Owning a Nikon D7100 already, I was often tempted to jump to an FX camera. When the Nikon D810 was revealed, I decided that’s the camera for me. The only problem was cost. Being in the UK, the D810 was only available in a handful of places with price tags of around £2500. I have purchased grey market gear before and had no problems doing so for the D810. After looking around the Internet, and reading reviews, I narrowed things down to two websites. HDEWcameras and Cotswold Cameras.
I emailed HDEW who offered me the D810 for £1865 but they don't sell Tamron lenses unfortunately. Cotswold Cameras had a slightly higher price tag for the D810, but their lenses were very well priced. I was impressed with the communication I received via email from David at Cotswold Cameras. They didn’t sell all the lenses I wanted but they were willing to acquire these lenses and gave me a price for each. Apart from the D810 body, everything else was the cheapest I could find (ignoring SLRHut due to some poor comments on forums). I mentioned on email that HDEW sells the D810 cheaper and wondered if they would price match. They agreed so I ended up buying the following:
Nikon D810 body = £1865
Nikon 24-120mm lens = £755
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 VC lens = £740
Tamron 150-600mm lens = £799
At the time, they offered a free Hoya Pro1 D UV filter for each lens purchased. Before paying, I asked since I am buying so much gear, could they discount me on anything. They said they couldn’t due to tight margins, so I asked if they would throw in a free second battery which they agreed to do. I get 3 year UK warranty on the body and all the lenses too. Half a week later, my gear arrived from Hong Kong (in 2 packages). One Hoya filter was missing, and also the hotshoe cover for the D810 was not there. I emailed Cotswold Cameras to ask them about the two missing items, and they refunded me £40. Everything else has been great, very happy and I can’t really praise them enough.
I’m not working for Cotswold Cameras, I am just a happy customer who wants to share his experience with other photographers here.
I emailed HDEW who offered me the D810 for £1865 but they don't sell Tamron lenses unfortunately. Cotswold Cameras had a slightly higher price tag for the D810, but their lenses were very well priced. I was impressed with the communication I received via email from David at Cotswold Cameras. They didn’t sell all the lenses I wanted but they were willing to acquire these lenses and gave me a price for each. Apart from the D810 body, everything else was the cheapest I could find (ignoring SLRHut due to some poor comments on forums). I mentioned on email that HDEW sells the D810 cheaper and wondered if they would price match. They agreed so I ended up buying the following:
Nikon D810 body = £1865
Nikon 24-120mm lens = £755
Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 VC lens = £740
Tamron 150-600mm lens = £799
At the time, they offered a free Hoya Pro1 D UV filter for each lens purchased. Before paying, I asked since I am buying so much gear, could they discount me on anything. They said they couldn’t due to tight margins, so I asked if they would throw in a free second battery which they agreed to do. I get 3 year UK warranty on the body and all the lenses too. Half a week later, my gear arrived from Hong Kong (in 2 packages). One Hoya filter was missing, and also the hotshoe cover for the D810 was not there. I emailed Cotswold Cameras to ask them about the two missing items, and they refunded me £40. Everything else has been great, very happy and I can’t really praise them enough.
I’m not working for Cotswold Cameras, I am just a happy customer who wants to share his experience with other photographers here.
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