Goddamn it!

[RagingInMiami]

Every time I make any progess in life, I am dealt an immediate setback. It's the story of my life. It never fails.

I march down the football field gaining positive yards, moving the ball steadily, methodically, thinking I'm about to score a touchdown and then, WHAM, I am struck in the backfield for a loss and a fumble. And this time was no different.

This is what happened:

As I mentioned last week, I had a good day photojournalistically-wise because my photos made the front page of two local papers, The Miami Sunpost and the Coral Gables Gazette. This, of course, put me in their radar and they've promised to call me for future assignments. The Miami Herald also plans to use me in the future because they've seen my photos and like them. And I've been doing some work for SEIU and I just got paid very well for a couple of assignments.

With that money, I was able to buy a plane ticket to an undisclosed location (I will tell you all about it when I come back with the photos in May, but for now, it remains a secret), able to pay somebody to redesign my website (which hopefully will be launched next week), and I was thinking of buying one of those portable storage devices that Blue_in_Ak has.

Then today I discovered that my 70-200 L lens is fucked. The auto-focus doesn't work anymore. The 1.4x extender may also be damaged. It's a $585 lens. The extender goes for $285.

I am so pissed off.

Oh, and the reason it's damamged? Because it fell out of my camera vest last week onto the pavement, as I was, ironically enough, grabbing a stack of Coral Gables Gazette newspapers with my huge photo across the top of the fold (and the smaller photo below the large photo). Yep. It just slipped out and landed with a thud on the street. I picked it up, examined it and it didn't looked messed up.

I immediately remembered a post from another photographer on www.photo.net where he dropped an expensive Canon L lens down a cliff, watching it bang against a couple of rocks before landing on a rock halfway down.

He said it worked perfectly after that fall. I was hoping mine would follow the same fate.

Then today, as I was driving down Eight Street, through the heart of Little Havana, I saw a bunch of Cuban old men protesting something and waving their Cuban flags (with a few American flags in the mix, so let's not start that GD debate). They were a bunch of right-wingers demanding the release of Luis Posada Carriles

Thankfully, they are a dying breed, which was the whole point of me taking their photos in the first place. A small group of senior citizens demanding the release of an admitted terrorist.

I took a few shots with my 24-70 L lens, then walked across the street, put on the 70-200 L lens with the extender and ...

that is when I realized my lens was fucked. That is when I realized that as I was making my positive yardage last week (grabbing the newspapers), I had not only been thrown for a huge loss where the ball popped out of my arms, I did not recover the fumble. The lens did not survive the fall.

[Blue_In_AK]

1. Oh, Raging, I'm so sad for you.

:cry: What are you going to do? Do you think it can be repaired? Can you still manually focus? This really sucks.

On a lighter note, I can't wait to see your photos from the "undisclosed location."

[RagingInMiami]

2. I have insurance on my gear, but it's a $500 deductible for damages

So it's still a significant dent in my wallet. That's money I would used to buy that portable storage thing.

So I'm going to see how much it costs to repair the lens, but even if it can be repaired, I know it's not going to be cheap.

I'll be leaving to my undisclosed location in mid-May. I wish I can tell you about it now, but for legal reasons, I can't. You will understand once I spill the beans.

[ConsAreLiars]

3. It might be a "relatively" cheap repair.

On a moonless night I set up my camera and tripod and $1000 lens for some star tracks. Once it was totally dark I crawled out of the tent, turned off the flashlight and started the exposure. Then, on my return, I kicked over the tripod and the lens smashed headfirst into the ground. The result was that the fucusing ring was totally frozen up, but the repair turned out to be "only" $100, the minimum charge at the local authorized Nikon service center. (One reason I like Nikon gear is the reputation for toughness and my tendency to treat my stuff roughly.) So, locate an authorized service center, take it in for an estimate, and, with any luck, things may not be as bad as they seem.

(edit to remove stray keypunch)

[RagingInMiami]

4. Man, if it costs $100 to repair, I will count my blessings

I called one local repair shop, not an authorized Canon repair, but a guy I know who repairs all cameras. One of his employees answered and when I told him what I did, he emitted a painful noise as if I had hit him below the belt.

I asked him to give me some kind of idea how much it would cost (after asking for Ron, the owner, who wasn't there) and he didn't know, but he acted as if it were going to be a complicated process.

I am going to take it to the only authorized Canon repair shop in town, which is all the way up in North Miami. Luckily, this isn't a lens I use very often, so I'm able to part with it until they fix it.

How long did it take them to fix your lens?

[ConsAreLiars]

5. It was a few days - 1,2,3 or so.

It was just a matter of getting it through the queue, and they had several techs with different specialties, but no glass was broken and apparently they had whatever they needed on hand so no parts ordering was involved. Good luck.

[RagingInMiami]

6. Thanks

No glass is broken on my lens, which is why I thought it survived. I guess this is something that every photographer has to go through at one point or another.

I've heard stories of photographers who have gotten their lenses and cameras stolen. So far, I've been lucky. Have you ever had anything stolen?

[F.Gordon]

7. That sucks

Sounds like the lens and the camera aren't talking to each other. Have no idea how serious that is. Well... it's serious (duh?) but I don't know what's involved with fixing it.

Don't be so fucking hard on yourself. It's you that are achieving these accolades and goals... the lens is just a piece of hardware. It can be fixed or replaced.

I have a like lens and the case that came with it has a metal clip and quick velcro release. Do you have this? In the future you might want to clip the case/lens to your belt or your vest if it has something to clip on to.

Are you going to Iraq? I'd love to go but Ms F would have not of that, the State Dept would tell me to get fucked, and I couldn't afford an armed "guide".

Don't sweat it dude. Speaking as someone who has had more monkey shit thrown in his face than I care to remember... just keep moving ... do your thing. It'll all be good.. someday.
:hi:

BTW: When you increase your bank account a little more you might look into buying one of the Canon "tank" lenses. The "L" zooms with the 77mm glass are heavy but they really are built like a friggin' tank... water resistant... all that stuff.....

Edit? Damn Alien probe is still in my brain. Want to get it removed... they are always trying to communicate with me when I'm trying to type a post.

[Blue_In_AK]

8. You want to go to Iraq...

...I always wanted to go to Afghanistan, even way back before all this 9/11 business. That looks like one vacation that's going to have to wait for my next life. Bummer...

[RagingInMiami]

9. It's under warranty!

I didn't even think about that last night, having never gone through this drama before. But as I was searching for the best way to get it repaired online, I went to the Canon site and put in the information, including the date I bought it, May 23, 2005, and was told to send it to New Jersey where they will repair it -- free of charge.

So yes, I may have been struck for a loss and a fumble, but my team quickly got the ball back, and will continue its march downfield.

And about my undisclosed trip, I will answer in the way all those public officials used to answer back in my newspaper reporting days: "I can't confirm or deny that my trip will be to Iraq."

Damnit, if this keeps up, I might just might spill the beans, which might end up backfiring on me.

Yes, one day -- most likely way down the line -- I will buy one of those "tank" lenses. However, my next big purchase, also down the line, will be the Canon 5D body. My 10D, which is not even two years old, seems so outdated.

Anyway, thanks for the encouraging and positive post. Even without a warranty, a broken lens is not the end of the world.

Here are photos of my photos that got published last week.

[Blue_In_AK]

10. WOO-HOO!!

[bvar22]

12. 2nd Blue's WOO-HOO!!!!

:woohoo:

[CC]

11. Great news after reading the bad

news.:woohoo: Way to go with getting published, repeatedly.

If I were to take a trip to an undisclosed location because I wouldn't be allowed to govt. wise it would be to Cuba...some friends from Argentina just spent 6 weeks there on vacation from Christmas through Jan, and had some great pics and stories. They had a great time. BTW I wish the US would catch up to other developed countries and give us 6 week paid vacations.

[RagingInMiami]

19. That's a good guess

But I can't confirm or deny. But it would be the ultimate FU to Bush and to the right-wing Cubans in Miami.

[CC]

22. Would never ask but it is

fun to guess places. Besides I believe Levis, Marlboro's and Coca Cola had a lot to do with the fall of the Soviet Union.

[RagingInMiami]

24. I agree about the Levis and the Marlboros contributing to the fall

of the Soviet Union. The whole embargo on Cuba is so hypocritical. They claim the reason is because it is a communist country, but then how does that explain all the trade we do with China?

[intheflow]

13. Wonderful news and great photos!

That's so cool your lens is under warranty. :woohoo: For a dude with Columbian ancestry, you sure have the luck of the Irish! :evilgrin:


You know Raging, my Easter sermon is going to be about radical transformations: eggs into chickens, seeds into plants, death into a surprise ending for Jesus and his followers... (Even more of a surprise ending this year with the discovery of "Judas was the favorite disciple" gospel just translated. LOL!). This is another example of what seemed like a really bad thing miraculously transformed into something completely unexpected. I'm glad to see you're flowing with the season as you head into your undisclosed location.
:toast:

[Blue_In_AK]

14. I really like the Judas discovery...

From the time I first started thinking seriously about the whole Easter story, I always felt like he got a bum rap. Obviously, the crucifixion and resurrection couldn't have happened without him (assuming they did happen). The "betrayal" was definitely a tough job, but somebody had to do it for the story to play out. It's hard to imagine his courage, if indeed he was complicit, knowing that he would be reviled for ages to come.

[intheflow]

15. What I love is that these "heresies" keep surfacing.

It's like they were hidden in history just long enough for humanity to reach an age of uber-literacy and mass publication and media. O8)

[Blue_In_AK]

16. Yep -- Gnostics RULE!!

[regnaD kciN]

17. There's no "discovery" about it...

...merely the re-emergence of an old "gospel" from a Gnostic sect (and showing very clearly the influence of Gnosticism) composed a century or so after the canonical Gospels had been written. Whether Judas got a "bum rap" in real life or not, this document tells us more about a certain sect from the second century than it does anything about the "historical Jesus." In other words, if the four "standard" Gospels are to be considered unreliable and agenda-driven, this work is even more so on both accounts.

Now, can we get back to photography? Good news, Raging! (And, before you have to point it out, it's "Colombian," not "Columbian." ;-) )

[RagingInMiami]

20. Thanks, RegnaD

Didn't you say at one point that your wife is Colombian?

[intheflow]

21. Damn it!

I knew both those things!

The Judas stuff was rediscovered, then, :eyes: although it's been so long I think it can reasonably be called a discovery at this point. :P But you know I'm a gnostic from way back. My fav is the Gospel of Thomas. O8)

The Colombian thing was a damn typo! :grr: (<-- at myself, not you)

[RagingInMiami]

23. From my experience

It's one of the most common mistakes in the English language because I know the English and Irish tend to misspell Colombia as well (and, of course, spell-check is not going to help you either). I even had to correct a Chilean-born friend of mine who grew up in Miami because he misspelled it.

He even try to argue that Columbia is how you spell it in English. This is a guy who grew up playing soccer with Colombians down here.

But there is nothing worse than the DUers go engage in great debates in GD or in Latest Breaking News over Colombia, spewing all kinds of opinions and rhetoric and criticism on the South American country, all while misspelling it continuously throughout the thread.

It would like me making blanket statements about your state of "Colurado" and calling anybody a freeper who disagrees with me.

[RagingInMiami]

18. Must be the Celtic ring I haven't stopped wearing since I left Dublin

Ten years ago.

Sounds like your sermon will be along the lines of the "making connections" photo contest.