The Day I Smashed a RED Camera Lens: Why Failure is Inevitable

Failure will strike. It's inevitable, especially in video work. You are going to fail. It may be hard to hear, but it needs to be heard.

You may think, "I'll just learn everything there is to know about videography before I take a serious client, and then everything will go perfectly!" I wish this were the case, but it's not. I have had plenty of projects where things didn't go my way.

One specific failure happened when I was about a year and a half into my video career. Not only did I make a subpar video, but I also cost the client a large sum of money by breaking expensive gear.

A Rainy Day in Eugene

It all started on a rainy day in Eugene, Oregon. For a videographer, an overcast day in Oregon is actually prime time. If clouds roll in, do not fret! The lighting becomes soft and flattering—nature's giant softbox for that coveted "cinematic image."

Everything seemed amazing. I had taken a job with Tranont and was flown out to capture interviews and testimonials. I was excited because it was one of my first travel jobs, and we were cleared to use top-tier equipment.

We had a Canon 1D X as a B-cam, some lighting, and the golden piece of gear... The RED Gemini.

This camera is hands-down incredible. Even if it's a few years old by cinema standards, it shoots breathtaking footage. Tranont owned this camera and entrusted my colleague and me to use it. The problem was, we were rookies. We hadn't used cinema-grade gear before, and we were severely over our heads.

The Crazy Expensive Camera on the $50 Tripod

We captured great testimonials at a dinner party event. The shot composition was fine, the audio was crisp, and we were feeling confident.

But we made a critical error: RED cameras are heavy beasts. They require heavy-duty, fluid-head cinema tripods. We didn't know this. We had strapped this cinema camera to a cheap, plastic photography tripod.

We were taking a break when we noticed the RED starting to tilt forward.

I panicked. I dropped my hot cocoa and donut on the ground and rushed toward the camera. Sadly, I wasn't fast enough. The weight of the RED snapped the plastic baseplate of the cheap tripod. The camera crashed to the floor.

Fear filled the room. The clients and the interview subjects stared in silence. "What are these amateurs doing?" was the thought running through everyone's head.

When we picked it up, we found to our relief that the camera body was untouched. However, the monitor ($300+) and the prime lens ($800+) had taken the brunt of the fall and were destroyed. I was devastated.

Own Your Failure

The trip carried on, but we had to make the shameful call to our clients at Tranont to explain that the gear had broken due to our negligence.

Lesson Number 1: Never mount an expensive camera to a low-quality tripod!

The call was awkward and frankly embarrassing. But what we didn't expect was their reaction: they were understanding. They were disappointed, sure, but they moved forward professionally. We worked out an arrangement to provide extra content in the future to make up for the cost of the repair.

At that moment, I wanted to quit the video. I felt foolish. But you cannot let failure stop you.

To this day, I keep that broken lens on my desk. It reminds me that I am not invincible, and neither is my equipment. It serves as a physical reminder that mistakes happen, but if you own up to them and handle them professionally, you can recover.

The Takeaway

When you fail a client, create a subpar video, or accidentally break something, take a breath.

1. Own it immediately.

2. Learn from it.

3. Move on.

The more jobs you take, the more chaos you'll witness. Stay safe out there, film something amazing, and always take care of yourself—and your gear.

Leave a comment down below about a time you overcame adversity on a shoot! I'll see you in the next blog!