Canon DSLR - too good to be true ??

[Skipper Billy]

Anyone got first hand experience of buying gear from British Deals - a virtual shop on fleebay ?? I am in the market for a Canon 70D and the cheapest I have found with the 18 - 135 IS STM lens was £951 at Jessops - then I found the same item at BritishDeals for £760 !! They claim its UK stock with a UK warranty. Following the maxim 'if it sounds too good to be true it probably is' explains why I am asking for first hand real world experience!! Its item no 131506217089 if you want to have a look. Thanks in advance.

PS - It isn't for astro imaging - I have had my little 1100D modified for that - this is for daylight photography!

[Steve Ward]

Looks iffy to me , OP bodies only are £695 at Wex who are usually very good on price and their new kit price is £951 too.

I'd stick with a known , reputable , reliable ,  contactable in the flesh outlet were it my decision ... 

[astrofox]

Well I think you said it  'if it sounds too good to be true it probably is'  and on fleabay run the maxim 10 times then reject it.

[Cornelius Varley]

"British Deals" are definitely not British. Their contact details show that they are based in New York and the "store" is a post office box.

[Skipper Billy]

Phew - thanks guys !!!!

[JamesF]

If you look at the feedback the last one they sold has the comment "So far so good, although camera is import and was not mentioned in description" and there are plenty of other comments in the feedback suggesting that a number of the items they sell are not genuine UK models, so probably very sensible to avoid them.

James

[Skipper Billy]

What's the general feeling about 'grey imports' - after all the majority of stuff we buy is imported from either China or Japan. Is it purely a warranty issue ???

[JamesF]

My understanding is that Canon are not very helpful when it comes to warranty issues with grey imports.  Mechanically I'd not have any real worries about the camera any more than I would a genuine European model, but if there did turn out to be a problem I'd not want to have to fight them to get a repair done.

James

[strutsinaction]

If you are not too concerned about buying a 'grey import' then take a look at DigitalRev (http://www.digitalrev.com/). I think they offer a UK Warranty. The camera body + lens you mentioned is available for £818 + free delivery. Online reviews seem fine but obviously do your own due diligence.

Regards

John

[Tinker1947]

i have had a few bits from these people, never bothered with the warranty option, i pay via credit card, get a email to say it's accepted, than another to say its in the post, this has a tracking number and i have followed the item over the next couple of days until it's delivered, very happy with there service.....if your worried about a warranty they do offer one but read the small print.......

http://www.eglobalcentral.co.uk/cameras/dslrs/canon-en/

[wxsatuser]

Although the prices are tempting you will have to add VAT to them when they get here.

Digitalrev pass risk of loss to you as soon as the item is given to the carrier.

I'd rather look for bargains here and deal with firms I know will honour warranties.

[Tinker1947]

The Eglobal guys, offer carriage insurance, £9 on a £600 item, what you pay is it, no add-on, like customs, vat ect ,if you not worried about a warranty there are some good saving to be made....

[wxsatuser]

How are they beating the VAT ?

If it comes from HK it will attract VAT.

[melsky]

I can recommend Panamoz they have it up for £775, I bought my Sony A7s from them it arrived in two days with no problems

Mel

http://panamoz.com/index.php/best-selling/canon-eos-70d-efs-18135-stm-is-kit.html

[Tinker1947]

How are they beating the VAT ?

If it comes from HK it will attract VAT.

All i can say is, you pay when you order and that's it no extra's......

Nikon AF-S DX NIKKOR 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3G ED VR Lenses

This cost £403.99 nothing more......

[HighlandBoy]

I can recommend HDEWCAMERAS.COM used them a few times in the past without any problems. Grey import but offer a free 3 year warranty. They have the 70D with the 18-135 IS STM lense for £789. Looking at replacing my 7D with the 7D Mkii from them.

[AdeKing]

I haven't purchased any Canon gear for a while, but when I was active on EOS-Forums, the ebay seller Kerso (Flash Camera) always got rave reviews for giving excellent service and offering excellent value for money.

I think he's based in Scotland, but can't remember where the camera are procured from.

I've not had the need to buy from him lately though.

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/flashcamera/

[HighlandBoy]

As far as I can recall Kerso sourced his equipment from Hong Kong and as you said was a well respected seller.

[Coco]

Book a holiday to Japan and load up on electronic gear in a suitcase and remove every label and box and post that packaging and documents back home  then fly back with your "holiday" equipment in the suitcase that you "brought with you on your travels"

Then go through the nothing to declare gate presumably ? 

[Naf]

I can't comment on the price or warranty issues, but I can tell you I'm a very happy and satisfied owner of a Canon 70D. It's a great camera for whatever application and I can recommend it without hesitation, clear skies.

[Mrbloke]

+1 Hdew

[adidd]

If you are going for a Canno 70D I would advise you to take a Canon 60D or even a 100D since it has a Digic V processor while the Canon 60D has a Digic IV.the Problem with 70D is that it 20 megapixels that will create more noise since there will be less photons hiting each pixel of the sensor in the same amount of time. The thing is that for astrophotography you don't want to have as many pixels as you can. I have no personal experience with dslr cameras but If i were you I would choose a 18 megapixels camera with a APS sized sensor

Clear skies!

[John Baker]

There is always a bit more to kit purchase than simply the price... A site I use a lot is http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk

Good for seeing who is cheaper, tracking prices & it can be useful if negotiating a deal. They also give prices for parallel imports as well

Must admit I was a big fan of Kerso as well & had several purchases from him. I recently sold my 400 f5.6L bought for £600, I had used it for 15 years & sold for £600...