Warehouse Express – Comments?

Has anyone any comments on using www.warehouseexpress.com I am thinking of buying a Pentax lens from them, but their site does not give much in the way of information on stock availability etc. Unfortunately finding anyone who stocks Pentax lenses in the UK is difficult – especially if it’s something other than a standard ‘kit’ lens like one of the new 100mm f2.8 DFA macros.

The reason I ask is the bad experience I had with pixmaina - the lens was shown as ’In Stock’ when I ordered but wasn’t, my credit card was debited when I placed the order (I though it was common practice to debit the card when an item was dispatched) and after many pone calls and 3 weeks of constantly changing delivery dates I cancelled the order and got a refund.

Dave,
I've ordered from them once before. They confirmed the stock over the phone, shipped out immediately. Had no problems at all!
Think you can link via www.ephotozineshop.com too - that way, I belive, ePhotozine gets a small percentage (same team as this website).
Matt

Thanks for the feedback Matt – I asked in a few places and all the responses have been positive.
Unfortunately phoned them today and the 100mm f2.8 DFA macro lens I want is out of stock, normal state of play for anything Pentax . I hope Pentax improve the availability/profile of their lenses. To anyone without any existing kit it makes any Pentax DSLR a poor choice; luckily I have a good collection of lenses from my LX days, but its frustrating trying to update my collection. After all the main point of a DSLR is the interchangeable lenses and finding anything other than the standard ‘kit’ part zooms is next to impossible in the UK.

There's always the import option:
BH Photo in the US have most Pentax lenses in stock:

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/bnh/controller/home?A=search&Q=&b=21&shs...

The 100mm/f2.8 SMC-DA is $565. They'll ship internationally, but allow for a hefty customs & VAT surcharge that's payable when it arrives (Cash on Delivery). When I've imported software (the other week), the VAT was not charged at 17.5%, but at some other notional value that I couldn't make any sense of, plus something like £15 UPS charge.

However, even with VAT and customs on top, it's still a very attractive option I've been pondering on purchasing this way myself (would like to upgrade the SMC-F 100mm/f2.8 to the DA version, and get the new SMC-DA 12-24 as soon as it arrives).

Matt

Hi, Just to say, any item imported from outside the EU should attract customs charges on any item valued at over approx £17 (or over £35 for an item which is a 'GIFT')
They will charge VAT (17.5%) on the cost of the item AND the ship cost. They will also charge a flat handling fee on top of approx £8-15.

So, a $500 dollar lens, with ship costs of $25 will have 17.5% charged on $525 PLUS approx £10 handling fee.

I have noticed items sent by UPS courier service is always charged, however, some items sent by the US postal servive (USPS) seem to slip through.
Hope this helps. Steve.

Steve,

If it is shipped from outside the EU you also have to add import duty. With the VAT+ duty for a lens it come to about 20% in total

See PDF on HM Customs and Excise website.

As promised my 100mm f2.8 DFA macro arrived today – well done Warehouse Express.

I guess Pentax must have finally shipped some lenses the UK, also got an email from Pixmaina saying the lens was now in stock there – just like buses wait for ages then two come along….

Very impressed with the lens, just hope the weather is ok over Easter

Hi,
Just some info. I've sourced this lens online at £349

http://www.fotosense.co.uk/shop_details.asp?productid=938&productName=Pentax%20SMC%2050mm%20f2.8%20D%20FA%20Macro%20Lens

Colin

Ooops !

Apologies but it's the 50mm

I see they have the 100mm f2.8 DFA macro at £399.99 which is about what I paid for mine from Warehouse Express. I think they are cheaper at Pixmaina, but I wouldn’t buy from them after the problems I had.

Although the 50mm may be more useful as a standard lens replacement I think the 100mm has a much more practical working distance for macro photography – especially for use outdoors, don’t need to get so close to the bugs etc.

Dave - I'd appreciate any comments on the 100mm D-FA. I have the SMC-F which is a beautiful lens, but soooo heavy. The only thing I see that isn't on the D-FA is the focus limit... so do you ever get the lens hunting from macro to infinity and back? (I'm considering changing to the lighter more compact D-FA lens.)

Matt

There isn’t a focus limit as such, but it has a focus clamp. The instruction which came with the lens have not been updated for the newer DFA lenses so I’m not sure if what I’m doing is ‘correct’.

1. The Focus Clamp effectively stops the AF system and the lens focus stays fixed. But you do appear to be able to change the focus manually with the focus ring while the clamp is on. I don’t know if this is advisable as the clamp is not covered in the instructions.

2. Quick Focus – even with the AF on the camera switched on you can manually adjust the focus with the lens focus ring, but (and here is the bit that requires some getting used too) you have to keep the shutter button pressed half way or you end up fighting the AF system. As soon as you release the shutter and press it again the camera will try to re-focus. So to get the best out of the ‘Quick Focus’ requires some practice. How much you gain over just switching the AF off I don’t know.

3. As expected the AF can hunt between infinity and 12 inches so a ‘limiter’ would have been useful. Sometimes it’s best to point at a distant object first and then re-acquire a subject a medium range.

Optically I’m very impressed sharpness and contrast much better than the Pentax 24-90mm AF zoom it got with the camera, and probably better than some/most of my old M series primes.

I will post some shots soon (weather permitting at the weekend) first though I need to have a go at cleaning the CCD (first time with Eclipse+Swabs) as it has accumulated a few specks that blowing will not shift.

Thanks Dave

Regarding the AF... I have enabled the custom function that stops AF on halfpress of the shutter Now I have to focus with the AF button on the back of the *ist-D, and that way the shutter is always ready.

It took a little bit of getting used to, and freaks out anybody who picks up the camera, but now it's second nature. (Superb for kids, low light etc)

Look forward to your test images
Matt

The custom function to disable AF on half press of the shutter sounds like a good idea (especially as I only have two AF lenses and nine M series) I will experiment with it at the weekend.