idiot has too much money. Probably some spoiled snotty rich kid. What an ass.

What a jackass.
Give it to me and I'll let you drop my d50 from 2 stories up.

What an asshole.

Emo kid spending mom's money.

There's an old joke that said "Cocaine is God's way of saying you have too much money."

I think this says it louder.

DUMBASS.

ha, love how the first three semi-simultaneous comments all contained "what a ______"

If it did break, he would feel like he shot himself in the foot, and say doh!

Somehow this smells a little bit fowl considering you never actually *see* that the camera is a D3

I think it dented bricks :P

That thing sounded like a rock dropping.

All of my Fuji and Nikon cameras have proved to be remarkably tough. (Not that I've dropped any of them from this height or on purpose.) The DSLRs tend to survive better than point-and-shoots though. The telephoto on most point-and-shoots gets bent and jammed at an awkward angle. Then it's stuck, and your camera's jacked.

"Tests" like that just annoy the hell out of me.

"survived with no problem", does this mean cosmetically? How is the shutter, the shutter release, the alignment of the censor, etc. I would no longer use this camera but would consider it a good eBay item...

@sonburn: Ditto. I'm running a Canon F-1, which in all likelihood is built even more solidly than the D3, because of the fact that the only piece of electronics inside of it is the light meter, and I wouldn't even drop that onto an over-stuffed couch from the height of six inches. I simply don't understand why people do this.

he also went nut-crazy with apple sauce, coffee, water, etc.

+ Watch video

I have dropped my 30D from about 5 feet on to solid pavement with no damage whatsoever besides a couple scratches. Here is the thing though...this does not look like a 15 foot drop. The camera barely does anything when it hits the ground. You could drop a concrete block from 15 feet and it would have more movement than that on impact. I call BS.

honestly, if Nikon would show stuff like this - maybe the pros that use these would feel more confident in buying them.

Regardless of who did it, i think its a huge selling point that it survived. I'm about to go all-in and get a single-digit camera - eEither a D2 or 3 or a 1D Mark II/III... this is quite a leg up since i'll be travelling around the world with it, and don't need the camera to crap out at an inopportune time.

Whew good thing it survive. Now he can use the money he was going to spendo n replacing it on more skinny jeans.

It's that kid's fault.
It couldn't take anymore...making such ugly images... it jumped !

/then, having survived like in the movie "The Tenant",
it crawled all the way back upstairs and... jumped again !

Attach a lens and drop it. See if the mount can hold up to that. I highly doubt it.

The video should be retitled Idiots in America

I doubt he extensively tested it to verify that it truly survived. There's NO WAY it came out of that perfectly intact.
@theotherstevejobs: Nikon would never use results like this, there are far too many factors that could lead to serious damage one time, and no damage another time. What if he'd dropped it on an uneven, rocky surface? Or what if he dropped it directly onto the lens? There is no practical reason to test this kinda thing.
The kid's a jackass, plain and simple.

err, dunno why the first video I posted is no longer available. see if this works:

+ Watch video

it worked .... he got famous

He gives a thumbs up after he dropped it saying it worked - riiiiiight. The drop worked but there's no indication that the CAMERA works. And there's no reference of height - he could've dropped it from just above the view of the video camera. I call BS on the whole thing. For what? A little 15 secs of fame. Gimme a break.

I wonder if a 1D Mark III would survive the fall? Anybody want to try?

Why is everyone crying how much of a kid he is? Who knows if he got paid to do that? As an advert you know... Dno, don't feel like reading much of it... AND he got himself into gizmodo (and probably other sites as well?) So mission accomplished if you ask me

It's only a Nikon... so no real waste.

he could've just sell it on ebay
if he doesnt like it.. poor Nikon D3 were you hurt?!

@flyboy:
for being a dumbass...

I call BS too. Just before the camera is shown hitting the ground, you can see his shadow come into the frame in the lower left. I'd say he's dropping it while standing there. And let's see the closeup on the camera to prove it's a D3 (and functioning).

I smell some b.s. cooking up real fresh here...no indication of being a D3. What was a success? The drop? I doubt the camera functions properly....*shuts computer down to go fondle D3* "There there now, it's ok."

SLR cameras don't have much to them that would break when dropped and probably wouldn't be too costly to fix (compared to the $5000 price tag anyway). The lense would be the most likely thing to break since it has glass in it but since the lense was removed, there was less of a risk.

Besides, the guy probably had some kind of product replacement plan on it so it didn't really matter if it broke. Of cource, once the people that replaced it saw being dropped on YouTube all bets would be off.

Have we ruled out viral on this one?

@IKEACAR: i agree totally. this is not a 15' drop. 7 or 8 maybe.
Plus, as others have said, who says this is really a D3? it could be an empty D3, an already broken D3, etc. And who says it survived?

This reeks of BS

It is most likely a spoiled brat showing off to his friends how he can drop daddy's camera while he is out working his a** off to give him a decent life but he misses his daddy so lets drop his d-3 that way I can get his attention

I think his next test should involve him sending me $5000 and seeing if I return it. I figure it's similar enough to this video.

too much money or had a replacement plan with accidental damage coverage.

I dropped my Canon 350D from about 6 feet onto steel once . The filter shattered (as it should) and I noticed a seam on the body opened about .2mm both otherwise, it's fine.

Next he should film himself falling 15 feet...a dn being teabagged while unconcious afterward.

@HoseHead: Your probably right.

Hmm, says he's getting a degree in professional photography and there are about three video's where he puts his camera through such stupid test. Why? I'm not sure.

"Hello! My name is Joseph (aka Joey). I'm a photography student and I know it's funny I have high end gear but I don't brag about it... Not exactly. :)"

Man, what a douche.

I have a P5000 that I (accidentally) sat on with the lens extended, I heard and felt a sickening click/clunk. The lens barrel was shoved up inside the body at about a 30% angle, it didn't look good for my 2 week old camera. I solemnly pulled on the end of the lens and to my surprise it snapped back into place like out of joint finger.

The camera has been fine ever since, or at least as fine as it ever was.

Stupid people with money?? Who ever heard of such a thing?

Looks like someone just got access to their trust fund...

I can honestly say that I'd choke a mothafugga to death over $5,000, so there's no way on Satan's green Earth that I'd drop my expensive doodads on PURPOSE. Let the companies test this shit. Us plebeians spend our money to use them, not break them. Asshat.

"SLR cameras don't have much to them that would break when dropped"

Ummm.. yeah right. Mechanical parts that can accurately flip a shutter to 1/25,000 on a second = not much to break.

Would you pay 100$ for a clue, sir?

@Spyvie:
yeah, that happens a lot. I am known as the "go to" guy whenever that happens (the majority of which are the casio zoom lineup).

I like the swing my D300 around like a lifeguard with a whistle, but that's just me. I know the nikon strap can hang tough

He broke a $5000 camera?! WTF?! EXTERMINATE.

@Denver_80203: Yeah, the internal workings of an SLR are like a fine watch, and optics are insanely sensitive. This maybe a viral, or just fine example of douchebaggery...

@Kaiser-Machead: 'Satan's green Earth" I'm writing that one down for later use.

The attitudes around here, sheesh. You all should be greatful we have a pioneer testing this shit out.

Now I know if i ever have a D3, and I happen to drop it off the balcony, it likely wont die.

bam! One more fact of life added to my facts of life book.

@tamoko:

It's not viral. This guys has been posting on DPreview D3 forums for days about the tests. He's legit and just has the money to do it. Wealth and waste a relative.

@sonburn, @med, @nutbastard, @