nwlight wrote:
Can anyone explain why the prices for the 500 f4 II are so much cheaper in Canada? I am thinking about buying this lens next year, but am worried that this deal will be gone by then. If I can save $1500 by buying now, I can almost tell my wife with a straight face that we would be saving money.
i think it's because only cool dudes live here in Canada
mogud wrote:
Aden Camera in Toronto Canada has this lens for $8785.00(cdn). Aden is an authorized Canon dealer as is Camera Canada. I can certainly vouch for Aden as I have purchased many Canon products from them.
Vancouver47 wrote:
Peter have you tried the Jobu foot for the 600mm MkII? I have the RRS from my old 600 IS which isn't long enough at the heel.
Blake
Blake, unfortunately I haven't tried the Jobu foot on 600 II. However, the new RRS foot fits OK, and it is probably long enough at the heel for proper gimbal balancing.
However, I replaced the RRS foot with a low profile foot from the 4th Generation Designs. Since I use 600 II mostly handheld, or on a monopod, it is much more important for me to have a low profile foot as opposed to one which balances well on a gimbal head.
PetKal wrote:
Blake, unfortunately I haven't tried the Jobu foot on 600 II. However, the new RRS foot fits OK, and it is probably long enough at the heel for proper gimbal balancing.
However, I replaced the RRS foot with a low profile foot from the 4th Generation Designs. Since I use 600 II mostly handheld, or on a monopod, it is much more important for me to have a low profile foot as opposed to one which balances well on a gimbal head.
Thanks Peter. The new RRS foot look good. You're obviously a lot stronger than me if you can hand hold the 600II for any length of time.
Vancouver47 wrote:
Thanks Peter. The new RRS foot look good. You're obviously a lot stronger than me if you can hand hold the 600II for any length of time.
Blake, probably not stronger.....perhaps just a better masochist than you are.
My back, shoulders and arms do hurt.
Despite my better judgement, I caved in and bought the Canon 500 f4 II from Camera Canada. The total came out to $8,664 US with an additional 2.3% ($200) fee that I have to pay UPS when they deliver it. I will end up with a $1500 savings compared to the $10,400 it would have cost with B&H. It's probably a little better than that if you add shipping.
Camera Canada was pretty amazing. I spoke to Eric and it was clear that he was very familiar with purchases from the US. He broke down all of the fees for me. There is no duty in the US. However, UPS like many other shippers will charge a percentage of the item value (2.3% in this case) directly to the receiver. He was also able to quote me $250 for shipping, which is apparently what they charge for just about any US destination. I had also called Aden Camera, but the lady I spoke with had very bad communication, knew nothing, and had to call me back several times. It also took several tries before I could get anyone on the phone.
Amazingly, the shipping time is only 1 week from Ontario to where I live in the Seattle, WA area. Shipping from B&H usually takes over a week for me. I ordered at 10:30AM. The lens coincidentally arrived at Camera Canada within a couple of hours, and I had a UPS tracking number by 12:30AM. Heck, Amazon couldn't have shipped it any faster!
Thanks to the OP for starting this thread and letting us know about this deal. I had no plans to buy this lens anytime soon, but I couldn't pass up on this.
Congrats on the purchase, this is a beautiful lens. Peter's post on this thread on the accesorries is a really good one. The JOBU foot is beautiful and if you buy it through their ebay shop, you may be able to get it at a good price.
I am impressed with the 1000mm f8 also, do try that for static object, it is very useable.
nwlight wrote:
Despite my better judgement, I caved in and bought the Canon 500 f4 II from Camera Canada. The total came out to $8,664 US with an additional 2.3% ($200) fee that I have to pay UPS when they deliver it. I will end up with a $1500 savings compared to the $10,400 it would have cost with B&H. It's probably a little better than that if you add shipping.
Camera Canada was pretty amazing. I spoke to Eric and it was clear that he was very familiar with purchases from the US. He broke down all of the fees for me. There is no duty in the US. However, UPS like many other shippers will charge a percentage of the item value (2.3% in this case) directly to the receiver. He was also able to quote me $250 for shipping, which is apparently what they charge for just about any US destination. I had also called Aden Camera, but the lady I spoke with had very bad communication, knew nothing, and had to call me back several times. It also took several tries before I could get anyone on the phone.
Amazingly, the shipping time is only 1 week from Ontario to where I live in the Seattle, WA area. Shipping from B&H usually takes over a week for me. I ordered at 10:30AM. The lens coincidentally arrived at Camera Canada within a couple of hours, and I had a UPS tracking number by 12:30AM. Heck, Amazon couldn't have shipped it any faster!
Thanks to the OP for starting this thread and letting us know about this deal. I had no plans to buy this lens anytime soon, but I couldn't pass up on this....Show more →
nwlight wrote:
Can anyone explain why the prices for the 500 f4 II are so much cheaper in Canada? I am thinking about buying this lens next year, but am worried that this deal will be gone by then. If I can save $1500 by buying now, I can almost tell my wife with a straight face that we would be saving money.
CPS members in Canada receive a significant discount on lenses and pro gear which tends to lower retail sales prices. In some cases stock was bought or contracted when the C$ was above the U$ which lowers the dealer cost. The C$ is floating about below the U$ which further adds to your advantage buying in Canada with U$.
Vancouver47 wrote:
Thanks Peter. The new RRS foot look good. You're obviously a lot stronger than me if you can hand hold the 600II for any length of time.
Peter, if you're reading this, can you comment about Jobu vs. 4th Gen for the 500 ii?
I have the RRS foot for my 500 (in fact, I think I have yours!) but I am starting to realize that something lower profile would be better, mostly for reasons having to do with handholding ease/stability. I almost always handhold; half the time I rotate the collar so the foot is on top, but half the time I end up holding the foot with my hand which is less than optimal. I usually carry the rig via a shoulder strap and a clamp attached to the foot, but occasionally I will carry it by the foot itself, so I wouldn't want a foot that made it difficult to carry (or interfered with the hood in reverse position).
nwlight wrote:
Despite my better judgement, I caved in and bought the Canon 500 f4 II from Camera Canada. The total came out to $8,664 US with an additional 2.3% ($200) fee that I have to pay UPS when they deliver it. I will end up with a $1500 savings compared to the $10,400 it would have cost with B&H. It's probably a little better than that if you add shipping.
Camera Canada was pretty amazing. I spoke to Eric and it was clear that he was very familiar with purchases from the US. He broke down all of the fees for me. There is no duty in the US. However, UPS like many other shippers will charge a percentage of the item value (2.3% in this case) directly to the receiver. He was also able to quote me $250 for shipping, which is apparently what they charge for just about any US destination. I had also called Aden Camera, but the lady I spoke with had very bad communication, knew nothing, and had to call me back several times. It also took several tries before I could get anyone on the phone.
Amazingly, the shipping time is only 1 week from Ontario to where I live in the Seattle, WA area. Shipping from B&H usually takes over a week for me. I ordered at 10:30AM. The lens coincidentally arrived at Camera Canada within a couple of hours, and I had a UPS tracking number by 12:30AM. Heck, Amazon couldn't have shipped it any faster!
Thanks to the OP for starting this thread and letting us know about this deal. I had no plans to buy this lens anytime soon, but I couldn't pass up on this....Show more →
Congratulations on the new lens. I'm sure you will love it.It can really pay to get some of the big Canon Teles from Canada.
I just wanted to clarify one thing in your post. There actually is a tariff on imported lenses that are manufactured in Japan (which all Canon lenses are). The tariff is 2.3% You can look it up on the schedules. UPS does not keep this money. The send it to the US Government. UPS (and Fedex ) charge a $35 fee to handle to the paperwork and collection of the tariff funds.
SeattleBirdMan wrote:
I just wanted to clarify one thing in your post. There actually is a tariff on imported lenses that are manufactured in Japan (which all Canon lenses are). The tariff is 2.3% You can look it up on the schedules. UPS does not keep this money. The send it to the US Government. UPS (and Fedex ) charge a $35 fee to handle to the paperwork and collection of the tariff funds.
Thanks for the clarification. That's not how Camera Canada explained it to me, but quite frankly your explanation makes much more sense.
nwlight wrote:
Thanks for the clarification. That's not how Camera Canada explained it to me, but quite frankly your explanation makes much more sense.
Be careful that the lens is classified correctly at customs. When the UPS person calls you to get customs clearance information (they need social / taxid for items over $2k), ask what is the expected duty. My lens was miss classified and it would have been 5%+ if not corrected. Took only a few minutes on the phone to get it fixed prior to the lens being delivered.
With regards to duty, the breakdown for me was as follows:
2.3% Duty
~$30 govt paperwork charge (this was unknown to me)
~$50 UPS brokerage fee
Total to be paid to UPS driver was ~$285, higher than I was expecting.
i priced out the 600 II and did the math with all the fees. It came very close to the lowest offers I found in the usa (not major retail stores, but still canon usa dealers). If I had a credit card that did not charge a fee, I might have saved a little. YMMV
