Where to buy from?

[Guroos]

After walking all around the city yesterday, I am no wiser as to where I should purchase my D200. I had salespeople suggest I should get a SonyA100 or a D80, but think I will stick with the D200. Why are some 3fps and others 5fps, there is no film to drag through?

I have looked at Ebay, online retailers and real shops. The prices range from $1,900 to $2,800. I understand the difference between grey and Australian stock. I am not sure if it is worth paying a premium to purchase from a local retailer over an online retailer? Do these units require much maintenance?

What are everyone thoughts on where to buy from and what sort of camera to buy?


Thanks in advance,


Neil

[Geoff]

After walking all around the city yesterday, I am no wiser as to where I should purchase my D200. I had salespeople suggest I should get a SonyA100 or a D80, but think I will stick with the D200. Why are some 3fps and others 5fps, there is no film to drag through?

I have looked at Ebay, online retailers and real shops. The prices range from $1,900 to $2,800. I understand the difference between grey and Australian stock. I am not sure if it is worth paying a premium to purchase from a local retailer over an online retailer? Do these units require much maintenance?

What are everyone thoughts on where to buy from and what sort of camera to buy?


Thanks in advance,


Neil

We were in digital city on Tuesday and they had some for $2599, I also think Nikon on Broadway have some for around the same sort of price range. Good luck!

What sort of camera to buy? Hmm...D200!

[sirhc55]

http://www.d-d-photographics.com.au/nikond200.htm $2299 in Sydney - grey but well supported

[Glen]

This may help with reliability questions: http://www.dslrusers.com/viewtopic.php?t=13373

[gstark]

Neil,

I would not be waiting on the D80 at this time - I don't expect we'll be seeing too many of these before the end of the year.

I do expect to be able to annouce the establishment of a new sales channel, through these forums, in the very near future however.

Almost everything is ion place; I just need some final deatils to be in place and we'll be there.

[Yi-P]

Have you tried Foto Riesel on Kent St? I saw they still had one hidden around few weeks ago (yeah, thats long goner maybe by now).

But worth a visit, great place with very helpful staffs. They know what they're selling (and to who), unlike some other store sales that offer you the best in their comission interest, then know nothing much about the product other than whats listed on the brochure.

[DStrom]

I was in Georges in the city last week they have a few there, I think they wanted about $2.6k for one.

[gstark]

Georges are a bit like Tandy. Great if you're looking for some comedy relief, but if you're looking to buy anything photographic, you're best off looking anywhere else.

[Guroos]

Geoff and Dstrom, thank you, visited Digital City and Georges but got the impression they were more interested in the doof doof crowd than an older gentleman like myself. They did not make me feel comfortable. Didn't get to Nikon Broadway as it was too far to walk, may try on Saturday.

Thank you Sirhc55 ,that was on my online list, and reviews seem quite good.

Thank you Glen for the breakdown page.

Thank you Gstark, that is good advice on the D80. I assume the product this board will be selling is grey? Is it from a proven supplier? Is delivery time reasonable?

Thank you Yi P, Foto Riesel is an old favourite and visted them yesterday.

Does anyone have any opinion between grey an Australian delivered stock?

Thank you for all the help so far,


Neil

[gstark]

Thank you Gstark, that is good advice on the D80. I assume the product this board will be selling is grey? Is it from a proven supplier? Is delivery time reasonable?

Neil,

Yes, it will be grey, through a very reputable supplier, and delivery times will be, in many cases, better than you can get for locally sourced product.

[sirhc55]

GREY ALL THE WAY

[jberth1]

According to a recent poll, 1 third of all DSLR's have been to the 'doctor'.

Maxwells are about 20mins down the road from me here in Sydney. They repair onsite, SMS me when it's ready, and I can usually pickup same day (as it's ready).

Grey would be a great option for someone who had a few 'spare' bodies lying around, but if it's your only body I wouldn't risk 'Grey'.

Lenses on the other hand - Grey all the Way !

Cheers

Justin

[DStrom]

Georges are a bit like Tandy. Great if you're looking for some comedy relief, but if you're looking to buy anything photographic, you're best off looking anywhere else.

I have to agree, I just saw the d200 in the window and I wanted to play with it

[Guroos]

Thank you Gstark, Sirhc55 and Jberth. It seems like some prefer grey and I can see the obvious advantage of Australian stock. What price difference would make the grey worthwhile, maybe $300?

Dstrom, I can attest that the old style camera stores encourage you to play with the D200, the newer stores are always asking if you are going to buy today. I find the very frustrating, I have resigned myself to the fact I am from a more civilised era.

[Geoff]

Guroos - I share your frustration with the ''are you looking at buying it today" line...grrr! I often reply with a ''there's a possibility of that yes", then leave it at that. Pushy salesman do exactly that, push me out the door!

[DStrom]

Dstrom, I can attest that the old style camera stores encourage you to play with the D200, the newer stores are always asking if you are going to buy today. I find the very frustrating, I have resigned myself to the fact I am from a more civilised era.

They let me play with it, but they were also hastling me to buy it!

[xorl]

Why are some 3fps and others 5fps, there is no film to drag through?

The shutter and mirror mechanisms need to be built better to support the faster shutter, fps and flash sync speeds you find on higher end cameras..

[DStrom]

Why are some 3fps and others 5fps, there is no film to drag through?

The shutter and mirror mechanisms need to be built better to support the faster shutter, fps and flash sync speeds you find on higher end cameras..

actually I thought this was more an issue of the data transfer, eg. the d200 and d2x have a 4 channel transfer while the d80 has 2.

[xorl]

I was mostly pointing out that even though there is no film there are still mechanical reasons why we can't simply increase the fps. Data transfer and chip design limitations another very important reason why fps specs change between cameras.

[gstark]

Justin,

They repair onsite,

Sorry to burst your bubble, but they do not. Maxwells use about three different external contractors, and their work is not done on site. Typically, stuff gets sent to their subbies every Tiiesday and Thursday.

If you have a problem with a camera, chances are that you can have it couriered to an overseas repair facility in less time than Maxwells will have taken to get it to their sub-contractor.

And if you want local work and are concerned about your warranty, look at the local aftermarket warranty (insurance) deals. You could still end up saving several hundred dollars anyway.

[jberth1]

Justin,

They repair onsite,

Sorry to burst your bubble, but they do not. Maxwells use about three different external contractors, and their work is not done on site. Typically, stuff gets sent to their subbies every Tiiesday and Thursday.

If you have a problem with a camera, chances are that you can have it couriered to an overseas repair facility in less time than Maxwells will have taken to get it to their sub-contractor.

And if you want local work and are concerned about your warranty, look at the local aftermarket warranty (insurance) deals. You could still end up saving several hundred dollars anyway.

Gary,

Wow - I didn't realise this was such a touchy subject !

I'm going by what Maxwells have told me, and by what I've experienced. I'm happy to share my experience with anyone. Considering the problems I've had, Maxwells have been more than accomodating.

Couriered overseas, repaired, and back in 6 days. I don't think so. Thats how long Maxwells took to replace the light measuring unit in my D70. A separate repair to replace the power dial was also similarly quick. Remember that I'm not selling anything here, so I don't have anything to gain by either putting someone down or elevating myself......

I paid AUD$1805 for my Aust warranty D70 kit in March 2004 - no-one could match that price at that time, and since I've had several repairs done at Nikon's and Maxwells expense - with no courier charges to myself and no need to buy additional warranties, I think buying locally has come out pretty well for me.

I still go by my word that anyone is better off buying lenses 'grey' though !

Cheers

Justin

[gstark]

I'm going by what Maxwells have told me,

I'm certainly not privvy to what they've told you, but I know what they told me, and that was, for both Leigh's and my cameras, when they were in getting fixed for BGLOD issues, they were "awaiting return from their external subcontractors"

And I've had this sort of story confirmed by at least three other independent sources, and the typical repair time at Maxwells is around 3 or 4 weeks.

I'm not for a moment suggesting that Maxwell's service is poor - that's not been my experience - I'm simply telling you what the situation really is.

Couriered overseas, repaired, and back in 6 days. I don't think so.

So, how long do you think it will take?

An air express satchell will have it anywhere in the world within 24 hours. Even if you decide to deliver it to Maxwell's yourself on a Friday, in the normal course of events it will sit there until they ship it to their subbie on Tuesday. By Tuesday, any Hong Kong or Singapore repairer will have the the job finished and on the way back to you, subject of course to parts availability.

And if you believe that Maxwells gets a higher priority on parts for the piddling little market that it represents here in Oz, think again. At the same time ask yourself why the worldwide price for the D200 has fallen through the floor, except for Maxwell stock.

I paid AUD$1805 for my Aust warranty D70 kit in March 2004 - no-one could match that price at that time, and since I've had several repairs done at Nikon's and Maxwells expense - with no courier charges to myself and no need to buy additional warranties, I think buying locally has come out pretty well for me.

Actually, you raise an entirely different question in my mind: You say you've had several repairs ... I would ask why "several repairs"? That, to me, is problematic in and of itself.

Are we looking at multiple faults? Were the original faults not correctly repaired? what is the background here?

My camera is of a similar age to yours, and was purchased for a similar price, but has only sufferred from one BGLOD issue. I consider the time taken for that repair, whilst ultimately satisfactory, was realistically too long.

[anubis]

At the same time ask yourself why the worldwide price for the D200 has fallen through the floor, except for Maxwell stock.

Interesting..... both Adorama, BHPhoto and other major online retailers have the D200 listed at USD 1699 same price they were listed at since inception?

[gstark]

The body only price out of HK is around Au$2K and has been for over a month.

[Guroos]

Sorry for asking more questions, it seems that grey is ok, as long as one is getting the camera cheap enough to cover any potential liability. What would be a cheap enough margin to make it worthwhile? $2200 or $2100 compared to $2600 local stock?

Thanks in advance for any responses


Neil

[Justin]

You can purchase local warranty I believe for a few hundred dollars - so I guess the cost of grey camera + 3rd party warranty vs. local supplier would be your analysis.