Photos from the Science Symposium - Damages

What a weekend. No doubt that the a700, Tamron 70200 and the F58 are a heavy combo but that didn't deter me to lug it around just to snap some interesting shots. And after that nasty fall which left the body and the lens physically defect a bit, I would have been more cautious.

But, I was careless. When I tried to take out the other camera from my bag, the body,lens and flash slipped from my shoulders straight to the tiles. Using the wider and gripper Optech Pro Strap didn't help much either.


A broken hotshoe at the left side.



The flash carried the weight over to the side, and prevented from falling lens first, which is a great relief. The flash foot suffered more than the hotshoe.


F58 loses both teeth.

How about the body? From the first fall, there was a small crack at the side of the body, near the battery cover.



After the second fall, a small part near the cover broke apart from the body. And it's the only missing piece that I couldn't find. Might be swept away by the VIP's shoes when they passed the area.



Lucky for me, apart from the broken pieces, everything on the body, lens and flash worked like charm. Wireless flash still available, and the lens performance wasn't affected. The helicopter photos before this post were taken after the fall.

And that lies the good thing about the plastic flash mount of the body and flash on Alpha system than the standard iso hotshoe on other systems. It has its problems mainly the wobbly flash when mounted on the body, but still can be rectified using a small piece of paper. The plastic hotshoe was used so that in an event of impact, the hotshoe areas and the flash foot will be the easiest to break.



On the standard iso hotshoe, because of the tight metal grip and lock, the flash body or the top part of the camera is prone to break apart, and that's even worse. The plastic parts however, are easier to replace. Besides, I like the way to attach and detached the flash onto the body. Press the button to detach, and simply slot in to attach.



Right now, I'm in the process of putting the broken pieces together and if it does not work, then I'll send it to Sony for replacement when I have the time. My guess, the a700 doesn't want to part with me. And with the growing number of visible defects on the body, I wouldn't get a good price in case I'm upgrading.


My previous A200 never had any fall and visible marks.

Whatever the reasons, I love to have it with me anytime.