Wednesday 13 August 2008

Happy Helenium - # 08/189

Yesterday, my telephoto zoom weighing around 800 grms crashed to the floor as I disconnected it from the tripod.

The heavy lens fell almost 2 meters, hitting the stone floor with a very loud and sickening crash.

The magnesium metal "foot" for attaching it to the tripod took the shock and split. The lens is unmarked and functions perfectly. This shot was taken at the equivalent of 400mm on full auto. It looks perfect.

Obviously the fall has some elements of good luck but this is a tribute to the robust quality of the Olympus lens.

4 comments:

  1. Je laisse de coté les considérations techniques sur le matériel.
    J'ai plusieurs fois constaté que l'APN pouvait se passer de nous : ici il t'a donné ce beau fond "balayé". (Comme le "béton balayé" qui sert à faire des chemins piétonniers en France et sans doute en Grande Bretagne aussi)
    Cependant, tu as aidé un peu l'APN en choissisant de te mettre à proximité de cette fleur là (tu préfères le rouge et le noir au jaune et blanc ?).
    Je me demande si tu ne lui as pas un peu effeuillé les pétales
    ("Je t'aime un peu, beaucoup, passionnément, à la folie, pas du tout, un peu..." C'est un jeu auquel jouent tous les amoureux de France...)

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  2. Oh my goodness, I'm glad to know your tale has a happy ending. How utterly scary. Whew...

    And what a beautiful shot.

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  3. I don't have a fancy olympus - just a regular ordinary one.
    I dropped it within a few months of buying it.
    I dropped it on the lens.
    The lens then went kinda skewiff at about a 30 degree angle from the body.
    The 'camera man' fixed it and it's been choofing along fine for the last 5 years.
    Actually, the lens kinda went like that skewiff petal on your flower.

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  4. Yes, once when vacationing in Yellowstone, I left the camera on top of the car as we drove off down the highway.

    I too heard that sickening sound as I realized the idiotic mistake I'd made. But amazingly, when I recovered it from the highwayside, the camera functioned perfectly. In fact it almost seemed to work with more clarity after that.

    It too was an Olympus. But I've since switched to a Panasonic with a Leica lens... the Lumix DMC FZ18.

    I haven't given it the complete highway road test yet...

    :0)

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