Brian500au
26-11-2016, 2:10pm
I recently did a trip to Borneo to photograph wildlife. When traveling I always take two camera bodies with me just in case one develops a fault - or in this case I happen to fall into a lake with the camera body, lens and tripod in my hand.
Oddly enough when I was preparing for this trip I was very weight limited and considered just traveling with one body (but that only entered by mind for a brief moment). In the end between my wife and I, we travelled with 3 camera bodies and a set of lenses I felt would cover the spectrum of what we wanted to photograph.
Near Kuching was walking over some rocks to get closer to a waterfall I wanted to photograph. The weather was extremely warm and the humidity was very high. To top it off I was a little dehydrated due to the walk to the water fall. I was stepping over some rocks when I lost my footing and took a fall into the lake. The camera, lens and tripod went under water and it was a few seconds before I could gain my composure enough to lift the equipment out. Hence when I did retrieve the gear it was soaking wet, to the point where water was running out of the body. I immediately stripped the body of the lens, battery and turned it upside to drain. I then put both the lens and the body in the sun to try to dry them out. When i returned to my hotel I immediately grabbed a hairdryer to further remove any moisture from the body and lens.
When I returned to Australia I opened a claim with my travel insurance company and then sent the body and lens (5DsR and 16-35 F4L) into canon for a quote to be repaired. Maybe in my natively I was expecting the motherboard was short circuited and need replacing - maybe $1000 repair bill. I was a little surprised when the quote came in to replace the entire inside of the camera body - motherboard, shutter assembly, and sensor. The repair quote just shy of $3500. Also to my surprise Canon service told me the lens was undamaged.
Thankfully the insurance claim was honored and the entire repair was covered (minus $100 excess). I was paid out cash so I had a few options available to me including a 20% discount on buying a 5DIV from Canon Australia direct. After umming are arring for a few days including looking at a mirrorless system I decided to get my 5DsR repaired. I was basically looking at a complete new camera body with only the shell not being replaced. In fact I still would not be surprised to learn Canon would not just replace the camera with a new body seeing as the cost would be similar to them.
So lessons learned are - always take a second body when you are traveling to take photographs (accidents can happen), Canon L lenses are tough, never skimp on travel insurance and make sure it covers the equipment you are travelling with, and finally if the unfortunate does happen keep all documents to back up your insurance claim.
For myself, no physically harm in the fall and apart from a bruised ego I could use my 1Dx as my prime body and continue photographing with little interruption.
Hopefully Canon will have the repaired body back to me before Xmas.
Oddly enough when I was preparing for this trip I was very weight limited and considered just traveling with one body (but that only entered by mind for a brief moment). In the end between my wife and I, we travelled with 3 camera bodies and a set of lenses I felt would cover the spectrum of what we wanted to photograph.
Near Kuching was walking over some rocks to get closer to a waterfall I wanted to photograph. The weather was extremely warm and the humidity was very high. To top it off I was a little dehydrated due to the walk to the water fall. I was stepping over some rocks when I lost my footing and took a fall into the lake. The camera, lens and tripod went under water and it was a few seconds before I could gain my composure enough to lift the equipment out. Hence when I did retrieve the gear it was soaking wet, to the point where water was running out of the body. I immediately stripped the body of the lens, battery and turned it upside to drain. I then put both the lens and the body in the sun to try to dry them out. When i returned to my hotel I immediately grabbed a hairdryer to further remove any moisture from the body and lens.
When I returned to Australia I opened a claim with my travel insurance company and then sent the body and lens (5DsR and 16-35 F4L) into canon for a quote to be repaired. Maybe in my natively I was expecting the motherboard was short circuited and need replacing - maybe $1000 repair bill. I was a little surprised when the quote came in to replace the entire inside of the camera body - motherboard, shutter assembly, and sensor. The repair quote just shy of $3500. Also to my surprise Canon service told me the lens was undamaged.
Thankfully the insurance claim was honored and the entire repair was covered (minus $100 excess). I was paid out cash so I had a few options available to me including a 20% discount on buying a 5DIV from Canon Australia direct. After umming are arring for a few days including looking at a mirrorless system I decided to get my 5DsR repaired. I was basically looking at a complete new camera body with only the shell not being replaced. In fact I still would not be surprised to learn Canon would not just replace the camera with a new body seeing as the cost would be similar to them.
So lessons learned are - always take a second body when you are traveling to take photographs (accidents can happen), Canon L lenses are tough, never skimp on travel insurance and make sure it covers the equipment you are travelling with, and finally if the unfortunate does happen keep all documents to back up your insurance claim.
For myself, no physically harm in the fall and apart from a bruised ego I could use my 1Dx as my prime body and continue photographing with little interruption.
Hopefully Canon will have the repaired body back to me before Xmas.