Quite an hilarious M9-P review

It's not the salesperson's job to evaluate the customer and determine if they have the experience and understanding to 'deserve' a $20,000 camera. The job is to sell cameras.

A similar situation about two dozen years ago. I was very tight with the local BMW Motorcycle dealership. One day I was there visiting and a well dressed, fit looking guy in his early forties came in and said he wanted to buy a new BMW S model. All his friends had advised him that it was the right bike for him. The salesman showed it to him, he liked it, seemed knowledgeable enough, paid cash on the spot. Bought a helmet, leather jacket and gloves, etc. The bike he purchased was ready to go. He hopped on, started it, and rolled out of the shop. Everyone smiled ... what an easy sale!

Ten minutes later, sirens and an ambulance rush by. Twenty after that, a tow truck returned with the bashed up bike. "What happened?" said the salesman, who was genuinely upset.

"Guy bought the bike after reading all about them, studying how they operated, etc. But he'd never ridden one before, he didn't know how to make it go around a corner, so when road came to a T, he tossed it. Not badly hurt, other than his pride. He's off to the hospital for some bandages," said the tow truck driver.

These people exist. They are responsible for their own actions.
 
Godfrey said:
It's not the salesperson's job to evaluate the customer and determine if they have the experience and understanding to 'deserve' a $20,000 camera. The job is to sell cameras.

A similar situation about two dozen years ago. I was very tight with the local BMW Motorcycle dealership. One day I was there visiting and a well dressed, fit looking guy in his early forties came in and said he wanted to buy a new BMW S model. All his friends had advised him that it was the right bike for him. The salesman showed it to him, he liked it, seemed knowledgeable enough, paid cash on the spot. Bought a helmet, leather jacket and gloves, etc. The bike he purchased was ready to go. He hopped on, started it, and rolled out of the shop. Everyone smiled ... what an easy sale!

Ten minutes later, sirens and an ambulance rush by. Twenty after that, a tow truck returned with the bashed up bike. "What happened?" said the salesman, who was genuinely upset.

"Guy bought the bike after reading all about them, studying how they operated, etc. But he'd never ridden one before, he didn't know how to make it go around a corner, so when road came to a T, he tossed it. Not badly hurt, other than his pride. He's off to the hospital for some bandages," said the tow truck driver.

These people exist. They are responsible for their own actions.
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More on motorcycles;

I saw a guy buy an RD350 Yamaha two stroke back in the seventies with absolutely no knowledge of how peaky these things were and unaware that they needed plenty of revs to get them moving. He stalled it numerous times attempting to get it away from the kurb outside the shop much to the salesman's amusement.

"Give it plenty of revs before you let the clutch out mate!"

Which he did .... somewhere around redline and then let the clutch go! The bike took off with this poor sod flailing behind the handlebars hanging on for dear life and climbed over a Volkswagon Beetle parked about five meters away! :eek:
 
Keith said:
More on motorcycles;

I saw a guy buy an RD350 Yamaha two stroke back in the seventies with absolutely no knowledge of how peaky these things were and unaware that they needed plenty of revs to get them moving. He stalled it numerous times attempting to get it away from the kurb outside the shop much to the salesman's amusement.

"Give it plenty of revs before you let the clutch out mate!"

Which he did .... somewhere around redline and then let the clutch go! The bike took off with this poor sod flailing behind the handlebars hanging on for dear life and climbed over a Volkswagon Beetle parked about five meters away! :eek:
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i think that was my brother.. !
 
Lax Jought said:
Customer is always right!

Especially if they have the money and are insisting on 'the best camera'.
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I can't tell you how many T3i's I have sold because the customer wanted it.



Even if they just want to take "pictures of my cats" and don't need anything more than a simple point and shoot. They never listen to me when I try and save them a few hundred dollars....:bang:
 
lol @ the stories with the motorcycles :D:D:D


chodgson45 said:
Even if they just want to take "pictures of my cats" and don't need anything more than a simple point and shoot.
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hah well, to be completely fair I have seen some amazing high end pet/animal photography.

'The French Cat' by Rachel McKenna, she takes cat photos with what looks like a Hasselblad. Great photography there.

Also 'Curious Cats' by Magnum photographer Mitsuaki Iwago.
 
That guy in the video is just plain stupid; if the autofocus is not working the camera should of course be returned to the store for repair :D
 
Richard G said:
It's a spoof. It's very well done. The camera on the bed. The dead pan delivery. The use of the term noctilux instead of boasting of the f1 etc is the give away that he's an insider. Plus the mere fact he made the video at all. Bit disappointed it's manual focus! It's directed at us.
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Yes, I'm quite sure it's a gag. He didn't even sound excited about it. It had a tone of "well, it's OK I guess."

Yeah, Right.
 
Godfrey said:
It's not the salesperson's job to evaluate the customer and determine if they have the experience and understanding to 'deserve' a $20,000 camera. The job is to sell cameras.
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Of course the job is to sell cameras; but I believe they can sell cameras and give the customer something that will match their needs, and build a relationship that leads to them returning to the store again and again. That's been my experience in a former life in computer and electronics retail.

I don't think it's about whether the customer 'deserves' the $20,000 camera; it's whether the $20,000 camera matches their needs, experience, willingness to learn and a slew of other factors. If that guy is real, I can't imagine him being that impressed with the dealer who sold him a super expensive camera he can barely operate.

Then there is, however, the matter of whether you really WANT a customer to return, or if he seems like he will be a pain in the backside. The people who throw away money at things of which they have neither knowledge nor predisposition to learn; well, even I'd be tempted to take the money. :D
 
A THIRD video, with pictures! He's actually a very good photographer. He's managed to convey a sense of impending leaves on a bare tree. That's pretty clever. And his pictures with the Noctilux are neither too bright, nor blurred, keeping the subject at a distance of course. And no, he's not some reckless rich dentist, or at least seems not to be from his living circumstances.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hnviDnpShU8
 
Thanks for that. The focus direction information was invaluable.;)

I hope to see some tasteless but very expensive jewellery on those anonymous hands in the next review video. The plain wedding band was not in-character. I'm thinking more like some kind of nouveau riche bling ring with heavy chunky yellow gold and lots of precious stones.
 
I think the second video would be a great introductory video for teaching the elements of photography. Maybe it would work even without owning a Noctilux. Small numbers on that aperture ring, picture too bright; large number and the pictures could be too dark. The puzzling gap between f11 and f16 could then introduce the notion of the multiplication factor of the square root of 2. His approach to satire is really quite deep.
 
jsrockit said:
Oh yes they do... remember, to some spending $20,000 is like us spending $50.
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I have been trying to get to that level for about 20 years now. Completely unsuccessful!

As a friend once said: "I am at my second million, the first one didn't work." ;)
 
swoop said:
No one buys that much camera without knowing what they are getting into. And there is no way anyone would like at the images on the LCD of an M9 and think it was a great camera.
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I would have to disagree.

I was in a photo class with a woman who had an M9 (50 Lux asph), S2 (35 Summarit-S), and an X1. She told me this is what "THEY" told her to get.
 
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