SB800 Flash

I was horrified to see my camera drop to the floor today. I was shooting a conference at work so I decided to use the Q-Strap. It worked great the entire morning, then came lunch. I walked out of my office and turned a corner when I heard a big thunk. I looked down and was shocked to see my SB800 split in half. It broke the fall. The SB800 head was now connected to the body by a bundle of wires. The batteries fell out of the battery compartment and the door laid some distance away. I gathered the pieces together and put it away in my backpack. I was not happy the rest of the afternoon but I had to keep on shooting.

What happened? It was not because of the Q-Strap. It worked as it should. It was the hand grip I purchased for my old D80. The tripod mount was this cylindrical metal piece that fits tightly in a groove. The hand grip bottom part is hard plastic and it virtually impossible to pull the metal piece out by hand, but I guess with enough wiggling, it can come out, and it did.

Here, I re-inserted the tripod mount back into the groove:

Lesson learned. I hesitated to attach the Q-Strap to the hand grip. I should have listened to my instinct. I have to shop for a SB800 or an SB900 now. In the meantime, I'll take my Krazy Glue out.