Despite the dreadful delays and bad service, my goods arrived this afternoon!
I am thrilled, as you can imagine. This equipment is the seed that will, God willing, grow into a successful photography career once my studies are over.
Here's what came in the box:
Go forth and fill your libraries with media.
Seriously, thanks to everyone for being so amazing and patient. You are the reason I love Vox.
I am seriously regretting placing my camera and lens order through this particular company.
Remember, the order was placed on October 18. On Saturday, October 24, the money was deducted from my account. Then, on Tuesday, October 27, I received an email:
I thought I'd better send you a note to let you know where your order is as you may have noticed that we have charged your card. There was a mixup with the couriers so there has been a delay. Your order should reach you in full either on Thursday or Friday. My apologies for the delay.
Kind regards,
S
Notice how the courier company is blamed. The story changes in the next communication. Anyway, Thursday and Friday came and went. No delivery. So on Saturday, October 31, I sent an email asking what was going on and enquiring whether the order had in fact been dispatched.
This came back:
Absolutely, we had a mix up here and between S and I we made an error. The goods were redirected via a very good client of our in Wellington, he is trust worthy and we have paid him the extra courier tickets to send it to you. It should have been overnight. If it doesn't show Monday morning please let me know straight away and I will hunt it down.
Once again, our apologies, I addressed a Canon outfit to a regular at [a company name] and S saw what was in it and presumed it was yours ( it was yours ) I sealed the box up and sent it.
Too many chiefs, not enough indians.
Thanks for your patience.
G
Well, Monday (today) came and went, and still nothing. So this afternoon I sent another mail informing them it had not arrived and asking whether I would get a refund. I just received this response:
The camera is still waiting to be picked up. I've spoken with the Courier company and they are attempting to pick it up this afternoon. That would mean delivery would be early tomorrow morning. Otherwise it should reach you on Weds morning.
Kind regards,
S
Honestly, I should have gone with someone else. Will the delivery happen within the next two days? Time will tell.
I was just told that the Amazon Conduit will be fixed by tomorrow. I will post here as soon as I get word that it's back up and running.
I know this has been frustrating and I am sorry there wasn't more I could do to make it less so. I really appreciate your patience though.
Cheers,
The delivery of my camera and lenses was delayed because one of the lenses, the Sigma, has had to be brought in from Melbourne, Australia. I opted to have it all delivered together, so the rest of it has been sitting in Christchurch pending the arrival of the Sigma lens.
But there are signs things are about to happen - the money was deducted from my account this weekend, so I am hoping that means my box of goodies will arrive some time this week.
Bad news. As many of you have probably noticed, the Amazon Conduit was not fixed in the last week's release. Unfortunately, there was an undetected bug that is preventing the conduit from working.
We are working on this bug fix and hope to have the Conduit back up and running this week.
I will keep you posted.
Thank you for being so patient.
This morning I placed the order for the camera and the associated equipment - totalling NZ$4,789.
If step one in my career change was applying to study the diploma, step two has been completed.
I'm on my way!
Now that the camera question is settled, I'm looking at lenses and a flash. This is what I am seriously considering at present (prices in NZ dollars):
- Sigma AF17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC $695.00
- Canon EFS 10-22mm f3.5-4.5 USM $1,395.00
- Canon EF 50mm f1.8 II $175.00
- FLASH: Canon Speedlite 580EX II $775.00
Blog Action Day is every October 15th, when blogger are asked to post something about a single issue to show our strength and conviction as an online community. It's a great way to feel connected to the greater good, and the participation of so many bloggers to support the world's leading non-profit organizations is something you can do to help, right now. By blogging today, you're supporting some of the world's leading non-profits and sharing your voice for change.
This year's topic is climate change, and we'd love to read your thoughts on the topic. If you participate, leave us a link to your post in the comments, so we know to check out your post!
Go to www.blogactionday.org to learn more, get a badge for your blog showing your participation, and see some ideas for your post on climate change.
Can't wait to read your posts!
~ daisy
A very good friend, who is also a professional photographer, has given me some good advice following yesterday's post on choosing a camera.
Among other valuable insights he offered, he said the following:
"I know the 5D would be a great camera to get ... but my recommendation would be to consider the 500D and buy two really good quality lenses and possibly a hotshoe flash with the rest of the money ... The general feeling is that you will always be buying new camera bodies, but a good lens can last a lifetime so make the investment in the lens rather than the body."
I take his advice seriously, because he is a good photographer and knows his business.
The 500D it is!
