Subsonic Radio

Amy wrote:Looks pretty good so far acp. I would suggest taking your old camera with you as well. Never hurts to have a back-up!

I'm going to be sticking my compact camera in the bag anyway. It doesn't take up much room, so it's worth throwing in the bag.

I'll likely leave the DSLR in the hotel if it rains and take the older one, for example.

Len90 wrote:acp: I've heard a lot of good about the D3200, but never touched it being a loyal Canon person. As I recommended to Epcotmaniac, you should think about getting an additional lens to supplement the 18-55.

I spent a good amount of time last night playing with it and learning what does what on it. I think some of it may have sunk in, too .

Yeah, it's on the list for when budget will allow. A friend (who's much more knowledgeable about these things than I currently am) suggested looking at getting a 50mm lens (such as this one). Probably not likely to happen for before the trip, though.

Having said that, I've added to my list to have a look at camera/lens shops around Tokyo. My research suggested that although the camera itself wasn't cheaper to buy over there, some accessories might be. Not certain if that applies to lenses, though. I'll have a look and see.

I'm not so sure about shops in Tokyo, but I tend to find that in the states amazon is the cheapest. I usually go to a camera shop near me to see what I like and then just order it online. A 50 mm 1.8 is an excellent low light lens. I have one for my Canon that I only use if needed. Those tend to be relatively cheap and do a great job for night time shooting. With better ISO handling on later bodies you can actually do a decent job with an f 4 lens at a higher ISO.

Len90 wrote:I'm not so sure about shops in Tokyo, but I tend to find that in the states amazon is the cheapest. I usually go to a camera shop near me to see what I like and then just order it online. A 50 mm 1.8 is an excellent low light lens. I have one for my Canon that I only use if needed. Those tend to be relatively cheap and do a great job for night time shooting. With better ISO handling on later bodies you can actually do a decent job with an f 4 lens at a higher ISO.

Yeah, I'm not counting on finding better prices in Tokyo, it's just a thought

As I said earlier, though, I don't really have the budget to spend another 155 quid right now, but it's on the list for some point in the future. For the Tokyo trip, I'm only going to have the kit lens to play with.

acp wrote:

Len90 wrote:I'm not so sure about shops in Tokyo, but I tend to find that in the states amazon is the cheapest. I usually go to a camera shop near me to see what I like and then just order it online. A 50 mm 1.8 is an excellent low light lens. I have one for my Canon that I only use if needed. Those tend to be relatively cheap and do a great job for night time shooting. With better ISO handling on later bodies you can actually do a decent job with an f 4 lens at a higher ISO.

Yeah, I'm not counting on finding better prices in Tokyo, it's just a thought

As I said earlier, though, I don't really have the budget to spend another 155 quid right now, but it's on the list for some point in the future. For the Tokyo trip, I'm only going to have the kit lens to play with.

I'm pretty sure you won't find electronics to be much cheaper there in Tokyo. A Japanese friend of mine said that the Japanese people tend to think cheaper things are not as good quality so even though things could be cheaper there, since so many things are manufactured right there, that you will find about the same prices as they are here, or in your case, there (in England). All of a sudden I feel like I am channeling Dr. Nigel Channing For your safety, do not put on your safety goggles until you are safely seated safely inside the theater safely

Amy wrote:

acp wrote:

Len90 wrote:I'm not so sure about shops in Tokyo, but I tend to find that in the states amazon is the cheapest. I usually go to a camera shop near me to see what I like and then just order it online. A 50 mm 1.8 is an excellent low light lens. I have one for my Canon that I only use if needed. Those tend to be relatively cheap and do a great job for night time shooting. With better ISO handling on later bodies you can actually do a decent job with an f 4 lens at a higher ISO.

Yeah, I'm not counting on finding better prices in Tokyo, it's just a thought

As I said earlier, though, I don't really have the budget to spend another 155 quid right now, but it's on the list for some point in the future. For the Tokyo trip, I'm only going to have the kit lens to play with.

I'm pretty sure you won't find electronics to be much cheaper there in Tokyo. A Japanese friend of mine said that the Japanese people tend to think cheaper things are not as good quality so even though things could be cheaper there, since so many things are manufactured right there, that you will find about the same prices as they are here, or in your case, there (in England). All of a sudden I feel like I am channeling Dr. Nigel Channing For your safety, do not put on your safety goggles until you are safely seated safely inside the theater safely

To be honest, that's pretty much what I'm expecting (no, not Eric Idle, the prices to be like or higher than here (not there)).

Still, I'll take a look around anyway.. No harm in looking

From my trips long ago to the UK, I found the prices of electronics HIGHER in the UK than USA (like petrol prices). So, if the prices in Japan are similar to USA, then hopefully they are less than the UK...

acp: Have you thought about renting lenses? I know in the states some camera shops have a rental department. I personally have never rented but it is something I have considered and is another option for you. Especially the fact that you are so close to our trip.

Len90 wrote:acp: Have you thought about renting lenses? I know in the states some camera shops have a rental department. I personally have never rented but it is something I have considered and is another option for you. Especially the fact that you are so close to our trip.

I know you had been able to rent camera equipment at one time from the corner camera store on Main Street at WDW's MK, but I don't know if they still do that anymore. I would say try it at TDL but they might not.

mindflipper wrote:I know you had been able to rent camera equipment at one time from the corner camera store on Main Street at WDW's MK, but I don't know if they still do that anymore. I would say try it at TDL but they might not.

Really? I've never heard of that before.

Len90 wrote:acp: Have you thought about renting lenses? I know in the states some camera shops have a rental department. I personally have never rented but it is something I have considered and is another option for you. Especially the fact that you are so close to our trip.

I've done a quick bit of googlery (yes, that's a word.. now..) and from what I've read so far most if not all Japan-based rental peoples require some kind of Japanese credit card for rental. A quick look at UK-based ones suggested that the price for the length of time I'd need to take it with me would be getting not far off the cost of buying one new. As I say, I've only had a quick look so far, but it doesn't seem worth it from what I've read so far.

I have had a look on a couple of Japan-based retailers websites (Google Translate is your friend), and it suggests that there is a difference in price buying them new over there compared to over here, to the order of around 10 pounds (around 15 of your weird dollar things, for the Americans among us). The same shop (which is actually just around the corner from my hotel) also sells them used (the website has a chart for the condition. Most of them appear to be "Very good", which it describes as "Has [Had] limited use but in great condition. The item is complete and undamaged. The item works perfectly", and those go for around 25-30 pounds cheaper (35-45 of those silly dollar things). That may be an option. I think there's also the ability to have the local taxes knocked off it by producing my non-Japanese passport, which would make it a bit cheaper still. I need to do some more reading.

Well, Andy, it was a long time ago the last time I rented a camera. One time long ago, I need to recharge my video camera and the shop could not do it; instead, they could rent me a video camera and that's what I did. When my video camera got damaged on a flight to DL, I rented a video camera out there. Again, this was about 10 years ago, so I don't know what the camera stores will do nowadays.

Sorry Andy, but I only know about American dollars and not a currency we regard a measure of weight

I'm not sure what you are looking at, but I was looking at a Canon L lens that I was thinking about either renting or just buying. The rental price was almost nothing compared to the purchasing price. However this was a more expensive lens. You might be able to get a decent deal on a used lens. My advice is to thoroughly examine to ensure authenticity, check the lens for any defects. Don't be afraid to shine a light through it to ensure all the internal components are clean. Finally, mount it to your slr and test it out. Make sure it focuses smoothly, if it is a zoom lens make sure that moves nicely, finally review the pictures quickly for quality and sharpness.

I always feel sorry for Brits, having to lug all those pounds around. We Americans can just swipe our debit cards to pay for stuff, don't even have to stuff our wallets full of dollars if we don't want to.

I am NOT endorsing a specific retailer at all... just want to say that up front. But I do know that B&H based out of New York has an extensive used equipment selection and they back up the condition. Don't know how much of an option that is for you, Andy, but then again you might find something comparable in the UK. Our local major retailer, Robert's, has lenses available for rental for a fairly reasonable price, too, so I'd look into that before I dropped a bunch of money (heavy, light, or electronic) on something new.

I'm sure ACP would wish to make this point: Brits may carry pounds in their wallets, but most American carry their pounds around their waist.

mindflipper wrote:I'm sure ACP would wish to make this point: Brits may carry pounds in their wallets, but most American carry their pounds around their waist.

Well I didn't want to be the one to say it...

On a semi-related note, it seems that Japanese money suffers a similar annoyance to American money in that all the different denominations of banknotes are the same physical size making them impossible to distinguish in your wallet at a glance. Much easier to tell our money apart where all the denominations increase in size as the value increases. Even the Euro got that one right

Here's a photo I took a few years ago demonstrating this: Note you can easily tell the £5 and £20 notes apart because they're different sizes (and colours!), yet the dollars all look exactly the same. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/192 ... ollars.jpg

mindflipper wrote:I'm sure ACP would wish to make this point: Brits may carry pounds in their wallets, but most American carry their pounds around their waist.

Or hips...

acp wrote:On a semi-related note, it seems that Japanese money suffers a similar annoyance to American money in that all the different denominations of banknotes are the same physical size making them impossible to distinguish in your wallet at a glance. Much easier to tell our money apart where all the denominations increase in size as the value increases. Even the Euro got that one right

Here's a photo I took a few years ago demonstrating this: Note you can easily tell the £5 and £20 notes apart because they're different sizes (and colours!), yet the dollars all look exactly the same. https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/192 ... ollars.jpg

That gradual size only works if you're meticulous about filing your currency "in order." Which I usually am not. With American currency, little notes can't hide behind bigger ones. But they ARE really good at hiding behind receipts and other junk. And that, dear friends, is why I don't mess with cash very often.