A thought came to my head last night while I was discussing with a few ppl regarding the merits of buying retail vs. grey import.

Now, THIS IS NOT ABOUT PRICING AT ALL!

But about the notion of trying/feeling/touching a camera to see if you like it or not in the store - which was what some people advocated.

For me, I cant ever recall a time I actually bought a DSLR or selected a DSLR out of a few because it felt good or right in my hands. I buy it for its features and functions etc. This is aimed at everyone with a little bit of experience in photography here, not a beginner looking to buy their first ever DSLR.

Anyway, what I am interested in seeing is that, because majority of us all know how a DSLR works and feel, has the reason/excuse of the retailer about being able to 'play around with the camera' before you buy OBSOLETE?

For me, I know how the camera works, I would have probably done a bit of research already before looking to buy, I know how light an entry level body is and how heavy the top of the range cameras are. Does the retail store's reasoning enough to keep ppl from buying grey import? A salesman actually mentioned that last night - you would not be able to try it out before you buy it.

I come from an infantry background in the army here, and we have all learnt to adapt to weapons and tools we use even though it doesnt always feel the best in our hands, we just care for the end result - which is its killing potential. Same for the camera - the photo it produces. I have come to realize that I dont care much about the ergonomics or layout of the camera - as long as its features interest me and it produces the desired results I want.

Hope that makes sense