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Went in for my usual saturday shift at Hardly Normal and surprise surprise they had a 40d for display.

It does seem quite a bit quieter than the 30d. I didnt have time to fire each of them off each other.

The menu system takes a bit of getting used (same as 1D series) to as its not just using the jog wheel now, you also use the little joystick thingy above it - normally used for navigating around a zoomed in portion of the image.

the weather sealing feels great and the screen is nice, however I wished they added even just a few more pixels like nikons amazing 922k!

I was surprised to see it already in HN, I expected to see it months later as I only first read about it say 2 weeks ago.

Im holding out for a 5D replacement I keep telling myself.

body only price was RRP $1999 I think - there does seem to be quite a bit of margin in it. (store buys $1550 ex GST-ish)

J

Having used a friends 5D for a couple of weeks before i got my 1D, i think the new menu setup is lightyears ahead. But i guess if you're coming from the older menu setup it would mean relearning the once instinctive setting changes.

Does the 40D have the ISO button on it somewhere, like the new 1D or do you have to go into the menus?

jdear wrote:the screen is nice, however I wished they added even just a few more pixels like nikons amazing 922k!

The D300 LCD has a stated 922000 DOT resolution, not pixels. There are 3 dots to a pixel, you can do the math.

Not bagging the Nikon (luverly cameras), just correcting a misperception

jdear wrote:.............there does seem to be quite a bit of margin in it.....J

I doubt the retailer would agree. Assuming from your figure that the buy price is for the product only, then HN pays $1705 inc GST. Then, HN pays a freight company to deliver it, a staff member to log it into stock, another one to set it on display and spend half an hour trying to sell it. If successful, another hours labour will be absorbed in the paperwork and instruction.

'Sounds to me like a rotten business to be in. Especially for the retailer that I'm buying from for a fair bit less than $1999.

Store fronts are selling Aus models for $1869 so HN certainly have plenty of margin.

The early 'settled' walk in is $1849.00. If they are all paying, like HN, $1705, then they are losing money on it, and using the model as a loss leader to potentially add some value with extra item sales. Extended warranties for example, are a big commission earner.

If the small retailers can manage to sell at $1800 and well below HN with its size should be raking it in at $1999. If not, then they have some problems, but given HN's recent profit announcements I doubt that is the case.

Chad wrote:

jdear wrote:.............there does seem to be quite a bit of margin in it.....J

I doubt the retailer would agree. Assuming from your figure that the buy price is for the product only, then HN pays $1705 inc GST.

You don't perhaps suspect that HN might buy these in bulk, and (a) attract a lesser price due to their bulk buying capacity, and (b) then take advantage of extra incentives offerred from the invoice and accounts end of the transaction?

Let's face it: they're not in the business they're because they love doing it; they want to make a profit, and if they're not going to make a profit, they're not going to touch it.

'Not too sure that I understand your reply Gary.

HN's stated buy is $1705, and sells at $1999. A 17% markup.

Resellers without the HN buying leverage are selling at $1849 or below. So what do they buy at? Not HN's price I'd guess. In either case, I stand by my disagreement with the comment........"there does seem to be quite a bit of margin in it." (Or have I lost all touch with retailing? )

Chad - the stated buy for HN is not their actual buy price. I know through a friend (supplier) that HN drive a very hard bargain to get the very best price. What comes off invoice is shelf position, end of bay position, return of goods situation, repair or replace, etc. These off invoice costings are not ”shown”.

Fair enough, and thanks for the explanation sirhc55.

Chad,

Further to what Chris said, they will also get payment discounts from their suppliers.

Basically, they can tell you what their invoice cost might be, and they might even show you an "invoice", but the stated item cost, and what they're actually paying for that item, will be two entirely different things.

this quoted price is the price in the POS system and includes such things as wage, cost of opening, freight etc and is not a clear indication of what the product is actually bought at.

Having said that, staff get HN products at cost price

Does the 40D have the ISO button on it somewhere

um it appears on the top row of the camera to the right - where all (?) canon DSLR's have an iso button.

The AF-On button is a big welcome in my opinion, I moved my focus start to the * button like a lot of people who shoot either sports / weddings. With this setup you can stick the camera in continuous focus, and start and stop it without interrupting it when you go down through the shutter release (half way down no longer focuses)

Also the ISO appearing in the viewfinder is a great addition as the ##D / 5D series doesnt have an extra lcd screen on the back with this info like the 1D series. - no longer any excuse for having incorrect iso

...We've gotten a little off track - bringing it back

Well I paid $1591 each for mine.. so there is definitley lots more margin that the $1550 would suggest to someone like Hardly Normal with their huge buying power.....

Still no word on when I will get my 2 BG-E2N's though...

I might be getting the 40D soonish and this is an informative read