Any one know price of Nikon 7100 and 18-200mm Lens in st. Thomas?

[Wymond]

I am in Canada and going cruise on oasis of the seas next month. The price in futureshop now is $1000 for body and 729 for lens. I am wondering how much I can save to buy it in st. Thomas or st. Maarten.

 

Thanks.

[donaldsc]

What I would suggest is to get the e-mail addresses of shops and ask them. I did that several cruises ago and I found that I could not save much over the prices at B&H. You also might use Skype to call them. The call is almost free.

 

DON

[mskaufman]

In the U.S. this combination is sold at Costco and might be available on-line.

[hattack]

Also there may be warrenty issues if once you are home and need the lens repaired

[awboater]

$1,000 I think is the best price you will find for a D7100 - it actually seems to be a good price to me. I paid $1,200 for mine (but I bought mine in May, as soon as they had the "body only" versions in stock). My primary lens is a Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8, and I bought it at the same time as the camera.

 

But I do have the Nikon AF-S 18-200mm that I bought refurbished from Roberts Camera for $500:

 

http://robertscamera.com/refurbished/lenses/18-200mm-f-3-5-5-6-g-ed-if-af-s-vr-dx-zoom-nikkor-refurbished.html

 

I have purchased 4 refurbished lenses out of the 13 DSLR lenses I have. And I have never had any issue until I bought the 18-200. The lens was semi-defective. It worked OK, but the lens barrel was out of alignment so the lens hood fit cockeyed.

 

I contacted Roberts and they exchanged it no problem. The second one was perfect. I blame Nikon's quality control rather than Roberts for the bad lens as I doubt any retailer will inspect each and every lens as it comes in from Nikon.

 

So you do run a slight risk by buying refurbished, but with a reputable dealer, you can get it exchanged. Nikon gives you a 90 day warranty on refurbished items, and Roberts extends it to 180 days.

 

I bought a Nikon battery grip in St. Maarten one time from Boolchands. There really was not much of a discount, but it did have a US and Caribbean warranty.

 

Here is a copy of the warranty card.

 

 

In Canada, I am not sure how the warranty would work.

 

In St. Thomas, there is a small camera shop at the Crown Bay pier (where the Oasis stops), but in St. Maarten, there is a Boolchands at the pier, but also downtown Philipsburg (very easy to get to), there are at least three camera shops I am aware of: Boolchands, Chulani's, and Klass Electronics.

 

They are all on Front St. (first street from the beach), and not far from the downtown water-taxi pier.

 

At any rate, I don't think you are going to get a "killer" deal, and probably no better than $1,000, so why not buy your camera before you leave so you get photos of the entire trip.

[Wymond]

Awboater,

 

Thanks for yor answer and advise. They are very helpful.

 

I emailed Royal Carribean in st. Thomas. They replied that the best price for nikon7100+18-200mm lenses is $1720, which is almost the same as what I can get in Toronto, excluding tax.

 

The link you gave me is for 18-200mm VR lenses, not VR2. For VR2, it would be $849 at Roberts. At Canada's Henry's, it is on sale at c$729. And, last week, I saw a on sale price at c$999 for body only. As you said, a killer deal is not going to happen in st thomas. The amount I might be able to save is 13% tax.

 

I think I would buy it here before my cruise which will depart in December 14. I can wait and hopefully grap a good deal during Christmas shopping season.

 

Thank again and Have a great weekend.

[awboater]

Oops, I linked the wrong lens... Here is the 18-200mm VR II refurbished from Roberts for $550.

 

http://robertscamera.com/refurbished/lenses/af-s-dx-nikkor-18-200mm-f-3-5-5-6g-ed-vr-ii-refurbished.html

 

In reality, both lenses are VR II, but the older lens is not advertised as such.

 

VR II has an extra position on the VR switch "normal - off - active" while VR I is just "on-off".

 

Both versions of the lens have the same three position switch, hence they are both VR II. In reality, the only difference in the two lenses is the zoom creep lock on the newer lens.

 

Ken Rockwell conforms this.

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18200.htm

 

http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/18-200mm-ii.htm

 

But I can understand wanting to have the latest version, so for $50 more you can get the latest version refurbished. And the lock switch does come in handy. My lens did not zoom creep when it was new, but after it loosened up a bit with use, it now zoom creeps, so the lock is nice, and would be worth $50 to me so as not to have the annoying zoom creep.

 

Zoom creep if you do not know is when you are hanging the lens around your neck, Black Rapid strap, etc, with the lens pointed down, the zoom will tend to creep out to the 200mm length under the weight of the forward glass elements. The lens lock will prevent this by locking it at the 18mm end when you are not actively using the lens. Just remember to unlock the lens before using or you will have one of those !#&(%$& moments when you cannot figure out why the lens does not want to zoom.

[snowbird1]

Awboater,

 

Thanks for yor answer and advise. They are very helpful.

 

I emailed Royal Carribean in st. Thomas. They replied that the best price for nikon7100+18-200mm lenses is $1720, which is almost the same as what I can get in Toronto, excluding tax.

 

The link you gave me is for 18-200mm VR lenses, not VR2. For VR2, it would be $849 at Roberts. At Canada's Henry's, it is on sale at c$729. And, last week, I saw a on sale price at c$999 for body only. As you said, a killer deal is not going to happen in st thomas. The amount I might be able to save is 13% tax.

 

I think I would buy it here before my cruise which will depart in December 14. I can wait and hopefully grap a good deal during Christmas shopping season.

 

Thank again and Have a great weekend.

 

Not that it matters to much here but I have always got a better deal in St. Maarten than St. Thomas. Also my best price was in person working with them vs. the phone call which I have tried. The factory refurbished are probably your best deal in your case as others have suggested.

 

 

Sent from my iPad

[c230k]

I am in Canada and going cruise on oasis of the seas next month.

 

Thanks.

 

Going on the same cruise Dec 14,check out this cruise critic board

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1760552

 

Go there are read what others are saying that are going on this cruise, also you can join cruise critic "Meet & Mingle", they have a party on the ship and have the chance to meet alot of nice people.

 

Also I have had luck buying camera gear on Amazon.com, They have a great free return policy and competive prices, no Tax, and in most cases free shipping.

Good Luck

Tom :cool: