Hdew Cameras

[Mike Farley]

The Tamron 70-200 lens recommended to Rose is £1099 on wex photo in the UK, it's £809 on onestop.

..... and £688 at grey importer Panamoz. Even less if you forego credit card protection and pay the money directly into their bank account.

http://panamoz.com/index.php/lens/tamro ... -lens.html

Pity it is not currently in stock.

[davidc]

Can't imagine why anyone would pay the outrageous UK prices now.

[Mike Farley]

If the items arrive and are assessed as needing to have tax paid you do so then email them the receipt and they refund the money. This happened to me, I did as required and I received the refund from them. So I've paid the VAT charge as required by customs & got it refunded.

Did Onestop quote the correct value for the goods on the customs docket? It seems as though Panamoz runs a similar refund scheme, but one or two reports have suggested that the company has made an incorrect declaration to reduce tax and duty.

This does matter. The customer is the importer, whom HMRC can hold criminally liable if it discovers the goods are not correctly declared. Presumably this is on the basis that someone in the UK is far easier to get hold of, even if they have no responsibility for the supplier's actions.

[Rose]

Don't tempt me... LOL ! Just back from my latest assignment photographing a reception hosted by the Cabinet Secretary in Admiralty House. The 24-105 was fine, no need for a longer lens tonight but ended up using flash, couldn't help thinking it would have been better without. Wonder if I can hire a 6D to try it out ?

[Mike Farley]

Would having a f/2.8 lens have meant that you could have avoided using flash?

If you go for a faster lens, you will have reduced depth of field wide open and there will be a size and weight penalty. If you find that you do not need to isolate subjects and are mainly stopping down, you might find that you prefer to carry a lighter lens with a smaller maximum aperture at events. Lugging around two cameras complete with lenses is going to get tiring.

Something along the lines of this Black Rapid strap might be an advantage, as both cameras will be securely held and the weight will be distributed evenly. You will definitely not want to have both around your neck, far too heavy and they will bang into each other, nor have them slipping off your shoulders, especially at inopportune moments when you are trying to get a shot.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Black-Rapid-RS- ... dual+strap

[GrahamL]

Hi Mike, just noticed this thread.

I don't know if this is of help but I bought a Tokina lens and a Nikon flash from HDEW last month. Had no problems, they are imports and I had to wait a few days to get them, but delivery and shipment condition was good. You can also pick up directly from their offices near Wallington if preferred. I understand they only supply a VATable invoice paid if specifically requested at purchase. But my own experience is that they are quite happy to e-mail one to you later when you realise you're not getting one. Their default documentation is a weak point.

Prices seemed good for the items I bought, but as pointed out there's quite a few other internet-importers out there. I went for them as I liked the idea of a local presence that I could directly moan at should that have been needed, the thread chat of folk who'd bought from them gave reasonable commentary too. I'm not too sure on the manufacturers Europe/world guarantee service side, suspect that aspect varies.

Hope useful.

Graham

[Mike Farley]

Hi Mike, just noticed this thread.

I don't know if this is of help but I bought a Tokina lens and a Nikon flash from HDEW last month. Had no problems, they are imports and I had to wait a few days to get them, but delivery and shipment condition was good. You can also pick up directly from their offices near Wallington if preferred. I understand they only supply a VATable invoice paid if specifically requested at purchase. But my own experience is that they are quite happy to e-mail one to you later when you realise you're not getting one. Their default documentation is a weak point.

Prices seemed good for the items I bought, but as pointed out there's quite a few other internet-importers out there. I went for them as I liked the idea of a local presence that I could directly moan at should that have been needed, the thread chat of folk who'd bought from them gave reasonable commentary too. I'm not too sure on the manufacturers Europe/world guarantee service side, suspect that aspect varies.

Hope useful.

Graham

Thanks, Graham, it is indeed useful feedback. Hdew differs from some other importers in offering a VAT receipt, which is reassuring. I have a suspicion, not yet proved either way, that some of these non official importers keep prices low (and their profits up?) by not making a proper customs declaration. If the package is addressed to the purchaser, that makes them the importer in the eyes of HMRC and responsible for the action of the supplier. Such transactions also tend to be conducted under the laws of another country, which can make redress more difficult in the event of non cooperation by the supplier should there be problems. As you say, Hdew being based locally is another advantage.

Sometimes prices of so called "grey imports" do not differ much from the official channels and can even be more expensive, but it is good to know that viable alternative sources exist. If manufacturers are content to offer their products at substantially different prices in different locations throughout the world, there is no reason for consumers to abide by that. Warranty is a concern, but Hdew at least appears to have that addressed.

[Tina]

A professional photographer from Dorset recommended Hdew Cameras to my husband who wanted to buy me a wide angle lens for my birthday. We ordered it last Monday and collected it yesterday from their office near Carshalton. We requested a VAT receipt which we were given. All seems well and we saved about £300. It apparently has a 1 year guarantee. They were very pleasant and seemed efficient and there appeared to be lots of Canon boxes around. Hopefully I won't have any problems.
Have a good summer everyone and see you in September.
Tina

[davidc]

As an interesting aside, if anyone fancied a photography trip to Singapore, the prices for camera equipment here are, on average, about 2/3 that of the UK and to some extent you can negotiate even better prices. The Sigma 50mm Art lens is 850-900 GBP for instance but over here it's $1000 which is just about 500GBP - cheaper even than hong kong!

So if you want to come photograph the city the could end up saving money in the long haul

[Mike Farley]

As an interesting aside, if anyone fancied a photography trip to Singapore, the prices for camera equipment here are, on average, about 2/3 that of the UK and to some extent you can negotiate even better prices. The Sigma 50mm Art lens is 850-900 GBP for instance but over here it's $1000 which is just about 500GBP - cheaper even than hong kong!

So if you want to come photograph the city the could end up saving money in the long haul

Thanks, Dave. It certainly puts an interesting perspective on how much we are paying for gear in the UK. One of the reasons that prices are higher here is due to import duty and VAT. Lenses attract import duty of 6.7% and VAT at 20% is added on top of that. These taxes are not applied just to the cost of the lens, but any delivery and insurance costs as well if a third party is involved in the transportation of the goods. The position with cameras is slightly better as only VAT is levied, but not import duty for reasons which escape me.

Taking the example of a £500 Sigma 50 Art lens, import duty would be £33-50, making a total of £533-50 on which VAT of £106-70 would be applied bringing the overall cost to £640-20. According to Camera Price Buster, the best UK price for the Sigma 50 art lens is currently £695, so while there is a saving, it is not as great as first appears. This assumes that anyone bringing camera equipment into the UK declares it at Customs on arrival. There is an obvious incentive not to do so, but anyone caught bringing undeclared goods into the country might be subject to additional sanctions which can include confiscation and/or criminal prosecution.

So will Dave be subject to taxes on his stash of gear bought in Singapore on his eventual return to live in the UK? No, as he his permanent address has been outside of the UK as opposed to taking a vacation and he has been using the equipment while living in Singapore. That remains the case even if he returns here on holiday as he is not a UK resident, so the same rules apply as for anyone else who is visiting the country and taking their camera gear with them when they leave.

One thing which I have not considered here is warranty. If anything has to be returned to where it was purchased for repair, any savings made could easily be negated.