HDEW CAMERAS anyone used them?

Teecee said:
I had a problem with a costly L series lens ie stopped auto focussing after 6 months, rang hdew and they told me to post it to their repairer, i did and got the lens back in perfect working order a week or so later a very helpful lady on the phone at hdew sorted it all out for me. Would use them again anytime. (y)
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Cool. Hope the great work continues. I bought my 7D from them.
 
Well bit the bullet today and ordered a Canon 60d with the two kit lens. £625 with shipping which seemed reasonable considering other prices around, some were cheaper with less reviews and not 3 years warranty.

Will let everyone know the outcome and speed of delivery etc as the the lady i spoke to said they didn't have anything in stock but ordered everything in once an order has been placed.
 
I've had a 50mm f/1.2 and a 24-70II from them - in both cases I collected.
 
Iv just recived a lens from hdew the quick servis and being able to have a chat with them made everything go super smooth .
I will use them again thats for sure.

Rob.
 
i have had all my camera gear from HDEW

2 cameras 3 lens all delivered with in five days

recieved a vat reciept with them all after asking

as the lens where L one they have world wide warranty

and the cameras are covered for the first year by canon uk
and two years by HDEW

would highly recommend them

alan
 
After much searching and swithering, finally ordered a 24-70 for a good price with a wee discount on a uv filter thrown in (no extra charge for credit card)
Very nice and professional chat on phone, with a delivery date of Monday as they have them in stock and have asked for a vat receipt
So far so good
Watch this space
 
Well, I'm still stuck in waiting on my 24-70, which was due to be delivered before noon
So far, so not so good
 
The "variety of couriers" they describe using include a few of the usual dodgy ones. Personally, I've never had anything delivered when its supposed to be expedited before midday stuff by anyone other than Royal Mail...
 
fred_bt said:
The "variety of couriers" they describe using include a few of the usual dodgy ones. Personally, I've never had anything delivered when its supposed to be expedited before midday stuff by anyone other than Royal Mail...
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Can't say I'm happy about it as I've arranged my day around their delivery time, but I'm getting my uv filter refunded as a gesture of apology
Was looking forward to using my new toy, but as it stands, I cant even get out with my own kit :bang:
 
Well the lens just arrived
NO vat receipt, which I asked for
NO uv filter, which they didn't mention when I phoned to ask about late delivery
Not much interest from the fella on the phone who says uv filter will arrive tomorrow, so in the meantime, I'll be scared to use the bloody thing

Lens looks the dogs danglies and arrived well packaged , and the driver explained he had a puncture
It's just annoying having to deal with the minor hassles involved with this transaction, so I cant say I've helped or hindered this thread, as I don't know if I'd use them again
Will see when filter and receipt show up
 
BruceMo said:
Well the lens just arrived
NO vat receipt, which I asked for
NO uv filter, which they didn't mention when I phoned to ask about late delivery
Not much interest from the fella on the phone who says uv filter will arrive tomorrow, so in the meantime, I'll be scared to use the bloody thing

Lens looks the dogs danglies and arrived well packaged , and the driver explained he had a puncture
It's just annoying having to deal with the minor hassles involved with this transaction, so I cant say I've helped or hindered this thread, as I don't know if I'd use them again
Will see when filter and receipt show up
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That's a pain that you've not had a good experience, I'm still deciding if I will use them or not.

Curious why you can't use the lens though, I would be out, playing and having fun.
 
After a day playing with lens and having a look at the results, I completely forgive my minor hassles, as the end result is fantastic
And they emailed me a VAT receipt, so all that's delayed is my uv filter, and I wont be taking the lens off for a while, so the one I borrowed off the 80-200 will do fine for now
I almost feel guilty for my whinging now :LOL:
Thought I better share some positives (y)
 
BruceMo said:
After a day playing with lens and having a look at the results, I completely forgive my minor hassles, as the end result is fantastic
And they emailed me a VAT receipt, so all that's delayed is my uv filter, and I wont be taking the lens off for a while, so the one I borrowed off the 80-200 will do fine for now
I almost feel guilty for my whinging now :LOL:
Thought I better share some positives (y)
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Compare the sharpness of your lens with and without the filter, and you'll end up not bothering (suprising how much it degrades even with very expensive filter - you're putting a £25 bit of glass in front of a lens which costs £1400...
 
Matholwch said:
Compare the sharpness of your lens with and without the filter, and you'll end up not bothering (suprising how much it degrades even with very expensive filter - you're putting a £25 bit of glass in front of a lens which costs £1400...
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You may well be spot on, but I somehow managed to graze a 70-300 lens glass while in the woods
I can live with marginal drop in quality with a filter for protection, wouldn't be happy if I damaged the new darling of my fleet (y)
 
BruceMo said:
You may well be spot on, but I somehow managed to graze a 70-300 lens glass while in the woods
I can live with marginal drop in quality with a filter for protection, wouldn't be happy if I damaged the new darling of my fleet (y)
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Ouch :( sorry to hear, I can understand then.
Its the reason I have my lens hoods constantly on (I get some funny looks when attaching indoors). I thought I had a bad copy of a 17-40 f4, until someone suggested that I remove the filter (Hoya Pro 1 77mm), went from soft to crisp sharp lens :D
 
Matholwch said:
Ouch :( sorry to hear, I can understand then.
Its the reason I have my lens hoods constantly on (I get some funny looks when attaching indoors). I thought I had a bad copy of a 17-40 f4, until someone suggested that I remove the filter (Hoya Pro 1 77mm), went from soft to crisp sharp lens :D
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Could it have been a knock-off filter?
 
And just a final update
My uv filter arrived today, well packaged
Yes I would buy from them again
 
Matholwch said:
Ouch :( sorry to hear, I can understand then.
Its the reason I have my lens hoods constantly on (I get some funny looks when attaching indoors). I thought I had a bad copy of a 17-40 f4, until someone suggested that I remove the filter (Hoya Pro 1 77mm), went from soft to crisp sharp lens :D
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I might try it without a filter, but not for any length of time. Too dodgy for me (y)
It will be interesting to see if theres any difference
 
Matholwch said:
Don't think it was. :shrug:

Keep us posted on the comparison (y)
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Only I bought one off eBay that was allegedly a pro filter, but turned out to be a cheap copy.

There will be some degradation with a filter, but it should be negligible with decent one.

The most obvious filter effect I noticed was that on the Canon 400mm f/5.6 a cheap filter slaughtered the bokeh for some reason!

Phil
 
garypm said:
Just got e-mail back here is what they have to say

it makes me laugh when people go on about so called grey imports , as no camera compeny to the best of my knowledge manufacture in the uk, all cameras are imports , it is just that canon and nikon stick a uk warranty with it and now it isnt an import, CON!!
Our cameras come from the canon and nikon in the far east so they are uk spec cameras the only differnce is if the camera goes faulty we have to have it back and we get canon or nikon to repair it.

regards
Steve
HDEW

I take it they are imports then.
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So here we are in July 2013 and having just received my canon 5d mk3 from hdew I can tell you not only are they still trading but the service I received surpasses any store I have ever purchased from. in fact I originally purchased a canon 6d and after changing my mind they exchanged it to the 5d with no problem at all.
I find it sad how people have been conditioned to defend the extortionate taxation system we are subject to in the UK. It is laughable that somehow the term grey import is used to imply that the items are somehow inferior. As the reply email says every camera in the UK is an import and to the poster who says "it makes me laugh that a seller does not know what a grey import is" please enlighten us. I have my own business and i have a vat receipt for my purchase, the end. It's fine if you wish to continue thinking your some how morally righteous by by purchasing goods which are upto a third more expensive because of uk taxation but to somehow claim the more affordable items are inferior is frankly just silly. I wait for the day when someone opens a grey market petrol station selling petrol at its real price I wonder how many would ignore that . In conclusion HDEW are the future as far as I'm concerned highly recommended.
 
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Another happy customer here, bought my d7000 from them last year. Came with a 3 year warranty, price was great as was the service. Will definitely use them again.
 
Just bought my 6D from them. Only gripe is paying £1600 and having to wait a week for delivery, but at the end of the day it saved me hundreds off the uk price. All in all, very happy.
 
Has anyone tried to register a hdew supplied body with canon cps?
 
Iirc lenses have a world wide warranty though, bodies are region specific.
 
I've not read all 10 pages so apologies for that but I bought a canon 6d and 24-105 L lens from HDEW a few months ago. Camera body has a 3 year warranty (1st year standard international canon warranty, other 2 with them. The lens just 1 year) Works fine but unfortunately has a sticky shutter. Got in touch Hdew's customer servive via email and was given an address to send it to for repairs. Can't say fairer than that. Just need to get it sent off. Only grey importers I'd use
 
Thinking of buying a nikon 300mm f4 from them price is very good, I notice you all are talking about cannon. I have a nikon D3100 ..

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