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Just found out that Camshot is an authorized Nikon dealer and carry the full Nikon 2 year warranty for the cameras. I got this info by calling them today.

As I said before they are not listed on Nikon India's website. Better to go by that than a claim from the retailer. Unless of course they are listed under some other name.


Check here: http://www.nikon.co.in/en_IN/dealers.page?

That is some serious gear. What do you photograph? Where? Have any of your photos been published?

I've been mainly into candid and landscapes with the 'Trinity' zooms including the 14-24mm F/2.8.

I am getting into wildlife photography mainly birding and where possible large mammals at Kabini and other sanctuaries. Hence the super telephotos.

All my photos are in a private collection i.e. none hosted or stored online due to serious privacy & other T&C concerns with hosting sites. A recent scare was Instagram.

Wow! That is some investment in gear though.

Many years ago (about 2 decades) I got to see what might well be the biggest resevoir of stock images in India. Today they have a website (see link http://www.dinodia.com/ ). In those days photos were on microflm and one had to go through a series of small by lanes in Vithalwadi/Kalbadevi (Mumbai) and then go past a garbage dump (yup you needed a strong stomach or a weak nose).

I figured you might want to recover some portion of the cost of the glass and I know these people to be honest. I have no commercial or other relation with them, I only used to source images from them.

Yes, it is a serious investment into what I call the bottomless pit. The thing is I have been into photography since I was a kid. My shift to digital was delayed but well worth it as once again I did not want a crop frame (courtesy my legacy lenses) and could not afford a full frame DSLR till a few years ago.

I am also a self confessed gear head. :D I love cameras (even film) and lenses not only for art of photography, also because of the fine workmanship, and the high precision, high tech instruments that they are.

Thanks very much Navin. Truly appreciate this tip. Yes though I am from the computer industry I certainly don't mind getting paid for my photos. I will contact them one day.

Thanks for the help SPARKled. You have some seriously impressive spotting gear as well! I did not know about ED glass, researched it a bit after reading your post.

When you mentioned "Avoid the Vanguard coz its not cheap ..", I was sort of hoping (like an idiot) that you would share a cheaper and better option. With that hope, I looked up the prices for Pentax 80ED and realized that the basic scope itself costs 700-800 USD and a eye-piece would be another ~350 USD. So easily 65-70,000 Rs. ebay-India lists one for ~65K INR. That's some serious amount of money. Unfortunately out of my reach at this juncture.

Let me get out of here before you convince me to sell my car! :)

ED scopes need not be expensive. Try the new Celestron Regal or one of the cheap Bushnell ED models. Picking up a second hand one is an option too. Even 65mm scopes are good enough and quite cheap.

This is going off topic, so any further discussion can be done through PM.

Thanks for this headsup. But now I cant even find Flipkart as an authorized dealer for Nikon. So is it that they have a separate page for online dealers? I could not find such a list on the Nikon India web site.

Now I am totally confused.

The Camshot price is pretty good and I am not sure if any other authorized dealer will match this price. Should I save a few bucks and take a chance with them or is it totally not worth it?

Help me please anyone...

Dear SPARKled

As I had already mentioned to you, Camshot is ***very*** reliable. You can go ahead and make your purchase. However, I am saying this based on mine and other friend's experience over last 3-4 years. Finally its upto you.

All the best!

SPARKled I don't know if you have noticed but Nikon does not have a single e-retailer listed. :) All of them are brick-and-mortar shops who happen to have an online presence for e.g. Chroma or Reliance.

Same goes for Adorama and B&H in the US. They are stores having an online presence. EDIT: I think Amazon may be an exception.

And that is intentional. There are cases where the service centres have turned down repairs under warranty as the purchase was made online, especially eBay. I have mentioned this several times to BHPians on this thread. Nikon has a very strict warranty policy.

But here's where the deal truly breaks for me - I like to inspect the camera/lens/equipment BEFORE I fork out the cash or the cheque. Can't do that with an online service. Even a 30 day no questions asked return offered by Flipkart doesn't offset my policy of inspection or alleviate my concern. Of course it is another thing that Flipkart's prices is anything but competitive.

Mind you, not being listed at Nikon India is in no way a reflection on Messrs Camshot ethics and capabilities as a seller of photographic goods. I am sure they are very reliable as has been pointed out previously by Ajay. Being a Puneri I will probably buy some gear from them someday albeit not very expensive stuff though unless they get 'listed'.

Camshot is certainly very competitive. But there's no need to be confused. Would you have purchased a car through a dealer who is not listed at the car manufacturer's site?

I prefer to be safe when purchasing a lens that costs as much as a small car (or allied equipment costing lakhs)

Rest up to you.

I just contacted the Nikon India sales help line and they have categorically stated that Camshot is not an authorized Nikon dealer any more but Flipkart is. But you are correct in saying that that their prices are almost MRP which is not the best thing really. So I am looking around and calling up the dealers and distributors listed on the Nikon list of dealers to get that best deal. Lets see what happens.

Nikon in USA and else where is pretty much OK with online dealers and they sell a lot of their cameras through them so its not really a thing of any concern to buy online as long as they are authorized dealers. However what you are talking about is more of a concern in case of Luxury watch dealers who just cant sell online. For eg. Omega does not have a single online authorized dealer and even those genuine Omegas you buy at Amazon come without the Omega warranty.

I am glad you called Nikon - best to get this straight from the horse's mouth. Good luck with your search.

Nikon is ok with online sales as long as they are from authorised dealers. And the largest dealers are B&H and Adorama. There were others like Wolf Camera and Ritz that closed shop AFAIK. The common thing with these online stores is that they began as B&M operations. Attached is the list of authorised dealers in the US dated 9th Jan '12 exactly a year old. And surprise surprise! Amazon is NOT listed. :D So I (and possibly many others) stand corrected.

Yes I know that Omega doesn't warrant online sales. I wear a black Omega Seamaster Professional Chronometer. BTW isn't that a blue Seamaster dial as in your avatar? :)

Here's the latest list of Nikon US authorised retailers dated 23rd Jul 2012. It supersedes the Jan 2012 list, this time Amazon is listed as is Apple Computer. ;)

Hi all,
After lots of delay and other issues,i'm finally in mood of picking up a DSLR. I did some research as per my budget and have zeroed down on Nikon D3200 with 18-105mm lens.18-105mm lens because if at all i require to upgrade it later,it'll be much later.I checked on Flipkart and its available with them.Moreover i read in this thread that Flipkart is an online dealer for Nikon.I request all of you to help. I'm a newbie to DSLRs. My use will be mainly for some regular snaps and for railfanning. I also read a blog which did help me somehow. (http://www.tristanshu.com/Blog/En/20...anon-to-nikon/). My sister-in-law uses a Canon 550D and i also used it for a few days.Thats a nice buy but the one with 18-135mm lens is out of my budget and i don't intend to buy 18-55mm kit. So please give some inputs. Thanks in advance.