I dropped my X-Pro2 today!
I always get asked why my cameras are so pristine, whenever people see them in my gearshots. Well, obviously when I shoot for Fujifilm, I use brand new cameras, and whenever I have to do “generation shots” I have a dedicated stock from them with samples that are only used for packshots.
With my own personal collection of cameras, it’s a bit different. I always try to care for my cameras, as good as I can. I hate it when they get scratches. And I protect them by not having them rattle against each other, not wearing metal shit that will scratch, and not keeping them in a plastic bag with batteries, keys etc.
People who say that “they’re only tools” are absolutely right. But taking good care of your gear doesn’t make you any less of a photographer. There’s no romance in heavily used gear that “has seen the world” or have “battle scars” if you ask me.
The gear that I use most does get wear and tear. This is especially true for my X100F and my X-Pro2 black version. I have used those cameras so much the past 4 years, that the paint have been worn in specific places, and different minor scratches have appeared.
But those usage scratches are nothing compared to what happened to my X-Pro2 today!
I had just picked it up from a good friend who have had it on loan for an extended period. He had taken very good care of it and it looked just as it did before he lent it.
On the way home from the coffeeshop near the Harbour of Aarhus I saw some gorgeous light coming through some buildings. I had the X-Pro2 with the 23mm f/2 on the passanger seat, so I grabbed it to snap a shot.
Problem is I was in a moving vehicle! When I wanted to extend the camera out through the, now, open window, I accidentally hit a part of the windowframe….
THE CAMERA WENT TUMBLING TO THE GROUND WITH ME GOING 50 KM/H!!!
….To add injury to insult it actually flung over on the opposite side of the road where the pass-by of a big truck made it hurl for what seemed forever!
The XF23mm f/2 was shattered. It lost the mount, and the back focus group. Never found them. So I just trashed the whole remainder. I kind of regret now that I didn’t take any photos of it before throwing the sorry remains in the bin.
When I got home I cleaned the X-Pro2 as best as I could, and to my absolute delight.
EVERYTHING WAS IN PERFECT WORKING ORDER!
OVF, EVF, Focus, Sensor, Mount, screws…everything. It just works! – And in an almost obscene display of luck the rearscreen as well as the eyepiece doesn’t have a scratch on it!
Now I have my battlescar-camera. I hope I will never have that happen to any of my cameras again. But how crazy is it that the camera only suffered cosmetic damage from that ordeal?
FUJIPOWER I say!!!
(all images shot using my DuraSilver X-Pro3 with the Mitakon 35mm f/0.95 mk2)
Enjoyed the article and I am the same when it comes to my camera equipment are my weapons Because I also practice marksmanship wolf rifles and handguns and I treat them the same way. That’s the only way I know how .
That’s incredible good luck. If that happened to me, I have no doubt the truck would have run over my beloved X-Pro2! You should go out and buy a lottery ticket 🙂
Wow… In 2017 I buried mine under me on the asphalt in a small motorcycle accident – and almost nothing happened to it. It still works great… and looks way better than yours does now. These things happen sometimes… good that it was not the new X-Pro3! And: better the camera than you 😉
Sorry for your loss/congratulations on your gain!
THIS is the X-Pro I am looking for when browsing on ebay 🙂
There is something I realy like about the worn Fuji cameras, I have no heart to do that to my own and beloved ones, just to make them look “cool” though.
You have been quite lucky anyway! I would guess the LCD should die after that experience.
It is a pity the lens did not survive too.
looks beautiful actually
Now you have an X-Pro2 that’s truly and proudly battle-scarred haha. It is indeed beautiful in its own way.
Well that is awesome to know it can take a shock, and the marks add a lot of character. I got caught out in the rain with my X-Pro2 and the 35/2 WR and ended up getting water damage, sticking the shutter curtain in place. Inverse of your situation – cosmetically fine, internally damned.
It has some character to it now, in all seriousness I’m happy that beauty still works.
Simple, always wrap the strap around your hand!
Jonas over here making even a scared and scratched camera look like perfect product shots!
hahahahaha!
X-Pro2; perfect condition = 1000$
X-Pro2 seasoned by Jonas Rask = 2000$
😀
hahahahaha. Hardly!
I think it looks great too! – How much do you charrge for “Rasking” a camera?
I’m always so paranoid about that happening with mine. I too often have it in the passenger seat. Happy for you it still works! Fun story to go along with if.
Ever thought to make an auction with that beauty 🙂 ?
Jonas, photographing while behind the wheel is a bad idea so I hope that you were not driving As bad or worse than using a cell phone.
that shutter button though…where can it be found? 😬
Definitely a topic starter.