Jessops

What do you think I am? Stupid?

For what it's worth - as a qualified weapons instructor and range officer, you would be surprised what even "Experienced" shooters do

I won't say "I have seen it all" but I have seen quite a few incidents ranging from air pistols, air rifles, handguns, shotguns, small and full bore rifles and even 4.5" guns on a destroyer!

Most of my gear over the years was bought from either mail order through AP or latterly Ebay.
I used Jessops on a couple of occasions for accessories and an MZ50 for my daughter.
Fairs Cameras in Birkenhead were always a good place to buy 2nd hand stuff.
MXV at Uckfield were good too ( now defunct - my daughter lives in the next road and spotted a skip outside the premises on her way home one night.It was full of "stuff" - sadly it was p**ing down with rain and she reckoned whatever was in there would be ruined - skip gone next day ! ).
As I really cannot afford BNIB , I have bought my *istD and K20D from ebay sellers and have had great bargains both times.I used to subscribe to Jessops Classic Camera newsletter but their prices were horrendous.
As to the tap water John , at least it used to taste of nothing when it was from the rates - ours here in Wirral tastes like a Municipal swimming baths after a busy session and smells accordingly !!

Tony

Maybe then they should rate canned air much the way they rate cognac, VS, VSO, VSOP, etc. This way we know which is the good air and which is not.

The Photomonk

An excellent suggestion

Very Slick

Very Slightly Oiled

Very Small Oil Proportion

!!!!!!!!!

I was still thinking about the good air vs the bad air, but OK.

The Photomonk

DOCG - Dreadfully Old Colourless Gas

AC - Aerosol Checked

Ive got a sqeezy puffer I bought with my first ever camera cleaning kit - does for me - it says Hurricane/Jumbo on the side

Time for more medication...............................

The Photomonk

Was in a large Jessops in a city. I went in as I wanted to try out a D700. Seriously been considering getting one of these.

The store was actually quiete large, the assistant who was very knowledgable I had a reasonable discussion with.

Do you have the D700

No, unfortunately we don't stock those, I could order one for you.

Oh ok, I really wanted to handle one as they cost £1700 I woudl much prefer to handle one first.

Yes I can understand that, its a lovely camera. Unfortunately we don't stock anything over a certain value. Head office say we don't have enough footfall to warrant the stocking high value items.

Oh right ok, could you get one in for me to try out.

Yes we could get one in for you, if you order & pay for it now.

Oh is there another branch that has one in?

Yes (this was a branch 45 miles away) they have one in stock.

I am also considering ordering the 24-70mm 2.8 & the 70-200mm 2.8

That would be a fantastic kit, I could order all that in for you.

Hmmm £4500 to pay up front to play with it when it actually comes in stock & I own it??? I don't think so!!!

it's so frustrating working here.....

I was recently in Currys Digital in Cardiff, and was quite impressed to see that they had most of the major DSLRs on display including the Kx and K7. Not so impressed that the K7 and the Nikons were represented by boxes though - surely a dummy body of the same shape and size could have been used, as they do with mobile phones? I can understand them not wanting to put expensive gear out in public but it'd allow customers to get the feel of a product and then ask to see a demo model.

Their lenses were a trifle odd too - a 50-200mm (which for some reason had no hood and an old Pentax-F lens cap) and a 100mm macro. Bit of an expensive specialist prime for a high street shop!

If I'm ever that serious about trying out new gear, I find out who has ALL the gear I'm likely to be interested in, is in stock for demo purposes and make it a "day out" visiting them to do my analysis and also doing some photography at the same time. Then I either make my mind up then and there and purchase, or, if I do decide to buy later, I favour that dealer with my business.

Maybe that as Focus is happening very soon, a visit to Birmingham could be very useful as Nikon are showing as well as Canon and others. I know Pentax isn't there, but there will no doubt be a few dealers who will have Pentax kit for sale, as indeed, all the others. The show is also very good for stocking up on any photo consumables as many suppliers have special show prices.

If not, why not make a weekend trip to London and visit SRS, who are Nikon Pro dealers as well as Pentax. They are always worth visiting as they usually have stock in depth so you can select if required!

Hi Richard

I totally agree with you, however I felt that being in a large city, in a huge Jessops they would carry that kind of stock. What worried me more was that half the store had been given over to Carphone warehouse, so you actually had to walk through Carphone Warehosue to get to the little Jessops store in the corner of the shop. Most bizarre.

Unfortunately SRS are over 3 hours drive each way from me