Oia, Greece

I sold this beautiful photo of Oia, Greece to a co-worker. He had been eying it for quite a while. Oia is a small town on the island of Santorini, which is one of my favorite Greek islands.

A Walk Through Time

Here's an article I wrote for Italian Notebook:

A Walk Through Time

New Purchase from Competitive Cameras

Back on July 17th, I ordered the Nikon 35mm f/1.8 lens from Adorama. I've purchased from them in the past with great results. Their prices are competitive and shipping is prompt. However, I had been emailing Adorama every two weeks since I placed the order to get status. I kept getting the same comments that because it's a popular lens, it was still on back order. I was given figures on how many people ordered the lens: 1000+ then 800+, then 600+ (about 2 weeks ago).

Yesterday it was "700+" Huh?? I want this lens for my trip in November. Since they didn't know when I would get mine, I went back to searching for other companies to purchase from. Many of the others also had the lens on back order (Amazon, B&H, etc).

By chance I found one persons comment on Flicker (dated 26 Aug) stating he purchased the lens from Competitive Cameras out of Dallas, TX, which he highly recommended. I called the store and voila! they had the lens in stock! Bunches of them. I ordered the lens and expect delivery next week. The price of the lens was the same as Adorama: $199.95 (shipping $14 vs. Adorama $6.95). This lens is so popular that other companies are charging $250, such as Amazon and Walmart! Talk about price gouging.

I googled the company name and there are lots of positive feedback, as well as a few negative comments about some of the employees being brusque. They weren't with me. I talked to the first person who answered my questions (price, warranty, availability) and forwarded me to the next person who was also very nice and helpful and who took my order. I was told they are the "Authorized Nikon and Canon Dealer in Texas, if not the South/Southwest."

I am expecting delivery on the 10th of September, so I will edit this posting when I receive the lens. I am happy to have found this company!

9/13/09: Here are some photos I took this morning with my new lens. I'm very happy with it!




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