Can I cry on your shoulder for a sec.?

[CLKunst]

Thank god it's Monday!

I have just emerged from the worst equipment week I have had in five years. Mind if I share?

Thursday evening: Sent to cover moe. at the Warner Theater in Washington D.C. by the internet mag. I had just walked up to the venue and begun to take pictures of the marquis and crowd outside the door, photo pass and orchestra seating await me inside. I got four shots off then . . . nothing. No more shutter release. The backup rig is miles away as I was trying to travel light for a crowded show. That will teach me to go to an event without a backup in the car huh? OK. Boo-hoo these things happen and the editor forgives me ~ move on. The *istDS gets sent to the spa for a well deserved rejuvenation.

I have just sold one of my two backup cameras (*istD) so I only had one back up and one 1Gb CF card for my other *ist D as I'm trying to upgrade my equipment. That's really not enough but I think, well just for the weekend I'll make it do, and on Monday I'm going out to buy the K10D so I can make it that long. Nope.

Sunday Afternoon: On location shoot of a family "band" and I'm downloading to my portable hard drive every time the card gets filled. Things are working, although slowly. I'm about half way though the shoot, I go to download and phbtt! I bent two prongs in the CF card reader slot on my hard drive. Argh!!! It's the digital equivalent of running out of film ~ I had to schedule a re-shoot for next week. But I'm still ok, I'll bounce back, I'm going to get my brand new camera a day early!

So I hop in the car and call the local camera store, have you got the K10D? Great, I'm on my way. My second event of the day, covering a Gala for a local charity, starts in about an hour. I get to the store, pay and have everything pulled out of the box on the counter before I've even finished signing the receipt, much to the amusement of my salesman. I snap on a lens and turn it over to drop in the batteries I have in my coat pocket. Here's my next surprise of the day, the K10D doesn't accept normal batteries like it's predecessors, it has it's own lithium ion rechargeable battery. As a feature I love it and it's going to save me a bundle on replacement batteries but at the time I'm staring at the salesman, surrounded by packing material and he's saying that it should have a full charge in about 2 1/2 hours. But my event starts in 20 minutes! Oh well. The event coordinator was also forgiving and I was able to cover the last half of the party. The K10D is magnificent, even though I was fumbling along with it since I had no time for familiarization before it had to go to work, truly this is a pro class camera and using it was the nicest part of my day. Once the battery was charged. . .

I was told by three different people in three different places today that Mars is in retrograde and this is the cosmos' fault. . .I think some weeks just turn out that way.

Thanks for letting me weep, I feel better now and looking at it all typed out it doesn't seem quite so bad. At least I have a super new rig and a warranty.

[another view]

I haven't picked up a camera in the last week, but my seventeen year old coffee grinder finally gave out over the weekend. Fortunately I have a backup plan for that crucial piece of equipment...

[CLKunst]

I haven't picked up a camera in the last week, but my seventeen year old coffee grinder finally gave out over the weekend. Fortunately I have a backup plan for that crucial piece of equipment...

Ha Ha! A bit easier on the budget to replace too!

[Old Timer]

I've had my challenges in the past with equipment failures but never anything to match what you experience this week. Let's just hope that you have had your quota of bad experiences for a life time and everything is clear sailing form here on in.

Oh and Steve my back up for a failed coffee grinder would have been to grab a hammer and beat those little suckers into submission.

[Asylum Steve]

That's quite a story, CL. Off hand, I'd say the most logical explanation is you were mean to small anaimals as a child, and now your karma is finally balancing out...

Ok, maybe not. Yeah, that was one of the worst strings of camera luck I've heard in a long while, but (and I hate to say this) it sounds like you brought all of these worst case senarios upon yourself by not being prepared. Also by being careless.

Lately, I've been doing a lot of shoots with only one DSLR, too. Just lazy I guess (have a one body bag that's a lot easier to carry around on location), and as reliable as Canon's cameras are, I realize it makes my shooting a lot more risky.

Still, I always have at least one point & shoot on me at all times (sometimes two), and I know they would do ok in a pinch if my DSLR conked out.

Plus, if ALL ELSE fails, I now have a camera-phone too, and though it is only web resolution, it would at least mean getting a "only one chance" pic as opposed to not getting it...

As for the new camera so close to a scheduled shoot, yeah, that's taking much too big a risk, as (you found out) there are many variables that can screw things up.

Well, all I can say is your story is the stuff of our nightmares. Hopefully, it's a cold reminder to the rest of us how important it is to have backup and be prepared if you plan to do this for a living...

[CLKunst]

OT thanks for the kind words of comfort and solace. BUT Asylum Steve is right! I brought it all down on myself no karma involved. What I should have done was run out and get the K10D as soon as the *istDS died. What I should have done was keep the backup rig at least in the car if I wasn't going to haul it around with me. I was lazy in my planning, dependent on system reliability that wasn't a guarantee and SUFFERED the consequences. :cryin: Luckily, with the exception of the band gig, which was truly my lowest moment, there were no one chance only shots really. The band members didn't all show up for rehearsal so I would have had to return anyway and the gala was a silent auction so that's people eating, drinking and milling around. A great recommendation, Steve, about having the point and shoot as a back-back-up. I recently won a Lumix DMC-LZ3 from Shutterfly in a sweepstakes, if that had been in the backpack instead of sitting at home in a box then at least there would have been something.:mad2:

When the universe reaches out and smacks you hard on the bum that's my cue to learn a lesson. Ouch!

[CLKunst]

Just wanted to post a little update to this thread. I am very pleased to say that a month and a half after my horrible weekend of equipment failure and over lapping system failures, things have finally re-stabilized. The K10D is great and I love working with it, I've got my ist*DS in the shop and it will be back and ready for service again soon, and the client I had to walk out on in the middle of the shoot just placed an order for $500+ in prints including a 50x20! Whew! Hope I never have to go through that again. Let this be a lesson to me to always have one or two backup systems ON ME not just waiting for tragedy to strike back home at the office.

[another view]

Let this be a lesson to me to always have one or two backup systems ON ME not just waiting for tragedy to strike back home at the office.

Good plan - glad things are going well since that week! I shot a few weddings and would always make sure my backup was right with me all the time. It would be just my luck that it would be on the other side of the room when I'd need it, but fortunately I never did. I'm sure it was only a matter of time. I think backup gear is a necessity for a pro (as in anyone hired to photograph), but it won't do you any good if you can't get to it.

[MJS]

That's why I'll stick to portraits, I'm usually in the studio with a backup in a desk, or on location with it in the car.. You can keep weddings and the mother in laws, not me again thank you.

[Frog]

Makes me very happy about my amateur status.

[swmdrayfan]

Well Cindy, being the hack that I am, I don't have to worry about overlapping equipment failures and missing client shoots, but I did forget to recharge my D70's battery one night last summer and missed many game shots the following night. As a matter of fact though, I'm going out tomorrow to get myself a Coolpix L10 to carry around just in case. I feel for ya though. It's a good lesson to remember. The wife and I are heading to Chicago for the architectual tour this summer, so I'd better be prepared!
John

[CLKunst]

I think backup gear is a necessity for a pro (as in anyone hired to photograph), but it won't do you any good if you can't get to it.

AMEN TO THAT!

[CLKunst]

The wife and I are heading to Chicago for the architectual tour this summer, so I'd better be prepared!

Have a great time on your trip. Chicago is a fun town to go play in! I highly recommend the boat tour as well.

[another view]

You can keep weddings and the mother in laws, not me again thank you.

No thanks - did about a half-dozen of them and I think it took ten years off my life...

[readingr]

CL

Ouch - As someone already said I'm glad I'm an amateur and don't have to worry about things like that. However, the number of shots I missed cause I did'nt have a camera with me is frightening.

As for broken coffee grinders are cheap to replace - NOT when its a bean to cup machine Ouch!

Roger

[SmartWombat]

I had my 20D die on me in the middle of a race meeting.
One text to Angie and she brought over the FX25 backup that is "her" camera.
So I didn't miss the critical race with the F1 drivers in saloon cars.
Not in my pocket, but close enough.

Why did it die?
I was cleaning the sensor, then went down to breakfast with the camera still in cleaning mode and came back 1/2 hour later. Switched it off to carry in the bag and didn't register the shutter sound.
That took about 3 working hours off the batteries.