You win some, you lose some

While holding the lightstand in one of Mimi & Karl's engagement sessions...

While raising the lightstand for Mimi & Karl as they take engagement photos, I often try to snap a few clicks hoping for a beside–the–scene glimpse at a heartfelt moment slowly (or more often, quickly) unfolding. Sometimes, I get lucky.

Just minutes before the session that produced the photo above, I was trailing Karl as we walked briskly to survey the scene and catch the last light of day when he suddenly stopped — a rainbow, just before the sun completely sleeps under the horizon:

A rainbow, at sunset.

It must’ve been my lucky day, as the rainbow could only suggest. And with one reasonably blog–worthy photo, I have a reason to believe it.

And then it happened.

As I tried snapping a few more as we got back to the couple’s place, my cam greeted me, albeit sadly, with a bright red on grey message: “Error 99.” The mother of all Canon digital SLR errors, a signal of bad (and costly) things to come. Karl tried to diagnose the issue, but listening to the shutter, all I could hear was a teasing familiar sound. The sound of a broken shutter mechanism. I’m most likely right, I heard this sound before. This unit’s still under warranty coverage so I hope it’s fixed soon without having to miss some assignments. The wait isn’t gonna be fun but I’ll have my backup for the meantime.

You win some, you lose some. I guess I won a photo I like, and a rainbow. But I lost my cam. Hopefully for just a short while though.

I’ll be at Canon’s service center first thing in the morning, and I pray they get me shooting again in no time.

15 Comments

  1. Amanda says:

    Whoa, crud! That bites. I just had my Canon digital camera fixed recently too and I had a pleasant experience. Surprisingly enough, it was absolutely quick and hassle-free. =) Good luck!

    (nice outlook on the whole every cloud has a silver lining though, lol)

  2. Ian Adams says:

    Ouch, that sucks man! Those things are not cheap! Fantastic photos, though. :)

  3. brymac says:

    warranty normally means cost-free if it breaks down :) Sort of reset na rin yan ng shutter life.

  4. markku says:

    @Amanda: Yeah, I read your story. Based on that, I should have my camera just how they promised to have it fixed: in seven working days. I might need it sooner though, so I’ll be calling to check early next week. ;)

    Unlike you, I couldn’t get it fixed in an hour. Should I have tried the short skirt and sexy smile approach? ;) Hehehe.

    @Ian Adams: It’s gonna be seven sucking working days for sure. I do hope I get to post more while my camera is away. :)

    @brymac: Shutter replacement should be free, I think. The 400D is rated for 30-40k actuations, I couldn’t believe I’ve reached that in less than eight months! Maybe something else broke. I don’t know, I just hope I don’t have to pay for anything.

  5. Amanda says:

    Markku, I’m not 100% sure if you can pull off the short skirt and sexy smile approach. You can give it a shot though, but if you end up getting your cam back in fourteen working days instead of seven you’ll have to blame it on yourself for temporarily blinding them.

    /hides

    (and fyi I was not wearing a short skirt! /indignant)

  6. hana says:

    love the photos, love the rainbow, love….ooops, keso!

    you’ll get your cam back, mabilis lang yun, 7 days lang, ako nga 60 54 days ang hinihintay e… :)

  7. markku says:

    @hana: Thanks ga. :)

  8. estan says:

    markku, I also experienced this problem. While Canon said that it was a minor matter since the shutter has to be replaced lang, the piece has to be ordered in Singapore pa! Unfortunately, I was in the middle of a book project that I bought a second hand unit while I waited for my camera to be fixed after more than a month!

    I do hope na your’s will be repaired soon.

  9. markku says:

    @estan: I hope I’m luckier than you on this one, I don’t want to buy another camera and my backup is rather dated that I can’t use my ultra–wide with it. I’ll keep my fingers crossed until it’s finally fixed.

  10. leiababe says:

    huwaat! tuwing Christmas season nalang nangyayari yan? dejavu. uy! meron na ako D40. pero di ko pa alam gamitin! hmpfff… binyagan mo naman… so far puro si piwee at 2 stuffed toy sa office ang subject ko.

  11. markku says:

    @leiababe: Tradisyon na yan pag pasko. Hehe. Bumili ka nga ng D40 di mo naman ako sinama, hmmp!

    Sige shoot tayo minsan, sa UP o kaya sa UST. :)

  12. hana says:

    Leia! tara shoot tayo sa UST! wala ako camera kaya saling ketket lang ako. :p Hindi ako masyadong willing maging model, hahaha!

    Tara ga, c’mon c’mon! :)

    *excited*

  13. markku says:

    @hana: Shoot ka din ga, madami naman tayong cam ah. ;)

  14. benj says:

    Woah, that rainbow shot really looks good Markku. Come to think of it, I’ve never really seen a rainbow captured in a photo. hehe

  15. markku says:

    @benj: Thanks! It’s never easy to take photos of rainbows since you can hardly capture them without ruining the metering.

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