Finally, cheap cameras in Australian shops

[scottsdaleriots]

digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au Good or bad? They seem ok but I'm still a bit suss

 

[PeterJ]

digitalcamerawarehouse.com.au Good or bad? They seem ok but I'm still a bit suss

The only thing I've ordered from them was an off-camera flash cable. Their web page at the time didn't give an indication of stock levels but I wasn't in a rush so went ahead and placed the order without calling. It's going back a while but someone called within a day or so to say it was back ordered and would be 7-10 days, then got another call about 3 weeks later to apologise and say it was getting close and it turned up a week or so after that.

Anyway I wouldn't be too critical of them, it may have been an unusual supplier problem and they didn't bill my card until they sent it but it did make me wonder how much stock they really carry as they don't show it on their pages. They seem legimate enough but in the future I'd call to see if they really have any stock and where it's coming from.

 

[niccyboy]

I don't like them but it's because I ordered off their site, and they wanted me to documents like a bank statement to verify my credit card?!

If you are having fraud probelms, get 'verified by visa'. One of my companies builds at least one or two of these sites weekly, that all manage to have fraud protection in their payment gateways.... It's not difficult. I do not trust sending a bank statement to a random company so i cancelled the order.

I was purchasing 2 tripods for a job that i needed asap, and wasn't keen on their 'alternative'... a direct debit deposit.

They were polite and understanding though, and i've had friends who have done phone orders without a problem.

Even though i cancelled it, they still send a stupid amount of spam! haha.

They do have some bargains too!

 

[scottsdaleriots]

I don't like them but it's because I ordered off their site, and they wanted me to documents like a bank statement to verify my credit card?!

If you are having fraud probelms, get 'verified by visa'. One of my companies builds at least one or two of these sites weekly, that all manage to have fraud protection in their payment gateways.... It's not difficult. I do not trust sending a bank statement to a random company so i cancelled the order.

I was purchasing 2 tripods for a job that i needed asap, and wasn't keen on their 'alternative'... a direct debit deposit.

They were polite and understanding though, and i've had friends who have done phone orders without a problem.

Even though i cancelled it, they still send a stupid amount of spam! haha.

They do have some bargains too!

Would you recommend/buy from then again?

Anyone have experience from camerasdirect.com.au? I was going to buy my 70-200mm 2.8 IS II from them 12 months ago til I realised they sell grey imports (the whole canon australia warranty not honouring overseas/grey imports) and I think they're a family business as in they operate outta a house? Bad assumption, but I entered the address on their website (they might've changed address by now) and it was a residential building. Which lead me to believe they just buy grey imports from overseas and sell them here.

Lastly can someone come up with a theory on how a store/company (e.g. B&H) can sell the canon 50mm 1.4 lens at a higher price than the sigma 50mm 1.4 lens? Then here at camera house (city) they sell the sigma cheaper than the canon one. How is that possible? ???

 

[PeterJ]

Anyone have experience from camerasdirect.com.au? I was going to buy my 70-200mm 2.8 IS II from them 12 months ago til I realised they sell grey imports (the whole canon australia warranty not honouring overseas/grey imports) and I think they're a family business as in they operate outta a house? Bad assumption, but I entered the address on their website (they might've changed address by now) and it was a residential building. Which lead me to believe they just buy grey imports from overseas and sell them here.

I can comment on Cameras Direct, just ordered a 5D from them today in fact ;D. I've probably placed about 8-10 orders with them, when things show in stock they always have been and arrive in 1-2 days. I live near Hobart so QLD -> Hobart overnight is a bit 50/50 with the courier but they've always sent in stock items the same day as I ordered as long as it was early in the day. Only non-stock item I've ordered was a tripod plate and the 7-10 days delivery shown turned out to be correct.

Labrador is a fair bit out of Brisbane but looking at Google Earth the exact address looks to be part of a large warehouse complex and I've spoken with a few of them so no reason to think it's a backyard operation. They do sell grey imports however, I've never had a reason to use it but part of their warranty is paying for freight each way last time I checked. Anyway for me I've bought a 7D, 3 L lenses (including 7-200 2.8 IS II), 580EX II, cards, tripod and heads, cleaning bits and various other odds and ends and never had a problem.

 

[Hillsilly]

I've also bought a number of items from CamerasDirect. I've never had any problems and think they are great. They're located in a comercial section of Labrador, which is a suburb on the Gold Coast. Their office isn't flash. but very business-like (one of the reasons they can keep costs down). The service is always fast and professional and they carry a lot of stock in their warehouse. Its not just an online shop. They're open to the public and you can always go there to pick the item up.

Being in Brisbane, I find them very handy. Just a quick trip down the freeway.

However it is grey market and for a lot of this year, there prices crept up a bit and they weren't that much cheaper than shops selling "Australian" stock. But they've sharpened up their pricing recently and are running a 5% disount right now. I ordered a new lens from them on Monday and hopefully will find time to pick it up tomorrow!

 

[wickidwombat]

FYI if you get from ozdigital online (ebay seller) and need to return something the return address is in NSW not in hong kong, this makes it considerably cheaper if you do have a problem their prices are a little more than most other ebay sellers but still have great service, I have bought quite a bit of stuff from them and from digital rev both gave excellent service. (digital rev you have to return the item to hong kong though which can get expensive)

 

[scottsdaleriots]

has anyone here tried buying lenses/bodies from jb? i am considering getting the 1.4 nifty-fifty. Im just afraid that i'll get busted by customs since its a grey import. i cant remember what it said in jb's T&C/policy but if you get busted you get fined or something.


btw ted's 'live chat' isnt helpful, i spoke to a guy called "matthew" (doubt its his real name) and only asked 2 qusestions before he closed the chat, WTF?

 

[AG]

has anyone here tried buying lenses/bodies from jb? i am considering getting the 1.4 nifty-fifty. Im just afraid that i'll get busted by customs since its a grey import. i cant remember what it said in jb's T&C/policy but if you get busted you get fined or something.


btw ted's 'live chat' isnt helpful, i spoke to a guy called "matthew" (doubt its his real name) and only asked 2 qusestions before he closed the chat, WTF?

Just buy one from DWI or eGlobal or similar.

The 50mm 1.4 is under $1000 so you won't get slugged the tax like you would the 1.2 and you also will find that its a lot cheaper than both JB and TEDs.

 

[scottsdaleriots]

I prefer free shipping but i know that's not always the case. Have you ever bought from DWI or eglobal before? One thing that annoys me a bit is that they (DWI, camera paradise, other HK/china online stores, etc) don't accept debit cards yet they accept credit. Seriously why not accept debit?? You're losing customers and you get the money instantly instead of waiting a few weeks from the credit card payment option. Anyway I'd rather not use direct deposit or paypal.

This is why i pay ridiculous amounts of money for shipping fees when i buy stuff from amazon and B&H

 

[AG]

Here you go...

http://www.eglobaldigitalcameras.com.au/canon-ef-50mm-f1.4-usm-lenses-interchangeable.html

They do visa, mastercard, paypal, bank deposit. etc etc.

Used them before arrived within 2 days.

 

[scottsdaleriots]

There are like a million of these online HK/china-based sellers - how do you suss out the 'good' and reputable ones from the bad scammers greedy types?

 

[wickidwombat]

There are like a million of these online HK/china-based sellers - how do you suss out the 'good' and reputable ones from the bad scammers greedy types?

method 1 do exactly what you are doing now research and ask people
method 2 email them and talk to them about stuff see how they communicate

the 2 i've sent stuff back 2 are oz digital online and digital rev both were awesome
oz digital let me send a tamron lens back purely based on the fact i hated it and it was rubbish not that it didnt work or anything, they gave me a credit which i sed towards a canon lens. their return address is in NSW
digital rev i accidentally ordered a nikkor 50mm D lens instead of a G lens they had already shipped it when i realised they called the courier had it returned before it got to me and sent me out the G of course i had to pay the difference but excellent service from either of those 2

 

[scottsdaleriots]

There are so many online stores, i feel that maybe its worth pay the extra $200 or whatever locally just for peace of mind that you're getting an oz warranty. and those scammers/bad experiences that i've heard/read from people does deter me quite a bit from buying a grey import lens.

 

[wickidwombat]

thats why I use paypal over ebay, because you are also covered by ebay if you get scammed (only if you pay using paypal though. why wont you use paypal?

 

[scottsdaleriots]

The first and last time i used paypal was in 2009, i had a really, really horrible experience. Never used it since. Never bought anything on ebay before, family relatives and friends have used it though. i prefer debit to credit card.