Just ordered a pentax k10d and i have some questions....

Hi

I have just ordered a Pentax k10d and I have a few questions with regards to the camera and my order.

First of all, I have ordered on ebay from a seller called EmilyAndLily (http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Emilyandlily-Store) which I at first was a good idea. I am now in two minds as I have done more research since making the purchase and even though the seller has excellent feedback there is a lot of withdrawn feedback which is curious to say the least. I have also found via Google that the user is not necessarily shipping goods with a manufactures warranty but rather a UK warranty which I believe implies the seller is offering the warranty and not Pentax. So my first question, would you accept not having a manufactures warranty and only a sellers warranty? I have never worried about warrant in the past as I have never really spent more that £300 on goods but I get the feeling I should be more careful with a camera purchase.

The second issue I have with the seller is they seem to sometimes ship refurbished goods. I have supposedly bought a BRAND NEW, factory RETAIL box, unopened camera. My second question is how can one tell if a camera has been refurbished? Is it quite obvious by looking at the camera?

My other questions pertain to the camera itself. This will be my DSLR and I chose the k10d after reading a lot of positive (and a few negatave) reviews. I am worried the camera may be too advanced for me as I have never had to deal with raw files or some of the advanced features the camera offers. My current camera is the Canon S3 IS so I am au fait with some advanced features. I am wondering if I should have gone for the k100d Super instead to ease my way into the DSLR world. Would you advice getting a k100d as opposed to the k10d for a beginner? If the camera does not arrive from ebay, whilst I pursue a refund I will have to get another and your thoughts would be much appreciated. I am keen to learn so I am not worried about putting the hard work in but at the same time I am wondering if the k10d is like trying to climb Everest having never climbed a mountain before

Many thanks in advance.

Eric

As I understand it, Emily and Lilly are an American operation purporting to be in the UK and offering goods that were not sourced through the normal UK channels. Personally, if buying from Americans I should prefer to buy from somebody like B&H.

As for the camera, it can be as simple or as complex as you like. If you can afford it, there is no reason not to have it. Use it in Program mode and shoot JPEG until you get the hang of it.

If you will not be doing any post-processing (tweaking the image in Photoshop or something similar), you may wish to play with the contrast and sharpness settings until you are happy with the output.

Good luck

G

I bought a Panasonic P&S camera from them for my Daughter. The parent company is US based but in the UK, they operate out of Nottingham and can be easily contacted with a UK phone number. As far as I know, if it is refurbished, they state so quite clearly in the listings. However, it is almost certainly bound to be a grey import. The camera I had was obviously from overseas with a UK adapter for the mains lead. However, thay are dispatched from within the UK so delivery is normally quick and no chance of import duties/VAT etc.

As the the K10 as opposed to the K100, as G says, no real difference in the operation but it is capable of better results once you get the hang of it.

Kim

Eric
I purchased the K100d in May this year as a total newbie to DSLR photography and i was more than happy with it. I was then offered (4 months later) the K10 at a very good price so i made the switch. As for functionality they are both fairly similar. Once you start too understand apertures and shutter speeds, ISOs and the like then you are almost there. I just asked a lot of questions on this forum and did a lot of practising and experimenting.
To answer your question i would stick with the K10. Within a few weeks you will be using the K100D the same as you would the K10 anyway. Its just with the K10 it has a few more nifty functions and the extra mega pixels.
Good luck and don't forget to post a few of your early pics the friendly people here will give you some helpful tips

Thanks for responding. You are very right about Emily and Lily. I have also bought some lenses but opted to get them from Adorama. I can't believe the Pentax 50mm 1.4 sells for $200 and it goes for £200 here! If you have bought from B&H before did you have to pay customs tax and if so what is the rate?

Thanks for responding. It is comforting to hear that. I think I will stick with it if it arrives. But if not I will be on the hunt for another deal and it seems nobody is willing to sell it for less than £450 with lenses except on ebay.

If you need to buy Pentax in this country, it is worth trying SRS. Chris is a member here on the Forum, the prices are some of the cheapest and it's free delivery for members.

Kim

I have always had to pay duty and VAT when importing expensive items.

G

I personally wouldn't put to much faith in the ebay feedback system, in fact I think its a bit of a Joke (note that is Joke with a capital J), I have it myself, simply because I left a negative for some dumb@$$ seller who had a total disregard for the prompt delivery and safe packaging of a purchase, needless to say he responded in kind by accusing me of trying it on, of course a complaint to ebay would only have lead to "feedback withdrawn by mutual consent"

As for buying any "electrical" product from the USA, wont you have problems when you try and charge the battery? ie a 110volt charger plugged into the UKs 240volts.

One way that I understand the difference is that a new camera comes off the assembly line without the thorough testing and once-over that goes on when they're refurbished. I am of two minds about this but tend to think that refurbished might even be a better thing. What do y'all think?

Seller's warranty would be as good as the seller's word/reliability.

I have little faith in the feedback system as well. My camera did arrive yesterday but the communications from the seller was very poor. I was surprised it arrived this early.

I can't tell if it is refurbished or not but it seems to be in good working order. The manual is pretty thick so that will be my bedtime reading for the next couple of days

The camera came with an adapter for the plug and the charger accepts voltages of 110 - 240. I think most devices do these days. So it seems my seller gets them from the US and sells them here so no UK warranty for me.

Be very careful buying any photo equipment from New York based stores located on Broadway. Many are just store fronts and they move around a lot.
Many of the staff are rude and out to get you, lots of low balling and off shore stuff.

There are a few exceptions, a couple noted on this thread.

RG.

Follow up. The following website is a list of Photo Equipment stores and buyers comments put out by Photo.net.

http://photo.net/neighbor/subcategory-index?id=2

Two very interesting reports written in 2003 & 2006 at the following sites.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,107855-page,1/article

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/11/nyregion/11cameras.html?pagewanted=all


I do business with the following on the net and have always been happy with their service.

Adorama.
B&H.
Cameta Camera.
Henry's. (Canada)
J&R.
Pro Digital. (Canada)

RG.

I have used Henry's a couple of times in the past. It is interesting but the parcels from them seem to attract less attention than the ones from the US on entry.

B&H tend to have a very good reputation for secondhand gear and quite often their bargain grade is what might be sold in this country as EXC or better. However, it can be a bit of a lottery.

Kim

Same here when ordering from B&H. That said, I'm not disappointed because:

1. I'm getting the item I want and they have a huge range of in-stock kit

2. It's still invariably cheaper with duty plus VAT than the UK price

3. B&H have a wonderful reputation for customer service

4. Every time I've ordered the item has arrived within 3 working days

It is always a difficult decision. One of the reasons impoting from the US is cheaper is because of the buying power over there. Stocks and prices will not get better over here if everyone buys from over there.

Kim