What Photography related item have you bought or sold this week?

[Thad E Ginathom]

I was about to buy a Samyang 24/1.8, and a friend alerted me to a very good price on Amazon for the 50/f2 DG GN Contemporary.

It's on order, coming tomorrow (as in today here, it's past 3.00am.

But I'm nervous. I've had poor experience of Amazon packing and delivery recently

Yeah, no... It didn't turn up. Last minute Amazon Status, which had been out for delivery for ten hours: Now due by 21st July.

21st July came and went and... the lens got delivered!

We were out, but able to arrange for someone to take it in for us.

I'll take some pics with it tomorrow. For now I can say that it is certainly solid. No featherweight like some, but still an acceptable "standard" lens. Reviews mention its build quality and I agree it looks pretty good. The lens hood turns smoothly and engages with a positive click.

 

[Thad E Ginathom]

Yes it is, the delivery service they use is crap, that is their problem and I paid Maven for the delivery service as well as the product.

Totally agree.

 

[iamdlewis]

Delivery services are so odd. For me I know that if it is coming UPS it will be great, through Amazon it will be really good, USPS mostly OK but 10% chance things won't go well, FedEx it is going to suck.
This is how things usually go:
UPS will tell me on Monday my package will arrive on Wednesday between 12-4 and it will be here by 3.
Amazon tells me on Monday something will arrive on Wednesday between 12-4 and it will be here by 6.
USPS tells me on Monday something will arrive on Wednesday there is a 50% chance it will arrive on Wednesday and a 99% it will arrive by Thursday.
FedEx will tell me on Monday something will be delivered on Tuesday, then on Tuesday they tell me it will arrive on Wednesday, then on Wednesday they tell me it will arrive on Friday, then there is a 50% chance they tell me on Thursday that they delivered it otherwise it will be Friday except for the 10% chance they drop it off at a Walgreens (which has never been an instruction I have given them) and I have to call them to figure out what happened.

 

[Richard A]

The problem with International shipping is that the original carrier, more often than not, hands it over to a local carrier once it arrives in your country. Or even sooner. This is the advantage of FedEx or DHL. They have your parcel door to door. The last thing I had sent from OS was my Maven Filters which were sent via USPS. They arrived pretty promptly but I don't know who delivered them here because they were just left at the front door. Before that I had a delivery by FedEx from Germany which arrived in 5 days & the tracking was updated regularly. I have this CFexpress card on the way now which I purchased on Wednesday, is shipping via FedEx & cleared customs in Sydney yesterday. Will see how long it takes to get from Sydney to here.

You wouldn't believe it! Just got an email from Amazon - Your parcel has been delivered, with a photo of it on the front door step. Lazy p****k couldn't even be bothered knocking.

 

[iamdlewis]

The problem with International shipping is that the original carrier, more often than not, hands it over to a local carrier once it arrives in your country. Or even sooner. This is the advantage of FedEx or DHL. They have your parcel door to door. The last thing I had sent from OS was my Maven Filters which were sent via USPS. They arrived pretty promptly but I don't know who delivered them here because they were just left at the front door. Before that I had a delivery by FedEx from Germany which arrived in 5 days & the tracking was updated regularly. I have this CFexpress card on the way now which I purchased on Wednesday, is shipping via FedEx & cleared customs in Sydney yesterday. Will see how long it takes to get from Sydney to here.

You wouldn't believe it! Just got an email from Amazon - Your parcel has been delivered, with a photo of it on the front door step. Lazy p****k couldn't even be bothered knocking.

Here unless the package requires a signature nobody knocks/rings bell unless there are specific instructions to do so.

DHL doesn't really ship here but from time to time I'll see that some packages will use "DHL Smart Routing" which always looks really strange. Usually when I see this it will be something shipping out of the NYC area (~100 miles north of me along I-95) and first go to a distribution center in the Washington DC area (~100 miles south of me along I-95) this will be followed by a trip to a Philadelphia distribution center (~20 miles north of me along I-95) then it will head to the final distribution center in Wilmington (~5 miles south of me along I-95) where it will be handed over to USPS.

 

[Tinopener]

Over here we have no problems .. If your in or not it gets tossed over the back gate ...

 

[TerryL]

I bought a OM System Tough TG-7 camera for underwater pictures and macro shots I can't do with my current set-up. Will see how I get on.
Also thinking about a trail camera for medium to small mammals - any recommendations?

A trail camera could be just about anything. If you mean a small crop sensor camera, the first thing that comes to my mind is a Pentax KP. The jpegs are great. The lenses are great and much more affordable than Sony. I have owned the full frame K1 and the KP.

 

[Richard A]

My BYO (build your own) external SSD arrived from Amazon yesterday.

 

[Richard A]

My 480GB CFexpress card from OWC just arrived from FedEx. Comes with an A to B adapter. The A cards are a lot smaller than the B cards.

 

[evacguy]

At last my Maven Filters arrived almost 20 days after I ordered them, delivered by USPS (USA) and Parcel Force (UK). I hadn't realised I had ordered so many! I guess the ND filters, linear polariser, lens cap and case was one item. Now to figure out how to use them and play with them.

• iPhone 14 Pro
• iPhone 14 Pro back triple camera 6.86mm f/1.78
• 6.9 mm
• ƒ/1.78
• 1/50 sec
• ISO 500

 

[Richard A]

Great stuff. If I can be of any help, just let me know

 

[evacguy]

At last my Maven Filters arrived almost 20 days after I ordered them, delivered by USPS (USA) and Parcel Force (UK). I hadn't realised I had ordered so many! I guess the ND filters, linear polariser, lens cap and case was one item. Now to figure out how to use them and play with them.View attachment 64402

And now I discover I can't get my lens hood on with these filters attached!

 

[Richard A]

Which lens?

 

[Landshark99]

never used filters with magnetic ring adapter that is probably the issue, always have used screw in filters because I have never had cause to either use too many or change often. One can do so much in Photoshop these days so that multiple filters are needed as much as before.

 

[evacguy]

Which lens?

GM 70-200mm f2.8 II

 

[Clix Pix]

Just got a 320 GB Sony Tough Type A card to use with my A1. I've had two 160 GB Tough cards in there since the beginning, but even at that there are times when the first card fills up and, as I have set up, automatically rolls over to the second card. There have been times when I have filled up the second card as well and had to scramble to stick an 80 GB in one of the slots....

A few days ago after again experiencing one of those marathon shooting sessions, I decided that it was time for a larger-capacity card, so am now all set with the 320 in the first slot and one of the 160s remaining in the second slot, so we'll see how that works out. I probably won't be filling up that new card very often but if I'm shooting extensively at least I'll have it in there, one less thing about which to worry.

 

[Hank]

The Fotopro Aircross 3 lite I ordered arrived. I wanted a very lightweight but almost full size tripod for overseas travel. I learned that lesson in Japan last year, the little mini tripod just didn't cut it.

I also bought a Nomad Move Shoot Move star tracker. Looking forward to getting into some dark sky to make use of it.

 

[Richard A]

Filters with lens hoods can often be a bit of a compromise unfortunately.

The filters I bought are 82mm for my 24-70. I bought a 67mm step-down ring for my 50-400 and a 72mm step-down ring for my 16-28 so I can't use lens hoods with filters on those two lenses.

 

[AlphaWorld]

Just got a 320 GB Sony Tough Type A card to use with my A1. I've had two 160 GB Tough cards in there since the beginning, but even at that there are times when the first card fills up and, as I have set up, automatically rolls over to the second card. There have been times when I have filled up the second card as well and had to scramble to stick in an 80 GB in one of the slots....

A few days ago after again experiencing one of those marathon shooting sessions, I decided that it was time for a larger-capacity card, so am now all set with the 320 in the first slot and one of the 160s remaining in the second slot, so we'll see how that works out. I probably won't be filling up that new card very often but if I'm shooting extensively at least I'll have it in there, one less thing about which to worry.

I have a number of Sony Tough G cards, but all mine are 160GB - the price of the bigger ones is beyond my limit. I have a Lexar 320GB (it seems to work fine, but does not feel as "tough" as the Sonys), and now a Prograde 480GB - I paid about as much for a Sony 160GB, the Lexar 320GB, and the Prograde 480GB (although I had a couple of discounts on the Prograde). The Prograde has the bonus of being V4, so it downloads much faster than the Sony or the Lexar as long as I'm using the Prograde V4 reader.

Just ordered a second Prograde 480GB (got a second discount!) - I know it's a bit crazy, because I took a while to fill the first one, but the idea of having one in the A1 and the A9 III appeals.

Ordering Prograde cards directly from Prograde, with a 15% discount and free international shipping (they ship with DHL), seems to be a rather better deal than buying them locally (Local price seems to be more than 50% higher).

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I'm considering my options for upgrading the Tamron 70-300 to the newer 50-300.
My only reservation is I got the 70-300 used on MPB without original packaging, so if I turn around and trade it back, I lose 50% of the value. So what do you guys think, should I try to sell locally instead?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

I dunno what the used market is like over the pond, IMHO over here its far too much hassle and scammers (unless you belong to a camera club etc) SO I tend to trade in with a company called WEX, yes I could get more but they treat me great both buying and selling, new and used - So to me the zero hassle is worth the cost if that makes sense?

It certainly is the easy route. I could trade in to Adorama or B&H and use the store credit to buy the new lens. But then I'd only get $250 for the lens instead of closer to $400 (maybe unrealistic?).

 

[Richard A]

You might find that a few others have the same idea so there might be a few second hand 70-300 lenses around which will decrease the value anyway. It’s hard to sayl. If it was me, I’d try to sell it on eBay or something.

 

[Richard A]

Ordering Prograde cards directly from Prograde, with a 15% discount and free international shipping (they ship with DHL), seems to be a rather better deal than buying them locally (Local price seems to be more than 50% higher).

How do you get the 15% discount?

 

[FowlersFreeTime]

You might find that a few others have the same idea so there might be a few second hand 70-300 lenses around which will decrease the value anyway.

So true. I will adjust my expectations lol

 

[Landshark99]

It certainly is the easy route. I could trade in to Adorama or B&H and use the store credit to buy the new lens. But then I'd only get $250 for the lens instead of closer to $400 (maybe unrealistic?).

I would try KEH as well for selling or trading equipment

 

[Richard A]

Have seen a couple of 70-300s come up on eBay here already...

 

[AlphaWorld]

How do you get the 15% discount?

You get the first 15% discount by signing up for their newsletter (just enter your email when you visit the site) - anyone can get a 15% discount on their first purchase. I ordered a card and a USB 4 card reader and that was enough to get free international shipping as well. You can opt out of the email newsletter afterwards, if you want.

I looked at the cards, pondering getting a second card, and added it to the shopping cart, but didn't checkout - I think that's what prompted the second 15% discount offer. It's worth looking at what else they sell to get the order over the free shipping level - if you are under I think the shipping is something like $95.

 

[Richard A]

Ok. Thanks.

 

[Richard A]

I just won an auction on eBay for a Used but in AS New Condition (we'll see about that when it arrives) Sony RX100 VII. I have been looking for a good but reasonably priced one of these for a long time to replace my RX100 III.

 

[Richard A]

The last of my Amazon Prime Days purchases just arrived also - RONFEN NP-FZ100 Dummy Battery DC Coupler USB-C Cable PD Adapter Kit

I look forward to having a play with this over the next few days. Would now like to get something to attach my power bank to my tripod. If anyone knows of such a thing, please let me know.