As discrening photographers, we all want our gear to be as durable as can be, whether being dropped while on shoot or liquids being spilt share your Nikon survivor stories.

I'll start with mine:

Mine was one of the first batches of D70's here in the Philippines, I bought mine through Frank Tsai of Aperture, but that one was affected by the dreaded BGLOD so that went in for replacement and was replaced two weeks later and has been working fine ever since. Around March last year we had a house fire that decimated my room/studio all my lights and my computer was destroyed, by some stroke of luck my I had left my camera in the living room which was not affected by the fire but the heat was enough to melt everything around the ceiling and parts of the camera, the entire top half of the camera and lens (mostly the plastics) were distorted and melted. In addition to that when the firefighters arrived to douse the blaze, of couse the camera was still there and got soaked! When I was able to retrieve the D70 it worked for a bit but blacked out because of the soaking, all the accessories including the charger were melted in to one mass in my camera bag at the time. The camera lay on top of my desk for the next 3 months as I used a 300D for the meantime. One day I curiously checked if the camera would power on, Lo and behold! IT'S ALIVE!!!!!! so I proceed to purchase a new charger and battery, all was well but 5 months later I accdentally dropped it while on shoot and the fall knocked the power on/off switch and broke the flash and shutter release button. Makes me sad whenever I remember that day. Right now it still works and is about 70-75k shutter clicks in. There's just one problem now.... it doesn't turn off anymore. Better it doesn't turn off than on i guess! :)

Peace!

Sir Ken,

If Discovery Channel would have a special feature on "I Shouldn't Be Alive" for cameras, that will definitely be on their list. :)

...My experience is nothing compared to yours... I just dropped it during the Nikon EB at the Manila American Cemetary while fixing my tripod (as Nino witnessed)... and its still working.

Ken,

How bout posting a photo of your battered D70?

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/575/dsc0222cj8.th.jpg (http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0222cj8.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6976/dsc0223qj8.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0223qj8.jpg)http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2936/dsc0224ay2.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0224ay2.jpg)

There it is, the battle worn veteran, but it still works perfectly fine, the kit lens is still as sharp as it was when i first got it.

Peace!

http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/575/dsc0222cj8.th.jpg (http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0222cj8.jpg)http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/6976/dsc0223qj8.th.jpg (http://img220.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0223qj8.jpg)http://img174.imageshack.us/img174/2936/dsc0224ay2.th.jpg (http://img174.imageshack.us/my.php?image=dsc0224ay2.jpg)

There it is, the battle worn veteran, but it still works perfectly fine, the kit lens is still as sharp as it was when i first got it.

Peace!

wwwooooaaaaaahhhh... :Shock: That musta' hurt!!...

Thanks Earl, imagine what i felt during the fire, oh yeah here's what the house looked like after the fire... :(

http://img226.imageshack.us/img226/6623/134901032005002ou2.th.jpg (http://img226.imageshack.us/my.php?image=134901032005002ou2.jpg)http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/5356/135101032005004xu0.th.jpg (http://img134.imageshack.us/my.php?image=135101032005004xu0.jpg)

Peace!

Talk about durability! Wow! That's why I love my D70 even more! :) thanks for sharing sir Ken!

wow, it had a tough beating but still managed to survive. you can share this as a testimonial to nikon. :)

As every nikonian knows that D70 is Not weather sealed. It survived the hottest desert heat 53c, SandStorm, High humidity on the summer and cold during the winter times. After all the beating in harsh environment my D70 never stop to amuse me. It survived but not compared to yours Ken.

During my vacation this year, i came to shoot in Guintubdan twin falls in Negros Occidental. In order to get a good angle on the big falls i have to be at the foot of the the smaller falls. The mist generated by the falls got my D70 dripping wet. But i have to get a shot, otherwise the whole trekking is wasted. Here is the shot below....

http://static.flickr.com/61/189858767_019f7690a2.jpg

Once during a shoot with my D2x, it started to rain. I sought cover under the nearest tent, but was near the edge already. Turns out the rain water accumulated above, and when the tent was nudged, the rain water fell on my camera (parang nabuhos from a tabo). Some indecent language followed, then punas with whatever, then shoot pa rin. Thank goodness for the weather sealing.:)

Another time, the same camera fell on its back, onto a marble floor. Didn't fall that far down, but it still made an audible thud. No damage, no crack on the LCD. Shooting pa rin.

That's on top of the sweat that drips on it during a wedding or some other warm-weather shoot.

Nikon forever!

I don't have much to share in terms of "survivor" stories. The most that has happened to me was that I dropped my D200 with the 17-55 dx attached lens first to the concrete from about 2 ft.

The lens had a filter and that absorbed much of the impact. No damage to the camera or the lens.

regards.

wow, it had a tough beating but still managed to survive. you can share this as a testimonial to nikon. :)
I wonder if Anderson's read through this yet?? :D

Peace!

I don't have much to share in terms of "survivor" stories. The most that has happened to me was that I dropped my D200 with the 17-55 dx attached lens first to the concrete from about 2 ft.

The lens had a filter and that absorbed much of the impact. No damage to the camera or the lens.

regards.

ouch! i would have flipped out for sure

The worse thing that ever happened to me was that my old D70s and 24-120 VR combo... banged around much when I went riding on that freaking Big Thunder mountain roller coaster ride with them... They still survived. :)

The worse thing that ever happened to me was that my old D70s and 24-120 VR combo... banged around much when I went riding on that freaking Big Thunder mountain roller coaster ride with them... They still survived. :)
Hey Earl, I can imagine your facial expression while on that ride trying to hold on and protect your cam. By the way, did you enjoy the ride? :Grin:

regards.

Hey Earl, I can imagine your facial expression while on that ride trying to hold on and protect your cam. By the way, did you enjoy the ride? :Grin:

regards.

:) Zandy, it was my first time riding that thing... My wife said to raise my arms up and say weeeeeeeeeeee!!! I told her: "Woman, are freaking nuts!?! What about my camera!?!":Mad: And she just said that she was forgetting about that...

Now, if I enjoyed it?!?... mmmmmmm... Yup it was hell, but probably if I wasn't holding on anything...:D

worst thing that happend on my d50 was that it hit the side of one of the laterals here in the office...got a couple of dents and scratches by the battery compartment side.....but it still worked perfectly after that! :)

I was about 15 and as green as can be. I left my FM2, Tokina 28-85, and Sunpak flash on a tripod that is not fully extended. I accidentally bumped the entire thing and it tipped over, lens first, towards the floor. I broke the lens, broke the flash shoe, but the FM2 survived it all.

I regret having traded-in *THAT* FM2 for a D1x. :(

Ken, that`s encouraging. It makes me even proud to own a D70! whoah!
Thanks for sharing.

Worst thing that happened to me was when I accidentally dropped my Nikon N70s with 24-120mm attached. Nothing happened, just a few scratches on the body. Whew! :)

Worst thing that happened to me was when I accidentally dropped my Nikon N70s with 24-120mm attached. Nothing happened, just a few scratches on the body. Whew! :)


wow... dats what we call nikon durability!! the scratches can be considered as battle scars!!! hehe :Grin:

wow... dats what we call nikon durability!! the scratches can be considered as battle scars!!! hehe :Grin:

Yup! You got to love Nikon!!! :)

My D2X was resting on a chair when someone knocked the chair over. The camera fell about two feet and now the LCD Panel is cracked. The LCD itself is still ok, but the face needs to be replaced.

Fcuk.

Binili ko yung D80 ko 1 month ago, then diretso sa kotse agad para ma-test, nag ring ang phone, sinagot ko at nasagi ko ang kabibili lang D80, nahulog si D80 buti na lang bumagsak sa damuhan hehehe. Ok pa din si D80! walang gasgas!:)

@Louie

Your heart must have jump out of your car that very moment :)

roy,

hindi nga ako naka-hinga agad not until i found out that it was ok.hehehehe.:)

Buti na lang Louie. Kung hindi, yari ka ke Kumander he-he. :)

@zandy,

Hehehe lately lang nalaman ni misis na bumili ako ng D80, ayun sermon na naman ang feedback ni misis hehehe. Pero ok lang sabi ko naman kikita din tayo ng pera, pag nagpartner na tayo sa mga photo-shoot. hehehehe.:D