Secrets
First off, had a great time reading all the comments!. ... and yes, I'm glad you can't send punches through the forum. :-P
The idea of giving the camera to a school, student or Don7849 (a random user) would have been a great idea. (Someone at dpreview said I should fulfill the Kenya mail scam -- that was the best. )
While some people think I was pretty crazy/stupid/immature to burn a d50, I found it informative and well... very fun. Most of us never see equipment destroyed, especially by a blow torch. I had a great time doing it (I am gearing up for your pyro comments.)
As for the camera shots, a non-camera person was shooting. i set up the camera for him, but i guess i forgot to tell him about the center spot focus and the minimum lens distance. and no, i won't be burning the 1ds anytime soon.
And lastly, while I 'proved' the camera was functional... it wasn't. Yes it did take pictures,.... but,.... only bright daytime subjects at M, 1/30 shutter, F4.? and ISO 1600. A set employee this last year decided that holding the camera was not what she desired, so she dropped it. I think at the time 6:10 or 6:20 into the video you can see a huge crack on the bottom of the camera... that was originally there. The lens was also broken from a different drop test - it only could take pictures on M (not A) on the lens. -- zoom was physically impossible.
As for the valuable parts, the battery and the cheap 512mb memory card, i of course saved those. waste not.
Now as for the comments about selling for parts. We did that last season. The camera sells for $15 to the camera rapair store then $5 for the lens. Shipping was on us and cost 5-10 bucks to ship. I would be able to eat a super-sized meal at mcdonalds with the profit (or 10 chicken crisps at burger king). We sold 12 broken d40, d50, d70 and d100 cameras last season. and about 20 x 18-55 lenses. (the kit lens broke quite easily believe it or not) We used the money we made to pay for part of one new D40 + lens.
Fixing the camera and lens would have cost more than a new D50 or D40 (if either were still made or sold) and the warranty was no longer valid. (not to mention they probably would not honor it).
lastly, while we did box it and ship it, we didn't ship back to nikon. instead we shipped to a friend as a gag. They should get it tomorrow.
Thank you all again for checking it out. I hope you can watch it again with a little more fun knowing its not really 'working'.
And remember, when I have a blow torch in my hands, you might want to keep your cameras away!
