Aarghh!
My move to a full frame Nikon is complicated!
I’ve finally sold my Nikon 17-55 f/2.8, and Tokina 12-24 f/4 through eBay. No problems with the Nikon lens, but hit a snag with the Tokina when the first winning buyer decided to change their mind after winning the auction. Even more frustrating is the delay from waiting to be able to raise a non-paying buyer case and then closing it, coupled with the fact that with eBay now, you can’t leave negative feedback for a non-paying buyer!
Anyway, that’s all done and it’s all sold.
Then I moved onto buying the Nikon D700 body.
I did my normal thing of comparing the prices on B&H, and on eBay sellers like DigitalRev. Then I decided to look local, and found that PRA Imaging had the Nikon D700 body for only $2295! What a steal – that’s even cheaper than eBay or B&H!
Unfortunately they didn’t have any in stock last week and I was told that there should be some coming in on Friday. I thought, cool, I’ll go in and pay by cash.
So I called on Friday, and they said that the shipment will be coming in on Monday instead – today.
So I called today at lunch, and they said that they’ll be coming in this afternoon but I should put a deposit on one if I really want one.
I was scared that they will all be sold out, so I gave them my credit card details and was ready to go ahead with the deposit when I asked to double checked the price.
$2295 right? NO!! Apparently that was last week’s sale price!! It’s now gone up to $2785, practically $500 more – or a ~20% price increase! It seemed that they would not budge on the price even if I paid by cash, citing the worldwide Nikon price increases due to stock shortages and the impact of the tsunami on the Sendai plant where they manufacture the D700’s.
I was sooo frustrated and angry with myself. Why didn’t I just pay for it by credit last week at the fantastically low price?
Too bad for PRA, it was straight to eBay for me – I just need to now pay GST/duty when it comes in *sigh* but it will still be significantly cheaper.
The next problem? Getting back the wide range on my lenses. I’ve literally just got a 50 f/1.8, 85 f/1.8 and my 70-200 f/2.8 now!
I can’t afford the 24-70 f/2.8 yet, so it’s looking like either a third party zoom, or maybe just a prime like the Nikon 35mm f/2. I can’t stomach buying a 24mm f/2.8 if I will buy a 2.8 mid range zoom one day.
And the next thing? Selling my good old D80 body as the final part of funding my change to full frame.
Can’t wait until this is all over…
One guy, three girls... 