Disaster struck on Friday the 13th ! Was this a test of The Laws Of Gravity?
While walking along the beautiful, wide, winding, sun drenched, concrete sidewalk of Santa Monica’s Muscle Beach on the afternoon of Friday, October 13, 2023 my Nikon Z6ii camera with attached Nikon Z 24-120mm f/4 lens fell onto the sidewalk & smashed. Immediately, there were sounds of breaking glass, clanging metal, and ugly thuds as the camera and lens tumbled. I was horrified!
The moment before it fell my camera was securely (I thought) attached to a Peak Design Slide Lite camera strap looped safely around my neck. This Peak Design Slide Lite camera strap was attached to …
- two Peak Design Anchors,
- both Anchors securely attached to a Peak Design Anchor Mount (Peak Design #AL-AN-1),
- tightly screwed into the 1/4″-20 tripod socket on the bottom of a Kirk L-Bracket, and
- tightly screwed into the 1/4″-20 tripod socket on the bottom of the Nikon Z6ii camera.
Seems the jostling of the camera against my body while walking along the sidewalk caused the Peak Design Anchor Mount to gradually unscrew itself from the tripod socket of the Kirk L-Bracket plate. The Peak Design Slide Lite was still hanging around my neck (much lighter now without the weight of the camera and lens) with the Peak Design Anchors still securely attached to the Peak Design Anchor Mount.
Had never before tried the approach of having both ends of the camera strap attached to the bottom of the camera (instead of to the two eye hooks on the top of the camera). Have seen several YouTube creators promote this approach as it allows a heavy lens to more naturally face downward and relieves pressure on the camera lens mount.
Purchased the Peak Design Anchor Mount from Amazon in late September from vendor “Peak Design”. All legit. But browsing through the Peak Design web site today can find no reference to the (#AL-AN-1) Anchor Mount anywhere. Hmm. Bet I’m not the first person that incorrectly trusted this Peak Design Anchor Mount.
Did have a Nikon Circular Polarizer attached the front of the lens and it appears it suffered the most damage. Certainly it was the first to sustain damage. Also, had the lens hood attached to the lens, but in a backward position; in retrospect I should have had the lens hood positioned outward properly.
Have sent it all off to Nikon Service for repair; currently waiting to hear back about their damage assessment.
This was a Friday the 13th lesson learned 👻 ! Sir Isaac Newton’s Laws of Gravity were obeyed the same on this day as every other ☹️.
Last updated 15-Nov-2023.
