# Photography fail moments !!!



## J.R. (Feb 6, 2014)

I was recently traveling and was in the aisle seat. The pilot announced that we were flying over Mumbai. The lady in the window seat whipped out a 70D from her bag, flash popped on and she proceeded to take photos of Mumbai from about 10000 ft with the flash on. 

I still remember the shock on her face when she checked the LCD after taking the photos and them commenting ... This is supposed to be a good camera!!! 

FACEPALM !!!

What photography fail moments have you guys faced?


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## AcutancePhotography (Feb 6, 2014)

Wait a moment. Let's not be too hasty.

If she was shooting with a 70D, her pop up flash GN is about 60 feet.

A=D/GN

How do you know she was not shooting at f/167? ;D


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## tron (Feb 6, 2014)

1000 times worse: People were taking photos with flash during a total Eclipse. And no I do not believe that they were taking pictures of themselves ;D ;D ;D


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## tron (Feb 6, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> Wait a moment. Let's not be too hasty.
> 
> If she was shooting with a 70D, her pop up flash GN is about 60 feet.
> 
> ...


Actually A = GN/D. Now do the math


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## takesome1 (Feb 6, 2014)

Cheap camera gear.

You have to admit that in this situation a 5D III would have done a much better job.


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## Sella174 (Feb 6, 2014)

Honestly, I think your comments are unfair and directed at the wrong "idiot" in this situation. These people obviously used their cameras on "auto" mode. So, the question is, why is the camera not clever enough to actually figure out what's going on, huh? Badly designed "auto" mode from the manufacturers, in my opinion.


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## tron (Feb 6, 2014)

takesome1 said:


> Cheap camera gear.
> 
> You have to admit that in this situation a 5D III would have done a much better job.


Indeed! It does not have a build-in flash ;D ;D ;D


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## Don Haines (Feb 6, 2014)

I must confess to having taken a series of pictures of my lenscap


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## rpt (Feb 6, 2014)

I have missed shots because the lens cap was on! 

And there was the time I forgot to load film in the camera and clicked a number of shots only to find the film on the table...


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## Skulker (Feb 6, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> I must confess to having taken a series of pictures of my lenscap



Don't worry, some people do that on purpose!


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## Skulker (Feb 6, 2014)

rpt said:


> I have missed shots because the lens cap was on!
> 
> And there was the time I forgot to load film in the camera and clicked a number of shots only to find the film on the table...



You haven't quite got the idea of digital yet have you.


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## Don Haines (Feb 6, 2014)

rpt said:


> I have missed shots because the lens cap was on!
> 
> And there was the time I forgot to load film in the camera and clicked a number of shots only to find the film on the table...


After the first few times I shot without film in the camera, I trained myself to verify that there was film winding....

But just last night, grabbed the camera, went to take a shot, and the camera tells me that there is no memory card... You can dis-able that in the configuration menus, but why would you??????


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## Harry Muff (Feb 6, 2014)

It's worse with a rangefinder. I regularly pick up my X100s and wonder why it won't focus or the pics are black.


Yep, lens cap...


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## Skywise (Feb 6, 2014)

Can't say I've ever taken a shot with lens cap on because I've always shot using the eyepiece and immediately have the "WTF?!" moment before rolling my eyes and taking it off (missed some shots doing that though...)

OTOH I took a good minute of video with my DSLR in a dark environment playing with the exposure settings and wondering why the screen was always dark no matter how many stops I added until I checked the lens cap... 

(And the first trip using my new Rode Stereo Video Pro Mic, confirming the mic was connected and got a wonderful 10 minute video of a band playing and some fantastic ambiance only to discover that I had forgotten to turn the mic on... In fact I did that several times that trip so now I just leave it on all day while traveling as each battery is supposed to last about 100 hours)


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## willis (Feb 6, 2014)

Classic LENS CAP! failure and couple times almost dropped 7D to ground because forgotten to tighten plate in when putting it to tripod :


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## GuyF (Feb 6, 2014)

I heard of someone (not me) taking pics while wearing sunglasses and after reviewing the shots on the rear screen, dialled in +1 then +2 stops to compensate for the remarkably underexposured images. Wasn't me, nope, I'd never be so foolish, none of you can prove that was me......cough, cough.


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## cayenne (Feb 6, 2014)

Skywise said:


> Can't say I've ever taken a shot with lens cap on because I've always shot using the eyepiece and immediately have the "WTF?!" moment before rolling my eyes and taking it off (missed some shots doing that though...)
> 
> OTOH I took a good minute of video with my DSLR in a dark environment playing with the exposure settings and wondering why the screen was always dark no matter how many stops I added until I checked the lens cap...
> 
> (And the first trip using my new Rode Stereo Video Pro Mic, confirming the mic was connected and got a wonderful 10 minute video of a band playing and some fantastic ambiance only to discover that I had forgotten to turn the mic on... In fact I did that several times that trip so now I just leave it on all day while traveling as each battery is supposed to last about 100 hours)



Yep...same thing with my rode mics...

I found I had to learn the mystic art of FOLEY work after that session....had to watch the video, and recreate the sounds of cooking in a kitchen....worked out pretty well, necessity being the mother of invention as they say.


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## dhr90 (Feb 6, 2014)

I'm sure everyone has left the self timer on there camera and forgot about it until they next used the camera. Generally resulting in a frustrating few moments of waiting for it to fire while you scream in your head that the must capture moment is about to disappear.

Guilty of the lens cap one too. I took a fantastic 15 minute exposure of the inside of a lens cap once :-[


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## bseitz234 (Feb 6, 2014)

dhr90 said:


> I'm sure everyone has left the self timer on there camera and forgot about it until they next used the camera. Generally resulting in a frustrating few moments of waiting for it to fire while you scream in your head that the must capture moment is about to disappear. :-[



Haha I've definitely done this one... multiple times. Starting to get better about putting it back on burst before putting it back in my bag.


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## AcutancePhotography (Feb 6, 2014)

tron said:


> Actually A = GN/D. Now do the math



Crud. Did I get that backwards again? 

Photography fail moments: When you try to make a cheesy post and humilate yourself instead by misquoting a formula.... Uh it happened to a guy I know. :-[


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## Skywise (Feb 6, 2014)

dhr90 said:


> Guilty of the lens cap one too. I took a fantastic 15 minute exposure of the inside of a lens cap once :-[



Ahh... but the _detail_!


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## JPAZ (Feb 6, 2014)

I've had more moments than I'll admit to, but, my latest was a video whoops. I shot ten minutes of a performance of folk dancers while holding the camera in Portrait orientation. Looked good on the LCD playback, anyway. 

I guess I can just turn the TV sideways to view it.

:-[


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## Dylan777 (Feb 6, 2014)

Shooting compact mirrorless camera with adapter + L lenses


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## dcm (Feb 6, 2014)

GuyF said:


> I heard of someone (not me) taking pics while wearing sunglasses and after reviewing the shots on the rear screen, dialled in +1 then +2 stops to compensate for the remarkably underexposured images. Wasn't me, nope, I'd never be so foolish, none of you can prove that was me......cough, cough.



Who needs sunglasses or photochromic lenses? Once I forgot that I had turned the screen brightness down so I compensated by turning the exposure compensation up. Lesson learned - always review ALL camera settings when starting a new session.


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## awinphoto (Feb 6, 2014)

Dont get me started on the lens caps, but i had a friend who got these color enhancing filters and was frustrated that he wasn't seeing any difference with or without the filters... He had AWB on.


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## sdsr (Feb 6, 2014)

Sella174 said:


> Honestly, I think your comments are unfair and directed at the wrong "idiot" in this situation. These people obviously used their cameras on "auto" mode. So, the question is, why is the camera not clever enough to actually figure out what's going on, huh? Badly designed "auto" mode from the manufacturers, in my opinion.



True, but that doesn't explain the tourists I see who wander around, say, Independence Mall with bulky speedlights attached, which they use while taking photos of the exterior of Independence Hall on a sunny day; not sure what's going on there.

My bad moments usually pretty boring - I'll adjust a setting I don't usually adjust, go for a few days without using the camera, forget I ever made the change, and not realize it until it's too late.


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## BL (Feb 6, 2014)

switching to .JPG on those rare occasion for some eBay pictures, only forgetting to switch back to .CR2 afterwards

doh!


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## Boyer U. Klum-Cey (Feb 6, 2014)

E) All of the above


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## photonius (Feb 6, 2014)

Saw once someone taking pictures of a shadow theater performance with a flash ( ok, it was a P&S camera that tend to force the flash on you).


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## flowers (Feb 6, 2014)

Sella174 said:


> Honestly, I think your comments are unfair and directed at the wrong "idiot" in this situation. These people obviously used their cameras on "auto" mode. So, the question is, why is the camera not clever enough to actually figure out what's going on, huh? Badly designed "auto" mode from the manufacturers, in my opinion.


The auto mode is only there to help you in the beginning if you're new to photography and started with digital so you can check the exposure settings the camera chooses, see in practice how all those numbers relate to each other and if they get smaller or bigger when it gets darker, and then you're supposed to switch to manual mode when you've got enough of a handle on how exposure works. It's supposed to help you along while you study exposure and basic photography. It's not supposed to be used indefinitely, it's like training wheels for a camera.
I think camera manufacturers spend too much research on the Auto mode as it is, but since it goes hand-in-hand with autofocus and autofocus is a very good thing it's nothing to be scoffed at. What is unreasonable is to expect the auto mode to work in a situation like the one described above. I can already see people complaining about some cars not being fully automatic with gps guiding systems and auto drive so you can sleep on the wheel in the near future when those systems become more common. Non-satellite controlled cars won't be bad cars, and cameras without Auto modes or with auto mode that isn't sentient and all-knowing aren't bad cameras. If you want your camera to take pictures in the most challenging of conditions, learn to take pictures in the most challenging of conditions. Same goes for driving. If you're straight off driving school don't go driving on slippery roads full of curves in the mountains in a lightning storm.


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## awinphoto (Feb 6, 2014)

flowers said:


> Sella174 said:
> 
> 
> > Honestly, I think your comments are unfair and directed at the wrong "idiot" in this situation. These people obviously used their cameras on "auto" mode. So, the question is, why is the camera not clever enough to actually figure out what's going on, huh? Badly designed "auto" mode from the manufacturers, in my opinion.
> ...



Now now... remember, P is for professional =)


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## BL (Feb 7, 2014)

only for a certain, unnamed, self-professed, nikon ambassador :


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## JonAustin (Feb 7, 2014)

Wow, and I thought I was the only one ...

The main reason I bought an SLR was because I was always leaving the lens cap on my P&S (this was back in the days before P&S models started using the LCD screen as the viewfinder). OK, I wanted more control over my shots, as well.

I've committed nearly every error listed here ... still do, more often than I care to admit. I _really_ get irritated when I've left the self-timer on!

I don't shoot video, but my wife took a lovely clip of Old Faithful a couple of years ago, in which she started in landscape mode, and then rotated to portrait mode in the middle of the recording.


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## agierke (Feb 7, 2014)

The thing that gets me every once in a while that drives me crazy is when my camera hangs to my side off my black rapid strap it sometimes hits the AF switch to manual and I don't notice it. I usually notice after a minute or two but it really burns when I realize I've been firing off frames thinking the AF is working and wondering why I'm not getting in focused shots....


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## rpt (Feb 7, 2014)

Skulker said:


> rpt said:
> 
> 
> > I have missed shots because the lens cap was on!
> ...


Ha! Ha! Ha!


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

I read the thread, some funny stories! I can't say I've forgotten the lens cap on but I've sometimes put it on too loose and noticed the lens on the camera had no cap when I took it out of the bag. I always notice it right away and my lenses have never gotten scratched because of that but checking the bag in a hurry for the missing lens cap is a slightly unsettling moment. I always worry I left it somewhere but that's never the case 
My failures:
I've forgotten my flash on full power. I usually set my flashes at the lowest power after I'm done shooting as a safety measure. It's great to get a totally white test photo!
When using a speedlight without an umbrella I've managed to sometimes have it pointed at the wrong direction!
I've overloaded a tripod that wasn't meant for that kind of weight and have it fall over. I saved the camera and the lens before they hit anything but it wasn't a nice experience. I've also almost had the lens hit a tripod leg when loosening the head for the same reason. I learned to take the recommended weights more seriously. CF means light, for better *and* worse.
I've also accidentally pressed the DOF preview button with a HSS E-TTL speedlight on the camera. It's a little unnerving when it starts unexpectedly rapidly blinking to to aid the DOF preview.

I think we can all find silly moments if we really look for them!


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## stilscream (Feb 7, 2014)

1) Forgot I had it set for 30 second exposure hdr and had a 90 second wait for nature that could fly off at any time.
2) Had many blurry shots that was fine in the LCD, but not at full size, including an awesome moment of Great horned owl and Cooper's hawk in the same tree aparrently fighting over a meal an owl stole judging by the blood around it's beak. This happened around sunrise and I was hiding in my car 25 yards away so they did not get scared off. They got scared anyway.


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## rpt (Feb 7, 2014)

willis said:


> Classic LENS CAP! failure and couple times almost dropped 7D to ground because forgotten to tighten plate in when putting it to tripod :


Ah! Yes! I had blocked that out in my memory. So not exactly the same way but I pressed the release lever on the tripod and forgot to hold my 5D3 before that. CRASH!!!! Luckily it hit the dirt and missed a rock by a couple of inches...


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## archiea (Feb 7, 2014)

Thats nothing'! In my last shoot with my 5D, I didn't even have any film in it! (bud-dam-CHING!) ;D


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## sagittariansrock (Feb 7, 2014)

Fail with SLR:
First time I set back button AF, loved it and then didn't use my camera for a week, promptly forgetting about it. 
Next time I am shooting an event and I wonder why on earth is AF not working? End up manually focusing all my shots, skulking all the time about the impending repair bill.
Yup, felt like an ass later!

Fail with point and shoot:
My wife and I were dating at the time and my future in-laws were visiting. My wife gives me her SD750 and asks me to take a picture of the three of them. Nothing to change or set up, so pretty easy, right?
Wrong- I couldn't take one decent shot and it worked fine when she tried it. I have no idea till today what was going on except the camera really hated me somehow.


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## philmoz (Feb 7, 2014)

Sella174 said:


> Honestly, I think your comments are unfair and directed at the wrong "idiot" in this situation. These people obviously used their cameras on "auto" mode. So, the question is, why is the camera not clever enough to actually figure out what's going on, huh? Badly designed "auto" mode from the manufacturers, in my opinion.





A few years back I was travelling light and left the DSLR at home.
A particularly loud person on the tour was bragging about how good his super expensive DSLR was, and making derogatory comments about all the people using cheap cameras.

At one point we were in a dark indoor setting where flash was not allowed; but each time he pushed the shutter, up popped his flash. After holding up the tour for a good 10 minutes while he and all the other DSLR 'pros' tried in vain to disable his flash, I finally reached over, turned the mode dial to P, gave them all a disgusted look, and walked off.

Phil.


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## adhocphotographer (Feb 7, 2014)

Lens cap - Check
Tripod mount/release switch - Check but have quick reflexes 
Forgetting i put MF on and loathing the fact it no longer focused when i needed it to - Check
Timer left on - check
Sunglasses underexposing phenomenon - Check (though i check the histogram more than i look at the image)
Not turning on the microphone - Nope... but am getting the RODE videomicGO to avoid this potential problem

New one for you all...

tried to blow dust off my sensor (a regular event for me in india), but forgot to flip the mirror... No matter how many times i did it and did test shots, the dust would just not budge! It was only after I searched the interweb i remembered the mirror. Felt like a prat.


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## JPAZ (Feb 7, 2014)

flowers said:


> The auto mode is only there to help you in the beginning if you're new to photography and started with digital so you can check the exposure settings the camera chooses, see in practice how all those numbers relate to each other and if they get smaller or bigger when it gets darker....



Nah. The AUTO mode is there for when you ask someone to take a photo of you...."Just push the button part way down 'til you hear the beep..."


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## yorgasor (Feb 7, 2014)

What kills me is when I leave the IS on my 70-200 lens when I'm photographing things from my tripod. On short exposures, it's hardly noticeable, but when I'm doing long exposures near nightfall, the photos look all blurry. Just last night I took a spectacular panorama shot of the Utah Valley, it was just amazing, until you enlarge it just a little bit, you could see how horribly blurry it was. It's good enough to see on a computer screen but I'll never be able to make a remotely large print of it 

I also usually carry my camera in a belt case, but I don't always latch the cover when I'm walking around. But if I later carry the belt in my hands, I've had the camera fall right out.


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## abcde12345 (Feb 7, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> tron said:
> 
> 
> > Actually A = GN/D. Now do the math
> ...



Just a question, I'm guessing A=aperture, but what's GN and D? D for distance? GN?


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## philmoz (Feb 7, 2014)

abcde12345 said:


> AcutancePhotography said:
> 
> 
> > tron said:
> ...



GN = Guide Number for the flash
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guide_number

Phil.


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## wsmith96 (Feb 7, 2014)

I went to one of my son's soccer games and forgot to turn mirror lock off. I was getting mad wondering why my slow camera had gotten a lot slower. :-[

I've also done the lens cap thing, but my favorite is when there is a lot of action at an event and I forget to look at the meter in the view finder. I get wrapped up in what's going on that I forget to look at what my camera is telling me before I click away. I've had many shots that look like a nuclear bomb is going off next to the person I'm taking a picture of. 

and that's one more reason I'm not a professional photog.


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## serendipidy (Feb 7, 2014)

1983..our son's annual school play (he's in it). I'm at work so I tell my (non-photographic skills) wife to get my simple to operate Kodak Explorer 35mm automatic film camera. She asks how to take a photo. I say look through the viewfinder and press the shutter button to take a picture and the film will automatically advance for the next shot. She asks "what the shutter button is?". I say "press the only button on the camera". 

Later, at school our son comes out on stage. She looks through the viewfinder and somehow finds and pushes the recessed film rewind lever on the bottom of the camera. The camera makes a long loud noise as it tries to rewind...while the audience turns and stares at her. When I get home, she says "you said there was only one button!".


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## Zv (Feb 7, 2014)

dhr90 said:


> I'm sure everyone has left the self timer on there camera and forgot about it until they next used the camera. Generally resulting in a frustrating few moments of waiting for it to fire while you scream in your head that the must capture moment is about to disappear.
> 
> Guilty of the lens cap one too. I took a fantastic 15 minute exposure of the inside of a lens cap once :-[



This one!! Every time! That horrible feeling when you press the shutter only to hear "beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-beep-b-b-b-b-b-b click". I usually wait it out and try and use that shot as a test shot. But inside I'm secretly screaming "you twat!" 

;D


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

sagittariansrock said:


> Fail with SLR:
> First time I set back button AF, loved it and then didn't use my camera for a week, promptly forgetting about it.
> Next time I am shooting an event and I wonder why on earth is AF not working? End up manually focusing all my shots, skulking all the time about the impending repair bill.
> Yup, felt like an ass later!
> ...



Haha, I have to admit this happened to me the very first time I set the back button AF.


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

JPAZ said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > The auto mode is only there to help you in the beginning if you're new to photography and started with digital so you can check the exposure settings the camera chooses, see in practice how all those numbers relate to each other and if they get smaller or bigger when it gets darker....
> ...


But you can just set the exposure manually before handing them the camera. Just set AF back to shutter....
I don't know what it's really for, I just came up with an explanation that seems to make sense. With digital cameras no one uses exposure meters so the Auto mode serves that function, it measures the exposure... Then you can check it from the test photo. I think that's the point of the Auto mode, but I might be wrong...



serendipidy said:


> 1983..our son's annual school play (he's in it). I'm at work so I tell my (non-photographic skills) wife to get my simple to operate Kodak Explorer 35mm automatic film camera. She asks how to take a photo. I say look through the viewfinder and press the shutter button to take a picture and the film will automatically advance for the next shot. She asks "what the shutter button is?". I say "press the only button on the camera".
> 
> Later, at school our son comes out on stage. She looks through the viewfinder and somehow finds and pushes the recessed film rewind lever on the bottom of the camera. The camera makes a long loud noise as it tries to rewind...while the audience turns and stares at her. When I get home, she says "you said there was only one button!".


Oh no, so embarrassing! Ha ha.
If something goes wrong for me during a long exposure I turn the camera off, then back on. That way you don't have to wait for the exposure to finish.


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

yorgasor said:


> What kills me is when I leave the IS on my 70-200 lens when I'm photographing things from my tripod. On short exposures, it's hardly noticeable, but when I'm doing long exposures near nightfall, the photos look all blurry. Just last night I took a spectacular panorama shot of the Utah Valley, it was just amazing, until you enlarge it just a little bit, you could see how horribly blurry it was. It's good enough to see on a computer screen but I'll never be able to make a remotely large print of it
> 
> I also usually carry my camera in a belt case, but I don't always latch the cover when I'm walking around. But if I later carry the belt in my hands, I've had the camera fall right out.


This is why I chimp! No shame in chimping! I zoom in all the way to see it's not blurry. 19x zoom to check!


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## Dick (Feb 7, 2014)

Ok, I don't get it. Explain ti to me, all you lens cap photographers!

How can you not notice that you have a lens cap on? When I stare through the viewfinder of a DSLR, I most definitely notice if a lens cap is on. So do you just shoot like Arnold [akh-nuld] without aiming?

And to those who take pics of the cap on purpose, you could take the same shots with the cheapest equipment out there!  ... If you have no life, there is no killing you, eh?


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

Dick said:


> How can you not notice that you have a lens cap on? When I stare through the viewfinder of a DSLR, I most definitely notice if a lens cap is on. So do you just shoot like Arnold [akh-nuld] without aiming?


Yes please explain... I don't understand it either


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## Solar B (Feb 7, 2014)

When I first got my 5D2, I noticed every once in a while the viewfinder would go really dim.
I'd check my settings, recompose the shot, and it would be fine.
I thought there was an intermittent problem with the camera's circuitry or something.
I almost took it in for service but decided to first do something crazy and check the instruction manual.
That's when I realized i was sometimes unknowingly pressing the depth of field preview button.


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## Don Haines (Feb 7, 2014)

flowers said:


> Dick said:
> 
> 
> > How can you not notice that you have a lens cap on? When I stare through the viewfinder of a DSLR, I most definitely notice if a lens cap is on. So do you just shoot like Arnold [akh-nuld] without aiming?
> ...


Step 1: place camera on tripod near hummingbird feeder.
Step 2: turn camera on, remove lens cap, and adjust all settings....
Step 3: realize that the remote triggger is in the house.
Step 4: put lens cap back on before going into house to grab remote.
Step 5: grab remote but forget to remove lens cap..
Step 6: hide within sight of feeder.
Step 7: spend the next half hour taking pictures of lens cap every time a hummingbird arrives.
Step 8: quote Homer....


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## dw2013 (Feb 7, 2014)

I was recently convinced for about 30 minutes that my 6D has a serious focussing problem. Trying to look through the viewfinder...everything REALLY blurry, but then looking at the LCD screen of the picture i just took, everything looks sharp. WTF?!?! 

Must be a serious problem with my viewfinder. Surely it couldn't be because i forgot to put my contact lenses in...


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## ninjapeps (Feb 7, 2014)

sdsr said:


> True, but that doesn't explain the tourists I see who wander around, say, Independence Mall with bulky speedlights attached, which they use while taking photos of the exterior of Independence Hall on a sunny day; not sure what's going on there.


It really bugs me when I people use speedlights and have them positioned at a bounce angle when the nearest surface is probably a good 30 feet away. Especially irritating when they're outdoors.

As for my own fails:

Excitedly went to my very first shoot along with my friends only to discover upon arriving at the location that I had forgotten my camera's battery in the charger at home. Was lucky that one of my friends there had the same camera so I was able to borrow her battery. At least this happened after I'd only had my camera for a month.

Last Saturday, while on the way to a shoot, I remembered that I removed my memory card when I had my camera cleaned and wasn't sure if I put it back. Lo and behold, it wasn't in there. Good thing I decided to bring my extra card for once.

I very often take shots with my settings set for flash only to find that my flash and/or trigger(s) were turned off.


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## axtstern (Feb 7, 2014)

Finally a discipline I can shine in many ways:

1. Sitting close by an idiot with a 5DmkIII and a 600 EX RT trying to make a picture of the stars.... in a Zeiss Planetarium in Germany. Nothing confirms the power of Canon more than having your eyes adapted to near darkness and than a full 600 EX RT load against a highly reflective surface.

2. Climbing a hundred stairs in a Bangkog temple, with my wife having the M on a strap around her shoulder. One picture everytime the screen touched her body. The five pictures we wanted to keep nested between 32 Gig of pictures of stone steps or the bottoms of the people in front of her.

3. M again this time shooting at night and wondering why the pictures are so bright, discovering that nearly any setting is on manual, that the display shows menus I never saw. Any attempt to touch and alter the settings results not in manipulating the menu but in taking a picture which makes the camera go dark for 20 secs while the action on stage is continuing without mercy.

4. Toodler playing with 60D shifting the eye correction wheel at the eyefinder. Taking sharp pictures but seeing everything blurry and than trying to correct this by manual focus override resulting in seeing blurry and making blurry pictures.

5. Asking a model to swing her wet hair in a wide circle. Half of the water landing in a halogen lamp resulting in the fuses to blow. After finaly getting some light into the room discovering that I had been issued with a key to the studio but not with a key to the room where the fuses are.

6. Placing a model in a corridor of a scyscraper with a huge glass window facing the Europa Tower in Frankfurt. Spending 2 hours to arrange everything so that no reflection in the window will disturb the picture after nightfall when the Europa towers lights will go on. Two minutes in the shooting lights in the corridor directly above the model go on. Wasting an hour to find out that these lights are part of the warning system to prevent planes hitting the tower.. no manual override, no switch... etc.. another hour wasted with gaffa tape to have everything perfect again...than Europa tower switches of the lights for the rest of the night. 

7. Some decades ago...vintage flash bar using the nail of my thumb to press the little switches at the backside of the bar (not knowing that this will set all 8 flashtubes to go off sychonized) with nothing hapening pressing the bar into my Kodak crap camera. Whinding the film rotates the bar (designed for the rotating flashcubes) Firing all 8 bulbs of the bar while they face into my direction.

8. not knowing that my Haensel central flash unit (a few thousand watt seconds) was connected to a wrong wired power socket using my EOS 10 (analog) with a flash synchron cable. Feeling the typical ants crawl along your hand syndrom when holding the camera but not knowing at that time wht it meant. Lifting the camera to my eye and doing some shots. Changing to the EOS 100 with B/W film inside changing the cable to the hundred (via an adapter block) again the ant sensation than putting the camera to my eye. The rubber frame for the viewfinder of the 100 was missing, this time not rubber but metal touched my eyebrow. My god a proper flash generator can kick ass. Lost a few seconds of memory , a EOS 100 and a Sigma 70-210 2.8 

9. Transporting a Bowens flash with a mounted beautydish and attached to a low tripod in the trunk of my car. Parking my car on the side of a busy street. Taking the flash out and putting it on the tripod next to me on the street to get my hands free. 30 minutes arguing with the car drivers afterthe first one thought this is a speed trap and got 2 others cars rushing into him after braking to hard.

10. being arround 18 years old at the time and at the army I wenton a short trip to Berlin, bought my self a Kiev 88 the russian 6*6 hasselblad clone. Arriving last minute back in the barracks with my new toy. Wishingthat there would be a manual for the camera. One day later being interogate by basicly any higher ranking officer in the barracks and learning that there A) was a manual B) it was in Russian C) that I had lost it inside the barracks D) that something called Pershing II was placed in our barracks the night before and E) that nude portraits of the sweetie serving in the barracks bar have a soothing effect on the mind of security officers.

11. Using a Sigma 2-4x zooming extender with a 70-210 3.5-5.6 zoom on a Ricoh KR 10X both fully extended. After checking that the lens cap was off, after checking that the mirror was down I stared clueless inmy viewfinder just to discover that my eyes were slowly adapting to the darkness and a picture apeared.

12 Dublin is not the most sunniest place on earth but.. having an ikea lamp on the TV furniture which was basicly a 5 inch christal ball with a LED below it and on the table next to it a Canon 85mm 1.2 with both lens caps removed I came on a friday evening into my appartement and dscovered that i had an about half inch deep half circle with a diameter of a car steering wheel burned into my wooden living room furniture. I did not make the connection until next morning the sunn came out again and started to make another one an inch about the first one.


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## Triggyman (Feb 7, 2014)

ninjapeps said:


> sdsr said:
> 
> 
> > True, but that doesn't explain the tourists I see who wander around, say, Independence Mall with bulky speedlights attached, which they use while taking photos of the exterior of Independence Hall on a sunny day; not sure what's going on there.
> ...



I see you're talking about me  . I had a 600EX mounted while walking around the San Francisco Bay (a tourist) because I didn't want to carry my bag. Want to know more? I had an Omni-Bounce attached!!! That diffuser is too tight around the flash head - was too lazy to take it off. I knew other photographers would see that laughable.

The flash was there just in case fill flash was needed for some backlighted subjects, but long story short I didn't get to use the flash.


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## jebrady03 (Feb 7, 2014)

Accidentally adjusted the diopter on more than one occasion without realizing it. Can't figure out why the images in the viewfinder look blurry bit AF seems to be working when reviewing the images.


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## AcutancePhotography (Feb 7, 2014)

My Canon AE-1 was picky when it came to loading film. Unless you were very careful, the leader would slip off the take up reel. More experienced AE-1 shooters would, when loading, double advance the leader. Sure you would lose frame 1 but at least you had increased confidence that the take up reel was locked and loaded.

I was doing some photography in a "legal access restricted area" (less said the better). I got all the shots I wanted. This was a once in a lifetime intrusion.. uh... I mean photo op.

Yeah. 

Got to the safe area and decided to unload my camera. Yup, the same old AE-1 sad story. Open up the back and all you see is the leader. :'(

(smacking head)

At least I have my memories.


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## CANONisOK (Feb 7, 2014)

J.R. said:


> I was recently traveling and was in the aisle seat. The pilot announced that we were flying over Mumbai. The lady in the window seat whipped out a 70D from her bag, flash popped on and she proceeded to take photos of Mumbai from about 10000 ft with the flash on.
> 
> I still remember the shock on her face when she checked the LCD after taking the photos and them commenting ... This is supposed to be a good camera!!!
> 
> FACEPALM !!!


I'm guessing you left out the part where you politely showed her how to get the shot she was trying.  Even with my limited skills and experience, I have been able to help out quite a few people who were trying to capture special moments (kid's sports, special events, group photos, etc.). It's an incredible look on someone's face when you show them what they can achieve with their "crappy" cameras if they take some time to learn more about it.


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## jcollett (Feb 7, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> rpt said:
> 
> 
> > I have missed shots because the lens cap was on!
> ...



Using a camera in tethered mode maybe?


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## sanj (Feb 7, 2014)

wsmith96 said:


> I went to one of my son's soccer games and forgot to turn mirror lock off. I was getting mad wondering why my slow camera had gotten a lot slower. :-[
> 
> I've also done the lens cap thing, but my favorite is when there is a lot of action at an event and I forget to look at the meter in the view finder. I get wrapped up in what's going on that I forget to look at what my camera is telling me before I click away. I've had many shots that look like a nuclear bomb is going off next to the person I'm taking a picture of.
> 
> and that's one more reason I'm not a professional photog.



You would be amazed at the number of times 'professionals' forget to check meter, shutter speed, ISO before taking a photo.


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

jebrady03 said:


> Accidentally adjusted the diopter on more than one occasion without realizing it. Can't figure out why the images in the viewfinder look blurry bit AF seems to be working when reviewing the images.



Oh no, every time I read the replies I remember something new. I had this problem when I last bought a camera too! I couldn't figure out why I couldn't nail MF... Then I realized: the diopter was _half a turn_ from the correct value. No wonder!



Don Haines said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > Dick said:
> ...



Oh, now I understand a little better... Never happened to me but now it's easy to understand how it could!



ninjapeps said:


> It really bugs me when I people use speedlights and have them positioned at a bounce angle when the nearest surface is probably a good 30 feet away. Especially irritating when they're outdoors.



You mean without an on-flash bounce card?



axtstern said:


> Finally a discipline I can shine in many ways:
> 
> 1. Sitting close by an idiot with a 5DmkIII and a 600 EX RT trying to make a picture of the stars.... in a Zeiss Planetarium in Germany. Nothing confirms the power of Canon more than having your eyes adapted to near darkness and than a full 600 EX RT load against a highly reflective surface.
> 
> 2. Climbing a hundred stairs in a Bangkog temple, with my wife having the M on a strap around her shoulder. One picture everytime the screen touched her body. The five pictures we wanted to keep nested between 32 Gig of pictures of stone steps or the bottoms of the people in front of her.



Wow what a rude and thoughtless person... And the second one is a good reason never to have a touch screen on your camera!




axtstern said:


> 5. Asking a model to swing her wet hair in a wide circle. Half of the water landing in a halogen lamp resulting in the fuses to blow. After finaly getting some light into the room discovering that I had been issued with a key to the studio but not with a key to the room where the fuses are.



Some of the rest were really dangerous! Good thing you survived. I laughed at the IKEA lamp incident


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

jcollett said:


> Don Haines said:
> 
> 
> > rpt said:
> ...



That's right, teathering saves the images directly onto your harddrive so no card necessary  Would be really inconvenient if you needed a card to use the teathered camera!


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## AcutancePhotography (Feb 7, 2014)

flowers said:


> Would be really inconvenient if you needed a card to use the teathered camera!



But if your camera does not have a card and is not connected to a computer (wire or wifi), it would be handy if the camera gave you a warning notice or even better refused to work unless you manually override it.

I can't think of any instance, outside of a store, where a customer would want the camera to work with no card and no connection to a computer.


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## flowers (Feb 7, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > Would be really inconvenient if you needed a card to use the teathered camera!
> ...


Maybe you're right but that would require more design to implement the new feature. People seem to be happy the way it works now.


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## photonius (Feb 7, 2014)

flowers said:


> Sella174 said:
> 
> 
> > Honestly, I think your comments are unfair and directed at the wrong "idiot" in this situation. These people obviously used their cameras on "auto" mode. So, the question is, why is the camera not clever enough to actually figure out what's going on, huh? Badly designed "auto" mode from the manufacturers, in my opinion.
> ...



that's why we need all these "scene" auto modes: "shooting through airplane window", etc. :


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## Gert Arijs (Feb 7, 2014)

I have had similar fails... Lenscap issues during nighttime photography where I just point with a wideangle and I'll finetune the composition when I have the first shot.

One of the worst things that happened was with a borrowed two-lens Rolleiflex. Film days. It had a manual black velvet board inside to prevent unwanted light leaks. Because of the two-lens design, you should flip it away with each exposure and flip it in place during transport or lens change. Guess what? I flipped it in place and never flipped it away when I took pictures. So I ended up with some slides (Velvia 50 in 120-film), the rest was just black. I spent one whole evening taking non-pictures, carefully measuring light with spot metering on different places before taking one shot.

Another thing was also back in film days. I had a used EOS 50e, with battery pack. I was a student, so on a very thight budget. So, I used 6 rechargable AA-batteries to power my camera because that was cheaper. I got up really early, layed down in the mud, in the dark, with my bean bag, waiting for birds to arrive at the small lake. Remember, film days. That meant Fuji Sensia 100 slide film for me. I had to wait for a very long time before there was enough light to get a decent shutter speed. Halfway trough the morning, finally a goose flew over and landed in front of me, waterskie-ing as she landed towards me. Very nice morning sunlight, splashing water, pain everywhere from lying in the cold mud for hours. So on this very very exciting moment when I forgot the pain, I framed, focussed, pressed the shutter button on the right time. And then the batteries died. Nothing.
To make it worse, I changed the batteries, but my spare set of 6 full AA's fell on the ground, mixing with my 6 empty batteries. I quit en went home... And never tried to lay down in the mud for hours again.


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## Ryan708 (Feb 7, 2014)

Oh where to begin... 
I have done the "potrait" video, just once though!

I have brought the camera to my eye and realized the lens-cap was on, removed the cap and had the shot move/run away/fly away

The 10 second timer has pissed me off more than once with all it's beeping and bologna, and not responding to any button smashing! I have done that one enough times now that I quickly turn the camera off/on and disable it.

Want to snap a quick shot of something in dim lighting, pop-up flash or external enabled, but I am in AV with iso at 100...

Installing ML on my 60D and having it freeze during install so I removed the battery and reinstalled, as ML suggests removing battery to prevent overheating, and then my 60D wouldnt boot at all no matter what.... My heart SANK..... I read the FAQ's and then.... shut my battery door...... hahaha


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## Gert Arijs (Feb 7, 2014)

Oh, and I printed a picture on the wrong side of the photopaper...


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## ninjapeps (Feb 8, 2014)

flowers said:


> You mean without an on-flash bounce card?



No bounce card, no diffuser, no lighting mods or anything to redirect the light. Bare flash pointing towards either a too distant or non-existent surface. Though there were times that I saw such people use the speedlight just for the AF assist and not have it fire, which was something I understood.


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## wsmith96 (Feb 8, 2014)

Gert Arijs said:


> Oh, and I printed a picture on the wrong side of the photopaper...



going for that textured look, eh? ;D


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## rpt (Feb 8, 2014)

wsmith96 said:


> Gert Arijs said:
> 
> 
> > Oh, and I printed a picture on the wrong side of the photopaper...
> ...


Matte with watermark... ;D


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## flowers (Feb 8, 2014)

photonius said:


> that's why we need all these "scene" auto modes: "shooting through airplane window", etc. :



ha ha ha  yes, they need to add more. water sports, tennis mode, football mode, ice hockey mode, portraits, portraits in snow, portraits during a lightning storm, portraits against a tornado 5 miles away, portraits against a tornado directly behind the subject 1 mile away, shooting through car window, shooting through airplane window, shooting birds going the opposite direction through a private jet window at noon at the altitude of 1.8 km going on 0.8 mach at 80 degrees eastern langitude, the same for birds travelling the same direction...

Manufacturers better get busy! What else are you paying 3000-6000 for...


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## DigitalDivide (Feb 8, 2014)

There are quite a few good (or bad) film fails here but I can add a couple more. Its easy to forget what a luxury it is to be able to see your picture on the LCD, intead of a week after you get back from your trip! 

- forgetting that you jacked up the ISO in order to "push" a roll of film. Finding out when you get your slides processed that the entire roll is majorly underexposed, a serious "doh!" moment 
- on my EOS 10S the exposure compensation did not reset when changing film, and the indicator in the viewfinder was easy to overlook. As a result, on more than one occasion I shot a significant number of pics on the new roll before I noticed I had forgotten to remove the compensation. Argh!
- I haven't managed to do it yet, but I can pretty much guarantee that I'll take a lens cap shot with my Fuji GSW690 sooner or later. Easily done with a rangefinder camera... 

I've also done the self timer thing, and I've forgotten to switch AF back on quite a few times!

For other people's annoying failures, the worst was with the crowd waiting for the bats to emerge from Carlsbad caverns at dusk. (Up to 250,000 of them, quite an experience.) The rangers told everyone to turn off their flashes. They explained how it disorientates the bats. They carefully warned how many point and shoot cameras would flash automatically, and if you didn't know how to turn the flash off then don't take pictures. They pointed out how flash pictures of the bats never come out well anyway because they are too far away for a built in flash. They threatened to fine anyone whose flash fired despite these requests. They repeated this info over the PA over and over. Then the bats started to fly out of the cave, and I swear a hundred flashes went off within a few seconds. And people wonder why the bat population is declining. Sheesh... ???


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## Don Haines (Feb 8, 2014)

flowers said:


> photonius said:
> 
> 
> > that's why we need all these "scene" auto modes: "shooting through airplane window", etc. :
> ...


Fortunately, my P/S camera has "cat mode".


----------



## flowers (Feb 8, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > photonius said:
> ...


What are the other modes? For taking pictures of one fish or two fishes?
I haven't held a p&s in years. I see I haven't missed anything!


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## danski0224 (Feb 8, 2014)

AcutancePhotography said:


> But if your camera does not have a card and is not connected to a computer (wire or wifi), it would be handy if the camera gave you a warning notice or even better refused to work unless you manually override it.
> 
> I can't think of any instance, outside of a store, where a customer would want the camera to work with no card and no connection to a computer.



The Canon 5DII and 5DIII both have an option to not release the shutter without a card. That is default. You have to change it to allow the camera to release the shutter without a card in camera.

I'd assume that the 1 series cameras have something similar.


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## wsmith96 (Feb 8, 2014)

Don Haines said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > photonius said:
> ...



looks like it has dog mode too!


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## flowers (Feb 8, 2014)

danski0224 said:


> AcutancePhotography said:
> 
> 
> > But if your camera does not have a card and is not connected to a computer (wire or wifi), it would be handy if the camera gave you a warning notice or even better refused to work unless you manually override it.
> ...



I think he was saying that option is not enough, that it should be automatic? That menu option is pretty standard in modern DSLRs, are there cameras without it?


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## Zv (Feb 8, 2014)

This used to happen with my 7D -

I would bring the viewfinder close to my eye and as I half press the shutter, the built in flash pops up and whacks me in the face. I hadn't realized the mode dial had sneakily shifted to the green box. Now I see the advantage of a locking mode dial!


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## Tabor Warren Photography (Feb 8, 2014)

dhr90 said:


> I'm sure everyone has left the self timer on there camera and forgot about it until they next used the camera. Generally resulting in a frustrating few moments of waiting for it to fire while you scream in your head that the must capture moment is about to disappear.
> 
> Guilty of the lens cap one too. I took a fantastic 15 minute exposure of the inside of a lens cap once :-[



I actually had a shoot the morning after a night I was experimenting with long exposure. I had the camera on a 2 second delay followed by a 30 second shutter.

The next day's session went like this:

Me: Shall we get started? 
Client: Absolutely!
Me after helping position the family: Alright, perfect, *click*

--nothing happens-- A second later, I took the camera away from my face, shortly after *click* uh oh, 30 seconds pass, then processing. Yea, it was great. If great means awkward, than yes, it was definitely great.

Cheers,
-Tabor


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## Don Haines (Feb 8, 2014)

flowers said:


> Don Haines said:
> 
> 
> > flowers said:
> ...


those are underwater modes....one of the advantages of some P/S cameras...


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## danski0224 (Feb 8, 2014)

flowers said:


> I think he was saying that option is not enough, that it should be automatic? That menu option is pretty standard in modern DSLRs, are there cameras without it?



I guess I am not following. The camera won't work (i.e.: no picture) if the setting is "do not release shutter without card".

"No card in camera" is displayed on the rear LCD screen in this setting. On the 5DIII, it also flashes "card" on the small LCD display by the shutter button *and* in the viewfinder display. The camera will *not* take a picture, no matter how hard the shutter button is depressed.

If the setting is "release shutter without card", then the camera functions no differently without the card in place. No warnings, nothing to tell you the card is missing.

Seems pretty automatic to me, if the correct setting is enabled.


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## Ellen Schmidtee (Feb 8, 2014)

flowers said:


> Don Haines said:
> 
> 
> > Fortunately, my P/S camera has "cat mode".
> ...



It's an water proof cameras, and the icons sequence is "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish", and continues to black fish, old fish, and new fish.


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## ajfotofilmagem (Feb 8, 2014)

Once I was photographing one Birthday with Olympus OM1 and then to fit the film, shut the lid and started shooting. The film advance lever worked normally and went to the end, when rewound the film and took the camera. Days later discovered that there was no photo, because the film was not properly secured in the teeth of the camera, and the film did not advance along with the mechanism. 

Again I made a birthday with Canon EOS 300V, using a cable flash TTL (Canon original) and then developing the film I found that the flash did not fire in recent photos because the TTL cable had burned an internal diode. :-[ I never found out how useful this unfortunate diode within the TTL cable.


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## GuyF (Feb 8, 2014)

Was in Edinburgh this afternoon and on my way back to the train I passed Prof. Peter Higgs of Nobel Prize fame. He was right in front of me, waiting to cross the road. I'm a total science geek and would have loved to get his picture. Ahh, if only I'd taken my camera with me.

Kicking myself? Biggest fail of my photographic life. :'(


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## ZimUW (Feb 8, 2014)

Most of my fails are related to underwater photography. Once the housing is closed and the dive has started that's it. You can't put in a battery or a memory card, change from manual to autofocus. Same thing with the strobes, dead or missing batteries. Usually at that moment something very special swims by and stops in front of the camera. A lenscap left on is also kind of difficult to solve underwater. 

J


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## flowers (Feb 8, 2014)

danski0224 said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > I think he was saying that option is not enough, that it should be automatic? That menu option is pretty standard in modern DSLRs, are there cameras without it?
> ...


I know, I have and use the setting in my camera! Are there cameras without it? That's what I was asking. I thought since the OP must know that the function is included in cameras, he must have meant that the camera should somehow recognize if it's teathered and then automatically allow to shoot without a card but never allow it when it's not teathered despite the setting, unless it's overridden with another setting, "disable automatic override of cardless operation setting"? Maybe I'm completely wrong  It was just my guess of what he was trying to say.


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## flowers (Feb 8, 2014)

Ellen Schmidtee said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > Don Haines said:
> ...


I honestly cannot be sure if that's a joke or not


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## Jim Saunders (Feb 9, 2014)

There I was, one finger reaching past the hood on a first-gen 24-70 to adjust the polarizer, one thumb unwittingly on the lens release.............

Jim


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## Ellen Schmidtee (Feb 9, 2014)

flowers said:


> Ellen Schmidtee said:
> 
> 
> > flowers said:
> ...



It's a Dr. Seuss camera for kids. When they get old enough to travel with their parents, they'll upgrade to a Doctor Dolittle camera.


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## flowers (Feb 9, 2014)

Ellen Schmidtee said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > Ellen Schmidtee said:
> ...


Oh. Well it's a good thing for little children then  When they grow up they can get a more grown up camera.


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## mnicol (Feb 9, 2014)

I went to take a couple of shot of my kids with my 70-200 2.8 and then decided to switch to a 50mm, stuffing quickly the 70-200 into my bag. 
Then my wife, annoyed with my habit of leaving my bag on the bed, grabbed it and... the 70-200 dropped from the open bag directly on the tiled floor... the 70-200 is no so sharp as it used to be now. And blaming my wife wasn't really an option 

The lens cap... yep, did it a few times...
The timer... also. Very frustrating this one!
The flash settings with the flash battery going of... same here!

Placing my camera in the bag with the very fragile 50mm 1.8 II facedown just to find it in several pieces afterward... done.

Having my wife camera (30D) (bought used) set to "fire without card" and having my wife pestering against the camera for not working... done.


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## JPAZ (Feb 10, 2014)

Gert Arijs said:


> Oh, and I printed a picture on the wrong side of the photopaper...



I did that once, too. B&W from Tri-Ex. Due to my overall ineptitude with darkroom exposure technique, the "print" actually showed a very interesting shadowy image from the back side of the paper. I framed the mistake and told everyone I did a special technique on purpose, and some folks really liked the image!

I'll never tell (oops - guess I just did)!


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## sagittariansrock (Feb 10, 2014)

ninjapeps said:


> Excitedly went to my very first shoot along with my friends only to discover upon arriving at the location that I had forgotten my camera's battery in the charger at home. Was lucky that one of my friends there had the same camera so I was able to borrow her battery.



This reminds me of a friend's fail:
I was in grad school and my friends and I were going on a trip to San Francisco. My friends had met at my place and we were to leave early in the morning. A friend of mine had just bought a very nice P&S and that was the best camera among all of us- he put his battery to charge overnight. And he kept chiding me all night because I was so obsessive about keeping my notes and reminders on a whiteboard.
Next morning he promptly forgot his battery and charger at my place- spent four days of that five-day trip looking to buy another battery. When he finally found and bought one, he could take a total of 4 shots before the new, uncharged battery died. 
Oh and I did my best to add insult to his injuries


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## Roo (Feb 10, 2014)

Lens cap - yes
Left battery out - yes
left card out - yes
timer - yes
settings - yes

I've also gone to shoot a local cricket match and left the long lens behind. On the other hand, that was a bonus because I took some different style shots with the 24-105 including a panorama style that is a finalist in a competition  Also a local newspaper photog turned up and let me use his 600 f4 with 1.4 mkIII extender for about 15 minutes. So all in all, a mistake turned out to be beneficial


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## K-amps (Feb 10, 2014)

We had a friend and his family leaving town so we threw them a farewell party. the last part was Mr. Photographer, needed to take a group shot. So I set the cap on a tripod, hit the timer to 10 secs, hit the shutter and ran to join the group.... had all the folks smiling or making weird faces.... after a while, when the shutter would not go off... we began to lose our expressions and they became a mix of funny face going to "whats going on" sort of face.... 

So I ran back to the cam, only to discover I had set the mode to "Video". :-[

Needless to say one of the best 20 second videos we gave them as a momento.


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## J.R. (Feb 10, 2014)

After starting this thread on 6th of February citing photography fail moments of someone else, I got my comeuppance with a fail - 

I had traveled to New Delhi on business late last week. I had planned to travel light with just the RX100 because I was sure I wouldn't get any time to shoot given the extremely tight traveling schedule. Just as I was about to start from home, I got a call from my friend who asked me to get my DSLR along as he wanted pictures of his children taken while I was in Delhi. I dutifully packed in the 5D3 + 24-70 and a 50mm.

Meetings were originally planned for Friday and Saturday and as luck would have it, the Saturday meetings got cancelled giving me most of the day free. Given the opportunity, I visited the Auto-Expo and gleefully started clicking photographs. 

Bummer ... the 32 GB Sandisk card was over 90% occupied and I noticed it only once it got full. Not having a spare CF card, I couldn't full format the card and was resigned to reviewing / deleting individual photos from the card since I hadn't transferred the images existing on the card to my desktop PC. 

After an hour of haggling with the camera freeing up space - shooting, freeing up space - shooting, I realised that I was also carrying my RX-100 which was not being used and which CONTAINED a 32GB CF card. Feeling utterly idiotic, I removed the card from the RX-100 and used it in the 5D3. 

Another fail on the same day ... went to shoot the Auto-Expo and forgot to take the CPL along. The glare from the overhead lights killed off enough shots to make me cry :'(


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## tron (Feb 10, 2014)

Lack of film during my very first SLR film camera (when I was 17). 
I thought that since I could advance the lever the salesman was so nice so as to put a film inside ;D

Lens cap is no big issue, just a habit of mine putting it back after taking one or a few photos ;D
It protects the lens though (and my subjects from being photographed ;D )


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## danski0224 (Feb 10, 2014)

flowers said:


> I know, I have and use the setting in my camera! Are there cameras without it? That's what I was asking. I thought since the OP must know that the function is included in cameras, he must have meant that the camera should somehow recognize if it's teathered and then automatically allow to shoot without a card but never allow it when it's not teathered despite the setting, unless it's overridden with another setting, "disable automatic override of cardless operation setting"? Maybe I'm completely wrong  It was just my guess of what he was trying to say.



Well, I've never tried tethered shooting, so no idea on how the camera behaves without a card. An assumption that comes to mind is that the image will be sent to the computer over the USB cable, but no idea. I don't have any WI-FI enabled cameras at this time.

I suppose I could try it if I really wanted to...


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## danski0224 (Feb 10, 2014)

I was the "family photographer" when I was younger. Mom and Dad had a Nikon EM that they didn't really know how to use. I took lots of nice pictures with it.

I was charged with photographing my brothers HS graduation.

I shot the whole thing with the lens cap on. Probably made those that noticed chuckle- no one said a word. I could look through the viewfinder with one eye and watch the rest of the scene with the other... so I must have tuned it out.

It still comes up once in a while... :

That's my biggest gaffe, but I'm not a pro.

I also forget about the self timer thing after using it.


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## AcutancePhotography (Feb 10, 2014)

flowers said:


> he must have meant that the camera should somehow recognize if it's teathered and then automatically allow to shoot without a card but never allow it when it's not teathered despite the setting, unless it's overridden with another setting, "disable automatic override of cardless operation setting"?



Yup. That's kinda what I meant. More percisely, I was wondering why a camera with no card AND no computer connection could not give the tog a message when the shutter is pushed. 

As the other posters wrote, there is already a menu selection to allow shooting sans card. That is useful for in the store and if you are shooting teathered. If a tog is in the habit of shooting teathered, and then unteathers, a simple warning could save some embarassment.


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## cayenne (Feb 10, 2014)

mnicol said:


> I went to take a couple of shot of my kids with my 70-200 2.8 and then decided to switch to a 50mm, stuffing quickly the 70-200 into my bag.
> Then my wife, annoyed with my habit of leaving my bag on the bed, grabbed it and... the 70-200 dropped from the open bag directly on the tiled floor... the 70-200 is no so sharp as it used to be now. And blaming my wife wasn't really an option
> 
> <snip>



So...she _*survived *_the beating, eh?


C


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## CS (Feb 11, 2014)

I decided to do a 24 timelapse (one per minute, midnight to midnight) of the city outside my apartment during one of the shortest days of the year (mid-December). Got everything set up and started -- things looked good. Go to bed and check on the progress in the morning to discover many pictures are missing. Turns out that I had forgotten to switch the camera to manual focus: autofocus would sometimes fail in the darkness of the night, so the camera would refuse to take those shots. Autofocus still worked most of the time, enough that I didn't notice the problem when I started.

I started over the next day, though the weather was no longer very cooperative and the resulting timelapse was mediocre.

Of course, only an idiot would repeat _the exact same mistake_ six months later when repeating the effort during one of the longest days of the year. This time, it got to about hour 22 before shots started failing.


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## flowers (Feb 12, 2014)

CS said:


> I decided to do a 24 timelapse (one per minute, midnight to midnight) of the city outside my apartment during one of the shortest days of the year (mid-December). Got everything set up and started -- things looked good. Go to bed and check on the progress in the morning to discover many pictures are missing. Turns out that I had forgotten to switch the camera to manual focus: autofocus would sometimes fail in the darkness of the night, so the camera would refuse to take those shots. Autofocus still worked most of the time, enough that I didn't notice the problem when I started.
> 
> I started over the next day, though the weather was no longer very cooperative and the resulting timelapse was mediocre.
> 
> Of course, only an idiot would repeat _the exact same mistake_ six months later when repeating the effort during one of the longest days of the year. This time, it got to about hour 22 before shots started failing.


i don't know what camera you have, but that's why i love backbutton focus  makes your Canon a manual focus camera unless you press a button to activate the autofocus. Perfect.


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## tron (Feb 12, 2014)

flowers said:


> CS said:
> 
> 
> > I decided to do a 24 timelapse (one per minute, midnight to midnight) of the city outside my apartment during one of the shortest days of the year (mid-December). Got everything set up and started -- things looked good. Go to bed and check on the progress in the morning to discover many pictures are missing. Turns out that I had forgotten to switch the camera to manual focus: autofocus would sometimes fail in the darkness of the night, so the camera would refuse to take those shots. Autofocus still worked most of the time, enough that I didn't notice the problem when I started.
> ...


Which reminded me that I had activated backbutton focus and had forgotten about it. I ended up taking some unfocused pictures before remembering why the camera was not focusing :-[


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## flowers (Feb 12, 2014)

tron said:


> Which reminded me that I had activated backbutton focus and had forgotten about it. I ended up taking some unfocused pictures before remembering why the camera was not focusing :-[


Ha ha. it happened to me the very first time I set back button AF because I'm used to half-button when AFing. Never after that. I'm much more used to manual focus so whenever I'm holding the camera I think of it as a manual focus camera, unless I want AF and then I push the button to "activate AF" in my manual focus camera. If that makes sense. In other words I forget the AF is there until I need it! Backbutton focus makes it possible and that's why I love it so much. I don't need to complicate things by thinking of my camera as an AF camera where I have to work around the AF!


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## Corvi (Feb 12, 2014)

Reading this just confirms my habit to instantly throw away any lens cap I get with a lens into the trashcan.

Never ever took a picture with a cap on since i never ever used one in the first place.


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## flowers (Feb 13, 2014)

Corvi said:


> Reading this just confirms my habit to instantly throw away any lens cap I get with a lens into the trashcan.
> 
> Never ever took a picture with a cap on since i never ever used one in the first place.


I think taking a picture with a really dirty filter is just as bad as taking a picture with the cap on. All the extra PPing isn't worth it! If you're in the habit of cleaning your filter every time you take a picture then you'll notice it's not a filter but a cap. Problem solved!


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## Corvi (Feb 13, 2014)

flowers said:


> Corvi said:
> 
> 
> > Reading this just confirms my habit to instantly throw away any lens cap I get with a lens into the trashcan.
> ...



Well, that can be avoided by not using filters either. Which i hate too. One more thing that gets me flares into my pictures. Im shooting lenses from large format to half format, from canon, hasselblad, leica, rollei, sinar, zeiss, whatever for a decade now .. Never ever used a cap or filter, heck i dont even own a photo bag. I just trow everything into backpack and go ..


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## flowers (Feb 13, 2014)

Corvi said:


> flowers said:
> 
> 
> > Corvi said:
> ...



that's fine but sometime try CPL and a ND400 filter and see what you can do with them. they can allow you to do otherwise impossible things. but if you don't shoot people, windows, bottoms of rivers or waterfalls, you might find them less useful. Still, a good excuse to try something different  (Then you can also use LF for longer shutter speeds... But no CPL! CPL can help with skies and reflections  )


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## J.R. (Feb 13, 2014)

flowers said:


> Corvi said:
> 
> 
> > flowers said:
> ...



Yes ... difficult to image life without a CPL. Only trouble is to ensure that I carry it along. I left mine going for the auto-expo and the glare has done its black magic on a fair few shots


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## flowers (Feb 13, 2014)

J.R. said:


> Yes ... difficult to image life without a CPL. Only trouble is to ensure that I carry it along. I left mine going for the auto-expo and the glare has done its black magic on a fair few shots


I read that, that was unfortunate! I always have my CPLs with me  I always carry a camera in a bag and I always have at least the filters in the bag too so I never forget  If I just take a camera with one lens I make sure I have at least the CPL that is the right size for that lens when I put it in the bag.


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