Not for the weak of heart!!!

[ken1953]

Hello all,
As the title says, this tale is not for the weak of heart. It is a true story and happened Monday morning to yours' truly.
I knew the day was going to be bad as I was scheduled at the VA hospital for what the call a "Double Dip". For those of you in my age range, you know what this is. For those of you of the younger persuasion, I'll keep it brief. It is when you get a Colonoscopy and an Endoscopy at the same time. YECH!!!!!!!! Hence the camera connection.
Now if you think that was bad enough, brace yourself, it gets worse. The Pentax connection still has to come into play.
Anyway, the wife and I head out the door. I grab my wallet, my glucose meter, my appointment letters, my extra change of clothes in case the golytely decides to make a sudden unexpected appearance on my 70 mile journey, and last but not least, my "WIFES" *ist DL with the DA 50-200ED lens attached ready to go.
We're on the road. A short trip to the freeway and we're on our way...."thump..thump.." the wife says, "what was that?????" Not a word out of me as my eyes dart straight for the rear view mirror.... :cryin: :mad2: ...
Anyone know what an *ist DL looks like after it bounces down the freeway at 60 miles an hour?????

DO NOT SCROLL DOWN IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW!!!!!!!!!!!

[Frog]

Left it on the roof? Actually doesn't look as bad as one would expect. Does it still work?
Insurance?

[ken1953]

A few more...
The camera doesn't work, but I think it may just be a loose wire from the battery door that broke off. Except for the one gouge on the case, and the scar on the lens filter and the crack on the filter, no glass was broken. There is something loose in the lens, but it still rotates but catches. And of course the battery door. The memory card stayed intact and the door there stayed attached.
How's that for build quality!!!
GO PENTAX!!!!!!

[ken1953]

Left it on the roof? Actually doesn't look as bad as one would expect. Does it still work?
Insurance?

Yes, forgot to mention that. Left it on the roof!!!! See the second section of pics about condition.
Don't know if my auto insurance will cover it, but I didn't have other insurance.

[Shooter Tiff]

Thats rough. Like frog said, I'm surprised how well it held up.
Do you think the battery door can be fixed?
maybe it's time to try the new k20...

[ken1953]

PS....the freeway is about 3 miles from my house, so the camera rode on top of the van that far plus 2 hills between here and there, and only came off when I rapidly accelerated to 65.

Tiff...the door can probably be fixed and I have several lenses. But it will have to be checked out by a pro to let me know what it will need to be fixed. Heck the lense may even be fixable. We'll have to see.

[mjs1973]

Sorry to hear about your day Ken. I hope you can get your insurance co. to pay for it. So has Kim picked out her new camera yet? ;)

[spiraleyes]

It looks deaded.

[Frog]

Your freeway must be less crowded than ours for you to even be able to retrieve it.

[Grandpaw]

Sorry to hear about your experience. My family and I were down in Florida on vacation and locked my keys in the car. When I finally managed to get the door unlocked we hopped in and took off. As we were driving down the road a car pulled up beside us and the man was jumping up and down swinging his arms and pointing at the roof of my car. Then it hit me that I had set my Nikon F on the roof while trying to get the car door unlocked. I slowed down and pulled over to find it setting up there safe and sound. That was a very good day indeed, Jeff

[PeteE]

Ken, Ouch. I know the feeling but not with a camera. The great thing will be if the camera works.
Could be quite a conversation piece. Some one would ask "what happened to your camera ?"

Well I was on sarfi,,,,,,, or
when I was at the zoo and this polar bear.......
I was at the Grand Canyon and it slipped out of ......took three days to get it.

Any way hope every thing turned out at the Hospital.

[Old Timer]

Oh I feel for you Ken! I think at one time or another all of us have had similar experiences. Many years ago I left very expense borrowed flash on the roof and took off. It survived the impact with the road thank goodness and none the worse for wear, but it did teach me a very important lesson about my equipments security.

As an insurance agent I can tell you that unless you have some type rider on your homeowners or special camera insurance your not very likely to collect on a claim like this. Sorry!

[Snapac]

I am so sorry for your misfortune; I was just having that conversation with my insurance agent, it's gonna cost an extra $25.00 per year to to cover lost, damage or stolen, everything in fact, except natural defects.

[ken1953]

Thanx all for the sympathy. I was pretty upset for several days, especially since it was my wifes camera.
As for insurance, I didn't have a rider. And have hesitated calling my auto insurance because I don't want to hear those lovely little words, "I'm sorry sir, you're not covered for that"!
I still have 1 *ist DL left, but it needs to be sent into Pentax for a sensor cleaning, so when I get that done, I'll give it to my wife.
Also, until that gets cleaned, we are cameraless, so I won't be posting pics for a while unless we borrow our daughters Nikon.
Thanx again.

[jgredline]

Wow, my condolences on your loss. I must say, it does look pretty good for the beat down it took. Hopefully it can be fixed to work. I think if it can work with the cracks and missing parts, I would leave it like that. It will add character to the body and be a good conversation starter.

[Kajuah]

See...if that were a nikon it wouldn't look half as bad right now !

(sorry, had to)

Also so sorry for your loss.