My Hong Kong/OZ Purchases

[kalibre]

Hi all,

Just got back from hols and was a bit naughty and bought a few bits of camera gear whilst I was away. Quite chuffed though as I probably saved a few hundred quid overall. Here's what I got vs price:

Sigma 150-500 5-6.3 HSM OS -> £500
Hoya 86mm Protective Filter -> £25
MB-D10 Nikon Battery Grip -> £100
Lowepro Flipside 400AW -> £60
Loewpro Padded Neck Strap -> £10
Sandisk Extreme IV 8gb CF -> £45
2x 72mm ND8 Filters -> £40

The new bag is lovely, plus it's the only one I could find within the hand luggage size allotments whilst still handling the D300 with the 150-500 mounted (hood reversed). Overall very chuffed.

Now the bad side........ I managed to drop the new D300 in HK and smash off my Nikon 18-200 VRII. Sooo lucky that the camera survived (nice maganesm body), but had to fork out another £350 on replacement glass. Still got to jump through the insurance hoops to get the money back.

Overall though cracking holiday! Will post some pics once I've got through the hours of PP.

 

[MisterE]

See....I said you'd like Hong Kong. It's foreign enough to be different but English enough to feel comfortable. Looking forward to seeing your photos.

Sorry to hear about the accident. I'm so paranoid about dropping mine I found a length of sturdy chain in the Temple Street market in HK (it may have been a dog chain). It attaches by a carabiner to my camera bag near my shoulder, and the other end to the camera strap near the body attachment. It's the perfect length so that I can hold the camera lightly by my side with most of the weight taken by the chain with no fear of dropping it. It also deters anybody from snatching it.

 

[StewartR]

Keep your fingers crossed that your new Sigma 150-500 doesn't develop a fault. You probably ought to read - but won't enjoy reading - this thread: Thinking of buying Sigma?

 

[kalibre]

That thread is a bit worrying, but I did think about that sort of thing before I bought it, and I said if I'm saving over £200 on a lens then having to spend £75 on a service after the warranty still isn't a terrible prospect. That is as long as the lens doesn't completely die!

With the camera drop, what actually happened was that it was mounted on my frotto and somehow I managed to unlatch the safety and then catch the release switch on my collar! Need a triple release system for dummies like me.......doh......