Recently looking at the Pentax K100D (also the older *istD L) and the prices here seem kinda high compared to those listed online for North America. Places I stopped off at were carrefour, some of the computer chain stores, and the camera streets just off Taipei Station. Any recommendations of places that would be better for looking?
For the Pentax K100D the best kit prices I saw were about 23,000 NT.
Hong Kong … grey imports …
The US is about as cheap as it goes … although, sometimes it’s just a bait, responding to you that it’s out of stock and maybe you could buy a higher end model … but Taiwan isn’t bad compared to Europe, camera street is the best place to shop.
Buying online is always a bit dangerous, even with well known stores … when ity comes to after sales service and repair. Buying low tech accessories online is OK.
I used to judge everything by the cost, and ultimately l’d let a few bucks determine where I bought something…but…wait til you have a problem with something you buy, then grey imports or stuff bought online suddenly seems like a bad idea.
In Taiwan, what works for me is to go to TKEC, or the yellow 3C and check out the RRPs there and then head to the computer market or the camera street near the railway station. You can save a bit that way, and when you find a store that is reliable and helpful, you’ll find their other services to be useful too…e.g. I just got our EOS 20D Cmos cleaned via the store we have dealt with for a while now. 300nt and it came back spotless.
I would agree with Truant. When I first came to Taiwan I had a set of Creative 5.1 speakers shipped here from Korea(I was there first). There were damaged in shipping and unusable, they were however made here in Taiwan. I took them to Creative here in Taiwan and they refused to fix them. The reason? They were not bought in Taiwan. I seem to remember that there is 2 prices on camera equip here in Taiwan. One price includes a Taiwan warranty and the other(cheaper) does not. It was this way for a Sony video camera I bought.
Since we are talking about a camera body here (and assuming that you will be here in Taiwan for a while), even though it is more expensive I would highly recommend buying it with the manufacturer warranty (not the shop’s warranty). If you end up buying on camera street, make sure that you make double sure with them that this is what you want (manufacturer warranty, as opposed to the shop’s own warranty… which is basically shit).
Shui huo = grey market items (no manufacturer warranty / or a very limited shop’s warranty)
Gongshi huo = manufacturer items (w/ manufacturer warranty / and usually a shop’s warranty as well).
Sorry, my pinyin spelling might be a bit off there…
The price you listed is not bad, though you could probably find it a bit cheaper on tw.bid.yahoo.com. Most of the stuff listed on Yahoo is grey market / no manufacturer warranty btw… if you are willing to take a chance, then this is probably the way to go as far as price goes… still doesn’t beat the US though.
I bought my Canon 5D at my friend’s shop here in Taiwan (camera street)… and whenever I have problems, I’d bring it in to them and they’d just send it to Canon anyways (then bill me for it on top of Canon’s fee). Now I just go direct to Canon. I bought my body without the warranty btw… at the time I was happy about the huge price savings I got without the warranty but now I regret doing so big time since I have to pay the full premium to get stuff fixed which happens a lot more than I expected.
In contrast to this, I purchased my 580EX flash (which I’ve had nothing but problems with btw) with a warranty… (but then again, I’d use the flash for 300 - 400 shots a night @ 2 to 3x per week for work). Every time I brought my flash in to Canon – and they know how much I use the thing too – it was absolutely no hassles at all. I’ve even had the entire bulb / [completely melted] reflector section swapped out once already (I purchased the 580EX late last year btw… so I haven’t had it all that long at all). 
As far as the warranty here goes – for Canon at least – the manufacturer warranty is only good within Taiwan. It is not a “global” warranty. Not sure what it is for Pentax however… but if you aren’t planning to stay in Taiwan for all that long, it might be better to buy it back home in the States. A buddy of mine just ordered an entire portable studio lighting setup from the States… shipping costs were just over $100 bucks US (I’m guestimating the weight to be about 35lbs or so). Everything was delivered in two days w/ insurance, warranty, and in perfect condition.
I’d splurge a bit and get a K100D with warranty (gongsihuo) for the peace of mind.
Pentax Taiwan’s headquarters is just a few meters away from the ‘Camera Streets’. Last month when my *ist DS locked up after taking on new lithiums at a store, the camera vendor sent me over to the HQ. At the time, there were few people around, but one of the receptionists recommended me to only use CRV3s. Not very helpful in my case, but if your K100D develops problems, that’s where you can go for help directly (assuming the technicians are around).
[quote=“fallon_78”]Recently looking at the Pentax K100D (also the older *istD L) and the prices here seem kinda high compared to those listed online for North America. Places I stopped off at were carrefour, some of the computer chain stores, and the camera streets just off Taipei Station. Any recommendations of places that would be better for looking?
For the Pentax K100D the best kit prices I saw were about 23,000 NT.[/quote]
hey all, thanks for the replies. Regarding those full warranty vs. grey markets, I noticed every dealer was selling for around 23,000, but then one of them said 18 something, and she didn’t want to discuss details, no warranty etc. So I guess that must have been a grey market camera. I wonder, what exactly is a grey market camera, simply refurbished?
yah I’ll take that last point… i noticed that a few dealers mentioned they would, free of charge, notify Pentax Corp and officially change the camera warranty from Taiwan-only to “International” / whole world.
Grey Imports are generally new cameras obtained overseas or via industry contacts (i.e. “fell off the back of a truck mate”)
As the warranty usually only applies to the original purchaser, if purchased overseas, then there is no way you can get a OEM warranty for a grey import item. Some shops will sell you grey imported items under those terms, and some will offer a ‘shop’ warranty…but in all honesty…good luck with that.
I boughtmy current laptop online, but they ARE a shop… so I have warranty… but, my previous laptop was bought from the shopping channel - and when it came time to use the ‘warranty’, I had all kinds of troubles, being sent running all over the city etc. etc.