This is what happens when your camera is too close to a rocket launch pad
May 23, 2018
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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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.
@NASA photographer Bill Ingalls is one of the best. He tries to get his remote cameras as close to the launch pad as possible for great results. This would illustrate the unfortunate result of an attempt at an extreme closeup. Not sure this is covered by warranty. pic.twitter.com/Lpb0kRHiCw
— Peter King (@PeterKingCBS) May 23, 2018
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]
Dunja Đuđić
Dunja Djudjic is a multi-talented artist based in Novi Sad, Serbia. With 15 years of experience as a photographer, she specializes in capturing the beauty of nature, travel, concerts, and fine art. In addition to her photography, Dunja also expresses her creativity through writing, embroidery, and jewelry making.
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18 responses to “This is what happens when your camera is too close to a rocket launch pad”
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.
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…
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.
https://twitter.com/PeterKingCBS/status/999085583271170048
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.
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!
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!