Saturday, June 28, 2014

Crash Test Dummies ...

While Crash™is telling great stories and enjoying ice creams in Oslo on the Awesome After Party and really likes you to vote for us on facebook we experienced another not so nice crash this week.

We were having a great time in The Studio™planning and prepping for our next big adventure (more on that later next week - but rest assured the plans do not include dinosaur train stations) when the whole studio turned dark. 

Or at least the viewfinder turned dark.


It did not matter what lens we put on, the viewfinder became more and more dark, and we could not even focus correctly anymore.

Something was seriously wrong and even the display threw an odd error message.

We felt like a painter who's brushes just turned into stone or a writer without a pen.

What did just happen ?

We only had a full clean and check up a little while ago and so with shivering legs we went to the mothership to get the verdict on the damage and the ETA of the repair.

Especially this last one was a big concern as we were planning a first set of shoots next week, before the start of the next big adventure in three weeks time.

The young trooper behind the desk took our body into the dungeons for a thorough check, and after a while a more senior trooper returned with the verdict.

A tiny little screw got lost on my lens and this ultimately damaged the aperture mechanism, turning the viewfinder dark as the aperture ring was bent.

My favorite 105 got a replacement screw, but the body needed to stay for repair.

The senior trooper advised to check occasionally for this little stop screw and even take a little screw driver along (yes sir, rest assured I will check this bugger once in a while).

So, if you are shooting DSLR and change your glass on a regular basis do check for the little stop screw on your lenses as it is a critical component and you don't want to be caught out like us.

I had no clue about that little screw and the damage it could do.
I am sure most of you are not checking for it either.
Here is a quick post on flickr showing the missing screw on a lens (not my lens, I just googled for missing stop screw) 

At the same time the young trooper returned with a replacement body so we could continue our planned shoot while awaiting the final repair.

Awesome service.  

Thank you, Nikon !

Me2

PS. If you are planning to go on a longer trip (photo safari, holiday, art project...) it is always good to take a second body along (your iPhone is the backup of the backup) and check your gear a week ahead of the departure date so you can work out any last minute hiccups you may encounter ...

Remember, the gear of a photographer is an essential piece of kit to produce awesome art or cool pictures and you dont want to be caught out when you traveled far and beyond.  

Here is my small pre-flight checklist for photo shoots abroad.

Check your gear at least a week ahead.
This really means taking some pictures with all your lenses and look for dust spots.
If dust spots, go get a cleaning of your sensor at a certified photo shop.
Make sure you have a second body with you (which you also tested).
Make sure your batteries are fully loaded, and you have a travel adapter along.
Make sure you have the possibility to backup your memory cards on a hard-disk and online.
Make sure you have sufficient memory cards along so you can at least survive two days.

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