Canon announce EOS 5D mkII

[jackvdbuk]

As are serial number ranges.

And Customs can, if they wish, be right awkward about such things, levying the charges first and leaving it to you to prove the duty/VAT has already been paid .... or to get the confiscated camera back. And though it may not be likely, if it's smuggled in and found, it could get the camera confiscated.

does saying "sorry i didnt know work?"

[ACiD303]

As are serial number ranges.

And Customs can, if they wish, be right awkward about such things, levying the charges first and leaving it to you to prove the duty/VAT has already been paid .... or to get the confiscated camera back. And though it may not be likely, if it's smuggled in and found, it could get the camera confiscated.

My mum got charged going through green channel customs for not being able to prove her Canon EOS 630 (it was pretty new at that point) was from the UK . . . as well as a lot of other things.

[Ramedge]

which is why you mail yourself the stuff in the post

PLAN!
I think if you did that it would be hard for customs to prove that you hadn't already brought it, regardless if it was originally from the UK or not.

[kalniel]

does saying "sorry i didnt know work?"

Yes - they then very helpfully explain the bill using small words.

PLAN!
I think if you did that it would be hard for customs to prove that you hadn't already brought it, regardless if it was originally from the UK or not.

As Saracen says, it's not really up to them to prove you hadn't already bought it, rather up to you to prove you had.

But at the end of the day, even with VAT and duty it'll end up cheaper, the downside is lack of warranty, Canon especially are very picky about imports.

[Rave]

The Sony A900 is 24.6Mp & in the UK at least slightly cheaper than the 5D Mk II ...

Also an extremely impressive looking machine, but it uses Minolta fit lenses by the look of things. I already have a stack of Canon lenses.

TBH, I think that around 20-25mp is likely to be the limit of usefulness for a 24x36 sensor, as lens resolution will become the limiting factor unless you're shooting on prime (or L-series zoom) lenses at f8. I could be wrong, perhaps I should be reading up on Nyquist frequencies and all that sort of stuff, but I seem to recall reading that it was lens resolution rather than film grain that ultimately limited the quality of 35mm cameras.

[Stoo]

Pretty much Rave, which is the newer sensors really need the best lenses otherwise you'll never get the best out of them, but for the vast majority of us that's not an issue either as the limiting factor is the lump of flesh with the finger on the shutter

[Bobster]

the downside is lack of warranty, Canon especially are very picky about imports.

Canon UK will support the warranty on an import

its a shame that everyone is caught up in the MP race, Canon engineers have already expressed that they could have made the 5DMKII a killer camera, but the marketing department over ruled and wanted more MP instead..

[Ramedge]

Canon UK will support the warranty on an import

its a shame that everyone is caught up in the MP race, Canon engineers have already expressed that they could have made the 5DMKII a killer camera, but the marketing department over ruled and wanted more MP instead..

The MP race isn't all bad. I am hoping that with canon and sony releasing 20+mpx cameras it will drive down the price of the nikon top end cameras like the d700 and d3 as they maybe considered in the market to be inferior due to only having just over half the mpx of these new ones.

could be a good news for nikon users, although the 50d and 5dmkII will probably convert a few people.
i know i am tempted.

[Rhyth]

[waits patiently for 5d to drop...) Looking at 40d now as 2nd camera.

[Saracen]

Canon UK will support the warranty on an import

its a shame that everyone is caught up in the MP race, Canon engineers have already expressed that they could have made the 5DMKII a killer camera, but the marketing department over ruled and wanted more MP instead..

When I asked Canon about that a few years ago, they told me that lenses had international warranties and would be supported by Canon UK, but if, for instance, you had a DSLR body with a US warranty, then it would either be a billable repair in the UK or need to go to Canon in the US. There were also grey imports in the US that had store warranties rather than Canon warranties, and then it was down to the store, not Canon US or, of course, a billable repair here.

I was also given to understand, though it was never quite clarified one way or the other, that Pro-spec bodies in the 1D range would probably be repaired here, but consumer bodies would be much less likely to be viewed as favourably.


As for the MP race, I agree absolutely. I'm not convinced that, for most people in most circumstances, anything above 8, 10 or maybe 12MP is going to confer any real-world benefit.

I wonder what percentage of users buying, for instance, a 40D, are good enough as photographers that the camera is the limiting factor on their photography?

A better investment, in my opinion, is for those with the budget to improve their lens range, and if you've already got top quality optics and a decent DSLR, most people will get more photographic benefit from spending the extra money going on trips, excursions or even courses, to actually use what they already have. Clearly, there are some (though not all) pros, and some gifted hobbyists, that are capable of driving their gear to the limit, but I'd bet that for a good many, and probably most of us, buying an updated body if you bought the existing one in the last 2 or 3 years isn't going to improve your photos much, if at all.

As I saw it described on another forum, the MP race is effectively a marketing techno-speak arms race, but the manufacturers love it when we all feel the need to have the latest model, because it means they get paid over ad over again from all the upgrades. Keeping up with the Jones, and the latest models has largely become, in my view, a mug's game.

[Rhyth]

Of course there's nothing new there. Corporate illusions are all around us, driving markets.

The mp race is old news really, yet I can't help but think maybe it serves a purpose...

I always carry film as it's what I started on, force of habit.