Always Use Your Lens Hoods

Jackwow

Jackwow

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Neil
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I was photographing some of the wildfowl at Figgate Park in Edinburgh early this afternoon and while on the boardwalk, which was quite slimy, I suddenly lost my footing and fell backwards. My 7D and 70-300L, which I was carrying on a Blackrapid strap, hit the deck hard and I feared the worst. It was a while though before I could check them as I fell backwards onto the edge of one of the wooden step/seat things and had the wind knocked out of me and am now in severe pain due to a lacerated and badly bruised back (hopefully that's all it is). Back home, via the hospital (what a waste of time that was) and on checking my gear I am pleased to say that it seems to be working ok. The lens hood took the brunt of the fall and split lengthways but probably saved my lens and other than a couple of small marks my 7D seems fine. The memory card cover did snap open but the card didn't come out and the cover is fine. So moral of the story, always use your lens hoods.

PS Edinburgh District Council, please extend the wire mesh over the whole of the boardwalk, not just the entrances, as it's bloody dangerous.
 
Hope you're OK. Yup, always use your hoods.

Might be worth a call to EDC to tell them about your fall - the next person might not be as lucky as you...
 
Totally agree! I have my 40d with 70-200 slung on my left side, the lens hood is always on as I usually have to negotiate several stiles ( the stone 'squeeze' stiles are the worse) while out hiking, the hood has taken the worse of the scrapes!
 
Ouch - Hope you're not too sore and less importantly it's good to hear your kit came out of it OK

Be sure to inform Figgate Park as some little old lady might not fare so well.
 
Yep, me too.

550D and 10-22mm went bouncing out of my bag which I thought was closed, straight onto the pavement. Lens hood smashed, but everything else lived to fight another day.
 
Hi Neil, glad to hear you are ok. You are absolutely correct that lens hoods are not just for show and/or inconvenience. I have escaped expensive damage on many occasions just by obsessively fitting hoods. (I was going to say "much to Mrs Y's frustration" but the mucky minded element on this great organ would immediately commence sniggering;)). The same goes for skylight filters. I don't use them on every lens, but it has saved the front element of my walk around lens from damage on more than one occasion.
 
Update. Still got a very sore back but that will get better. However not looking so good for my 70-300L. Tried a couple of shots after my fall and it seemed OK. I also used it on each of the next three days with no issues and again yesterday, until I was walking back from taking some shots of Elie Ness lighthouse. I tried to lock the lens barrel but it wouldn't lock and then I noticed that the lens wouldn't retract fully back to 70mm. I tried it again later and noticed that when zooming out it was quite stiff at times and still wouldn't fully retract. I then tried to take some pics with it and it wouldn't focus at any focal length! So I guess it didn't survive the fall after all although I'm surprised it took 4 days of usage before the fault developed? :(
 
Jackwow said:
Update. Still got a very sore back but that will get better. However not looking so good for my 70-300L. Tried a couple of shots after my fall and it seemed OK. I also used it on each of the next three days with no issues and again yesterday, until I was walking back from taking some shots of Elie Ness lighthouse. I tried to lock the lens barrel but it wouldn't lock and then I noticed that the lens wouldn't retract fully back to 70mm. I tried it again later and noticed that when zooming out it was quite stiff at times and still wouldn't fully retract. I then tried to take some pics with it and it wouldn't focus at any focal length! So I guess it didn't survive the fall after all although I'm surprised it took 4 days of usage before the fault developed? :(
Click to expand...

Gutted, but on the plus side that sounds mechanical and so probably easier to repair. I had a similar problem and have just fixed my old sigma 24-70 with the help of a friend, it would lock up and couldn't focus past about 10m and made some horrible jamming noises. After having a chat with my mate and taking it to a lens repair shop who quoted me £72 for a strip down to see what the problem was we took it apart following a guide on iFixit. Turns out a screw had come loose and was jamming the mechanism. Once we found the problem it was easily screwed back in place (using a little thread lock to stop it happening again) and now it works perfectly again.

Sounds like you might have a similar problem, if you do decide to strip it down make sure you take things VERY slowly so as not to break any of the delicate ribbons and take pictures every step so you know how it all goes back together, you don't want to end up with some spare parts at the end! It's also a good idea to have a little tray with different compartments for each screw at every stage so they don't get mixed up.
 
Thanks Sandy, but not sure I want to be dismantling a £1200 lens when I know nothing about its workings! I'll try Ffordes, the nearest proper camera shop to Inverness, and see what they say.
 
Latest on my 70-300L. Just received a repair estimate of £428!, which I assume is on top of the £25 estimate fee I have already paid. :(

"Repair details: Will need to dismantle lens to confirm all damage, possible replacement of zoom keys and guides, recalibrate focus elements. If main barrel is damaged will need to re-estimate again."

I suppose if I hadn't had the hood on the damage/repair cost could have been worse?
 
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