Dropped my Z9 on a concrete floor.

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ssheipel

ssheipel

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About a month ago in my underground parking spot I threw my bag on my back and turned and the Z9 with 500 pf (and 1.4 tc) slid out of the bag (yup one zipper not pulled to the top). Best I could figure it dropped and hit on the bottom of the camera which has a small rig l-bracket attached (there is the slightest of burrs on the bracket and thus that conclusion). Camera and lens wound up sitting as the would on a table, but pretty sure the camera fell, camera down, lens pointed up, in the vertical position given where the mark is on the bracket. The jarring of the drop made the lens hood (in reverse) pop off, as well.

Thought I'd escaped any damage -- though it took me until the next day to turn the camera on and take some shots, so convinced was I that the sensor was likely hanging by a thread or all of the glass in the lens was cracked. Have taken a few thousand shots with the combo since then without issue.

HOWEVER, today I went to shoot the lens without the TC and oh oh it and the lens are stuck together. The TC will turn to the remove position but the final click and removal is not available.... I can see a raised edge of a metal ring or ridge between the camera and TC that curves out of true in one spot....

So will be making a trip to Nikon next week -- luckily they're just down the highway. Hope they have returned to taking drop offs as it'll be an added pain to box and ship. Or maybe I'll just settle for having a fixed 700 f8 lens.... Ah, no :)

While on this subject, any Canadian shooters can give a recommendation for loss/damage insurance for photo gear. Been casually trying to buy coverage for years and every time the carriers I do find always turn me away as I'm not a commercial photographer. The standard carriers of course are only interested in covering the gear for normal 'home owners insurance' so if I say, oh I dunno drop the Z9 and 500 pf with 1.4 TC attached on a cement floor they won't cover repairs.
 
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Sorry to hear about your Z9 drop Steven, I have a rider on my home owners policy for much of my camera gear. The policy cover all damage and loss. Since I kayak a lot I made sure it also covers lost at sea. There is a restriction however, I cannot make any money from the sale of images. A fellow photographer has a similar policy but his limits his total annual sales revenue from photography to under $500. I get the sense each insurance company is different in how they define professional photographer. My insurance company will not insure camera equipment of professional photographers, to them this means if you make make money from the sale of images they will not insure your gear.
 
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lukemeup said:
Put them gear on a scheduled property list on your home insurance (that will carry additional cost of course, but no deductible if anything happens). - they won't be able to say 'no' to that. :)
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SonoranDesert said:
That's what I did...easy peasy!
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RockvilleBob said:
Sorry to hear about your Z9 drop Steven, I have a rider on my home owners policy for much of my camera gear. The policy cover all damage and loss. Since I kayak a lot I made sure it also covers lost at sea. There is a restriction however, I cannot make any money from the sale of images. A fellow photographer has a similar policy but his limits his total annual sales revenue from photography to under $500. I get the sense each insurance company is different in how they define professional photographer. My insurance company will not insure camera equipment of professional photographers, to them this means if you make make money from the sale of images they will not insure your gear.
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Thanks all. I'll wade into this again but I have been specifically been told by three insurance companies (including at the time and present my current home insurer) that yes given the cost a separate rider is needed for camera gear but coverage does not extend beyond things such as theft and fire or water damage, no matter how much I might pay.... And Bob, it's because I've just bought another canoe -- a solo for specifically photo taking reasons -- that I'm back on the hunt. Off to get persistent and talk to the 'right person' so I can get coverage :)
 
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ssheipel said:
Thanks all. I'll wade into this again but I have been specifically been told by three insurance companies (including at the time and present my current home insurer) that yes given the cost a separate rider is needed for camera gear but coverage does not extend beyond things such as theft and fire or water damage, no matter how much I might pay.... And Bob, it's because I've just bought another canoe -- a solo for specifically photo taking reasons -- that I'm back on the hunt. Off to get persistent and talk to the 'right person' so I can get coverage :)
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I don't know about Canada, but our scheduled policies in the USA cover damage from dropping, etc. in addition to theft, fire, water, etc.
 
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My uk insurance covers just about anything apart from total loss. I was really picky as a friend and I were in zodiacs a few years ago when he dropped his into the Arctic sea, despite being told where it might be, some 1000’s ft underwater….but his insurers wanted to see the camera and wouldn’t pay out. I could find no cover for that, so I’m just super careful.
 
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ssheipel said:
About a month ago in my underground parking spot I threw my bag on my back and turned and the Z9 with 500 pf (and 1.4 tc) slid out of the bag (yup one zipper not pulled to the top). Best I could figure it dropped and hit on the bottom of the camera which has a small rig l-bracket attached (there is the slightest of burrs on the bracket and thus that conclusion). Camera and lens wound up sitting as the would on a table, but pretty sure the camera fell, camera down, lens pointed up, in the vertical position given where the mark is on the bracket. The jarring of the drop made the lens hood (in reverse) pop off, as well.

Thought I'd escaped any damage -- though it took me until the next day to turn the camera on and take some shots, so convinced was I that the sensor was likely hanging by a thread or all of the glass in the lens was cracked. Have taken a few thousand shots with the combo since then without issue.

HOWEVER, today I went to shoot the lens without the TC and oh oh it and the lens are stuck together. The TC will turn to the remove position but the final click and removal is not available.... I can see a raised edge of a metal ring or ridge between the camera and TC that curves out of true in one spot....

So will be making a trip to Nikon next week -- luckily they're just down the highway. Hope they have returned to taking drop offs as it'll be an added pain to box and ship. Or maybe I'll just settle for having a fixed 700 f8 lens.... Ah, no :)

While on this subject, any Canadian shooters can give a recommendation for loss/damage insurance for photo gear. Been casually trying to buy coverage for years and every time the carriers I do find always turn me away as I'm not a commercial photographer. The standard carriers of course are only interested in covering the gear for normal 'home owners insurance' so if I say, oh I dunno drop the Z9 and 500 pf with 1.4 TC attached on a cement floor they won't cover repairs.
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Sorry, Steven. That's dang tough luck. Hope the fix goes well.
 
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ssheipel said:
About a month ago in my underground parking spot I threw my bag on my back and turned and the Z9 with 500 pf (and 1.4 tc) slid out of the bag (yup one zipper not pulled to the top). Best I could figure it dropped and hit on the bottom of the camera which has a small rig l-bracket attached (there is the slightest of burrs on the bracket and thus that conclusion). Camera and lens wound up sitting as the would on a table, but pretty sure the camera fell, camera down, lens pointed up, in the vertical position given where the mark is on the bracket. The jarring of the drop made the lens hood (in reverse) pop off, as well.

Thought I'd escaped any damage -- though it took me until the next day to turn the camera on and take some shots, so convinced was I that the sensor was likely hanging by a thread or all of the glass in the lens was cracked. Have taken a few thousand shots with the combo since then without issue.

HOWEVER, today I went to shoot the lens without the TC and oh oh it and the lens are stuck together. The TC will turn to the remove position but the final click and removal is not available.... I can see a raised edge of a metal ring or ridge between the camera and TC that curves out of true in one spot....

So will be making a trip to Nikon next week -- luckily they're just down the highway. Hope they have returned to taking drop offs as it'll be an added pain to box and ship. Or maybe I'll just settle for having a fixed 700 f8 lens.... Ah, no :)

While on this subject, any Canadian shooters can give a recommendation for loss/damage insurance for photo gear. Been casually trying to buy coverage for years and every time the carriers I do find always turn me away as I'm not a commercial photographer. The standard carriers of course are only interested in covering the gear for normal 'home owners insurance' so if I say, oh I dunno drop the Z9 and 500 pf with 1.4 TC attached on a cement floor they won't cover repairs.
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For the money they charge, I just put money that I would have paid to insurance into a savings account. In the unlikely event I have an issue I buy something new from there. If no accident I keep the money!

Greetings from Edmonton
 
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whitecaps said:
For the money they charge, I just put money that I would have paid to insurance into a savings account. In the unlikely event I have an issue I buy something new from there. If no accident I keep the money!

Greetings from Edmonton
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That's what I do as well. Just remember the insurer is betting that they won't have to pay and you're betting they will -- and their actuaries KNOW the odds are in their favor.
 
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lukemeup said:
Put them gear on a scheduled property list on your home insurance (that will carry additional cost of course, but no deductible if anything happens). - they won't be able to say 'no' to that. :)
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Not sure how it works in Canada, but in the US I have my gear scheduled "all risk" with State Farm. i think the cost is around $1.25 or $1.50 per $100. Only had to use it once in 25-30 years when a TS-E fell the ground and split apart. My biggest complaints are that this is 1st $ coverage (would prefer a deductible as I will not file a claim for anything under $500 to $1000) and (2) there is no way to include small items with listing them separately. For example a CP or ND filter could easily cost $100 to replace and I would rather not list all them.
 
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Patrick M said:
My uk insurance covers just about anything apart from total loss. I was really picky as a friend and I were in zodiacs a few years ago when he dropped his into the Arctic sea, despite being told where it might be, some 1000’s ft underwater….but his insurers wanted to see the camera and wouldn’t pay out. I could find no cover for that, so I’m just super careful.
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What happens if the camera is stolen?
 
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Sorry to hear the bad news. Suggest Hill and Usher (agent) in Arizona they wrote our policy with Philadelphia Insurance. Years back my wife dropped her D4, 300 2.8 and 1.4 teleconverter. Payed claim minus deductible in a very timely manner. Policy is for replacement cost based on original retail price.
 
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fulltimewanderer said:
Sorry to hear the bad news. Suggest Hill and Usher (agent) in Arizona they wrote our policy with Philadelphia Insurance. Years back my wife dropped her D4, 300 2.8 and 1.4 teleconverter. Payed claim minus deductible in a very timely manner. Policy is for replacement cost based on original retail price.
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Steve is in Canada. From his post, doesn't appear that Canadian insurers follow the same policies as those in the US. As others have posted (so didn't bother posting myself), in the US almost every home owner can get a scheduled policy which insures their equipment for almost any conceivable accident, including dropping it. In my case it was Allstate and they also paid a claim for repair on a dropped lens here in the US. Maybe in Canada they don't allow insurance companies to charge enough to make it worthwhile for an insurer there to do this?
 
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ssheipel said:
Thanks all. I'll wade into this again but I have been specifically been told by three insurance companies (including at the time and present my current home insurer) that yes given the cost a separate rider is needed for camera gear but coverage does not extend beyond things such as theft and fire or water damage, no matter how much I might pay.... And Bob, it's because I've just bought another canoe -- a solo for specifically photo taking reasons -- that I'm back on the hunt. Off to get persistent and talk to the 'right person' so I can get coverage :)
Click to expand...
Good luck Steven ... hope Canadian or provincial insurance rules etc. do not preclude you for getting an all risk, no deductible scheduled property coverage. I have it in the US and have only had one claim for D6 hitting the pavement with 600f/4E attached and it landed on a bottom corner right on the battery door. No damage to the lens but the camera lens mount had to be replaced. Insurance paid for it but it was a pretty cheap repair so the insurance company still came out ahead. If that camera and lens both had to be replaced they sure would not have :)
 
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ssheipel said:
About a month ago in my underground parking spot I threw my bag on my back and turned and the Z9 with 500 pf (and 1.4 tc) slid out of the bag (yup one zipper not pulled to the top). Best I could figure it dropped and hit on the bottom of the camera which has a small rig l-bracket attached (there is the slightest of burrs on the bracket and thus that conclusion). Camera and lens wound up sitting as the would on a table, but pretty sure the camera fell, camera down, lens pointed up, in the vertical position given where the mark is on the bracket. The jarring of the drop made the lens hood (in reverse) pop off, as well.

Thought I'd escaped any damage -- though it took me until the next day to turn the camera on and take some shots, so convinced was I that the sensor was likely hanging by a thread or all of the glass in the lens was cracked. Have taken a few thousand shots with the combo since then without issue.

HOWEVER, today I went to shoot the lens without the TC and oh oh it and the lens are stuck together. The TC will turn to the remove position but the final click and removal is not available.... I can see a raised edge of a metal ring or ridge between the camera and TC that curves out of true in one spot....

So will be making a trip to Nikon next week -- luckily they're just down the highway. Hope they have returned to taking drop offs as it'll be an added pain to box and ship. Or maybe I'll just settle for having a fixed 700 f8 lens.... Ah, no :)

While on this subject, any Canadian shooters can give a recommendation for loss/damage insurance for photo gear. Been casually trying to buy coverage for years and every time the carriers I do find always turn me away as I'm not a commercial photographer. The standard carriers of course are only interested in covering the gear for normal 'home owners insurance' so if I say, oh I dunno drop the Z9 and 500 pf with 1.4 TC attached on a cement floor they won't cover repairs.
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When I started shopping for insurance, I sent an email to Steve Perry asking about who he used for insurance and he referred me to a BCG Forum discussing insurance! I'm not sure where it's at but somewhere on here is a thread on the topic and it's what eventually led me to what I bought.

State Farm has left Canada from what I see online but this is an example of the type of policy a lot of people are mentioning here. https://www.statefarm.com/insurance/home-and-property/personal-articles-policy.

These are common policies and I doubt you need to have homeowners of any other coverage with most companies, but you'll find out when you call around.

Experience lesson number one that I learned...be sure that when you add items to any policy that you do end up with that when you add something you buy used or on sale or at a discount that you add them to the policy with the full current market price so that if it is destroyed and can't be repaired you receive enough money to cover the true value without paying anything out of pocket. My agent uses whatever price I tell him as the coverage value and, of course, the premium reflects the insured price. With these policies you are paying for a dollar value of coverage so it just means you will pay a few more pennies per period for adding the difference in price.

And, of course, copies of receipts and serial numbers and a picture of the gear goes to the insurance company to prove ownership and help the police in case of theft and it ending up in a pawn shop or for sale on Ebay.

As far as I know, as long as I pay the premium for the value I request for the Z9, for example, if it gets destroyed this year, next year or 5 years from now I will receive the full insured price as long I continue to pay the premium. Of course, as the market price goes down, you can always decrease the insured value to follow the dropping price.

You can also add computers and all your diamonds, sapphires and rubies that you have laying around the house to the same policy. No cell phones though, at least not on my policy.

Happy shopping.
 
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ssheipel said:
About a month ago in my underground parking spot I threw my bag on my back and turned and the Z9 with 500 pf (and 1.4 tc) slid out of the bag (yup one zipper not pulled to the top). Best I could figure it dropped and hit on the bottom of the camera which has a small rig l-bracket attached (there is the slightest of burrs on the bracket and thus that conclusion). Camera and lens wound up sitting as the would on a table, but pretty sure the camera fell, camera down, lens pointed up, in the vertical position given where the mark is on the bracket. The jarring of the drop made the lens hood (in reverse) pop off, as well.

Thought I'd escaped any damage -- though it took me until the next day to turn the camera on and take some shots, so convinced was I that the sensor was likely hanging by a thread or all of the glass in the lens was cracked. Have taken a few thousand shots with the combo since then without issue.

HOWEVER, today I went to shoot the lens without the TC and oh oh it and the lens are stuck together. The TC will turn to the remove position but the final click and removal is not available.... I can see a raised edge of a metal ring or ridge between the camera and TC that curves out of true in one spot....

So will be making a trip to Nikon next week -- luckily they're just down the highway. Hope they have returned to taking drop offs as it'll be an added pain to box and ship. Or maybe I'll just settle for having a fixed 700 f8 lens.... Ah, no :)

While on this subject, any Canadian shooters can give a recommendation for loss/damage insurance for photo gear. Been casually trying to buy coverage for years and every time the carriers I do find always turn me away as I'm not a commercial photographer. The standard carriers of course are only interested in covering the gear for normal 'home owners insurance' so if I say, oh I dunno drop the Z9 and 500 pf with 1.4 TC attached on a cement floor they won't cover repairs.
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My insurance is part of the home content, as long as i list all the serial numbers and have proof of purchase and nominate each items replacement value i am fully covered.
It covers me for travel domestically and internationally for any damage or loss Period.

My D3 X with the 24-70 2.8 G fill over in the wind while on the tripod, it landed on soft grass in the park, the D3X is solid and robust, the 24-70 snapped cleanly into two separate pieces, right in the middle, i was amazed how cheap and nasty the frame casting looked, it had flawed casting exactly where it broke, it also felt very thin and fragile.

The insurance company paid $700 AUD for a new lens 24-70 2.8 G, as a precaution a new face plate with new grip material on the D3X, all up including labor added $1200 AUD, my insurance mailed me a cheque once they had a formal quote for repairs from Nikon.

I just phoned the insurance company gave them the details sent them the repair quote happy days.
Cant help you in Canada sorry.
 
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this

Camera Insurance Options

Does anyone have a recommendation, thoughts or experience regarding camera equipment insurance? I spoke to my homeowners insurance company, and I was not impressed by what they offer. Basically, they don't seem to take into consideration equipment over 2 years old having much value. I just...
bcgforums.com bcgforums.com
 
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ssheipel said:
About a month ago in my underground parking spot I threw my bag on my back and turned and the Z9 with 500 pf (and 1.4 tc) slid out of the bag (yup one zipper not pulled to the top). Best I could figure it dropped and hit on the bottom of the camera which has a small rig l-bracket attached (there is the slightest of burrs on the bracket and thus that conclusion). Camera and lens wound up sitting as the would on a table, but pretty sure the camera fell, camera down, lens pointed up, in the vertical position given where the mark is on the bracket. The jarring of the drop made the lens hood (in reverse) pop off, as well.

Thought I'd escaped any damage -- though it took me until the next day to turn the camera on and take some shots, so convinced was I that the sensor was likely hanging by a thread or all of the glass in the lens was cracked. Have taken a few thousand shots with the combo since then without issue.

HOWEVER, today I went to shoot the lens without the TC and oh oh it and the lens are stuck together. The TC will turn to the remove position but the final click and removal is not available.... I can see a raised edge of a metal ring or ridge between the camera and TC that curves out of true in one spot....

So will be making a trip to Nikon next week -- luckily they're just down the highway. Hope they have returned to taking drop offs as it'll be an added pain to box and ship. Or maybe I'll just settle for having a fixed 700 f8 lens.... Ah, no :)

While on this subject, any Canadian shooters can give a recommendation for loss/damage insurance for photo gear. Been casually trying to buy coverage for years and every time the carriers I do find always turn me away as I'm not a commercial photographer. The standard carriers of course are only interested in covering the gear for normal 'home owners insurance' so if I say, oh I dunno drop the Z9 and 500 pf with 1.4 TC attached on a cement floor they won't cover repairs.
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OUCH!
 
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