Baseball player smashes a $12,000 lens at 104mph

There are bad days at work, and then there are bad days where you lose $12,000 of equipment. This unlucky sports photographer was in exactly the wrong place at the wrong time when shooting a baseball match when the ball struck his lens, taking out all the glass.

Jim Rassol was covering the match in Florida between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Miami Marlins. His Sony 400mm f/2.8 lens took the brunt of the 104mph ball, leaving Rassol with little more than a bunch of smashed glass and a rueful expression. And for good reason: these lenses cost around $12,000.

The moment was captured on the TV cameras and then tweeted in full slow motion by Bally Sports, saying it was “an expensive foul ball.”

That was a very expensive foul ball! pic.twitter.com/cj22RFY789

— Bally Sports Florida & Bally Sports Sun (@BallySportsFL) June 24, 2023

Rassol himself commented in a Facebook post that the lens is beyond repair, but he’s happy it wasn’t his head that took the hit, considering the velocity of the ball. “400 2.8 got taken out by a line drive, glass everywhere,” he wrote. “Fortunately, I’m ok. Found out later that the line drive that hit my lens had an exit velocity of 104 miles per hour.”

JC Ruiz Photography was also working during the game and tweeted that he could hear the glass breaking from across the stadium.

I was in the first base photo well and I heard when the ball smashed his 400mm lens. That was how loud it was. https://t.co/KzjjHxGOzJ

— JC Ruiz Photography (@JCRuizPhoto) June 25, 2023

It’s absolutely the worst luck imaginable. However, I do hope that Rassol had some decent insurance. It just goes to show how important it is that we insure our gear when out working because that one chance in a million does happen. Lightning (or baseballs) really can strike at any time.

Update: Joseph Cavaretta  started a GoFundMe campaign for Jim to fix his lens. Sony tells DIYP that they discounted the repair to the amount raised by the  GoFundMe.

[via Petapixel]