Tannin
14-05-2017, 10:35am
I have been thinking about a 7D II recently and looking at prices.
The cheapest seems to be DWI with a grey market bodgy at around $1450. Take your own chances on being hit with GST, and hope it doesn't break because there is no Canon warranty.
(Disclaimer: I've bought cameras from DWI before, and with perfect satisfaction. Nevertheless, grey market el-cheapos are grey market el-cheapos. It's wise to beat that in mind.)
On the other hand, most of the local on-line shops are around $2200, give or take. that's a huge difference!
So I dithered. I didn't really want to take a chance on the bodgy grey-market one, but didn't want to pay $800 extra for the real McCoy. What to do?
This week I happened to be wandering around the streets of Ballarat running a few messages and I thought I'd pop in to a couple of local shops and ask. Naturally, I didn't expect anything reasonably priced, but you never know if you never ask.
First stop Camera House (where I bought my first 20D and 100-400 ... er ... 12 years ago now!). I explained what I wanted and (as best I could) made it clear that I was giving the locals a chance to offer me a decent price. I wasn't expecting them to match on-line prices, just hoping that they could maybe to go somewhere inside the ball-park. They kindly reminded me of the Canon 30% special rebate offer. (Buy a camera and a lens or flash in the same transaction, get 30% off the lens into your bank account. Only works with genuine Australian stock, of course.)
Hmmm ... I don't really need any lenses but my 580ex flashes are a little bit gutless. They are wonderful flashes, just not quite powerful enough for bird photography at 500mm and a 3.5m MFD. Sure, I have a Better Beamer but it's a complete PITA to use. The 600ex has a bit more raw power, and a 20-200mm zoom range instead of 24-105. Very little different for general work, but more than twice as much light on a bird, in other words. I've wanted one for ages.
So, what was the quote? $2300! Farnarkle me that was seriously dear! They offered the flash at around $800 and something before rebate. (I didn't know what the flashes usually went for, so I was a bit all at sea there.) Well, that was a waste of time.
But what the hell. I had to drive past JB Hi-fi to get home, and there was an empty parking space outside, so why not ask? The guy at JB could see where I was coming from. He immediately offerd me a 7D II at $1865, a very reasonable price indeed, so I bought it on the spot. His 600 EX II price was a bit high at $939, but what the hell. Canon will send me $300-odd back, so it ends up at about $650-odd. I took that too.
Both items were out of stock, but that's fine. I don't need them this minute. Job done. First time I've bought photographic equipment at an actual shop instead of by mail order in more than a decade. Good work there JB Hi-fi!
The cheapest seems to be DWI with a grey market bodgy at around $1450. Take your own chances on being hit with GST, and hope it doesn't break because there is no Canon warranty.
(Disclaimer: I've bought cameras from DWI before, and with perfect satisfaction. Nevertheless, grey market el-cheapos are grey market el-cheapos. It's wise to beat that in mind.)
On the other hand, most of the local on-line shops are around $2200, give or take. that's a huge difference!
So I dithered. I didn't really want to take a chance on the bodgy grey-market one, but didn't want to pay $800 extra for the real McCoy. What to do?
This week I happened to be wandering around the streets of Ballarat running a few messages and I thought I'd pop in to a couple of local shops and ask. Naturally, I didn't expect anything reasonably priced, but you never know if you never ask.
First stop Camera House (where I bought my first 20D and 100-400 ... er ... 12 years ago now!). I explained what I wanted and (as best I could) made it clear that I was giving the locals a chance to offer me a decent price. I wasn't expecting them to match on-line prices, just hoping that they could maybe to go somewhere inside the ball-park. They kindly reminded me of the Canon 30% special rebate offer. (Buy a camera and a lens or flash in the same transaction, get 30% off the lens into your bank account. Only works with genuine Australian stock, of course.)
Hmmm ... I don't really need any lenses but my 580ex flashes are a little bit gutless. They are wonderful flashes, just not quite powerful enough for bird photography at 500mm and a 3.5m MFD. Sure, I have a Better Beamer but it's a complete PITA to use. The 600ex has a bit more raw power, and a 20-200mm zoom range instead of 24-105. Very little different for general work, but more than twice as much light on a bird, in other words. I've wanted one for ages.
So, what was the quote? $2300! Farnarkle me that was seriously dear! They offered the flash at around $800 and something before rebate. (I didn't know what the flashes usually went for, so I was a bit all at sea there.) Well, that was a waste of time.
But what the hell. I had to drive past JB Hi-fi to get home, and there was an empty parking space outside, so why not ask? The guy at JB could see where I was coming from. He immediately offerd me a 7D II at $1865, a very reasonable price indeed, so I bought it on the spot. His 600 EX II price was a bit high at $939, but what the hell. Canon will send me $300-odd back, so it ends up at about $650-odd. I took that too.
Both items were out of stock, but that's fine. I don't need them this minute. Job done. First time I've bought photographic equipment at an actual shop instead of by mail order in more than a decade. Good work there JB Hi-fi!