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Gandhi

Gandhi

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I know many of you have ordered stuff from them in the past, but I wanted to know was (and yes I did search the forum first) is....

Did you get hit for VAT and cutoms duty when it was delivered? I know that they'll refund it but I'd rather not have to go through all that hassle.


BTW just ordered a new camera...... Xmas pressie from kell....Panasonic FZ30

Dslr was a bit out of the budget range and I'm lazy these days so don't want to be carting around 2 or 3 lenses plus extra gear.

Not only that, to get that quality of lens and IS on a dslr I'd be spending a couple of grand. I know noise is an issue but for the stuff I shoot it wont really be much of an issue.

Roll on Delivery day when I can throw off the shackles of the compact!
 
No import duty or VAT. They marked my 50mm as damaged / repaired lens on the outside of package...good way to get around customs. Reminds me of a person I knew who imported s/h motorbikes from states....he used to dump the seat & class it as scrap to get around duty / tax. Heard of someone else who used to import cars / trucks from Japan & took heads off engines for same effect . Amazingly enough the heads turned up in another cars boot :eek:fftopic:
 
Not from personal experiance but from reading many posts not many have been hit buy customs so I guess you will be unlucky if you get caught. On saying that I have read that they (One stop) are very quick at sorting out the claim if you are unlucky.
 
Nope, but it depends on the method of delivery they use, which is dependant on the cost.

I think under £150 its standard mail, (not likely to be 'sprung' but takes a few weeks to arrive).
£150-£250 it's reg'd airmail (about a week, and not as likely to ne 'sprung').
£250+ courier only (and likely to be caught I think).

Check the postage section on their website for the exact amounts and clarification. :)
 
my new cam is coming FEDEX as it was over £350, but having said that, my LOMO fisheye came from Vienna by UPS and the taxman never got his mitts on that one!
 
In maybe 15 import purchases (never used one stop d.) I have been stung only once.

I've had stuff from Australia, HK, Taiwan and mainland China all with no charges. It was my first ever purchase from USA where I got stung £4.50 vat plus £10 post office 'fee' :annoyed: . Other stuff from USA has been OK.
 
Companies like Fedex, UPS and DHL will charge you the import duty/vat directly. It sometimes takes a month or two for the invoice to arrive from them.

With regsrds your FZ30 gandhi I don't theink there is actually any import duty on digital cameras even now, vat yes, import duty no.
 
I just ordered a battery grip and a filter from OneStop-Digital at the start of the week, at a total of £110 or so, posted with "Hongkong Post". It's my first time using them aswell so I'll let you know if I get charged.

I'm not that worried to be honest, they're apparently very good at refunding any extra charges, dosn't sound like that much trouble.
 
b********d customs have decided to open my package!

Fedex were suppose to deliver today but when I phoned them to confirm the delivery time I was informed that my package was still was customs. I'm angry like a tiger! grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr. gotta wait til monday now!
 
Nice camera gandhi. There's plenty of freebie noise reductiion software available for the odd low light shots you might want to take. ;)
 
CT said:
Nice camera gandhi. There's plenty of freebie noise reductiion software available for the odd low light shots you might want to take. ;)
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*rises to the bait*

Yeah, I've read the reviews too. I think the noise issue is greatly over-emphasised. why did digital camera magazine just give it 91% and rate it comparable to the D50 on noise eh? eh? eh? and above on all other factors such as colour accuracy, exposure, sharpness et al.

I think, cos of the success of the FZ20, the leica lens, IS etc. everybody was expecting to have a camera that was a Dslr beater in a prosumer body. What they fail to realise is that all design and engineering (sp?) is about compromises and trade-off's. I get a 420mm image stabilised lens that will give me a good 2 stop advantage over a Dslr with a kit lens for £368. Ok, so it has noise in low light, but that is easily dealt with. either with NR software or simply exposing the raw image correctly so as not to produce excessive noise in the first place. i.e. keep the exposure's short as poss and recover the shadow detail PP ( I may have that the wrong way round BTW, too much wine again)

Only reason I chose this camera was a) lens b) can't be arsed carrying around loads of lenses. I've been doing that since I was 14 and it's too much hassle these days.

anyway. enough of justifying the purchase to myself!

The proof will be in the pudding.

and trust me my friend, you WILL be eating it!


BIG :) AND ;)

Peace
 
gandhi said:
*rises to the bait*

why did digital camera magazine just give it 91% and rate it comparable to the D50 on noise eh? eh? eh?
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Panasonic probably stumped up for some major advertising ;)
 
^^true^^

same reason they panned the fuji 9500?

I would like to think, in my naive, everybody's good at heart, kind of way that this wasn't the case.

Good job I've had a play and I know they're right, eh? ;)
 
I dont see any problem - he undertsands the shortcomings of the device and will work with or around them as necessary, while using the pros in situations that would make it awkward to have a dSLR type camera with you.

One thing I do hate about having a dSLR and my modest amount of accessories is something you can just sling in the top of a backpack or a large pocket:)
Thats why I still try to take my trusty if crappy Sony P&S when I dont take my 350D.
 
Warspite said:
I dont see any problem - he undertsands the shortcomings of the device and will work with or around them as necessary, while using the pros in situations that would make it awkward to have a dSLR type camera with you.

One thing I do hate about having a dSLR and my modest amount of accessories is (not having)something you can just sling in the top of a backpack or a large pocket:)
Thats why I still try to take my trusty if crappy Sony P&S when I dont take my 350D.
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You must have pockets like a clown dude!

I however, will have a leica IS 36-420mm zoom. How much would that be in L glass terms? LOL

(miss a couple of words out somewhere? eh? eh?)
 
There was never any bait to rise too. The post was my response to this bit of your first post...

gandhi said:
I know noise is an issue but for the stuff I shoot it wont really be much of an issue.
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Don't be such a defensive git - I actually meant... Nice camera! I use a Panasonic DMC-FX9 now and again and it's the nuts.
 
ah, sorry, mucho apologias. :somesortofhandsclaspedsmiley:

my bad for being lazy and not reading my own previous post properly! amusing though n'est pa?

I'm just a bit vexed at the mo cos I don't have my toy to play with tonight. :annoyed: :censored: :annoyed:
 
No probs - perils of this peculiar form of communication. :)
 
Well my battery grip and filter arrived today... customs free :woot:

They had marked the package as a gift and (by the looks of it, dodgy handwriting) a lower value, which explains why it got through.

So all in all, pretty good service from OneStop-Digital and I'd use them again... but that's mostly because many have reported they're good at refunding any charges you might get lumbered with.
 
bloomin Fedex don't deliver saturdays so I've got to wait til monday!!!!!!!!

oh well. c'est la vie, no point in gettin stressed about it :FUME:
 
tough break Ghandi, but im sure you will survive.

the camera magazine 'comparisons' are quite an eye opener at the moment!
 
the guy I usually use goes by the name of Kerso or Flash Camera. He has a base in the US and one in Scotland so there's no risk of duties. Paid £20 more than one stop for my 100-400 but it included a hama UV so much the same overall.
 
Cheers dod, added him to my favourites, pity he only sells Canon gear though.
 
Steep said:
Cheers dod, added him to my favourites, pity he only sells Canon gear though.
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He'll do sigma as well, not really too competitive though.
 
dod said:
He'll do sigma as well, not really too competitive though.
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Your right there, he's alot more competitive with his Canon gear...

...one more good point is that he offers a 1 year international warranty on all his Canon gear, something that Onestop-Digital etc. don't allways have on their Canon gear.
 
All canon gear barring actual cameras come with international warranties.
 
I thought flashguns did but maybe I'm wrong.
 
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