Learn From My Mistake!

I had a similar experience at Capital Reef NP in Utah. I did not tighten a tripod leg. I turned. My Canon 1Ds MkII and my Canon 100-400mm L lens crashed to the ground with my tripod. The camera was undamaged. The lens snapped off its mount and the electronics cable pulled out. The lens was long out of warranty. I called Chuck Westhoff at Canon (who many Canon enthusiasts knew well). I boxed it in Las Vegas. Sent it from there to Canon. They repaired it for $600 (ouch!), Still that was 25% the cost of replacement. Lesson learned. Always tighten the tripod legs. Double-check each. In your case, try the quick camera strap connectors and straps from Peak Design. Never take the camera off the tripod without wearing a strap. Even just a hand strap. A heavy lens for astrophotography can make the camera front heavy and it becomes easy to drop. reply

I've had the pleasure of watching many of your YouTube videos and now I'm very proud to be one of your paying students. There are so many great tutorials to choose from, but I picked this short, one-minute clip to start on. Wow! Even I could feel that pain. The gear in this profession is not cheap, and this clip reminded me to take it easy, be patient, don't rush and break something. It's easy to do. Just this week I had a card table collapse and drop my very-high-end, super-HD laptop on the pavement. UGH!!! I can happen to all of us. I'm so excited about touring through your videos. Thanks for all the hard work you put into teaching folks like me. reply

ahhhh.....owwwww....heartsinking. reply

Broooo... I can only imagine how you were feeling reply