C200: Possibly a deal in Europe on the Canon CN-E 18-80 T/4.4 Servo Zoom lens

[puredrifting]

I don't normally post Euro deals as they are a hassle for us here in the States with the exchange rate but
in this case, might be worth the hassle. CVP in the UK is offering the Canon CN-E 18-80 for £2,645.00 or €2,938.00,
which translated to the dollar is $3,307.04 at today's exchange rate. Current price at B&H for the same lens is $4,600.00
and the CVP deal includes the ZSG-C10 Servo Grip. Not sure about how VAT would work (I don't think we have to pay VAT?)
and not sure how customs would work in getting it here? Maybe some of our UK colleagues could advise us if we have to pay
VAT and if a import tariff would be levied on us upon importing here?

https://cvp.com/product/canon_cn-e18-80?aff_id=101&sub_id=jakub

 

[Stills2HDConvert]

They need to keep a deal like that out of the US. If they don't, I need to bury my credit cards for 6 months.

 

[morgan_moore]

You would not need to pay VAT which is an inside the UK/EU thing but you may have to pay some form of import duty.

 

[puredrifting]

You would not need to pay VAT which is an inside the UK/EU thing but you may have to pay some form of import duty.

Do you know how to calculate the import duties? Is that strictly a U.S. Government thing? No fees to export it owed to the British Government, right? I've only bought small things from Amazon.co.uk but never something that was £2,645.00
I'll research the import duties and post back here what I find, it is a pretty good deal it seems.

 

[puredrifting]

Wow, just found an on-line calculator. Not bad, it would be $57.25 duty to import that lens from the UK. Pretty damn good deal. Of course, Canon USA wouldn't honor the warranty on the lens, it would have to be shipped back to the UK for service probably but how often do your lenses break down?

 

[Run&Gun]

The warranty period is probably only a year. So the bigger question is, will Canon USA service centers accept the lens for (customer paid) service after the warranty period? I only recall ever sending one lens in during its warranty period to be checked for a possible covered issue, but I’ve had tons of out of warranty maintenance and service performed.

 

[rob norton]

Dan, you’re not allowed to buy unless you tell the group how it’ll make you money.

 

[ade4all]

I'd be amazed if duty is that small but you never know - having imported stuff the other way from US to UK I've either got away with no duty or it's been 20%

 

[puredrifting]

Dan, you’re not allowed to buy unless you tell the group how it’ll make you money.

Oh I'm not buying it, I'm living vicariously through you guys! ;-)

 

[puredrifting]

I'd be amazed if duty is that small but you never know - having imported stuff the other way from US to UK I've either got away with no duty or it's been 20%

I have no idea but I used an on-line duty calculator and then checked it with another than they both came up with the same amount. I've never imported something this expensive. Even at 20%, it would still be a decent, albeit not as good deal here.

 

[rob norton]

Oh I'm not buying it, I'm living vicariously through you guys! ;-)

It would be an awesome documentary lens as a poor man's 17-120. If I landed a documentary project e.g. 12 days on the road, I'd buy one.

That's what I'm doing with equipment now - waiting until there's a need then pulling the trigger on the purchase just before the project. The decision making is out of my hands!

 

[klk]

I've had this lens for almost 3 years. It is the poor man's 17-120, with the caveat that it does have autofocus and IS.
At first I was very concerned about the T4.4. For all practical purposes the 4.4 isn't really that much of a problem. When you want really shallow DOF I go to primes or Sigma Art series zooms. (carry them on all shoots.)
My main wish is that this lens was an 18-135mm zoom. That would have been great.
On most multi camera jobs with budget restrictions, we rent 17-120 zooms and the 18-80 resides on one body.
It is a very functional, practical, industry specific lens. If it's that cheap it's worth it.

 

[Run&Gun]

If these compact servo’s had been introduced WITH the original C300, I would have probably bought them, then, because we were hobbling through the first few years with full-on still lenses like the 24-105 trying to do what should have been done with ENG lenses and cameras. But by the time Canon finally dropped them, a lot of us had already bought adapters for our ENG lenses and “s35 ENG lenses” like the 17-120 or Fuji Cab’s...

I have some friends with them and also a client with one. I really, really dislike the focus being set up just like a still lens: the scale is in a window that you can’t see while operating and there are no hard stops.

 

[DLD]

FWIW, there are a bunch of deals on Sony cameras out there across the water. Not enough to tempt the Yanks at home but several hundred Euros off.

And then there's a Sony streaming event on the 17th. With four registered Sony models - which are currently unknown - making very large possible waves.