Grey imports

[tangerine_sedge]

All,

I'm in a position to upgrade some of my aging kit, and starting to price up options online. I've always erred on the side of caution, and preferred to buy UK kit, locally if possible, but the savings can't be ignored, i.e. ~ £1k on the body alone...

I'm cautious of just following online reviews, and trust the combined experience and wisdom of PH! Can anyone recommend suppliers, and/or indicate what to look out for?

Also, any advice on selling on my old kit? Hassle free to a local camera shop, or potentially better prices and hassle on ebay?

Thanks in advance!

[Turn7]

My D500 came from Panamoz, no issues at all.

They see, generally well regarded and Ive not heard of anyone having any real issues.

[C&C]

I've bought a few things from HDEW with absolutely no issues.

Canon 5D mark3 body
Canon 100mm f2.8 L macro

They are UK based, offer their own warranty, and actually have a physical shop in south east London.

Not heard any bad things about them from photo forums etc..

[DibblyDobbler]

Panamoz sent me a slightly wrong spec on a camera body a while back and I got it changed no bother for the correct one so I would not hesitate to use again.

[Simes205]

[quote=C&C]I've bought a few things from HDEW with absolutely no issues.

Canon 5D mark3 body
Canon 100mm f2.8 L macro

They are UK based, offer their own warranty, and actually have a physical shop in south east London.

Not heard any bad things about them from photo forums etc..

[/quote]

My 7dmk2 and a few high end lenses came from them, good to deal with.

[Vintage Racer]

+1 for HDEW, although sadly, they can no longer supply Nikon

Bought my D500 and many lenses from them and received great service and communication.




https://imageweaver.blogspot.com

[tangerine_sedge]

Thanks all I'm hearing good things about Hdew, so will probably use them, just got to wait for my bonus to hit the bank account!

[R1 Dave]

I bought a D500 from E Infiniti, no bother at all. I also bought a lens for my Sony A7iii from there. When it turned up I wasn't happy with it and they took it back without issue.

[Coolbanana]

I've used HDEW too, good, no complaints. Also eGlobalcentral.


Canon 5D MkIV
Canon 7D Mk II
Canon 100-400 MkII
Sony RX100 VI
GoPro Hero 7

No issues whatsoever.

Edited by Coolbanana on Monday 25th February 08:19

Edited by Coolbanana on Monday 25th February 08:19

[steveatesh]

I've bought from HDEW before no issues, my friend also used then for a D750 which now needs warranty work. They authorised it no problem.

I've also bought 3 lenses from Progadget KCS on eBay, I was worried at first but the savings on three Sony GM lens were significant, no problems and excellent service too.

[Craikeybaby]

In the past I have had trouble trading in lenses that weren't UK supplied.

My advice would always be to go to your local camera shop and do a deal PXing your old kit. It may not be the most cost effective but it is by far the least hassle.

[spangle82]

tangerine_sedge said:

Thanks all I'm hearing good things about Hdew, so will probably use them, just got to wait for my bonus to hit the bank account!

Another vote for HDEW. Not only saved about £500 on my camera but you even can ring them up and talk to them!

[Tony1963]

My advice to the OP would be, whichever way you go, to buy the gear you really want. So if, for example, that's a 5D4, 16-35 and 70-200, just do it. You'll be enjoying good gear, and if you do it right you won't have to worry about PXing imported lenses because you won't be doing that: you'll be using them for photography. On the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS III, you'd save around £650, and you'd never recoup that at PX time with the Canon UK supplied item anyway.

In 2008 I bought a MKI of that lens for £900 as an import instead of maybe £1500. It's not worth much less than that £900 now, and the Canon UK item might fetch £100 more at a guess?

[tangerine_sedge]

Tony1963 said:

My advice to the OP would be, whichever way you go, to buy the gear you really want. So if, for example, that's a 5D4, 16-35 and 70-200, just do it. You'll be enjoying good gear, and if you do it right you won't have to worry about PXing imported lenses because you won't be doing that: you'll be using them for photography. On the 70-200mm f/2.8 IS III, you'd save around £650, and you'd never recoup that at PX time with the Canon UK supplied item anyway.

In 2008 I bought a MKI of that lens for £900 as an import instead of maybe £1500. It's not worth much less than that £900 now, and the Canon UK item might fetch £100 more at a guess?

I dont tend to sell my old lenses, I'm still using a nifty fifty mk1 as my go to lens although I might sell it if I replace it with a new f1.2 50mm ...