Need Professional opinion on which DSLR for Videos and Stills.

[snapit]

Tannin, That was another scam on Gumtree, that I PM you about, I am getting good at picking them now, he deleted all his sales and changed his name

[Tannin]

Blimey! I reckon you'd better play it safe and just get a new one.

AM's link to Camera's Direct offers an 80D body only for $1298. Add $160 for the lens, and $23 for shipping, so $1481 all up. That is quite expensive for a grey market import. Notice the clever way they say "Australian warranty" and "in stock in Australia" without ever actually saying "Australian stock" or "Canon warranty" or "from Canon Australia". That's really rather sneaky, and I bet it fools a lot of people.

Simple rule, shops selling the genuine article say so up front. In writing. Shops selling grey market say nothing, or mumble and hint, being careful to not-quite say anything they can be prosecuted for. Note that there is nothing even slightly illegal or dodgy about selling grey market goods. It is 100% legitimate to do so, and you have a perfect right to buy grey or sell grey if you want to. It is only illegal to say "this is official Canon product from Canon Australia" when it's actually coming from Canon in Hong Kong.

The only practical differences are that you may need to set the camera's language to English (takes 20 seconds), you may need to download an English manual (I've never had to but it could happen), you may pay a lot less money, the warranty provided involves sending things overseas (the better vendors will help you with shipping), and many of the protections provided by Australian consumer law may not apply. So don't buy grey from some dodgy mob, go to a well-established company with a reputation. But then, the same applies to buying locally.

In reality, modern camera gear tends to be remarkably reliable (at least the Canon gear does, I can't speak for other brands) and I'm not in the slightest fussed about buying grey market. I've done it many, many times.

If you are going to buy grey, you don't want to be paying official prices (like those charged by Cameras Direct). You can get the same thing (80D with 18-55 STM) except from official Canon Australia stock with genuine local Canon warranty for only $20 more - $1501 from Digital Camera Warehouse. (And probably similar prices from other vendors too.) Or, if you are going grey market (I would, but please yourself) the same thing for $1241 from DWI, or $1291 from Digital Rev. (Both provide free shipping.) E-Global, the other big, reputable grey market operator has closed down.

As a courtesy to Rick, who owns this site, I recommend buying through the links on this page http://www.ausphotography.net.au/for...te-Advertisers It doesn't save you anything over just typing the address in, but the site gets a few pennies out of it, so why not?

I would buy grey myself, but it's easy for me because I have several cameras and if a new one was to break, I always have spare ones to use instead. Maybe it's a bit different for a one-and-only. I've bought 13 DSLRs over the years and only had one fail inside the warranty period. (A 40D with a blown shutter.) I've lost count of how many lenses I've bought, over 30, mostly grey, and never had any trouble with any of them.

By the way, I do not have a camera-buying habit. Not in any way. I am on top of it. I quite frequently go for days at a time without doing it. And, honestly, I never, ever buy cameras unless I'm alone or with a friend.

I can give it up any time I like.

[arthurking83]

A very important point to note is the current very low value of the Aussie dollar now!(currently at about US$0.70!)

not all that long ago(a few months), it was more mid 70's, and this has had a major impact on any imported stuff.

Lenses I should have just got(rather than dilly dally over) were mid 1000's then, are now more in the high 1000's and into the low 2000's now!

Now I have no choice but to wait it out a bit longer and hope that the AUD will regain at least some value back.

I really wanted to get the new Nikon Z7 late this year, early next year, but at current exchange rates ... simply not going to happen!

Unfortunately I'm the polar opposite of Tannin .. and I do have a camera(gear) habit .. and have voluntarily entered into therapy to help beat it.
But I refuse to pay 10% more for something I could(should!) have paid 10% for just a short while back.
So not only do I have an uncontrollable habit for camera(gear) .. I seem to have an exchange rate phobia too .. lucky for me, camera gear isn't made in this country!