Remember the video of that guy at Cinegear 2016 who was showing off how well a Steadicam can handle an ARRI Alexa? Do you remember why it went viral? No, not because, wow, look how awesome that Steadicam rig is, but because dude takes it a little too far and goes full look-ma-no-hands on the thing and BOOM—nigh night to a $50K+ camera.


That video exploded on the interwebz last year, racking up well over 1.6 million views on YouTube, but seriously, why? It's just a guy dropping an expensive camera? So what?

So what? SO WHAT!?

Yeah, if you're a filmmaker, chances are you not only know the answer to "so what," but you also saw that video and wept repeatedly. (It's fine. We all get it.) Watching an expensive piece of gear meet its maker (so to speak), whether its death by waterjet, death by hydraulic press, or my personal favorite, death by liquid nitro, is entertaining and fun to watch, but watching an expensive piece of gear meet its maker via human error is just—painful and terrible and many times, unfortunately, relatable. 

Which is why this video by Mathieu Stern, the Weird Lens Master, is just perfectly cathartic. It hilariously warns filmmakers of 19 horrible ways a camera can be destroyed, some of which are totally real, like water, salty air, and a shitty tripod, while some are just(nesting emus) — you know

What is the absolute worst way you've destroyed an expensive camera? Hypothetically speaking, what would be the worst way to accidentally destroy your camera? Share your horror stories down in the comments!

Source: Mathieu Stern