The A7r is pretty tough!

[addicted2light]

Just unwillingly tested the durability of my A7r, dropping it from more than 1m on a marble covered concrete floor while changing lenses... From the sound it made I though at first I'd cracked one of the stone panels.

 

Immediately after the fact the shutter looked like it was bent and closed shut. I'll let you imagine the kind of words that came to my mind. Hint: they were definitely NSFW!

 

Just before starting to search for the address for the nearest repair center I tried to switch the camera on. After all if the damage was as sever as it appeared the worse had already happened and a new shutter would have been needed anyway.

 

Instead the camera snapped the shutter open and started taking pictures like nothing happened. 

 

It was a close brush with death for the poor A7r...maybe my not so veiled menace to replace it with an all Fuji setup scared it straight!  

 

[JonathanStewart]

You're lucky. I've already killed 3, but never by dropping them.  Just keep yours away from dust, extreme cold and moisture. 

[addicted2light]

You're lucky. I've already killed 3, but never by dropping them.  Just keep yours away from dust, extreme cold and moisture. 

 

I'm sorry for your bad experience!

 

And you're probably right about my luck, especially because I've never been the most "delicate" of the users with my equipment. You can see below how I tend to reduce my cameras after a few years (this was the F4s, and as a film camera we tended to keep them for longer periods of time; now with digital we're probably getting there as well given the quality is finally up to scratch):

 

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With moisture - fingers crossed! - I haven't had a problem for now, and the camera got knocked out when on top of a tripod several times in fresh snow (due to heavy winds or my own clumsiness) during the years, and besides it has been exposed unprotected to both fog and seawater spray several times as well without ill effects.

 

But I certainly see your point!

[Zé De Boni]

Good idea for you both should be to fit your cameras in inflated Ewa-Marine-like housings, sort of an air bag all weather potection, and control them with cheap, old tablets !​ Then you should cary an inflatable all-cushioned tent where you could perfom lens, card and battery changes.

What a nice maketing opportunity!

[addicted2light]

Good idea for you both should be to fit your cameras in inflated Ewa-Marine-like housings, sort of an air bag all weather potection, and control them with cheap, old tablets !​ Then you should cary an inflatable all-cushioned tent where you could perfom lens, card and battery changes.

What a nice maketing opportunity!

Good idea & marketing opportunity for someone less of a slob than me.

 

But my idea of caring about a camera is to be sure that sweat, rain or snow don't end up on the sensor changing lenses! (and before you ask: no, amazingly I've never killed a camera in my life!)

 

As for lens changes in saltwater spray etc. I use a DIY solution: I've glued with silicon-based sealant a high-quality Uv filter INSIDE a Contax-Sony adapter. No quality loss that I can see, and sure beats having to remove salt spray spots from the sensor or even worse from your pictures. I've posted this somewhere here on the forum.

[IamJF]

The F4s seems to have the right size for an A9 :-)

[addicted2light]

The F4s seems to have the right size for an A9 :-)

 

 

The F4s was one of the best cameras I've ever used, possibly the best one if not for the limits of the 35mm film format itself. For lack of a better word it was "transparent": it just let me take pictures without getting in the way.

 

Should Sony manage to do that I'd certainly consider an A9 even at those size & weight!

 

IMO, the F4 was the pinnacle of Nikon production, and they have stepped down since; I might be alone in this but I didn't like the F5 one bit, and the F100 even had a plastic fork that snapped in half the first time, in a hurry at a concert, I tried to change a roll...

 

BTW, believe it or not even half destroyed as it was and with half rewind crank missing I managed to sell my F4s a few years ago!

[Snowfun]

extreme cold

 

I had my A7s die at -28 but it came back to life with a warm blanket and a cognac...

[Zé De Boni]

I had my A7s die at -28 but it came back to life with a warm blanket and a cognac...

 

No problem, we can make a G Master inflatabe, weatherproof housing with full insulation and heat for twice the price of the standard model!

Maybe you can find a portable fireside to add to your blanket and cognac, so you can stand -50!