Of course they existed (and still exist) for screw-mount lenses:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/HELIOS-AUTO-TELE-CONVERTER-2X-AS-NEW-PENTAX-FITMENT_W0QQit...

G

I'm out of date!

G

Steve,

What I stated are the rules. You can indeed often get away with not paying VAT on parcels, but this applies to parcels from anywhere, not just Europe, although it's possible that some uneducated customs staff don't know which countries are in the EU and which aren't.

And you're right about the fact that VAT is charged on the full landed cost, which means the price paid plus shipping plus duty.

If the goods are sent otherwise than by post then a charge for dealing with the VAT will usually be levied by the courier.

Provided you know all this, then buying from North America can still be much cheaper than buying from Jessops.

G

The Pentax SLR forum on DPREview has a photo taken with the 12-24.

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/forum.asp?forum=1036

There are more pictures on the PDML. People there seem to like it.

http://www.mail-archive.com/pentax-discuss%40pdml.net/

G

By "European", Steve means EU, and by "customs fees" I presume he means duty. If you import from Germany, you will pay German VAT, and not UK VAT. It's therefore important to find out if VAT is included in the quoted price. If you import from Norway, you will NOT pay Norwegian VAT (if there is such a thing), but you WILL pay both UK duty and UK VAT. UK duty tends to be quite low, or nothing (unless it's a VCR with an input port).

Not that Norway is awash with cut-price Pentax dealers.

G

You'll be lucky, Matt. Our splendid retailers are charging the usual outrageous amounts.

Technikdirekt with VAT is cheaper than B&H in New York. As for Mindspring, I can't work out whether VAT is included.

Either way, my money's going to Germany.

G

It's not even mentioned on the main US sites, and in Europe I've only seen it on three:

Cameraworld £570
Technikdirekt £450 approx
Pixmania £667

Any other sightings?

G

Just spoke to Technikdirekt, who say they will have them in stock in two weeks.

G

Just spoke to CameraWorld, and they spoke to Pentax, who say it IS available.

G

Ain't life grand?

The problem with developing an obsession with gear is that it starts off gently, bidding for a nice 1.4 Super Tak for $25, and then, before you know it, your horizons have expanded and you are telling yourself that you can afford to spend a grand or more on a 200mm macro.

By way of justification, you take down all the lenses you haven't used for a while, and work out that if you sell them all you can afford the macro. And you'd better get it now, because they don't come up very often, and you may never get another chance. And $1,500 is CHEAP for a lens of that quality. In fact, you can't afford NOT to get it.

You dust off all the old lenses, try them on the camera to make sure they're still working, and then realise you can't bear to part with them.

So the macro arrives, and you hide it for a while. Then, after a fortnight, you put it on the shelf with the other gear in an inconspicuous position at the back.

When it's spotted (as it will be), you affect injured innocence: "What, that one? Me ole 200? Nah, had it for AGES! You never noticed it 'coz I don't use it very often. Anyway, didn't cost much; bit of a bargain really."

You then get up early every morning to get the post first, and hide the credit card statement.

And that, Mac, is a mild case. I'll give you the post-divorce scenario another time.

G