Enough was enough. I was starting to notice a lot of focus problems with one of my main lenses I have loved for 20 years. When I was still in high school and working at the local island camera shop, I bought a Nikon 20mm lens to use on whatever film camera I was using at the time. And it served me well through the rest of school and into my first 20 years of work trips. But the front focus ring was starting to move on its own. Looking online, there were plenty of reports of this. It looks like it is a cheap repair, and I will probably go through with it, but it was time to replace the lens. From all accounts I have been able to find, the much newer Nikon 12-24mm/2.8 lens is an absolute dream for everyone. Well, except for the massive weight of the beast.
On the 13.5 hour flight from Singapore, I had plenty of time to justify it to myself in my head. So when I arrived in Amsterdam I started looking for places to buy it locally. Kamera Express down towards Delft has everything, but it was 1499 Euros. FotoKonijinenberg, another shop I go to often had it for 1399. Was the extra hour to drive there worth it to save 100 Euros? Another more local shop is FotoBooms and they often have some odd things at good prices. Looking on their website, I saw they had it for 1389. Fantastic!!! It was cold and blowy outside, so I splurged the 10 cents for parking and drove over.
Within 10 minutes in the shop, I had purchased it. They are obviously not making a lot on this sale, so in order for me to keep up my habit at a reasonable price, I encourage the one or two Dutch readers to buy lots of stuff at their shop. Since my PIN card was broken, I had to use my American Express card which meant an extra 3.5 percent, or about 50 Euros. But that still was less than I would have paid at Kamera Express and who knows how I would have paid for it.
Now I am sure someone is going to tell me I missed my chance to get a better deal in Singapore at a place like Sim Lim Square. Well, not really. Now that we are in this global economy, it rarely makes any sense to buy anything outside of your home area. Electronics are no cheaper there than anywhere else on the planet. Of course there are some companies, like Apple, that come up with screwy pricing for Europeans, but for the most part, we are in one large consistent marketplace. The best price I was getting in Singapore was 2600 Singapore Dollars. That is the same as about 1315 Euros.To make up for the difficulties in getting things repaired, it would really have to be a difference of at least 20-30%, so I still feel that I got a great deal.
When I got home, it was time for bed. Even though I was asleep for 8 of the 13 hours from Singapore, I had only arrived a few hours earlier and I was beat. But the next morning I was eager to try out the lens. And thankfully the gods were in agreement and it managed to snow a few centimeters overnight. So I had a perfect chance to capture some of the canals of Amsterdam under fresh snow. The clouds aren't great in these, but I am very pleased with the results nonetheless.
Monday, July 26, 2010 at 9:33AM 
