It was a double heart breaker for me yesterday afternoon at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Not only did Satria Muda Britama take the Singapore Slingers down in the third and deciding semi-final game of the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), the visiting team’s star player Alex Hartman was responsible for breaking my AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-105mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR lens.
I have always considered the photographers’ zone at any basketball game as some sort of a war zone. With stray basketballs flying at any direction at top speed and players crashing into you (these guys are big), photographers require quick reflexes to pull their cameras away from their face and either stop what’s coming towards them or brace themselves for some heavy contact. While I have been rather quick and fortunate all these years sitting at the Slingers’ court with a fantastic view, I guess I wasn’t quick enough on Sunday.
Nevermind that I caught a number of really interesting shots during the first two quarters, it was during the middle of the third quarter when the incident happened and everything went downhill from there. It all started when Slingers’ import Marcus “Dude you are really killing me with your reckless drives and turnovers” Ng drove into the paint for a very contested layup and drew a foul. Hartman in the heat of the moment, caught the stray basketball and threw it at the photographers’ direction with his right hand in frustration. That was when the ball went straight towards me, hit my lens and sent it flying towards another photographer.
My last shot before the incident
With that, my lens was pretty much busted and all attempts to self repair was unsuccessful. A small but significant piece of the lens broke off. Hartman in an unsportsmanlike conduct pulled off one heck of a dumb-ass move. While I was able to mount my lens on the camera, it was extremely loose and the photos captured were completely dark and off. Well done Hartman…well done!! You broke my heart!! Honestly I don’t really care if that was unintentional. Everything is on tape and I’m pretty sure at least half the spectators saw what happened (does anyone have a copy?). Thankfully, a fellow media photographer passed me his fish eye lens and I continued shooting knowing that I could have gotten better results if my lens wasn’t broken.
Left: The busted area | Right: The piece that broke off
Moving on, I’m probably going to write to the ABL and Satria Muda Britama about the incident. These teams are normally insured and I hope to get the team to either replace a new lens or bear the full cost of the repair. More of that soon ~cross fingers~
After about a year of procrastination and contemplation, I have finally gotten my butt off and bought myself a new DSLR, the Nikon D90 kit and a battery grip. Just a simple entry level camera for my normal photography needs. Sure I would love to pick up a nice full frame such as a D700, but in all honesty I don’t think I need one. I’m not exactly a professional..ahem ahem 
.
My trusty ‘ol D70 is extremely outdated although it has served me well for the past six or so years. As photography technology catches up, I figured its best I do a little brush up myself. I guess I’m just going to clean it up a little and perhaps send it for some servicing before passing them over to Lyn (my boo) who expressed interest in trying out a DSLR.
With more photography sessions such as the Singapore Slingers games and the coming Formula One race (if I can get my hands on a ticket), I foresee more photo opportunities in the future. Till then, stay tuned for more photos.
The D90 with battery grip
Published on
December 15, 2007 in
This I like and Usual Ramblings.
Tags: Alan Photo, camera, compact, Cyber-shot, DMC-FX33, Lumix, Panasonic, Sim Lim Square, Sony, T20, T70.
I wanted to get Lyn (my boo) something nice for her birthday this year (yesterday) and finally decided on a camera. After much research online for that perfect compact camera, I must admit that I was pretty upset to discover that at this point of time, nothing came close to the Fujifilm finePix F31d, one of those cameras which has everything you want in a compact.
My only option was either the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-T20 (for its price) or the a slightly pricier Sony Cyber-shot T70. My requirements were simple:
- Shoots well at night or low light
- Shoots even better during the day time
- Need to have some sort of image stabiliser function
- Has a wide angle lens
- Really compact looking
- Pink!!
So with that in mind, I popped over to Alan Photo at Sim Lim Square for a little test drive. I was surprised to find out that my initial option of two cameras was down to one as the T20 has been phased out for about a week or so, leaving the T70 as my only choice. Not wanting to just settle for just one option, I asked the nice uncle manning his corner for other cameras within the same price range and capability.
After twiddling with a number of cameras while the nice uncle stood there and answered every single question I threw at him, I finally decided on the Panasonic Lumix DMC-FX33. It was armed with the features I wanted for a compact. I must say that I got a good deal in terms of pricing, something that Alan Photo usually provides as well as their wonderful customer service.
I was pretty sure that Lyn would be ecstatic over this new toy. From what I gather, she has never owned a digital camera before. So yeah, I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you I wasn’t disappointed. She loved it.. 
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