Schadenfreude

A busy day with lots of holiday related activity, but the highlight of my day? I finally got my 50mm lens back from the repair shop after 7 weeks!

The camera repair shop, a little hole in the wall, has a display counter filled with some curious examples of photographic mishaps. I think they do this to make people like me feel better about dropping off equipment with a relatively minor problem.


This was just a quick test shot (yay, the AF works!). Clockwise from top left:

"Smashed by cop's nightstick at Von Bulow trial. Photographer too close!"

"Fell 200 ft. Onto Rocks At The Falls Tonto National Bridge Arizona"

"Damaged Nikon lens mount. Irate customer attempted to pry off cheap lens jammed onto mount."

"TV Camera Lens Smashed on deck of U.S.S. Constitution when hit by a a capricious wind"


Barely visible in the upper left corner is a lens that took a .22 caliber bullet. According to the shopkeeper, some kids were on a beach goofing around with a gun. One kid shot at a large rock; the bullet ricocheted and hit another kid's camera, which was hanging at his waist.

Even my daughter was fascinated by the wreckage in that display case, which included a Nikon SLR chewed apart by a German shepherd and a rusted Hasselblad lens found at the bottom of the pond in the Boston Public Garden. Here are a couple more examples:

Peanuts!! Peanuts!!

Water Damage




(And, yes, before anyone else points it out --i.e. smug Canon shooters ;)-- there seems to be a disproportionate number of irresponsible Nikon users.)