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Stupid mistakes that make you laugh

dchew

Well-known member
I don't know where this thread will go, but maybe it can be a tool for others to learn. You know, when you are struggling with something and cannot make it work. Then after an agonizing period it hits you: Oh duh!!

If you have the self-defacing guts to admit yours, tell us!

So here was mine this morning: Got the Alpa out with the 150 short barrel to fool around and take some garden flower photos. Since they were in the 5-7 foot range, I had the Leica Disto out for measurements. Disto up against the back of the camera with a little correction factor for the sensor location (+0.02 ft). Nothing was coming out sharp! Everything was off, way off.

Sitting at the computer afterwords I figure out I focused pretty consistently 1 or 2 inches too close. I was really getting upset because on the 150mm at that distance, it is about a 5 degree rotation of the helical. Huge! And I was sure this lens was calibrated before!

Then it hits me: Hmm; about the same thickness as the Alpa 34mm adapter I had installed on THE BACK of the camera. Making my reference point on the back of the camera oh, just about 34mm too short.
Dumb-Arse
:cussing:

Dave
 

danlindberg

Well-known member
I just experienced one of those.....:p:eek:

The other day I was to photograph a shoe with an exaggerated perspective and low angle of view (the brief).
So I mounted the Schneider SuperDigitar 28 XL and was thinking going as close as I could.
I set up everything as I usually do and shot. Black frame!
I checked over all settings and tried again. Black frame! :wtf:
Checked over again, more careful, talking out loud to myself. Black frame.
Now, I connected the iMac for liveview. All black. Everything seemed to work but all I got was black.....

It took me over an hour and (more than one bad word) before I realised my newbie mistake.

I had the rear lens cap on :facesmack:
 

JonMo

New member
:eek: I honestly thought I was the only one not bright enough to remember to remove the back lens cap.

Thank you for saving a little of my self esteem!
 

gazwas

Active member
Not recently but all the same a real dumb *** thing to do....

Just before going to shoot a group of people I decided to clean the then Mamiya 645Pro so it was in tip top shape. Anyone who has shot one of these knows that when you remove the film magazine, the film advance just keeps spinning and the shutter wont fire preventing you from cleaning the inside of the mirror box...... that is unless you engage the multiple exposure lever.

I return after job all pleased with myself and about an hour later the film shows up on the lightbox with one single frame exposed 10 times............ :facesmack:
 

Bill Caulfeild-Browne

Well-known member
My most common mistake is taking the CF card out of the IQ to download my shots - and then forgetting to put it back in. Thus for my next attempted shot the DF comes up with "stor db" - and it takes me several moments to figure out what the heck that means!

Fortunately I always carry several cards but one day I'm going to miss the shot of a lifetime by not having a card already in the back.

I'm trying to cultivate the habit of putting a new card in as soon as I take one out but I'm a slow learner.

Bill
 

Analog6

New member
In the old days of film I used to carfully rewind so a bit stayed sticking out of the cassette. So one time I found I had a whole roll of 36 (it was 35mm) just horrible double exposures. The first time I'd shot long exposure star shots and the second lot were a park opening in bright sunlight. double disaster!
 

dchew

Well-known member
Live view only works half the time on my IQ back. The other half it forgets to manually open the leaf shutter. :)

Dave
 

Wayne Fox

Workshop Member
My most common mistake is taking the CF card out of the IQ to download my shots - and then forgetting to put it back in. Thus for my next attempted shot the DF comes up with "stor db" - and it takes me several moments to figure out what the heck that means!

Fortunately I always carry several cards but one day I'm going to miss the shot of a lifetime by not having a card already in the back.

I'm trying to cultivate the habit of putting a new card in as soon as I take one out but I'm a slow learner.

Bill
I'm afflicted with the same problem. My other problem is when the "stupid" camera won't take a picture, having me do all kinds of things like pull the battery out etc. thinking it has locked up ...

... to eventually discover the issue is the card is full.:banghead:
 

fotografz

Well-known member
Yep, I've had a few "Dumb and Dumber" moments:

Shooting from a balcony in a muggy 100º church, with no fans or lighting. Look through my Contax 645 viewfinder to take some critical shots ... and it's black. Start frantically field stripping the camera to see what the heck is wrong, seems okay, put it back together, still black ... finally discover I had inadvertently flipped the viewfinder dark slide into place while wiping the sweat off the camera and finder ... which I couldn't see in the dark. :facesmack:

Balcony #2 incident: Shooting a 555ELD and original Kodak ProBack on a tripod. Had the tethered Quantum battery strapped to my waist for mobility. Decided to swap lenses ... turn to reach for the 40mm on the pew and pull the whole rig over ... which promptly tumbles down a flight of marble steps disrupting the wedding I was shooting. :eek:

I occasionally have nightmares involving "Balconies". :rolleyes:

Every time, and I mean EVERY TIME, I walk an elaborate lighting set-up to a remote location, the 8" sync cord from radio transmitter to camera fails. Do I learn? Apparently not. Had it happen on the last shoot again. I had cleaned and formed the tip before leaviong and must have pulled it to hard when removing the conditioner, just enough that it still worked, then didn't after 2 shots. :banghead: Now I have 5 of them in my pocket ... until the next time when I forget.

-Marc
 

KeithL

Well-known member
Stupid mistakes that made me laugh?

Becoming a photographer.

Hey, it's better than crying about it.
 

Chris Giles

New member
I'd been looking forward all week to walk in the yellow rapeseed fields with my dog and P25, arrive, no card in the back, go back to the car, find card, go to take the picture, no battery in the back. That's still at home on charge.
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Oh and there is another.
Leave for a trip with all my batteries left behind.
Thankfully Dave at CI expressed out some fresh ones and saved my butt.
-bob
 
It was stupid for sure, but I didn't laugh about it. I accidentally scratched the sensor of my S2 while cleaning. I couldn't blame anyone but myself and it cost a lot of money to repair.
 

GrahamWelland

Subscriber & Workshop Member
Hmm, let me see, I'm not too proud that I won't admit to:

Alpa spacer & blurry images - :facesmack: Both with & without btw. i.e. leaving it on when I put on a wide non-SB lens and not putting it on when I put on the longer lenses.

Rear lens cap - :facesmack: Haven't done it for a quite a while now though. Mainly because I don't put them on any more and use the hood hats to protect the rear or the Alpa plastic cover plate.

Live view and the manual leaf shutter release - :facesmack: Both not open and still open and wondering why the shutter won't fire.

Lens cap - I once shot 8 images of a great sunset over Sydney Opera house and the bridge using an XPan and couldn't work out why the exposure recommendation was always > 1sec. Doh! :facesmack: Looked fine in the viewfinder. :ROTFL:

CF Card full and the stubborn IQ/P25+/P40+/Aptus 65 - :facesmack:

No CF card in the back when trying to shoot - :facesmack:

Gone out to shoot macros with the DF and left the extension tube and macro lenses back at the hotel - :facesmack: - I did that last weekend actually. Fun shooting miniatures using a Mamiya 210ULD & 300 APO from a very healthy minimum focus distance!

Attempt to mount the camera on the tripod head and realize that you'd forgotten to put the Arca plate back on and it's sitting at home - :facesmack:

Out in the field with my Lee filter gear and realized that the filter pouch and/or filter adapter is back in the car - :facesmack:

Using 77mm filters for all cameras and lenses and realizing that you've left the step up rings in the other bag - :facesmack:

When my DF & 75-150 & P40+ fell off the tripod and crashed on to a big very solid rock in Sedona - :facesmack: Folks - ALWAYS make sure that your Arca Swiss QR is TIGHT!! :eek: That wasn't much of a chuckle I must admit but I got off lucky.

Like Mark, a small slip with my Aptus 65 when remounting on my Alpa that resulted in the most fragile part of the back finding the least fragile and most pointed part of the Alpa - :facesmack: That wasn't much of a chuckle either but I also got off lucky there too in the end. :eek:

Shooting with a 600VR and D3s with a wimberley mount and forgetting to tighten every control including the head panning knob - :facesmack: I can vouch for the fact that a D3s when swung like a pendulum on the end of a mounted lens is a very hard and heavy club when it whacks you in the side of the head. I decided that I'd only do that ONCE as I figured next time I'd wake up in hospital.

I know that there are plenty of others that I've conveniently forgotten and no doubt more dumb things that'll happen in the future. :rolleyes:

Now the one I haven't done so far, and a good friend of mine did do this, is go on a road trip, drive 350 miles to get there and find that they've brought everything including the tripod, clothes, work gear for the next week on the road but left the camera bag and all the gear back in the home office. He had to use my Fuji X100 all weekend. :facesmack:
 

MGrayson

Subscriber and Workshop Member
When picking up a backpack or camera bag, make sure that none of the straps are looped around a tripod leg. I sent a Cambo/IQ160/Schneider setup crashing enthusiastically into the ground... at the feet of the owner... who wasn't me.

Only cost a tilt/swing mount, but Yech!

--Matt

Oh. Wait. The thread says "Make you Laugh." No, no laughing...
 
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darr

Well-known member
I have been guilty of trying to use too light a tripod a few times on outings--I only own 4 (oops 5 now since acquiring Guy's RRS 2 series) Gitzos and three of them are designed for use with 4x5" and larger. Good thing there is a studio stand in the studio or I would probably do a stupid weight and balance test. ;)

Worst stupid mistake I made was on a wedding shoot years ago that involved a roll of exposed 220 film "rolling down the aisle" between magazine reloads. I was trying to remove the film from the magazine when I dropped it, and of course the paper wrap had not been made. All I could do was stare at the roll unfold with the film exposed. :scry:


I do feel like I am with my people here, as I occasionally look through a black lens with the front lens cap in my hand. :ROTFL:
 
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