My family and me.
Spot the problem:
So, my Top Tip is, Don't drop your camera onto a hard stone courtyard. Apparently http://www.fixationuk.com/ may be able to help (thanks Andrew). Another Top Tip might be learn from your mistakes but that is just too hard.
In unrelated news, I finally got one of the coveted orange tee-shirts by running in the Cambrdige Fun Run round the Science Park. 7:04 which is quite passable, though it brought back the Old War Wound (those who kindly commented in rowing and running that I was probably fit enough to break myself were correct :-). In this pic, however (thanks William), we're standing around waiting for the start of our division of the notoriously never-on-time Winter Head. It is such jolly fun watching the London crews trying to spin on a river no wider than their boat is long and in a wind. It was even more fun watching the one following us round Grassy misjudge the corner and hit the side. It was a bit less fun when they recovered and caught us up and our cox decided to play "clashing blades". Still we came second with 10.15; 10.05 without the clash maybe.
Comments
When I bought my shiny new Nikon D80 a couple of years ago I had exactly the same damage to the same lens (18mm-55mm zoom) the very first day I tried out the camera when it fell off the tripod (of course onto hard pavement instead of soft dirt a couple of inches away). I felt like an idiot for days.
[Ah, interesting. And was it economically repairable? -W]
Posted by: Jerry | November 22, 2009 3:44 PM
The Vibration Reduction feature just doesn't work for the really big vibrations.
Posted by: Emory Kimbrough | November 22, 2009 4:12 PM
William
Going emeritus SA version:
"A RETIRED Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University physics professor has rejected the theory of global warming, arguing that temperatures are, in fact, cooling."
From: http://www.weekendpost.co.za/article.aspx?id=501113
Posted by: Luke Warmer | November 23, 2009 7:20 AM
People are eager to hear that you were the actual hacker in East Anglia's CRU and you have only pretended to be a complete alarmist imbecile on Wikipedia and your blog for years!
Wouldn't you be proud about it? ;-)
Posted by: Luboš Motl | November 23, 2009 1:12 PM
Most Nikon lenses have metal stuff where the camera meets the lens. I wonder if this would have helped in this instance.
[It would either have prevented any damage, or made things much worse by bending the camera instead. Fixation guess ~£50 to fix it -W]
Posted by: jules | November 24, 2009 1:52 AM
Was watching the clash as much fun as watching this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XfSr2foKjQ
Got this from the UC Berkeley women's coach who saw it happen: This is a clip from the Head of the American a month ago in Sacramento. The rower had previously "crabbed" and lost his oar overhead. So, he decides to keep the oar handle low in the boat and pass it under his butt, which requires he unlace his shoes. He almost successfully completes the maneuver, but forgets to keep the blade feathered and parallel to the water ...... I remember seeing the upside-down blade in the moments before ... knowing it would take just a little dip in set to starboard before it grabbed.... wince! I can't laugh as much as feel it and the whole crowd gave out an "Oooh!!" before the laughter started.
The video was taken just before the finish line, where everyone launches from so he could not have picked more conspicuous place!
Yesterday rowing to the start of a head race, I saw two 8's trying to untangle and just after we row past, one of the coxswain stands up and starts waving her hands frantically to get the attention of an official launch. They had punctured and starting filling with water. Then towards the end of our race my 2x partner yells "OARS UP!". We clashed oars with a 4+ who had finished their race and was going in the opposite direction. The shells were both on the correct side of the buoys but both sets of oars were over. Fortunately there was no harm done, unfortunately we were too far back to use it as an excuse for only getting 2nd.
BTW, the race results list you at 7:40 not 7:04. Still entering races you haven't properly prepared for? Perhaps you just haven't hurt yourself enough as much as I have.
[By golly there is some stonkingly rubbish rowing in that clip, reminds me of my youth. Our clash was nowhere so dramatic, and the feet-out was behind me somewhere. Yes, the funrun folk stuffed up something with their software - they seem to have dropped a lot of zeroes. ah well, 7:04 was, in retrospect, implausibly good -W]
Posted by: Nosmo | November 24, 2009 5:21 PM
Yes the rowing is really bad--even for crews that has only been rowing for less then two months.
Then there is this:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=M0Oq2gi_p4Q&feature=PlayList&p=7869B9E3F3DB7311&index=10
and this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC-fCpio6dM&feature=Playist&p=7869B9E3F3DB7311&index=8
more complete slide show of the last one (notice the bow about 50 seconds in): www.youtube.com/watch?v=9utbMtFEycc&feature=PlayList&p=7869B9E3F3DB7311&index=7
and this clasic:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Cz7p9Z3EYc&feature=related
Just to clarify the quote above and link was from the women's lightweight coach (UCB lightweights are a club sport which means no money poor boats, and frequent turnover of coaches--unlike the heavyweights which have great support, great coaching and great results).
Posted by: Nosmo | November 24, 2009 8:32 PM
In other good news, California has decided to equip the Terminator with an orbiting microwave deathray, the original "maser"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maser
-- solar powered, of course.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn18247-california-gives-green-light-to-space-solar-power.html
You may note some eerie resemblance in this image to other political figures, or not.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/5/54/Californiauberalles_single.jpg
Posted by: Hank Roberts | December 8, 2009 9:09 PM