Buying a camera in the UK

rolii

Hi everyone! I urgently need your help with the following:

I plan to buy a camera in the UK but first I need to make sure the battery charger will work here in the western hemisphere (US, Venezuela - where I'm from). Will I need to get 240-to-110 adapter?

I know this is probably a stupid question but I need to make sure before I proceed.

Thanks all

swintonphoto

You probably don't need to get a transformer, just a plug converter. Most battery chargers are able to handle both European & American currents, the only holdback is the plug actually fitting into the socket. So, you just need a plug converter, but don't need to spend all the money on a transformer. I recently returned from a trip to the UK and only used a plug converter with my battery chargers and it worked great.

Jane B.

rolii wrote:

(snip)
here in the western hemisphere (US, Venezuela - where I'm from).

(snip)

Couldn't help but wonder why you are intending to buy in the UK. What I have found from reading this board and others is that the UK appears to be one of the most expensive places to buy. If you don't have a good local source have you checked purchase & shipping cost from someplace like B & H in the US?
Jane

rolii

Jane B. wrote:

Couldn't help but wonder why you are intending to buy in the UK. What I have found from reading this board and others is that the UK appears to be one of the most expensive places to buy. If you don't have a good local source have you checked purchase & shipping cost from someplace like B & H in the US?
Jane

It's a long story, Jane. Cameras here in Venezuela are sold at ridiculously high prices. Funny you should mention B&H, since I purchased a camera from them last June with horrible results (not because of B&H, but corrupt Venezuelan customs officers). I never received anything to begin with, and after a month or so the folks at B&H were nice enough to ship a second camera even though a claim was still being processed by UPS. You'll never believe what I got in that second packege which did arrive a few days later: Instead of my camera all I got was a rock! That's right: my camera had been stolen (it must have been at customs) and a stone had been put in its place. Only in Venezuela, my friend, only in Venezuela!

My option now is to purchase the camera online from a store in the UK so it'll get to my sisters' on time for her trip to Venezuela in a couple of weeks. (Thus my need to know if the charger will work with our power supply).

Another option I have is to buy it again from B&H (while UPS finds out whatever happended to the second shipment, the one where I got a rock) and have them ship it to London, but I don't know if it'll get there before my sister's flight to Caracas.

I told you: it was a long story but thanks for the chance to vent a little and tell the world about my misfortunes trying to buy a simple camera. :cry

i_worship_the_King

geez, that's crazy. Hope you don't get robbed again.

gembobs

Without looking into prices at B&H too much - check carefully. You probably appreciate that the camera will be cheaper in the States than the UK, but by the time you add shipping and VAT & duty at UK customs, you may have lost any savings.

From what I can gather, very few people buy camera goods from the States and ship them back to the UK due to the reasons above. If they are travelling there themselves, you can get around customs easier by taking the camera out of the box, taking a few snaps etc.

As for the plug, you should be fine with just an adapter plug - I bought a P&S in Dubai a few years ago and permently used an adapter with the charger without any problems.

As for camera prices, check out www.camerapricebuster.co.uk they link to the best prices from shops mainly in the UK.

Hope that helps.