I was teaching a new photog how to shoot. He had the camera on the tripod in the newsroom and was getting shots of people sitting at their desks. After a few minutes, we decided to pop the tape and see how his stuff looked. We left the camera on the tripod and as soon as we get into the edit bay I hear a crash. I turn around to see my camera in pieces on the ground. Our engineers order a new body for my camera and a couple weeks later it’s back in great condition.
Two weeks after I get my camera back I was cleaning up after a live shot. I put the lights in the back of the van. I put my tripod and microphone in the side. I turn off the generator, look around to make sure I haven’t left anything. Everything looks good, so I jump in the driver seat, start the van, and as I’m pulling out of my parking spot, I hear a thud. I was scared the live truck was about to fall apart, so I put the van in reverse to back up into my parking spot so I can investigate.
As I’m backing up, I hear a crrrr-UNCH!
I wasn’t sure what I could have hit, but to be cautious, I throw the van in park and hop out. I don’t see anything on the driver side, so I walk around to the passenger side.
There, lying on the ground in several pieces, is my camera.
Somehow, when I was cleaning up from the live shot, I set my camera on the roof of the van, and forgot about it. Before I left, I looked on the ground to make sure I didn’t forget anything, but never looked on top of the van.
When the camera hit the ground (it was a 14 foot drop), the view finder fell off (it’s detachable). The light and microphone are attached to that viewfinder piece. When I backed up, I ran over my viewfinder, light, and microphone. My wireless receiver also fell off.
I didn’t know what to do. I started to cry.
I could give the camera back to engineering and write it up like I’m supposed to, but if my boss found out, I’d never hear the end of it. If he didn’t fire me.
I picked up my poor neglected baby and drive back to the station.
I sat patiently in the newsroom waiting for everybody to go home for the night. After I was sure everyone has left, I snuck my camera back to engineering.
I needed a new viewfinder, light, microphone mount and remount the wireless receiver.
I thought “I can do this.”
Not the simplest thing I’ve ever attempted, but I decided there were enough spare parts in the engineering room that I could put it all together without anybody ever knowing.
Unfortunately, we didn’t have any extra, working viewfinders, so I had to take an eye piece off one and put it on the screen from another. This alone took me an hour-and-a-half to figure out. Then I found the last working light in the building and a microphone mount. Wham bam, and I’m ready to go. I thought…
I decided to test my camera before I left, just to make sure it all worked like it should. I turned it on, hit the eject button, and the tape door fell off.
To make a long story a little shorter, I spent almost four hours working on my camera and finally got it fixed using spare parts. Nobody ever found out, until my boss read this.