Playing stupid games almost won me stupid prizes!!!

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jcnemy

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Short of a long story....my failure to utilize safety or backup straps while working in hazardous water conditions resulted in my Z9/500mm PF taking a full bath.

I was using a Rapid strap/Quick disconnect on the lens tripod foot when somehow the thumb screw and disconnect become engaged sending my rig to the water. I've skipped the safe/secondary straps for quite some time, so my time was due. Please - as a public service announcement....if you are not utilizing backup safeties and other means to account for Murphy out there...please start. He cursed me with this situation last week and fortunately due to equipment sealing, minimized time in water, and preventive drills has allowed my gear to live and shoot for another day.

I know every situation is different - but once I rescued my gear from the water....I quickly removed the battery and cards and opened all covered areas while wiping down the entire body. Regarding the 500mm...removed the Roland lens cover and luckily, initial inspection showed no water in the lens. Rushed home so I could continue preventive measures consisting of drying in soft sun light and put the lens in a ziplock with rice where over a few hours produced condensation inside the bag. I refrained from testing the camera for at least 12 hours after drying in the sun. I dried the lens for about 5 days before testing and luckily both function as expected with zero issues at the time of this posting.

So - in summary, when conducting risky photo sessions...ensure you have a redundant means of securing your gear....don't take shortcuts like I did. Second - the Z9 is very austere, but if pushed to the limits, use common sense with drying procedures and ensure it's fully dry before testing. Lastly, rice in a ziplock seemed to really pull the bits of moisture out of my lens and the FTZ. I know this is probably a 'your mileage my vary' scenario...but feel it worked for me.

I'll continue to monitor over the next couple of weeks and will plan on sending them to NPS for further inspection and servicing.
 
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Glad to hear your gear recovery is going well. My nephew dropped his D3400 into the drink and made the mistake of trying to power it up right way. He’s shooting a different camera now.

I’ve been actively shooting DSLRs and now mirrorless for about 8 years, but didn’t start utilizing a safety strap arrangement until about a year ago. At first I wondered whether there was any value to it, but it’s stories like yours that continue to reinforce it. Thank you for sharing. Hope you have no future issues.
 
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Fishboy1952 said:
Thank you for sharing. Hope you have no future issues.
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You are most welcome and thanks! I'm even going use a safety retaining strap/cord when shooting sports and portrait work. I've flirted with disaster way to long and it caught up to me....feeling so fortunate that I was able to recover from this without additional costs!
 
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I have some larger silica gel packets that I brought for my first trip to Central America. To handle the high (sometimes condensing) humity, I kept camera and lenses in dry bags with silica gel packets. These have pretty good capacity and can be heated to recondition after use. I do the same if I get caught in a rainstorm and want to be sure everything is dried out.
 
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glad it worked out for you. I've always used safety straps not only when on a tripod/monopod but when carrying, I attach the other end of the safety strap to the main strap in case the carabiner comes loose or disconnects. Folks in other forums have made fun of me. That is OK, I'm fine being the object of ridicule, at least my expensive camera may not tumble into the water or do a face plant on concrete.

Can't recommend the peace of mind highly enough.

Jeff
 
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I am not cleat exactly what went wrong causing the disconnect.

I previously had a foot detach from the lens unexpectedly mine landed on soft grass so there was also no damage. In that case I did not like the aftermarket (Kirk) foot design and I ended up replacing the foot with something more secure.

Ever since I have been habitually using a safety strap.

I use Holdfast straps to which I add a RRS QD connector for the main connection. The Holdfast included a safety lanyard that should be adequate for the hopefully extremely rare occasion where it is needed. I also found a second method using Optech uni-mount connectors I got from B H. Those are cool because you can put one end of the connector through any hole or O ring on a camera lug. Mount the other end on the Holdfast connector ring click them together and they are easy to connect or disconnect and they work.

Now everywhere I go I make sure I am doubly fastened before I lift the camera/lens off of a stable surface.

Thanks for the reminder. we all need to be reminded from time.
 
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CoyoteCreationsNW said:
I have some larger silica gel packets
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After this event, I'm looking into something like this, especially after watching Morten Hilmer's recent video on hisYouTube channel. Thanks for the comment!
jeffnles1 said:
Can't recommend the peace of mind highly enough.
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I used to use a safety, but the extra chances of entanglement allowed me to get lazy over the years....not any more! Not chancing another episode like l did with this one and actually my sports/portrait work would yield probably worse outcomes due to the surface falling gear would hit. Thanks for commenting!
wotan1 said:
Thanks for the reminder. we all need to be reminded from time.
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I was using a RRS foot on the 500mm where overtime, the attachment-tightening knob loosened enough that when the release tab was pressed, the foot easily came off the lens, especially motivated by the hanging weight. Normally I constantly check for knob tightness and other attaching areas, but not today.

I'll be using my Holdfast straps as well and looking at fabricating others to help in making the use of these seamless.

Thanks for sharing your techniques!
 
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CoyoteCreationsNW said:
I have some larger silica gel packets that I brought for my first trip to Central America. To handle the high (sometimes condensing) humity, I kept camera and lenses in dry bags with silica gel packets. These have pretty good capacity and can be heated to recondition after use. I do the same if I get caught in a rainstorm and want to be sure everything is dried out.
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I do the same and they aren't expensive especially because they are reusable.
 
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StarTracker50 said:
Glad all's OK. Can you folks share what safety systems you use?
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I use a Magpul MS4 Dual QD G2 Rifle sling and the Hejnar NFR-008 foot (with two QD sockets). Connect the primary QD to the IST socket of the foot and the secondary QD to the 2ND socket with an X cross-point from the sling. Thus two QD connections all to the lens foot with no need for another safety tether connected to the camera body (which I see as an inferior of seriously stressing the connection mechanism between body and lens if taking over the failed QD).
 
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Black Rapid strap with a Kirk QD connector to the lens foot. A Black Rapid safety tether with Kirk QD attached to loop on strap to the QD connection on the camera L frame. Protection for primary QD failure or the lens foot separating…. at least it should prevent bouncing off of the concrete.
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