Had a new experience in October–a camera op dropped my new F3 off a tripod and onto a concrete floor. Total loss, including a broken Sigma 50-150 (one of my fav lenses ever) and a cracked Prolock adapter. Total bill for value of broken gear plus cost to replace is almost $10K.

The irony was that the op had been complaining about the rental tripod supplied by the grip company, and I had just told him to take it out of service and go get his personal tripod out of his truck when the camera detached and took the fatal plunge. (This was about 15 minutes into the first day of shooting)

Complicating things is that the grip company sub-rented the tripod from a third party. The op and the gaffer on set both agreed it was a mechanical defect in the tripod (which did look pretty beat up). The grip company is pointing a finger at the 3rd party, the third party is pointing the finger at the op, and the op is not responding to any questions about his insurance.

I’ve had both gear and liability insurance since the late ’90’s and have never filed a claim. I am loathe to ruin that record now for a gear issue I didn’t create…but I also don’t really want to be a jerk and initiate some sort of legal action against the operator.

Am I being a patsy if I just shrug it off and file a claim with my long time insurance company?