Well I did it. I went and dropped my beautiful new awesome Canon 5D Mark III. Remember when I was at Longwood Gardens before Christmas? Using a Manfrotto tripod with a quick release plate, I was taking my camera on and off the tripod a few times. This tripod has three handles to twist to tighten, and the quick release plate has a lever that needs to be pressed down to ensure security.
Serves me right to not triple check my equipment at all times. Sure enough, the quick release plate wasn’t secured, and one of the handles was loosened, so the camera and 24-105mm L lens went droop then SMACK onto the paved walkway.
In shock, and great hopes that it would keep working the camera seemed to keep trucking away. In fact, you have seen many of these images taken immediately after the drop and they seem wonderfully in focus.
But I’m still concerned. So in this rainy day, with the 500mm L and the 1.4xx II extender on the Canon 5D Mark III body, I practiced with the birds. The goal was to check on the focus mechanism within the body.
At first the photos were definitely not focused. So I removed the extender to see if that helped any. Indeed it did. But the cloudy day was wanting to bump up my ISO to 4000+. So setting at ISO 1600 I took a few more captures. Yep..still fuzzy photos.
Dropping the ISO once again to ISO 400, I captured another image and the focus was looking sharper. It’s still not super tack sharp like I like to see, so a visit to the Canon service department is due.
There are a few other factors that can cause unsharp images. High ISO levels is the obvious one. The second is the F-stop that I selected, Being on the wide open end with and without the extender always makes the images soft. Even with going to the len’s ‘sweet spot’ of f/7.1, the low shutter speed of 1/15 of a second with the landscape image could be soft by movement caused by the rain.
Perhaps one more test with the macro lens with a completely still object would be help with a diagnosis. Either way I’m sure my camera is ready for a professional cleaning anyway. It was at the beach on a super windy day earlier this month and that always gets salty dust throughout.
Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Bella
Categories: 2013 Project 365, Birds, Nature
Emily Carter ~ Nature as Art 
Oh! I love these!
Fabulous ! So happy you liked these. 🙂
They are absolutely fantastic, so wonderful photos!
I am humbled by your enthusiastic response. Thank you so much Kerlund.
Gah! I would of panicked if I dropped a camera like yours. Beautiful shots still as always from you 🙂
Luckily no curse words emitted from my mouth, as there were witnesses. The staff found a piece that fell off and tracked me down to return it.
I hope everything works out. Lovely pictures.!
Thank you so much Victor ! I did end up shipping the body and lens out for service. It just wasn’t right. Appreciate your kindness.
Yikes. The photos are wonderful (I too like to shoot in the rain, though I usually do so with a smaller telephoto). I sure hope your camera is ok and that there is no serious damage.
See..you’re more daring than I to go shooting in the rain. Although I did sneak out tonight with the wet snow for a little bit to capture some night light shots. Yep, the camera is off to the repair shop. The damage will be told soon.
The photos don’t look bad to me, but I didn’t blow them up. One day of shooting in the rain isn’t a real test at all. I got some of my best photos ever in the sun yesterday, I shot two of a hawk in the rain today, and they were both way out of focus. Same body, same lens, completely different results.
BTW, remind me to never lend you any photo gear. 😉
LOL ! You are too funny Jerry, but you’re right. I tend to be quite hard on my equipment. But that makes 3 official drops, so I should be good going forward.
The cardinal and the water droplets are very special, love the photos.
Thanks Charlie ! Always great to see you and hope you had a fantastic New Years!
I love when you speak “photo” language! Every photo you take is a masterpiece, Emily! And, from what I see here, I’m certain that your camera has not suffered any damage. It has been an absolute joy to follow your blog! Happy New Year! Looking forward to our blogging adventures in 2014! 🙂
You, my dear, are the most amazing person that I know. How you manage to embark on yet a new 365 project and keep up with several blogs, posts, other social media sites amazes me.
You are truly and inspiration to me both spiritually and creatively.
These are beautiful, I sure hope everything works out for you!
You are so sweet ! Thank you for your well wishes.
That is the worst feeling in the world. I have only dropped a camera from a tripod once and my mouth should have been washed out with soap! Luckily the only thing that was damaged was the socket for the cable release as the cable got caught on the way down and ripped out of the camera. Then a couple of months ago I dropped a camera as I was hanging it on my shoulder and the strap broke! These are all beautiful pictures Emily!
Glad I’m not the only one with some “Oh Oops” camera moments. You’ll love this one – I washed my cable release as it was zipped in a pocket of a vest. Believe it or not – it still works !!
Poor Camera 😢. Hope everything is OK.
I’m hoping too Mark. I ended up sending it out for service. I’ll give an update when I’ve got one. Hope you had a fantastic New Years!
Bummer on the fall. . Fingers crossed is only a minor repair. Still great pix!
Now that would make me really happy Ilex. The body should be covered under warranty, but the lens is older. Cha Ching!
Oh Dear! I would definitely take the Canon to the repair dept – maybe they will loan you one whilst yours is checked. I did the same with my old Pentax (hence the name ‘smacked Pentax’ – I dropped it about 5 ft onto a rock – I thought it was OK after shooting several photos with it – but when the crunch came and I was in the mountains with stunning scenery and perfect weather I noticed the exposure wouldn’t change – I got about 3 decent pics from 180 taken…mind, I once dropped a brand new Nikon down a 380ft shaft in a cave – I didn’t go back for it…
Have a Happy New Year to you and your family!
When I read how you dropped your new Nikon down a cave shaft I shuddered. I bet you mourned that camera for a long time. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one hard on my equipment. Believe me, the last thing Canon would do is lend me their gear. 🙂
Really amazing photography and very sweet bird, I really like that.
You are so kind Angela ! Appreciate your visit and comment and hope to see you back soon. Bella