I'm just sick....Dropped camera

I am just sick....

I dropped my Nikon D80 while trying to get it onto my new Manfrotto Pistol Grip 3265. The kit lens was on it and it just snapped off right at the ring that hooks it to the body.

I put my new Nikkor 50mm/1.8 onto it and it seems to still take pictures, but I just don't know how to tell if I did any damage to the body as well.

I am so irritated with myself. I allowed myself to get distracted and it just popped off the quick release.

I have the service plan from Best Buy when I bought the camera and the sales person claimed that it covered everything and even user stupidity. I'll find out tomorrow if that is true.

I've just boxed up the entire lens and body and accessories in case I have to return everything. I at least remembered to pull the memory card.

Keep your fingers crossed. I don't think I can afford to buy a new camera or 18-135mm kit lens

grrrr

 

oh yuck... hopefully they will give you a new one out of the box but that may be a pie in the sky proposition. i may be able to help you out in disneyland if the need be... bring your own cards, though (CF only)... good luck, ray.

 

Fortunately, I have one 1GB CF card and one 340 MB IBM Minidrive (CF Type II).

When I bought my camera at Christmas and Best Buy asked me if I wanted the service plan, they told me that it covers anything that happens to the camera even if it was due to user accident (non-deliberate).

Since it's a kit (body and lens), I'm crossing my fingers it will just be a flat swap out. I'm sure if I could say the right thing, I could say that the body and lens were both damaged by the drop. It's obvious the lens was but not sure how to explain what's wrong with the body other than, "It's just sounding right"

 

I'm looking at my receipt now, and I'm not sure if they put on the accidental part or not. I wasn't told, at that time, that I had to pay extra for that. I paid 159.99 for a 4YR service plan

 

Re: I'm just sick....Dropped camera (Followup)

Here is the followup....

I went to Best Buy and they did verify that I had the Accidental Damage coverage with my service plan, but there is a catch.

They do not give out immediate exchanges for dSLR cameras. It must be sent to a 3rd Party camera repair facility somewhere in the Mid-West. If they determine it cannot be fixed, or it's more expensive to fix than to replace, then you get a new unit. Otherwise they will repair.

So, since I couldn't really tell if there was anything wrong with my body since it seemed to still take great pictures with my other lens (a 50mm fixed focal length), I decided to take it back home with me. I'll travel to Disneyland with my new lens and body and hammer the heck out of it. If the pictures look good, then I know the body wasn't affected by the drop (it was on carpet).

Then, I'll come home and send the lens for repair. The other catch is that they are telling me that I have to send the lens and body together, which I don't like. If the body is fine, I don't want to let it leave my hands.

I'm thinking that I'll need to take another trip to the camera store and buy a replacement for the kit lens that I lost. But, it'll have to zoom in better than the kits lens that broke (135mm)

Moral of the story, make sure you understand the actions taken if you try to utilize the Accidental Coverage on your item.

I am upset, but it does sound like I'll either get a new unit or a repaired lens for free. But, I think I'll also need to just replace it with a better unit.

 

HW,

I thought you'd want to hear about my experience since you have the same service policy. Needless to say, I'm not happy. Now I have a trip and possibly no camera (if the body truly didn't survive the fall).

But, even if the body held up, I only have a 50mm lens to take pictures with. Real limiting. Now, I'm pricing an alternative replacement for the 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6G ED-IF AF-S DX Zoom lens that came with the camera.

 

Well,

I decided to give the Tamron AF28-300mm F/3.5-6.3 XR Di LD Aspherical (IF) Macro a go for a replacement to the 18-135 Nikkor kit lens I broke. Since I am eventually going to get that lens fixed for free, I was wanting a lens that would compliment that lens and give me something extra and not be mainly overlap.

I was on the fence between this lens and the Nikkor 55-200 VR lens that is listing for about $250 right now. But, after doing some experimenting I'm was getting the feeling that a 55mm starting point (due to crop 82mm), would be too close.

I cannot take the lens back for a refund but I can return it within 14 days for store credit to be applied to another lens(es), if I'm not satisfied.

This trip to Disneyland will be a good test. I've taken a few pictures but it's hard to tell

It's definitely heavier than my 18-135mm lens.

 

Well, I thought I should post up an update on this matter....

I just dropped off my camera body and broken lens at Best Buy. Since I have the Accidental Damage policy with them, this will cost me nothing, but I did have to surrender my entire camera even though the lens is the thing that is broken. They tell me that is because if they deem the lens irreparable, I'll just be told to come to Best Buy and pick up an entirely new kit.

They claim that it'll be resolved around 8/1/2007. I hope this is true because I am going to WDW on 9/9/2007 and don't want to go without my camera. Or I'll be buying a new Nikon body (cheaper model) as my requisite backup body

 

Glad that will work out for you. I usually don't buy extended warranties nowadays except on a few select items, but accidental damage is sometimes a good thing.

 

HW,

I was thinking of you when I decided to post my update. I figured you would definitely want to know my experiences. I'll post again once I get my camera back, get it replaced, or have trouble. Whichever happens first

 

It's just sad that I have to be the one that is the guinea pig for the service policy

 

It can get heavy at times and I may just be ignorant but it seems really good to me. I do miss the 10mm difference between my broken lens and this one, but it really did me good at Disneyland.

 

I almost took it back for store credit, but when I started getting compliments on my photos I changed my mind.

 

I got my camera back today. It took one month for them to fix the lens, but the body and kit lens are now back in my hot little hands. I took some pictures of my house under construction (in RAW, of course). I just have to find time to pull them off the card to see how well they came out.