[jsherman999]

Ooook... my copy has arrived, at last!
And all I can say is... 'Damn, it's small!' The CZ16-80 I had feels like a monster compared to the DA15, and that wasn't a big lens either.

Looks like a great little piece of glass, really. And with a great build quality, too.
True, it's not sharp in the corners wide open (at least not as sharp as in the center)... but then again, I didn't expect it to be. I'll probably be using it stopped down most of the time, anyway


Now... if only that weekend would come sooner, I must take it out for a walk!

Congrats!

Waiting for mine - today! Just hope it'll be here before dark.

I know you'll be taking some salt shaker shots, I know I did.

img

Awesome shot.

This thread (and a fair price) controlled my mind into getting the DA 15. My DA Limited trio is now complete.



Will take it for a walk today or on the weekend to see what happens when you press the shutter button.

Like that bokeh. And congrats.


Couple more from yesterday & today:

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Last edited by jsherman999; 03-18-2010 at 10:00 PM.

I know you'll be taking some salt shaker shots, I know I did.

Unfortunately still no salt shakers for me. I ordered the lens from B&H with the option that I pay customs duties and taxes in the price. The lens was shipped with UPS immediately and was in Helsinki in just a couple of days. The delivery was supposed to be yesterday, but as it never showed up and I called UPS, it seems it's still in Helsinki because they need my social security number for the customs duties and now they're delivering the lens NEXT WEEK! Damn, I'm so frustrated! I wonder how many weeks they would've kept the package there waiting for the number if I hadn't called myself. And my phone number was there, so they only had to make a call two days ago and I'd be happily shooting salt shakers this very moment.

Sorry for the venting, but the UPS service here seems to suck big time. As does actually most customer service in Finland.

[joakimfors]

Unfortunately still no salt shakers for me. I ordered the lens from B&H with the option that I pay customs duties and taxes in the price. The lens was shipped with UPS immediately and was in Helsinki in just a couple of days. The delivery was supposed to be yesterday, but as it never showed up and I called UPS, it seems it's still in Helsinki because they need my social security number for the customs duties and now they're delivering the lens NEXT WEEK! Damn, I'm so frustrated! I wonder how many weeks they would've kept the package there waiting for the number if I hadn't called myself. And my phone number was there, so they only had to make a call two days ago and I'd be happily shooting salt shakers this very moment.

Sorry for the venting, but the UPS service here seems to suck big time. As does actually most customer service in Finland.

IMHO most delivery services suck. It took 2,5 weeks for DHL to deliver my Nokia N900… and that was from Oskarshamn to Lund, a mere 350 km.

Oh well, at least you have something to look forward to next week.

[cezarL]

I use a hoya pro1 cpl without any vignetting, although I am almost always stopped down when I'm using it. It sits flush with where the hood normally ends, and I can't pull the hood out because of the grip on the cpl

Just thought I'd give an update:

I received a Hoya Pro1 49mm CPL today, the slim variant - while attaching the filter is indeed a bit difficult because of the hood (it's a tight fit), you can still extend the hood with the filter mounted. There is some mild friction between them, but nothing to worry about, IMHO.

[wedgetail]

J you are a truly evil person I am just coming to grips with your 24 and now i have stumbled on this post.
Will put it out there for birthday and xmas maybe snta will smile on me this year if I keep my LBA under control.
Cheers Mark

[henryjing]

I have got my DA15mm yesterday and I took some pictures with it. I have to say this is a incredible lens!

[noel]

The lens resolves so well, it's amazing.



and zoom in , on the same photo...alright a bit of handshake there

[melander]

Damn that DA 15 is cheap in the US, here in sweden its more than twice the price. I would actually save money if I took a flight to new york and back, including airport -> city fairs, than if I bought it here. I guess its so exclusive that it gets its own seat on the the plane over here

[nulla]

Damn that DA 15 is cheap in the US, here in sweden its more than twice the price. I would actually save money if I took a flight to new york and back, including airport -> city fairs, than if I bought it here. I guess its so exclusive that it gets its own seat on the the plane over here

Excuse my ignorance... is there some sort of heavy tax or the like that is stopping you from buying and importing from B&H or Amazon... which is what I do here in Oz.


cheers

Neil

Well, as I just ordered one (and wait for UPS to get their act together and actually deliver the lens) and as the taxes here are probably about the same as where melander lives, I can answer that in addition to the shipping we also have to pay customs duty and also VAT for the whole lot. So the $500+ lens in effect becomes the $795 lens with no local warranty. And even that is so much less than the local price that I ordered from the US.

[Derridale]

@nulla: how do you order from Amazon? Every time I go to one of their hardware pages for anything, there is a notice telling me that they cannot ship to my area. I had been led to believe that they won't sell stuff like camera gear outside the US - or at least to Australia.....

And B & H won't be getting my business as long as they require a photocopy of my drivers licence to be sent over to them, along with both sides of my credit card. How insecure is that? My ID complete with photo, plus ALL my credit card details including my signature and the security number off the card. May as well just send them the licence and card and tell 'em to go for it...! I've never been asked to do that before or since, so I cancelled quite a large order I was placing with them.

And of course - don't forget you'd be up for GST if your import gets sprung by Customs coming into Australia. It's unlikely, but it has happened to me once with a fly-fishing reel I bought from the US - the reel cost about $US350 ($Aus800 here) but I got stung for another $55 in GST and "Admin costs".....!

[TKH]

Here in Germany we have to pay +taxes and VAT around 25% for a lens. So a $500 lens costs us $625. This is around 460 Euros. So sometimes buying a lens can be a good deal for us. For example my first DA15 I bought from the canadian eBay seller prodigital2000. Costs me around 550 Euro. Same time the DA15 was at 650 Euro here in Germany.

Three years ago I saved for two FA limiteds I bought from B&H also around 20%.

Warranty is not a big problem. Pentax Germany is accepting the international Pentax 1 year warranty. They fixed my DA15 witout any problem.

Yes buying from international dealers can be a little bit uncomfortable. First time ordering often they like to see some verification of your adress. For example I send them a cut from my last pay slip with my post adress on it.

I saved a lot hundred bucks over the years with buying overseas and so this is OK for me.

Rainer

TKH, the B&H website quite accurately shows the lens + shipping + customs + VAT to Finland as $795. The same for Germany seems to be $761. Where does that $625 (for a $500 lens which is admittedly a bit less than the current price of a DA 15mm) come from?

[Bart]

In the EU, you have to pay import taxes on the value - 6.7% on lenses - plus VAT on the total.
VAT is 19% in Germany if I'm not mistaken. 21% over here.
Oh, and there's some handling cost as well.

[henryjing]

I tried Fisheye Effect with DA 15mm on my K-x, see it, it seems nice.