Newbie to forum - hello and XH A1 supplier recommendations in the UK?

[Paul Thomson]

Hi All,

I've been lurking for a good while. I've bought myself the DCT box set and have finally decided on an XH A1 after much dithering.

Can anyone recommend a UK supplier? I don't want to try and get a US or Hong Kong online deal or ebay 'bargain'. I am in London at the moment.

I saw this bundle at Creative Video:

http://www.creativevideo.co.uk/publi...anon_xh-a1_pk2

To my untrained eye it looks like a good starter pack - I would get this, some starter lights and a matte box and then will lock myself in movie mode for a few months. I've been saving for a while with this in mind so I am going to take the whole summer off work to learn what I can. I am also looking at some of the Raindance courses.

Any pointers would be appreciated. I'm *really* looking forward to this summer :)

Cheers,

Paul

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by Paul Thomson

Hi All,

I've been lurking for a good while. I've bought myself the DCT box set and have finally decided on an XH A1 after much dithering...

Can anyone recommend a UK supplier? I don't want to try and get a US or Hong Kong online deal or ebay 'bargain'. I am in London at the moment.

http://www.videogear.co.uk/index.php...&productId=133

Videogear is one of the Dvinfo.net sponsors - though this is a well kept secret. As such, they can be recommended wholeheartedly.

However, before I knew this, I got a great "personal shopper" and a good deal at another London dealer's roadshow.

As I don't want my bottie skelped for breaking list rules, if you want further info you can email me.

[Dom Stevenson]

Ebay will be the cheapest, but be careful.

Proactive are good. They're near Hemal Hempstead (20 mins from North London) and you can compare all the current cameras in the price range. They also do discount packages and are open to offers.
After some time spent looking around, i went with them and was impressed.

[Colin McDonald]

Youse yins may wish to look at this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthread.php?t=26774

I never bought something here but I think they have good prices:

https://www.globalmediapro.com/

[Rashdan Radha]

Read this before buying from globalmediapro.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Globalmediapro

http://www.resellerratings.com/forum/t128467.html

The prices are too good to be true.

aii sorry for the bad tip. I take my words back. Please read about this store before you buy anything.

Originally Posted by Rashdan Radha

Read this before buying from globalmediapro.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Globalmediapro

http://www.resellerratings.com/forum/t128467.html

The prices are too good to be true.

[B.J. Adams]

i bought my A1 from here:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Digital-4-U...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

I highly recommend them as they were very helpful and kept me updated all the way till my camera arrived. Very fast delivery too.

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by B.J. Adams

i bought my A1 from here:

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Digital-4-U...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

I highly recommend them as they were very helpful and kept me updated all the way till my camera arrived. Very fast delivery too.

Call me a cynic, but when somebody advertises a new XH-G1 for £3,369.99 i find it a bit suspicious. "UK seller" it may say, but you'll notice it doesn't say "UK camera." Also - EEC tax free - how come?

Most of the big video stores sell it for around £4,350.00 + VAT.

[B.J. Adams]

yes they are from uk and the camera is pal.
i thought the same thing but when i contacted them i found them to be very reliable and helpful and in a matter of days i had a new a1 in my hands!

[Richard Gooderick]

It's not just the camera that matters but how you get it fixed if it goes wrong and how long you are going to be without a camera if it does.

I had a drop-out problem. In the middle of a take that I would have used otherwise. So this has been detrimental to a good film.

Cannon UK wanted the camera for two weeks but agreed to look at it straight away when I pleaded.

So far, so good. However they failed to identify the problem as dropout.

I left the camera with them for testing, googled a bit when I got home, identified the problem as dropout and returned the next day to collect the camera. They were uninterested in the fact that I had identified a problem that they were unable to diagnose.

As I was in the middle of shooting five short films I could have done without this sort of hassle. It doesn't fill me with confidence if something goes wrong in future.

I paid full price from a reputable dealer in the UK in order to be sure of good service if the camera went wrong.

So I'm not sure what the moral is to draw from this. I still think that after sales service is a big factor when choosing who to buy from but I don't know how to guarantee you will get it.

[John Lewis]

I got mine from H Prestons, they are friendly and helpful and they do a 12mth interest free offer.

[Annie Haycock]

Colin mentiioned Videogear as one of DVInfo sponsors. Are there any other from the UK or Europe? Clicking on the sponsors tab only gives north American companies.

Creative Video are very helpful, especially if you arrange to visit them to try out stuff.

I got my Canon A1 from a local camera shop where I know the owner would do his utmost to get any problem sorted out if I had to take the camera back.

Unfortunately I don't have much faith in Canon UK, they don't seem to be very good at reproducing faults - if the fault doesn't appear in a few seconds, it can't exist.

But they do make good cameras.

[Vinny Flood]

There's an online shop called Bentonville Mall selling them for £2199 - I got mine through them but wouldn't recommend them in terms of delivery times (they don't seem to have them in stock themselves but get them from somewhere else).

I was led up the garden path a couple of times with delivery times etc, but then that's what happens when you don't listen to the feedback from other eBay users (most of the feedback was okay but in future I'll steer clear if there's even just a few complaints).

[Colin McDonald]

Originally Posted by Annie Haycock

Colin mentiioned Videogear as one of DVInfo sponsors. Are there any other from the UK or Europe? Clicking on the sponsors tab only gives north American companies.

I've been trying to interest Chris Hurd and his team to make a sticky about this. Maybe if I send a new message in with just the right info it would make it easier for them.

Creative Video are very helpful, especially if you arrange to visit them to try out stuff.

I was impressed by Calumet ProVideo at Drummond Street. I went to one of their Roadshows in Edinburgh and had a sort video "personal shopper" who was very good. They are not a sponsor as far as I know - it's a big company and may vary from location to location.

I got my Canon A1 from a local camera shop where I know the owner would do his utmost to get any problem sorted out if I had to take the camera back.

Unfortunately I don't have much faith in Canon UK, they don't seem to be very good at reproducing faults - if the fault doesn't appear in a few seconds, it can't exist.

But they do make good cameras.

Local shops can often give the best service but they don't usually have a big stock to look at and try out.