Nikon D200 Tumbles Down a Cliff and Survives

You're standing at the edge of a cliff, at the side of a pool or on a bridge when your camera slips from your hands. It tumbles down, you hear that dreaded crunch and say goodbye to your camera. If that can be described as one of the worst feelings in the world, finding out that the camera is still functional can be one of the best.

Brian Cameron of PetaPixel had that experience just recently. He was taking some pictures from the side of a steep incline with his Nikon D200, turned around to get his shutter release cable, and turned around to see his camera - tripod and all - heading down the rock face.

"The first to go was the tripod," writes Brian, who describes the process in great detail. "I heard glass shatter, I thought it was my favorite wide angle lens breaking apart."

Brian made his way down to where his camera lay and was surprised to find it still functional. The 12-24mm Tokina wide angle lens wouldn't zoom, but it was otherwise undamaged thanks to a protective UV filter that took the brunt of the punishment.

Brian's camera may not be the prettiest thing at this point, and the loss of function in the lens is a sure disappointment, but the fact that both survived is pretty impressive. You can read the full story and see plenty of pictures over at PetaPixel.