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This is what happens when your camera is too close to a rocket launch pad

by 18 Comments

Photographing a rocket launch can be very unfriendly to your camera, as we have seen before. But today, a post on my Facebook feed appeared and I saw just how bad it can get. NASA photographer Bill Ingalls was photographing a rocket launch on 22 May 2018 and he shared the photos of his poor camera after it. It’s completely melted, but hey – at least he saved some of the photos.

Bill explained in the Facebook post that he photographed GRACE Follow-On spacecraft launch onboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket. The photos were taken at Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

As far as I can see, the photo of his camera is already going viral, as I’ve seen it all over the Internet today. Bill wrote in the Facebook post that the camera made photos all the way until its demise, and he even shared two photos he managed two save from the memory card. I’m not sure this is covered by warranty, but apparently – the memory card survived. And I bet it was worth it.

[Lead image credits: NASA/Bill Ingalls]

Related posts:

Here’s what really happened to that melted NASA camera This is what a rocket launch does to a camera from 45 meters away Some insight into the logistics of photographing a NASA rocket launch How to photograph a NASA rocket launch with remote cameras

  • I don’t think they are getting the rental deposit refunded…

  • That’s what happens to my gear when I break wind…

  • That memory card tho… haha

  • On the other hand, that photo of melted camera got 1000x more exposure than the rocket photo would ever have.

  • Yes, I need a repair estimate.

  • Rick

    Another fine example of misleading journalism. The meltdown was due to a launch induced brush fire, not the rocket itself.

    https://www.facebook.com/bingalls/posts/10213781978078424

  • Alex Frey

  • Check the memory card!

  • B LL SH T – I’ll let you buy the vowels

  • And I bet he didn’t even have a UV filter on it…

    • Wouter Anquer

      ND7 would’ve saved it for sure.

  • but on the plus side how many shots did he get before it melted? and where are those………….

  • No, this is what happens when your camera is in a grass fire.

  • OC.

    An accident? Launchpad heat? Grassfire? Whatever the reason it is pure carelessness and the rich society in which we live where a Canon 5DS can be disposable just for a great shot.

    • Judedude

      If cameras that were closer were fine, then clearly this was an accident that could not have been anticipated… so while your point may be valid in many cases of extreme waste, here it seems invalid. Clearly the camera was not intentionally left in harms way.

  • They said get a super mega telephoto zoom lens but no!

  • Richard

    Bug plus to those who called it for what it is. Misleading journalism. Grass fire away from the site caused this, cameras that were much closer were not damaged. Report it for what it is not sensualism!

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