Some simple arithmetic

B&H advertises the K7 at US$1,299.00.
Add $53.00 for shipping, then add 15% VAT to both, and you get $1,554.80.

That currently converts to £981.08.

I bought my first DSLR from Canada when Pentax was charging silly money in the UK, and if I decide to buy a K7 I shall be looking across the water again.

Unless, of course, SRS can come up with some pretty good discounts.

G

Right George!.....for once i'm completely in tune with you!

Pentax is currently granting a two year warranty in the UK, as it's obliged to by EU law. Would you happen to know if Canada supplied items also have a full two year warranty?

If there is then that's the way to get some fair dealing.......only thing is, one does not want to be sending back and forth across the water. But, that is a whopping great saving and if enough people did it it would sharpen up the attention of pentax UK/dealers for sure.

Don't you have to pay import duty as well as shipping? Then the courier adds a service charge. Then VAT is added to the lot.

Then if there's a fault, what a mess returning the camera.

I think there is either no duty on still cameras, or it's extremely small. Sometimes there is a small handling fee to pay at this end, but against that is the fact that if the item is posted the VAT is often not charged at all.

Most US and Canadian sellers provide an international warranty, which Pentax should honour. I know that doesn't work in the second year, but nowadays things tend not to go wrong very often, and if they do, they generally happen in the first year.

In forty years of using Pentax cameras and lenses, only one has required attention (excluding user-inflicted damage). That was when some screws came loose on a 75-150 zoom after bumping around in the back of a Land-Rover on dirt roads for hundreds of miles. Fixed free of charge in Slough.

This price differential is in no way justified by a difference in warranties.

G

I wonder what happened to the increase in duty on digital cameras that could shoot video? Remember the furore?

There's no doubt that the K7 shoots video.

Only one Aussie retailer is taking deposits that I can find. They say it will be available in July for £975 with Kit lens,

Thats considerably less than I expected considering the cheapest DA*60-250 I can find over here is £1400 crazy

There used to be extra duty on Camcorders that could copy the edited film back again to the Camcorder from the computer. That was why a lot were made that only worked in one direction and special gadgets were sold to do the reverse copy. Talk about a rip-off by the taxman

shim

Also if a DSLR can do over 30 mins of recording it then comes into the camcorder tax bracket which is apparently much more expensive.

There is import duty on camera's sourced from outside the EU.

Even on small cheap gadgets it adds up
I bought a GPS logger from the USA for $100.
I had to pay 19% VAT and Euro 18 for duty and administration costs.

Here is another example.
When importing lenses from outside the EU to the EU it is 6,7% duty and VAT. And there will allso be a cost for the paper trail.

For a SLR it is 4,2% duty and VAT.

A videocamera is 3,7% duty and VAT.
A video recorder is rated at 13,9% duty.

You can check the amount of duty here (only for EU citizens): TARIC database

[edit]
when searching for the word camera you end up with numerous video camera's ranging from 0% duty to 12,5% duty... So to be sure you will have to call the tax office.
[/edit]

Nothing much gets past UK customs these days.

Royal Mail's handling charge for collecting VAT/duy is £8. Other couriers may charge considerably more.

Damn, you guys get stung from every direction don't you :

Importing from USA/Canada to UK:

Duty for "digital cameras" is 0% according to www.dutycalculator.com, 4.9% for "video/cam corders", 4.2% for "other" cameras.

I've been charged up to £15 for the courier's charge.

Yes, but we still just lay down and take it.

In the case of the K-7, it needs people to NOT rush out and buy it at that price, rather than pre-order at over-inflated rip-off prices. Then the price would have to come down.

I'm not even considering buying one yet, not until the price falls to around £800 at least. If it never does, I miss out on a great camera and Pentax UK can go swivel.