unclebrudy
04-09-2007, 11:01 PM
...mine cost -$474.10, yes, technically I spent negative $474.10USD by purchasing the following:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/453269457_d5da838882_o.jpg
KONICA MINOLTA AF DT 18-70 / 3.5-5.6 (D)
Here's my story. (DISCLAIMER: Any members who frequent the Fuji boards should know about me; I get very wordy, so prepare yourself for a long read. Feel free to scroll down to the --> if you just want to get to the point.)
This past weekend, I along with my wife and daughter went to San Diego, CA for a little family getaway since they're both on spring break. (Don't get me started on how hard it was for me to request 4 days off-it's impossible to explain to an 8-year old why working America doesn't get a scheduled spring break.) We did the usual: San Diego Zoo, beer-soaked Seaworld (the amount of fermented hops-related commercialization in that park is sickening. This was my first time back in over 20 years, and I do not remember that from my childhood.), the various historical sights like Old Town, haunted areas, the Mission, etc. Everything was great, and my trusty Fujifilm s6000fd was put to good use to capture all the sights.
I've always been into photography, my earliest memory being of fond times pressing the little red TEST button on my late father's old flash from his Minolta SRT and seeing his reaction to my unprovoked blindside attack. Once old enough, I toyed with his old SRT until its shutter gave up, and went the easy route and purchased a fully automatic P&S Nikon, then much later an APS Canon Elph, so simplicity was the name of my early photographic career. In late 2001, I wanted to leap into a digital SLR and get back into the manual game, but I had to settle and purchased a Sony DSC-S85 (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_s85-review/) because at the time, the price of said systems were ludicrous, at least for me.
Yes, I know, the DSC-S85 is actually quite consumer P&S in nature, but it did have the ability to set shutter, aperture, and focus manually. I had a ball with that camera and it's relatively fast f/2 lens, and then my daughter started getting older and I basically set it aside in favor of my wife's then-new Canon s410 (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s410_s500-review/index.shtml). Less hassle, less bulk in my new 'fatherly' role sounded like one less thing to worry about, and at the time I thought I'd be content.
Fast forward to 2006. I'm on the "throne" while at my mother's home, and lo and behold I find a Popular Photography magazine in my brother's restroom library. I start thumbing through it and I swear to you, it all came back to me, my desire to take photos was sparked once again. I found that DSLRs were truly affordable now, and got all riled up in excitement. Still, reality had set in. I had a 7 year old and a wife still in school, so I found the perfect balance in cost vs. desire and purchased the s6000. I've loved it from the moment I received it.
But just like any fiend, I still yearned for more. The Sony a100 came out about the same time the s6000 did, and believe me, it was heartbreaking deciding against it. Call me sentimental, but the fact that my pops shot all-Minolta makes me a little biased, though I still firmly agree that the a100 is a great camera, and is my dream body. My reasoning was this: I'm terribly happy with my Fuji, so save some dough (i.e.-wait for the wife to graduate nursing school) and buy the a100 when it drops in price once Sony's pro model comes out. I forced myself to be happy with that.
So, back to San Diego. (Told you I'm wordy.:D) After all the sights, we had one day left before Easter Sunday with nothing planned, so we took a vote. Being outnumbered by the opposite sex 2-1, we decided on, you guessed it-shopping. We went to the Fashion Valley Mall (http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=765) and they started having the time of their lives.
Not me.
Between GAP Kids, Old Navy, Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus, and everything in between, I was practically pulling my hair out. By the time we got to Abercrombie & Fitch, I was done for, and told them we'd meet each other at the food court in an hour or else I was going to start convulsing. On our way in from the parking structure, I spied a Ritz 1 HOUR Photo Lab, but from the exterior it looked like just that-solely a developing lab, so I popped my head into a Sony Style store instead. Right there staring me in the face were two a100 display models. I started playing with the one that wasn't broken, and a clerk asked me if I had any questions. I initially only had one: any specials on the a100? To which he replied: it's $799.99. Sheesh. MSRP. Well, it is a Sony Style store I thought to myself. So I changed conversational direction and decided to see if he was up for some photo-speak.
I asked if he owned one, and he said yes.
I asked him if he was happy with it and he said it is the best camera he's ever owned, and he's owned many.
I asked if he was currently or planning on using any Minolta glass with it. He had no idea what I was talking about.
Thanks, have a nice day.
Still unsuccessful in my quest for some meaningful conversation that doesn't involve clothing or footwear opinions, I decide to try my luck at the Ritz lab. Nothing to lose.
I walk in, and it turns out it actually is a full retail Ritz store, so I pull out the SD card from my phone & the CF card from my daughter's s410 and ask if it's okay if I play with some of the bodies. "No worries," Eric the clerk says. So I shoot a little with an XTi, 30D, a tad with the D40 and D80, and of course a lot with the a100. Eric is great, genuinely interested in talking with me about all things photo. During the course of our conversation, I comment on the fact that he has Olympus bodies in his store and how the Ritz in my neighborhood told me they don't carry any Olympus bodies in-store. He tells me that I'd be surprised at the stuff he still has in stock. So curiously I browse deeper into his shelves, and guess what I find:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/453252824_2a129cdc42_o.jpg
Since purchasing my s6000, I really missed an optical viewfinder so much that I was scouring the net for a cheap second hand 5D/7D that I could play with and start building a lens library with, but even on eBay I was looking at around $400-$500, which would be half my a100 budget anyway. I asked Eric about it, and he seemed surprised and said he thought all his Minolta stuff was recalled by corporate. I ask him if he's willing to sell me the one he has at a discount, so he said that only if it is a valid Ritz computer SKU he could do it. After looking it up at the register, he said that it is $599.99 body only. For a discontinued, unsupported, and unwarranted camera body I thought the asking price would be much lower, and he agreed. He then laughed and said he couldn't believe his company would still have the camera at such a price. He laughed even harder when he noticed that the 18-70 lens, which is the kit lens, was listed as $159.99. We both shared a few chuckles, but things got serious real fast when his facial expression changed as if he just saw a ghost. He squinted a bit and re-read whatever his computer monitor displayed and declared that true, the Maxxum 5D body alone is $599.99, but Maxxum 5D when purchased with kit lens is $159.99! He said that it looked to him that like any other discontinued item, the Maxxum 5D Kit's price was periodically lowered automatically by some calculated equation in order to liquidate stock, and since his kit was never sent back a over a year ago, the price just kept its downward spiral. This was entirely plausible to me because when I worked at Office Depot, the stock manager would purposely not display deskptop computer towers when they were red-tagged (the term for discontinued, then sold at liquidation prices like $299.97 with the telltale odd last cent digit) and leave them on a dusty shelf while some company pricing algorithm would kick in and lower the price every few weeks-which would, after a few months, mean serious savings on a fairly good computer.
I pulled out my wallet so fast that I'm surprised I didn't rip my jean pocket. I was ecstatic to say the least!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/453252732_b52683cd1d_o.jpg
-->I walked out Ritz' door with a brand-spankin' new KM Maxxum 5D Kit for $172.39. I was shocked and in awe. Despite the fact that essentially my new discontinued DSLR has no warranty, I think that for the time being until I can afford Sony's new incarnations I will be a very happy camper. ;)
(FYI-Eric at that Ritz told me that I bought his only one, though he doesn't doubt that other Ritz camera locations may have the same SKUs still in backstock, so for those of you interested, I think it'd be worth the phone calls.)
I also had to pick this up: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/246/453252524_eff18017e9_o.jpg, so good thing Fry's had them on sale for $15, another good deal that I think runs until tomorrow, April 8.
Now on to take some pictures! Yes! First post in the DSLR Chat boards!
-Brian
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/453252606_e82c1a1771_o.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/206/453269457_d5da838882_o.jpg
KONICA MINOLTA AF DT 18-70 / 3.5-5.6 (D)
Here's my story. (DISCLAIMER: Any members who frequent the Fuji boards should know about me; I get very wordy, so prepare yourself for a long read. Feel free to scroll down to the --> if you just want to get to the point.)
This past weekend, I along with my wife and daughter went to San Diego, CA for a little family getaway since they're both on spring break. (Don't get me started on how hard it was for me to request 4 days off-it's impossible to explain to an 8-year old why working America doesn't get a scheduled spring break.) We did the usual: San Diego Zoo, beer-soaked Seaworld (the amount of fermented hops-related commercialization in that park is sickening. This was my first time back in over 20 years, and I do not remember that from my childhood.), the various historical sights like Old Town, haunted areas, the Mission, etc. Everything was great, and my trusty Fujifilm s6000fd was put to good use to capture all the sights.
I've always been into photography, my earliest memory being of fond times pressing the little red TEST button on my late father's old flash from his Minolta SRT and seeing his reaction to my unprovoked blindside attack. Once old enough, I toyed with his old SRT until its shutter gave up, and went the easy route and purchased a fully automatic P&S Nikon, then much later an APS Canon Elph, so simplicity was the name of my early photographic career. In late 2001, I wanted to leap into a digital SLR and get back into the manual game, but I had to settle and purchased a Sony DSC-S85 (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/sony/dsc_s85-review/) because at the time, the price of said systems were ludicrous, at least for me.
Yes, I know, the DSC-S85 is actually quite consumer P&S in nature, but it did have the ability to set shutter, aperture, and focus manually. I had a ball with that camera and it's relatively fast f/2 lens, and then my daughter started getting older and I basically set it aside in favor of my wife's then-new Canon s410 (http://www.dcresource.com/reviews/canon/powershot_s410_s500-review/index.shtml). Less hassle, less bulk in my new 'fatherly' role sounded like one less thing to worry about, and at the time I thought I'd be content.
Fast forward to 2006. I'm on the "throne" while at my mother's home, and lo and behold I find a Popular Photography magazine in my brother's restroom library. I start thumbing through it and I swear to you, it all came back to me, my desire to take photos was sparked once again. I found that DSLRs were truly affordable now, and got all riled up in excitement. Still, reality had set in. I had a 7 year old and a wife still in school, so I found the perfect balance in cost vs. desire and purchased the s6000. I've loved it from the moment I received it.
But just like any fiend, I still yearned for more. The Sony a100 came out about the same time the s6000 did, and believe me, it was heartbreaking deciding against it. Call me sentimental, but the fact that my pops shot all-Minolta makes me a little biased, though I still firmly agree that the a100 is a great camera, and is my dream body. My reasoning was this: I'm terribly happy with my Fuji, so save some dough (i.e.-wait for the wife to graduate nursing school) and buy the a100 when it drops in price once Sony's pro model comes out. I forced myself to be happy with that.
So, back to San Diego. (Told you I'm wordy.:D) After all the sights, we had one day left before Easter Sunday with nothing planned, so we took a vote. Being outnumbered by the opposite sex 2-1, we decided on, you guessed it-shopping. We went to the Fashion Valley Mall (http://www.simon.com/mall/default.aspx?ID=765) and they started having the time of their lives.
Not me.
Between GAP Kids, Old Navy, Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus, and everything in between, I was practically pulling my hair out. By the time we got to Abercrombie & Fitch, I was done for, and told them we'd meet each other at the food court in an hour or else I was going to start convulsing. On our way in from the parking structure, I spied a Ritz 1 HOUR Photo Lab, but from the exterior it looked like just that-solely a developing lab, so I popped my head into a Sony Style store instead. Right there staring me in the face were two a100 display models. I started playing with the one that wasn't broken, and a clerk asked me if I had any questions. I initially only had one: any specials on the a100? To which he replied: it's $799.99. Sheesh. MSRP. Well, it is a Sony Style store I thought to myself. So I changed conversational direction and decided to see if he was up for some photo-speak.
I asked if he owned one, and he said yes.
I asked him if he was happy with it and he said it is the best camera he's ever owned, and he's owned many.
I asked if he was currently or planning on using any Minolta glass with it. He had no idea what I was talking about.
Thanks, have a nice day.
Still unsuccessful in my quest for some meaningful conversation that doesn't involve clothing or footwear opinions, I decide to try my luck at the Ritz lab. Nothing to lose.
I walk in, and it turns out it actually is a full retail Ritz store, so I pull out the SD card from my phone & the CF card from my daughter's s410 and ask if it's okay if I play with some of the bodies. "No worries," Eric the clerk says. So I shoot a little with an XTi, 30D, a tad with the D40 and D80, and of course a lot with the a100. Eric is great, genuinely interested in talking with me about all things photo. During the course of our conversation, I comment on the fact that he has Olympus bodies in his store and how the Ritz in my neighborhood told me they don't carry any Olympus bodies in-store. He tells me that I'd be surprised at the stuff he still has in stock. So curiously I browse deeper into his shelves, and guess what I find:
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/168/453252824_2a129cdc42_o.jpg
Since purchasing my s6000, I really missed an optical viewfinder so much that I was scouring the net for a cheap second hand 5D/7D that I could play with and start building a lens library with, but even on eBay I was looking at around $400-$500, which would be half my a100 budget anyway. I asked Eric about it, and he seemed surprised and said he thought all his Minolta stuff was recalled by corporate. I ask him if he's willing to sell me the one he has at a discount, so he said that only if it is a valid Ritz computer SKU he could do it. After looking it up at the register, he said that it is $599.99 body only. For a discontinued, unsupported, and unwarranted camera body I thought the asking price would be much lower, and he agreed. He then laughed and said he couldn't believe his company would still have the camera at such a price. He laughed even harder when he noticed that the 18-70 lens, which is the kit lens, was listed as $159.99. We both shared a few chuckles, but things got serious real fast when his facial expression changed as if he just saw a ghost. He squinted a bit and re-read whatever his computer monitor displayed and declared that true, the Maxxum 5D body alone is $599.99, but Maxxum 5D when purchased with kit lens is $159.99! He said that it looked to him that like any other discontinued item, the Maxxum 5D Kit's price was periodically lowered automatically by some calculated equation in order to liquidate stock, and since his kit was never sent back a over a year ago, the price just kept its downward spiral. This was entirely plausible to me because when I worked at Office Depot, the stock manager would purposely not display deskptop computer towers when they were red-tagged (the term for discontinued, then sold at liquidation prices like $299.97 with the telltale odd last cent digit) and leave them on a dusty shelf while some company pricing algorithm would kick in and lower the price every few weeks-which would, after a few months, mean serious savings on a fairly good computer.
I pulled out my wallet so fast that I'm surprised I didn't rip my jean pocket. I was ecstatic to say the least!
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/171/453252732_b52683cd1d_o.jpg
-->I walked out Ritz' door with a brand-spankin' new KM Maxxum 5D Kit for $172.39. I was shocked and in awe. Despite the fact that essentially my new discontinued DSLR has no warranty, I think that for the time being until I can afford Sony's new incarnations I will be a very happy camper. ;)
(FYI-Eric at that Ritz told me that I bought his only one, though he doesn't doubt that other Ritz camera locations may have the same SKUs still in backstock, so for those of you interested, I think it'd be worth the phone calls.)
I also had to pick this up: http://farm1.static.flickr.com/246/453252524_eff18017e9_o.jpg, so good thing Fry's had them on sale for $15, another good deal that I think runs until tomorrow, April 8.
Now on to take some pictures! Yes! First post in the DSLR Chat boards!
-Brian
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/183/453252606_e82c1a1771_o.jpg