downtime some specialist insurers cover you for rental, i know mine does but thats not much good half way up a mountain.
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... insurance will typically not protect you from the downtime resulting from an un-expected failure.
I have a backup copy of my most important lens for just this reason.
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Sorry to hear that Bernard!
I am less careful than you are i think so i got insured after my first mistake... ( a 14-24 drop - and not for the last time!)
Anyway my insurance cost about 400€ a year and it covers about 15.000 of equipment against ME and almost anything but stealing from cars without being chained etc...
I see it as a ... insurance... ( the first 50-100€ is at your own risk)- maybe something to consider
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Very sorry to hear this. I suffered a similar problem w d800e and 70-200 vr2 attached. The camera and lens were positioned horizontally in a padded camera backpack. I slipped while hiking and fell on my bottom. The backpack did not impact the ground. However the lens snapped off the camera. The chrome lens mount on the camera was cracked but no other visible damage. Although the lens was ok, the d800e was beyond repair. It had a fractured frame. This is a common problem according tom hogan (bythom.com) my home insurance paid for the camera since I had it included for an extra $7 a year.
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Sorry to hear that, you have posted superb images using that lens.
From what I read here, it might be a good idea to store and transport the camera without the lens attached.
Insurance is a good idea but could be very expensive for amateurs.
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Bernard,
Is it cheaper to get an ART or repair the Otus?
Edmund
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Is it cheaper to get an ART or repair the Otus?
It will be cheaper to repair the Otus.
Cheers,
Bernard
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I know how you feel. I dropped my Nikkor 24-70mm zoom, only 18 inches, onto pavement. Cost over $700 at Nikon to repair and fix, and it took a long time too because they had to get some parts from Japan. That kinda weirded me out because I thought since the 24-70mm zoom is thier "professional zoom", parts would not be an issue. However, it is back and all works fine now.
On the flip side of things, I own and use three Zeiss ZF lenses on my D800. All three have taken abuse over the years, and all three are rock solid and razor sharp on my D800. When I damaged my 24-70mm, you could see the loss of sharpness instantly, even on my D700. But the standard, manual focus ZF2's are wonderful.
The other thing too, I tried out that 55mm Otus on my D800, and optically, an amazing lens, but huge and heavy. I do a lot of hiking with my camera gear, so I am not always in "pretty situations". Hell, I once busted up one of my 4x5's by falling in a river years ago. Fixed my camera, but the cut on my head needed a stich or two. :( Anyhow, point is, I am a natural klutz, but the D700 and D800 along with the Zf2 lenses have taken everything I have thrown at them (so far :) ).
so I am thinking, depending on your needs, and where you plan to shoot, what kind of conditions you plan on shooting in, that alone might change one's mind over whether to buy an Otus or ZF2.
good luck either way
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Very sorry to hear this. I suffered a similar problem w d800e and 70-200 vr2 attached. The camera and lens were positioned horizontally in a padded camera backpack. I slipped while hiking and fell on my bottom. The backpack did not impact the ground. However the lens snapped off the camera. The chrome lens mount on the camera was cracked but no other visible damage. Although the lens was ok, the d800e was beyond repair. It had a fractured frame. This is a common problem according tom hogan (bythom.com) my home insurance paid for the camera since I had it included for an extra $7 a year.
Several people have reported damage to a Nikon 70-200 in this thread. I had one very different experience 4 years ago.
I was walking down a street in a quiet residential area with my family. There were too many of us to walk abreast on the sidewalk so I was walking in the gutter. I was carrying a Nikon D3s with the then-new 70-200 mm f/2.8 zoom in my right hand. Because the lens was so heavy, I was holding it by the quick-release plate attached to the tripod collar. I saw a parked car up ahead, and tried to step up onto the sidewalk, not noticing that the gutter was falling away to make way for a storm drain.
I put my left foot on the sidewalk, and caught my right foot on the curb as I swung it over. I almost got it under me, but I actually made matters worse as I put my weight on it and it forced me forward. I went down hard in a three point landing: my left hip, my left palm, and the upside down camera-and-lens combination in my right hand.
The damage? Technicolor bruises to my hip and palm, and abrasions to the lens hood and pentaprism cover. The camera worked fine. So did the lens, even the motion compensation.
On the other hand, many years ago, I turned around while I was sitting and pushed a Nikon FM off a bench. It fell about a foot to a stone patio, and the light meter never worked after that. A few years later, my wife set a 35 mm Minox down a little too hard on a hard surface, also resulting in failure of the light meter.
I did damage a D800E a year ago when I picked it up off a bench with my foot on the strap. It needed the AF adjusted.
Jim
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Several people have reported damage to a Nikon 70-200 in this thread. I had one very different experience 4 years ago.
The damage? Technicolor bruises to my hip and palm, and abrasions to the lens hood and pentaprism cover. The camera worked fine. So did the lens, even the motion compensation.
Jim, I was under the impression my 70-200 was working fine, too, until I sent it to Nikon for CLA. It might need a bunch of expensive testing equipment to figure out your lens is broken :)
Martin
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Jim, I was under the impression my 70-200 was working fine, too, until I sent it to Nikon for CLA. It might need a bunch of expensive testing equipment to figure out your lens is broken :)
Martin
That's like self-diagnosing your symptoms using the internet: you'd be surprised how sick you actually are ;)
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Several years ago I was shooting video for a great big sporting goods retailer. I was on a bass boat on a lake in Florida. The fisherman I was shooting caught a nice fish and I asked him to wait for the release until I got in position. I knelt down and held the camera by the handle ($36,000 camera) to get a low angle of the fish going back into the water. When I signaled the fisherman to release the fish, he knelt down and the boat tipped. My center of gravity was too far out and I began to tip over the edge of the boat, camera and all. There was nothing I could do. Fortunately another fisherman on the boat grabbed me by the shirt. It would have been a very expensive dip in the lake. Another time I was wading a stream in southeast Alaska in a tidal area. The stream bed was very slick and the soles of my waders weren't getting enough traction. I slipped and went under. I held the camera up as high as I could but it did get a little wet. It dried out and has worked fine since, but the moral of the story is that if you work under these types of conditions, insurance is vital.
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Great story David. Thx for sharing it.
Alternatively you might be able to work some type of underwater housing.
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If I worked on water sports shoots, I'd buy a Pentax and two of the water-resistant lenses. They are likely to survive a short dunk at surface pressure.
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About two minutes after taking the attached pic, in May 1984, the camera & lens I used (Canon AE-1 & 50/1.4) slid off the felucca boat's hull and disappeared into the Nile while I was fishing out a new roll of Kodachrome from my bag. This was ten days into a two-month trip...for the remainder I shared my then girlfriend's Minolta.
-Dave-
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A friend with a D800 took camera in for focus checking and Nikon Canada pronounced "impact damage" to the lens mount. He is extremely fastidious about his gear and could recall no impacts of any nature. Hmm.
Since this is rapidly devolving into a "photoaccident" thread, this:
Sitting in a RHIB (rigid hull inflatable boat) in the Pacific Ocean a few hundred miles off the coast of Costa Rica, I was photographing swimmers who had recently dived off the warship that loomed high above me. One of the sailors yelled from high above, "Hey Peter! Watch this!" Whereupon he cherry-bombed me, drenching me and my $75K camcorder with warm salt water. Of course it instantly died.
No backup.
With the able assistance of the electronics boys aboard ship, I performed heroic surgery (we had nothing to lose), the net result of which was a camera that would record and play back its recordings, but which had no live viewfinder. It made for interesting times shooting interviews: frame shot, shoot, play back, adjust framing, shoot, play back, adjust framing... etc.
I fabricated a "sports" viewfinder from stiff wire and carried on shooting until we arrived in San Diego, where a replacement was waiting for me.
In the immortal words of Rumsfeld, "stuff happens".
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My story was a cautionary tale of why you need insurance. I didn't mean to drag the topic off on a rabbit trail.