UK prices of lenses

[alastair_anderson]

<p>I'm trying to find out the relative cost of lenses in the UK.</p>

<p>Specifically I'd like to know if the 200 f2g VRII is normally cheaper or more expensive than the 300 f2.8g VRII. I would also like to know the relative cost of the 80-400 and 200-400 lenses.</p>

<p>Thanks in advance.</p>

[nigel_deacon]

<p>Q1: 200mm f/2 is pretty much exactly the same price as the 300mm f/2.8 on average in the UK (can be found for a very little more or less), but if you are patient you may find a better deal (I got my 300mm f/2.8 for more than £600 less than the 200 f/2.8).<br>

Q2 - relative to what? Find "WEX photographic" or Jessops with UK included in the search to find competitive official Nikon UK product prices. Grey imports from other sources are cheaper - and good luck with any warranty or repair issues if you go that way ;-) </p>

 

[alastair_anderson]

<p>Thanks, Nigel. That's very helpful. I note that the 200 and 300 weigh the same as well. (Perhaps the price is based on weight :))<br>

I meant relative to the cost of the other lenses. I'm not interested in grey market prices.</p>

[lordposh]

<p>Hi Alastair,<br>

I use the following site to monitor price movements, they don't always have all supplier but they do have a history on high's and low's<br>

Nikon AF-S 200mm f2<br>

<a href="http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod.php?n=NikonAF-S200mmf2GEDVRII&p=1644">http://www.camerapricebuster.co.uk/prod.php?n=NikonAF-S200mmf2GEDVRII&p=1644</a></p>

<p>Roger<br>

</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<blockquote>(Perhaps the price is based on weight :))</blockquote>

 

<p>No, but it is closely correlated with the size of the largest elements (which is roughly the same for the 300 f/2.8 and 200 f/2)... I was organized and got a 200 f/2 VR just before the mk2 update, which appeared to be £2000 for some new coatings (and slightly better VR). Last I looked, there were still some old ones kicking around in "new" state. I'm not sure if the same is true of the 300 f/2.8 - the new one is also fairly new, but I believe it's a more popular lens.<br />

<br />

I normally check WEX, Park and Amazon for new stuff (although Heathrow airport sometimes copes); there are others for used stuff. If you mean 80-400 relative to 200-400, that's probably not a worthwhile question to ask!</p>

[JDMvW]

<p>The big British stores all had websites the last time I looked a year or so ago. You can get new prices for lenses etc. from them.</p>

<p>One of the big problems is the VAT (Value-Added Tax), and many of them used to sell much cheaper without the tax if you have it shipped outside where ever the limits are.</p>

<p>I have always been shocked at British and European prices in general. For a long time (I haven't checked lately) you could take the US price in dollars, and the British price seemed to be the same number, but in more valuable pounds. Much the same with Dollar to Euro. </p>

<p>I remember when I used to buy books from across the Atlantic because the dollar was so strong that the prices, even with postage, were less than in the USA. And I also had to walk a mile to school in the driving snow, blah blah blah</p>

[ShunCheung]

<blockquote>

<p>For a long time (I haven't checked lately) you could take the US price in dollars, and the British price seemed to be the same number, but in more valuable pounds. Much the same with Dollar to Euro.</p>

</blockquote>

<p>About a decade ago, I was reading a British photo magazine, and I found the prices were largely the same in terms of numbers in the UK and in the US, except that the currency unit was the British Pound in the UK and US$ here in the US. Back then, one pound was like US$1.8 or so.</p>

[Andrew Garrard]

<blockquote>I remember when I used to buy books from across the Atlantic because the dollar was so strong that the prices, even with postage, were less than in the USA. And I also had to walk a mile to school in the driving snow, blah blah blah</blockquote>

 

<p>Ironically, I've had a tendency to buy cheap books at conferences. I quite often then forget that I'll go over my baggage allowance, removing the advantage. My 14-24 was bought while I was in the States a few years back for roughly half the UK price - though they've evened out a bit since. That was in the heady days of £1 = $1.98.<br />

<br />

Adobe tends to be a big offender when it comes to exchange rates - CS6 master collection is currently $2599 and £2644.50, according to their web sites. The RRP of the D600 is almost as bad ($2097/£1960), but at least that seems to have settled itself on the high street a bit. Still, it could be petrol (sorry, gas) - we're currently fluctuating around £1.40 per litre for unleaded - a quick google finds, in (randomly) LA, $4.55/gallon, or about $1.20/l. However, I've never been able to cope with the US thing of not including tax in quoted prices...</p>