Australia/New Zealand Zeiss Ikon M in Aust.

James Burton

James Burton

Shoot into the light
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Apr 5, 2005
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Anybody seen one yet?

I'm hanging out. Seriously painful GAS

If it doesn't turn up soon, I might have to look at something else :)
 
I bought one from Dr. Joseph Yao in Hong Kong. Contact him via e-mail (joseph@yao.com). Price was $1395 USD + shipping. A lot closer to your corner of the world than mine. I'm very happy with it. Also available at Robert White in London for $1362 USD.
 
Huck Finn said:
I bought one from Dr. Joseph Yao in Hong Kong. Contact him via e-mail (joseph@yao.com). Price was $1395 USD + shipping. A lot closer to your corner of the world than mine. I'm very happy with it. Also available at Robert White in London for $1362 USD.
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Actually thanks for bringing that up. It does mean that it isn't supported by Hasselblad USA (or whatever they're called). It also probably means that your chosen supplier isn't bound by the USAn style returns policy (something we're not used to here either). Yet you went ahead with what I assume is a rather large purchase. Dr Yao must have been very impressive by email.

Actually I wanted to fondle one, perhaps run a roll through before going ahead with a purchase.

Thanks,
James
 
Fondle, yes. That's what I want to do too before I buy anything else. But I believe Jan 2nd is gonna be R3A order day. Can't wait no more. ;)
 
James Burton said:
Actually thanks for bringing that up. It does mean that it isn't supported by Hasselblad USA (or whatever they're called). It also probably means that your chosen supplier isn't bound by the USAn style returns policy (something we're not used to here either). Yet you went ahead with what I assume is a rather large purchase. Dr Yao must have been very impressive by email.

Actually I wanted to fondle one, perhaps run a roll through before going ahead with a purchase.

Thanks,
James
Click to expand...


Actually, James, Dr. Yao was very impressive by e-mail. I had been corresponding with him since last spring & he always replied the same day & in detail. No question I posed to him was too trivial. Since I received the camera, I have continued to correspond with him as minor questions have arisen & he has continued to reply just as promptly & fully. Most impressive was the fact that he mailed the camera even before he had received my check, based on my assurance that it was "in the mail." I guess we had built up some mutual trust in our correspondence.

But I did some additional research. His family's company has been in business for 57 years & his reputation from previous customers on various internet message boards is impeccable.

You're right that my camera is probably not supported by Hasselblad-USA. However, it's not grey market either in the sense of a store warranty only. It comes with an international warranty from Shriro/Hasselblad, documenting that it was purchased through regular distribution channels & assuring access to parts, which is probably more important than the 1-year warranty in the long run. In regard to USA service, ironically Mike Elek (Zeiss Fan on RFF) has posted on his website (http://elekm.net/zeiss_ikon) that a problem has developed with his rangefinder & he was told by Hassy-USA to mail it back to the factory in Japan. If I'm going to have to mail it back to Japan anyway, what's the advantage of domestic service?

Frankly, James, I would have preferred to have purchased from Hasselblad-USA, but have you seen USA prices for this camera? $1617! By paying $1395, I saved $222. And it's not just that Dr. Yao is selling at artificially low Hong Kong prices. Robert White in London is selling the ZI for $1362 USD. Cosina lists an MSRP on their website of $1275 USD in Japan. USA prices are the highest I have seen anywhere in the world. What's the price in Australia? Many European customers buy from Camera Quest & Photo Village because they have the best available prices on Cosina Voiglander products. I see nothing wrong with going across the ocean in the other direction to get a good price. It's a global village. As long as I can receive good service, I'll shop around. Both my conversations with Dr. Yao & his reputation convinced me that I would receive excellent service from him even after the purchase. That has proven to be true so far.

Unlike you, I had already fondled the camera a couple of times at photo shows in New York & had corresponded extensively with Hasselblad in Sweden in doing my research, so I didn't need to go through a local dealer to decide if this was the right camera for me. There are certainly other fine dealers out there that I could have used, but this seemed to be the right arrangement for me & the timing was right in terms of product availability from Dr. Yao. I'm sure that there are different arrangements that may work better for some others.

I hope that someone has availability for you in Australia. Good luck finding one. It really is a very fine camera.

Huck
 
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Huck Finn said:
BTW, James, have you contacted C R Kennedy & Co Pty Ltd in Melbourne? They are listed on the Zeiss Ikon website (www.zeissikon.com) as the official distributors in Australia.
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Yah thats my next step. But I'm not holding my breath - probably won't hear what I want to :)

Thanks for filling me in.

James
 
In Sydney...

In Sydney...

Foto Reisel (Kent Streed in Sydney CBD) said that CR Kennedy would be sending them a body and (maybe) some lenses. The guy hepling me said he wasn't too happy about the prices quoted by CR Kennedy though.
 
Shadrash said:
Foto Reisel (Kent Streed in Sydney CBD) said that CR Kennedy would be sending them a body and (maybe) some lenses. The guy hepling me said he wasn't too happy about the prices quoted by CR Kennedy though.
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Yeah, have to say I'm not hopeful. If the U.S. price is $1200 - $1600,
(after translation and GST) that makes $1800 - $2400 in our language.
Sometimes local prices are heaps more than 1.5x though, especially for luxury items. In that case the only real option is to buy overseas as Huck was suggesting.

As a side note. The CZ-M 50/2 lens is $AU1500 in Camera Lane. I think it was $US600 at CameraQuest. At that rate buying locally is just outta the question.

Anyway, I sent a note to CRK via their web page asking. No response as of yet.

James
 
James Burton said:
Anyway, I sent a note to CRK via their web page asking. No response as of yet.
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OK, I got a response. Camera Lane in January. I didn't ask about prices though,
I wanted the dream (of buying one from a shop here) to last a few more weeks

;-)


James
 
Whoo hoo. I played with one today.

$2500 for the body @ Camera Lane.

For comparison they have
- a Canon VT with 35/1.8, $500
- a black M6 Classic (some marks) $2000
- a black M6 Classic (minty) $2500

My short sharp shock of a review is
- lighter than I thought
This is good for me. Those that want a heavy camera can make a brass widget
and screw it into the tripod hole.
With the ZM 50/2 mounted the lens felt like the majority of the weight, felt
lighter than each of my other 2 cameras. Let's say circa 500gms for the lot.
- larger than I thought
Nice feel in the hands. Should be easy to hold it still
- louder than I thought.
I'm probably comparing to Canonet QL17 GIII and/or EOS-30
not a serious issue
- Really nice feel, VF is great, focus is really obvious. I found I had to move my
eye leftward in the VF to see the patch at all - not a problem, I'd get used to
that quickly.
- The exposure lock is a bit further leftward on the body than I thought.
Easy enough to get used to.
- I need to figure out how to do exposure compensation (I'll look up the manual).
- Meter is easy enough to use. Might be hard to see in daylight.
- Shutter button is flush with it's mount, barely have to move it to
(a) start up the meter and (b) fire the shutter.
Nice shutter lock.
- Rear door release is good (as others have noted)
- exposure winder is nice (don't know what people have been complaining about)


I'm thinking, due to budget constraints of getting it with the Nokton 40/1.4 as a starter lens, they quoted me $530 for that. I'm still weighing up which option to take. The Bessa R2A ($895) is another one of course.

Thanks,
James
 
Yeah, I know. Makes me wanna wait until next time I'm travelling and buy one in HK or the USA. :)

The Nokton 40/1.4 is a fantastic little lens, though. I use mine all the time, and it's my primary low-light lens... and at under half what the Zeiss 50 would cost you. :)
 
If anyone in Sydney wants to fondle a zeiss, Mainline photographics in Crows Nest has them in stock, they are a good store dedicated to traditional film photography(got my xpan there) and they have all the new bessa/B+W/shneider stuff as well. You can order online.

www.mainlinephoto.com.au
 
James Burton said:
Looks like a price of $1990 to me INCLUDING GST.
Perhaps that's a mistake or perhaps they are parallel imports.
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Looks like $1990 is the web price. The price in the window yesterday was

$1950 for the body (prev. $2500)
$1250 for the 50/2 (prev. $1500)
$1450 for the 35/2 lens

I assume the price change is because they havn't sold any :-(
According to my calculations above that body price is pretty good and would be enough to stop me shopping overseas. But the equivalent price for the 50/2 lens would be $900 :-(

James (apologies to those that aren't interested in this at all).
 
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