Lens Hoods

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Arkady

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Rob
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On Wednesday, whilst running fast to avoid having additional holes added to my studly body, I was forced to negotiate an 8-ft deep irrigation ditch which was about 5 feet across.
Using my well-know superhero powers, I successfully managed to misjudge the gap completely and was additionally thrown off-balance by my slung rifle slamming me in the back. This caused me to fall backwards into the ditch and I somehow landed face-down, with all my weight behind both my cameras which I was holding in each hand to avoid bashing them together.

Result:
Both cameras looked like they'd been carved out of solid lumps of muddy clay; both lens hoods on the 80-200 and 24-70 had snapped their retaining lugs and pushed halway-down the lens barrels; one 'leaf' of the 80-200's hood had snapped in half.

After much scrubbing with damp face-cloths and toothbrushes, both cameras are fine and the broken lens hoods are taped back in place with even more gaffer-tape and tan cloth (we call it 'Sniper-') tape (I have no spare lens-hoods and they'll take weeks to get here even if I ask for them right now).

All I can say is that once again, I'm hugely impressed by the build-quality of the D3's and the Nikkor lenses I'm using out here... I must have had 40kg of weight on me as well as all my body-weight bearing down on them as I fell...

I will also say that actually feeling the breath of wind as bullets pass by your head is a very unpleasant experience...hitherto I've only heard the 'crack and thump' as they pass a few feet above me...which is bad enough...
Look at tomorrow's Sunday Times for the whole report by journalist Miles Amoore, who I shamelessly used as a sandbag during the initial contact.
 
yeah but sod you, are you SURE the cameras are ok? :eek:














;) Joking, of course, glad you are fine and upto writing in your usual inimitable style. Sounds like it was a bit of close one there so please be a bit more careful Sir, not that many weeks left now. :nono: ;)
I discovered 'tank tape' only in the last decade and I can't believe I survived 30 odd years without knowing of its existence, rather like I can't believe I survived a similar length time Nikon free. Oh and before the canonites pick up on it, I should point out that the two discoveries are in no way linked to each other :p
 
Rob, If I did not know better I'd suspect that you are trying to wreck these 2 X D3 so you can order up 2 X D3s.
You can always make lens hoods from cardboard bog roll tubes.

Glad you are still in once piece.
 
arclight said:
Rob, If I did not know better I'd suspect that you are trying to wreck these 2 X D3 so you can order up 2 X D3s.
You can always make lens hoods from cardboard bog roll tubes.

Glad you are still in once piece.
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Nahhh... No such luck - no matter what, I'll have to make do with these til I muster out in December...
If I break a body I'll be lucky if I get a replacement at all - and if I do it'll be a D2x in all liklihood...the D3's are all issued out and I don't think the Army is buying the D3s...
My successor at 7 Armoured Brigade in Germany is still using the D2x bodies that I used in Iraq in 2008...

QM problems at HQ Land, apparently...:suspect:
 
mmmmmm i wonder what the money would be better spent on helicopters or cameras !! Rob don't worry about your cameras mate just keep yourself safe.
 
Cameras can be replaced so look after the operator!

take care Rob
x
 
Take care dude and good luck.
 
:lol: How the Hell are to going to settle down to civvy strret? You'll probably eat your gun in the first week!
 
:eek: 'kin 'ell Rob, scary stuff mate.

Sounds like those Nikon lens hoods are pretty crap then ;)

Take care of yourself :)
 
CT said:
:lol: How the Hell are to going to settle down to civvy strret? You'll probably eat your gun in the first week!
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We-ellllll...

Back to the TA it is - Media Operations Group-Volunteers or MOG(V) beckons...
Spoke to the new Colonel there (who's out here in Bastion now) and I'm going to join the Combat Camera Team there - probably do 3 or 4 three to five week trips to Afghan a year for as long as it lasts... :cuckoo:
 
Why will it take weeks to get new hoods? Is it the general logistics or is it a bureaucratic/funds delay? If it's the latter I'm sure we could organise something at this end to get some replacement hoods to you. They might not be genuine Nikon ones but if all you're going to do is stick them in mud then it probably doesn't matter?
 
Arkady said:
We-ellllll...

Back to the TA it is - Media Operations Group-Volunteers or MOG(V) beckons...
Spoke to the new Colonel there (who's out here in Bastion now) and I'm going to join the Combat Camera Team there - probably do 3 or 4 three to five week trips to Afghan a year for as long as it lasts... :cuckoo:
Click to expand...

Tch.. glutton for punishment! :cuckoo:

Suck it up and do weddings and grip 'n grins - you'll probably make more wonga and eventually be able to fit into civilsed society. ;)

I went to a TA dinner as a guest - everybody in red mess uniform - very swish with a military orchestra playing in the background.
 
Arkady said:
We-ellllll...

Back to the TA it is - Media Operations Group-Volunteers or MOG(V) beckons...
Spoke to the new Colonel there (who's out here in Bastion now) and I'm going to join the Combat Camera Team there - probably do 3 or 4 three to five week trips to Afghan a year for as long as it lasts... :cuckoo:
Click to expand...

Barking, absolutely barking! :D

you're just scared of weddings! :lol: Take care Rob and if you do need any lens hoods I'm sure we can indeed come up with something :thumbs:
 
Spuff said:
Why will it take weeks to get new hoods? Is it the general logistics or is it a bureaucratic/funds delay? If it's the latter I'm sure we could organise something at this end to get some replacement hoods to you. They might not be genuine Nikon ones but if all you're going to do is stick them in mud then it probably doesn't matter?
Click to expand...

General logistics - the QM at HQ Land Command that services Army Media and Communications is a penile-wart. Hence me having to take over my predecessor's camera kit in September when I arrived here in Afghanistan instead of being issued new kit back in April when I took over this post.
A demand for new kit would go through the senior Photographer, then get sent to the QM who would insist that a proper request form be generated; a 'Loss-Rep' sent by me with all the relevant submissions from my line-manager (a Major, in other words - I'm not grown-up enough to know when something's broken, apparently); then he would put in a purchase order, but not before a part-number had been aquired by Bicester.
Since we don't buy spare lens hood (they come with the lens) there will be no NSN number, so after much to-ing and fro-ing, a seperate purchase order would have to be generated. There would then be arguments over whose budget it would come off - Land, media and Comms or 11 Brigade here in theatre - no-one wants to spend any money that they don't have to...
Once that has been sorted out and authorised (and there's no guarantee it would be) the bid would go into Calumet (our preferred supplier).
Then after a couple of weeks it would go through the supply-chain to arrive at Wilton, there the penile-wart would 'forget' to tell anyone that it had arrived and by that time (breathe...) I'd probably be back in UK anyway, having finished my tour.

The broken hoods will do fine til April. I'll speak to my mates at Nikon in person and I'm sure we'll 'work something out'...lol
 
Some things never change..............:lol:
 
Arkady said:
the QM at HQ Land Command that services Army Media and Communications is a Penile-Wart....
Click to expand...

Is that one of the P-Ws out of Gloucestershire? It's funny how many of the "high-ups" have hyphenated surnames :D
 
Arkady wrote:-
Result:
Both cameras looked like they'd been carved out of solid lumps of muddy clay; both lens hoods on the 80-200 and 24-70 had snapped their retaining lugs and pushed halway-down the lens barrels; one 'leaf' of the 80-200's hood had snapped in half.

After much scrubbing with damp face-cloths and toothbrushes, both cameras are fine and the broken lens hoods are taped back in place with even more gaffer-tape and tan cloth (we call it 'Sniper-') tape (I have no spare lens-hoods and they'll take weeks to get here even if I ask for them right now).

All I can say is that once again, I'm hugely impressed by the build-quality of the D3's and the Nikkor lenses I'm using out here... I must have had 40kg of weight on me as well as all my body-weight bearing down on them as I fell...

I would not be at all surprised if Nikon would want to use some shots of your kit in an advert.
 
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