Show Purchases

Remarkably the discounts (for Fuji – didn’t check others) were decent.  Infact in some cases better than the best recent price on CameraPriceBuster.

So, what did I get?

Fuji Goodies from the Photography Show. NEC Birmingham

To recap (like an annoying Channel 5 Documentary) I was looking at the following:

  • 100-400 + TC (Lowest price and current £1490/1649)
  • 18mm (£400/479)
  • 27mm (£319/349)
  • Fisheye (£212/219)
  • Battery (£41/46)

Fortunately a Facebook/Forum friend (Alec) offered me the Fisheye for £130 – he was awaiting an Ebay purchaser that never paid up – so a win for me.

A further win was the 100-400 + TC being on offer for £1479, so that was snapped up fairly quick (along with a lens pen and lens wipes for an extra £10).

During the week I was thinking about picking up an X-E3 and 27mm to use as my carry to work camera (not wanting to take my X-Pro 2) – so that combination was grabbed as well.  The X-E3 was £100 less and selling for £699 – the 27mm lens wasn’t discounted too well,  at £339 it’s just a tenner off the normal price – however if bought with a X series camera another £50 was taken off.    I did ask for offers on this combo and they eventually got it down to £969.60.

As I needed a SD card I picked up an Extreme SD card for £16.50.

So all in, I paid Wex £1615.10 as I had £850 in store credit (Total £2465.10)

So with regards to lenses I managed to do a Meatloaf – two out of three ain’t bad.  I did have a look at the 23mm and X-E3 bundle, but found the protrusion of that lens a bit too much – Likewise the 18mm was a bit bulky.

I didn’t find any Fuji Batteries at decent prices, so I’ll probably pickup some Hahnel branded ones online – they seem to be a reasonable 3rd party replacement from a recognised brand.   I’ll need to pick up a small bag for the X-E3 – I had a look at the show,  but couldn’t find anything small/protective enough for my liking.

Overall I enjoyed the show and it was quite an expensive day – but mostly paid for by my Canon trade ins.

 

Photography Show

It’s that time again……

And unusually for recent times I’m buying stuff.

After my recent Canon clear out I have £2180 to spend currently in a combination of cash and store credit (£1330/£850 – Wex credit).

Current Shopping List (all Fuji X Fit)

  • 100-400 + TC (Lowest price and current £1490/1649)
  • 100-400 (£1300/1549)*
  • 18mm (£400/479)
  • 27mm (£319/349)
  • Fisheye (£212/219)
  • Battery (£41/46)

Total spend  £2272/2642*  Based on the 100-400 without TC

So based on the best lowest prices I pretty much get all in that part of the list.  The reality is though, prices in recent times have never been great at the show.   I have noticed some prices have risen recently so maybe its an artificial rise to make any discounts seem decent.

Ideally I’d like the 100-400 and TC combo so whatever that price is will be a fairly large chunk of the money.   I probably can save £200 from this month as well so that’ll boost my spending to £2380.

 

**Chances are everything could and possibly will change **

 

Judgement Evening (Mono)

So, the (delayed) Mono competition happened.    I got awarded a Commended and Highly Commended for the two images.  Quite pleased, I did think about changing them – but I’ll continue with going with my initial images I think.

The judge commented about letter boxing the Paddington image which on reflection is probably not a bad idea.    He liked the Brutal Symmetry image but commented about maybe showing a bit more of the foreground detail – to be fair though both images were grab shots.   Maybe with a bit of time and composition they might have been better.

Loving the Fuji a bit more every day

So, holiday is over and what did I learn?

Well first of all – it was a nice break for a few days with the wife and kids filled with lots of walking and eating rubbish.   Whilst away I always take a camera, this time travelling light with just the Fuji X Pro 2.   It was used a fair amount – although I’m trying not to let it take over my life as its a holiday after all and it’s not just me.

Anyway, time for some images…..

 

Eos Free*

So the grand clear out is complete – I’m out of the Eos system.    It’s been a fairly pain free experience to be honest.  So what’s the damage?

Here’s some figures:

Things bought:

Camera (X-Pro2) : Bought from John Lewis – £1,489 – JL Discounted Price – £1310.32 (1275.12 – £40 (Price match) – 12% discount)

Lens: Bought from WEX –  18-55mm £619

Cashback:

X Pro 2 Cash Back – Paid £380

18-55 Cash Back – Paid £190

Total Cashback £570

Things Sold:

Macro £160

Flash (st2, 2x 580mkII) £240

6D & 24-70 (and other bits) £1508

300 & 135 £850 (store credit at Calumet)

15, 70-200, 200 £760 cash from MBP (In bank)

Total:  £3,518 (- Camera £1275.12 and Lens: £619)

Leaving: £1623.88

Cashback: £570

New Total: £2193.88

Next purchase:  100-400: £1599.00**

Leaving: £594.88

So there you go, if you take the raw costs of the Eos kit then it’s lost half the value.   But as mentioned before, most of the kit was over 5 years old and well used.   50% (ish) return on the value isn’t bad.   Also a large part of the kit was purchased when the pound was worth more so the retail price was much cheaper.

*Apart from a 1D mkII, Eos 50E & Eos 650 – no lenses though!

** Current price – might be cheaper at the Photography Show