Word From CV Spanish distributors

[Lear]

Yesterday I went to “Image Center” here in Madrid, who claimed to be Cosina Voigtlander distributors in Spain (they had all CV line on the shelves, and so they told me).

My astonishment when I get in there last afternoon to look closely at the color skopar 50/2.5, I see none of the RF Line (I last visited them when the R2 came out). I ask the young lady over the counter, where is all the RF line:

- “sorry we don’t work that anymore”
- “You still are the official distributors of CV, right?”
- “As I said, we don’t work that anymore, we only bring what costumers buy”

Showing me the dozens of cheap paper weight zooms for SLR.

- “Forgive me for asking again, but are you or are you not the official……?”
- “We only bring what sells sir”
- “So let’s say I would like to buy a color Skopar 50/2.5 you would bring one for me right?”
- “No. Since we don’t bring single items, it would have to be a much larger batch”

I don’t know if CV knows what’s going on outside of the Gandy territory but these guys, with prices that double the prices on Gandy´s web page, and such a peculiar commercial sense. No wonder you won’t see more than 10 bessas in all of Spain.

 

[Socke]

Same here, I asked for the ZI at two shops. The first has Leica and Canon prominently displayed over their windows and the second once had the biggest selection of Leica and Contax as well as Hasselblad and Mamiya.

Both won't have a ZI demo :-(

Bessas? I haven't seen one in my life!

 

[Lear]

The only ZI I saw was at the Hasselblad importer over here, during a photo show, actually I played with the prototype that was in photokina. Gave me prices too. But am yet to spot one in a shop.

 

[James Burton]

“No. Since we don’t bring single items, it would have to be a much larger batch”

Youch!!! I hope they'll give you a warrantee if you import it from somewhere else then. The camera business sucks now. The gadget shops (i.e. digital camera & mp3 player shops) are killing camera shops by the dozen.

James

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

My local camera shop has morphed into a wedding studio with a handful of cheap digital cameras. Presumably they're for the wedding guests to buy.

When he actually sold cameras he drove a regular sort of car. Today he's got a new Mercedes every year.

 

[Lear]

Actually most importers are like this over here, so most shops actually buy it outside the country, and most of what you can buy here is in fact grey market. I know of a specific shop that had a fight with Nikon´s importers thus ended buing all Nikon and Bronica directly from B&H. Warranty issues are kind of comic over here, most services wont even honor a worldwide manufacturer garantee.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Same here next door in Portugal.

The Apple distributor does not recognise AppleCare warranty.

Robert White can get photo stuff from his base to Lisbon overnight. Maybe that's the way for you to buy?

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

A copy and paste from Voigtlander's site:

Our distribution partner for Portugal is:

IMAGE CENTER S.A.
Plaza da Santa Ana Nr. 1, 1°
E- 28012 Madrid

Spain

 

[taffer]

Don't look too much Diego, unfortunately to find a SERIOUS CV distributor in Spain is plain impossible.

But not only for CV, look for the horror stories regarding distribution/service of the (film/digi) SLRs from Canon in Spain.

Get all you need from Gandy or from Robert White in UK to be free of import duties. I've only heard good things from Spanish people buying from them, and another good option seems to be Joseph Yao in HK.

 

[Flyfisher Tom]

Sorry to hear of that Diego.

I've dealt with Robert White (from the US) and they were an absolute class outfit to work with. Try them 🙂

 

[Lear]

I have bought in the past from Stephen with great success, he is a very legal guy, and given the case I would buy from him with no doubts.

Its just that I found the entire issue quite "tragi-comic".

 

[iñaki]

I didn´t find anything interesting in Spain when I wanted a Bessa R (may 2005). The only spanish shop I found (from Barcelona) asked about 600 € for the body only 😕 . That price was ridiculuos, but there is no market for this kind of camera in Spain now. Everybody wants digital. I wonder how many Bessas are now in Spain. Sometimes is good to be different 😎

I paid about 1/3 of that for the R and the wonderful CV 35/2.5 buying it from Cameraquest (I didn´t paid customs) 😀

 

[taffer]

Yes Iñaki, I've visited that same camera store you mention in Barcelona, my guess is they just bring some of those CV items more in a collector's way than to really sell them. 600€ for the R and some cabinets from them you can find a 500€ user M3.

 

[Gabriel M.A.]

Quizás malentienden el lema: "El cliente siempre tiene la razón."

It sounds like he's heard the question before. If a shopkeeper ever insists to me "we only bring what sells, sir", I would then say, "well, don't worry, you won't have much to bring soon; not for me in any case".

A ciertas mulas sólo norias.

 

[petebown]

In the UK, in addition to Robert White www.robertwhite.co.uk we also have Ffordes www.ffordes.com

Both can export to Spain. Robert White is the offical distributor. I usually use Ffordes as I prefer their web site as it allows you to view used items.

 

[daveozzz]

I'll second Ffordes - excellent shop. If you're not sure about the condition of their used items phone. They are very friendly and don't seem to mind having a chat about thier gear (unlike some retailers where it seems to ruin their day to have to speak to a customer).

 

[bobofish]

I have to say issues with CV have been odd here in Portland as well.

Portland is a medium sized city in the US, if not even a slightly smaller one...about a million in the metro area. However, it's a very developed photo market, with lots of pro's and amateurs. As such we've always had Hasselblad, Leica, and the like represented at several shops. Things have changed a little, but it's still not hard to find the big brands.

With that said, it's always been very very hard for me to find Cosina products...I thought about buying a Bessa several times, but I've only been able to put my mits on one a couple times, and only for a couple minutes. With a product like the Bessas, that's not enough for me, so I haven't bought one.

It's a shame really, because Cosina makes a product line that fits the budgets of a lot of people, but their distribution network seems to leave a bit to be desired.

 

[ClaremontPhoto]

Yes, I like ffordes too. I've known them for thirty years or more and remember their retail shop in Southend on Sea well.

They used to have photos taken by the staff on display, and when a customer asked about a particular focal length or film or whatever they'd point to one as an example. "Yes, that picture there is Ilford FP3*, Eric took it last month."

But when I returned to get my Voigtlander there I found that they do not stock it and I'd need to wait two weeks for them to get it from the distributor.

So I went to the distributor (Robert White) who who had everything, even the SC version of the 40mm Nokton, and sent it the same day.

*FP3: Yes, that was the preferred film in those days.

 

[RML]

My experience is that things aren't much better in Holland than in Spain. Most photo shops only stock digital cameras and paraphernalia and a handful of consumer films. The few that still do stock film related materials like chemicals, developing gear, etc. are usually aimed at artists and accordingly expensive. Try to find a camera like a Voigtlander and you mostly out of luck. If a shop even knows the name, they most likely have none on offer and won't order one either. If you're really lucky they might have a second hand somewhere in the back. This is what happened to me. Years ago, when I found out about CV cameras and lenses, I was (and still am) not able to find them on stock in any photo shop here in Amsterdam. I happened to find a second hand one that I fondled but never bought. The price was a shocking 100% of the then current CQ offer!

Second hand gear is mostly extremely expensive here. I've seen Leicas on offer for something like 75% of the new price though not in new state. New Leicas are often 25-50% more expensive here than in the US for example. FED-2s and Zorkis are on offer for 150 euro and up! All in all, the huge prices asked for new and second hand gear, and the very limited availability of much gear, made me turn to CQ and eBay from a very early time. Really too bad, as many of these shops have quite knowledgeable staff, who are willing to go the extra steps to keep you a happy customer. It's just that my wallet can't afford the proce tag.