"Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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bfitzgerald
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"Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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bakubo
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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With the dollar/pound exchange rate improving we may get back to the UK for a visit in the coming months. I read that some are predicting parity within a year.
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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British / English freedom will in the medium and long term be good for most folk. The costs will probably fall more on the Reichsmark sorry Euro zone. Figures I have seen put the trade deficit with the rest of the EU at about GBP 85 billion a year and increasing at up to GBP 10 billion a year. And given that profits from London as a financial trading center only amount to about GBP 20 billion, some contraction in the financial activity if it does occur is likely to be of secondary importance to gains elsewhere.

Now all that remains is do dispose of the last remaining vanity projects from the old empire and cut Scotland and Northern Ireland lose from the English tax payer.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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Well I wanted to avoid the expected poliitcal commentary on this, but as we've touched on it... My view of the EU is it's a good idea poorly executed, however I'm not sure a straight departure is the solution. People can do what they like of course and they had a vote. What bothers me is the surge in so called "Right-wing populism". In politics you tend to find extrems which pretend to represent the common person invariably end up with high vested interests, some of them are not too far off what many would consider a toned down version of Fascism.

Regarding the Scotland and NI debate it seems that continues regardless of what goes on though NI is different there isn't the appetite for such a move and it's a balanced semi self governing state. The SNP continues to push the issue until they win a vote..seems to be the only policy that has any real attention. I bet most in England don't really care what happens to those two regions. It's also fairly likely most Scots are sick to death of the endless debate.

Back to price increases well they votes for it now lap it up and enjoy! Strange the two people pushing for Brexit the most have bailed out when push comes to shove.

That's my two pennies worth ;-)
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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I happen to agree with you Barry, it's just that so much doggie-doo has been told by so many people, many of them into just plain trouble making. And things have the potential to end badly for countries on both sides of the Channel. But then again you only have to look at what was done to the people of Greece after the Greek elite screwed up. Totally and utterly idiotic actions by a bunch of economic theologians and political fantasists. Holy Roman Emperor Charles V or Phillip II of Spain come to mind but you don't need to be inbreed dynasts to stuff up big time.

The EU was a wonderful idea taken too far,too soon and ultimately in wrong directions by a number of self serving cliques. And just an example, you have Junker as Commission President after what he did to make Luxembourg simply a tax rort.

It would be tragic if this problem is made worse than it needs to be. Fortunately most of my ancestors abandoned Britain between 1839 and 1868 although the Scots being Scots, the last of them held on until 1921. But given the Law of Unintended Consequences who knows what will happen and to whom.

And to those caught up in this directly I hope you bought up big last Christmas on your big ticket consumer items having had the Australian Dollar decline from USD 1.10 to USD 0.74 in the matter of a few years.

PS I am an economic historian by inclination and have an huge aversion for economists in general.
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bfitzgerald
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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People will probaly wake up a bit when they are paying more for products longer term. The camera industry is horribly overpriced (IMO) some disagree but technology goods drop hugely over time. Not so cameras (not talking about lenses here), it's all downhill from now on profits drops and poor sales. Samsung blew it and had to give up, no reason to buy a Samsung camera or lenses if they are not more attractive on price - they made a very obvious mistake there. Another maker might join the departed crowd, not enough sales to keep all those makers going.

Despite the moans about China and cheap nasty goods, some of them are making good stuff. Tripods, grips and flashes all far cheaper than big name brands and some of them are better than expected.

Britain imports far more than it exports so the drop in Sterling will not help. It might recover a bit..but if they dont stay part of the economic community that would cause even more problems. I'm not very optimistic about what happens.
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mikeriach
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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bfitzgerald wrote:
.............It's also fairly likely most Scots are sick to death of the endless debate.
Be assured I am! I am not a politics person, I just want stability. I've lived through raging inflation when my mortgage was nearly 17% and I struggled to make ends meet.

I believe many up here voted to Remain because they knew a Brexit vote would lead to pressure for a second Indy referendum.
It is said that even if every single person in Scotland had voted to Remain, it wouldn't have changed the overall result so I can understand why there is so much animosity towards London not listening to the far north, it does not seem to matter what we say, it has no effect. The SNP get the votes because they shout loudly and can push for change, I don't necessarily agree with the policies but they do make parliament sit up and listen. The north of England has similar issues with London.

It's very strange to see that Scotland as a whole voted to stay aligned with the London mob with whom they are bitterly opposed on many topics but I think it is fair to say we get a fair bit of EU funding in the more deprived and rural areas and with the terrible slump and volatility in the oil business we can't just rely on that to provide the money. Aberdeen has been hit very hard economically with many friends and colleagues being made redundant. I've been laid off once and we have had 3 further formal "at risk" consultations at my work in the last 12 months. It's not over yet....seatbelts on for the bumpy ride and lifejackets under the seat!
All my Sony SLT gear gone. Still got my RX100 though.
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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mikeriach wrote: Be assured I am! I am not a politics person, I just want stability. I've lived through raging inflation when my mortgage was nearly 17% and I struggled to make ends meet.
I remember in the U.S. when I was starting to think about buying my first house in about 1982 or so the mortgage rates were like that. I ended up taking my time and waiting and bought one in 1984 with a 30 year 12.5% mortgage and felt pretty good. :lol: I don't know what they are now, but over the last few years, I think, 3.5-4.5% for 30 year mortgages are typical.
mikeriach wrote: I believe many up here voted to Remain because they knew a Brexit vote would lead to pressure for a second Indy referendum.
It is said that even if every single person in Scotland had voted to Remain, it wouldn't have changed the overall result so I can understand why there is so much animosity towards London not listening to the far north, it does not seem to matter what we say, it has no effect. The SNP get the votes because they shout loudly and can push for change, I don't necessarily agree with the policies but they do make parliament sit up and listen. The north of England has similar issues with London.
I am content to let the UK decide what they will do, but just a small comment from someone who followed from afar the Scotland vote a couple of years ago and the recent Brexit vote too. The Scotland Leave folk's arguments sound almost exactly the same as the UK Leave folk's arguments and the Scotland Remain folk's arguments sound almost exactly the same as the UK Remain folk's arguments. It sure seemed like Alex Salmond = Boris Johnson and David Cameron = David Cameron (he was a Remainer in both cases, right?). No doubt when you get into the weeds there are lots of differences, but the major arguments and complaints from Remainers and Leavers in both referendums sounded amazingly similar. :)
mikeriach wrote: It's very strange to see that Scotland as a whole voted to stay aligned with the London mob with whom they are bitterly opposed on many topics but I think it is fair to say we get a fair bit of EU funding in the more deprived and rural areas and with the terrible slump and volatility in the oil business we can't just rely on that to provide the money. Aberdeen has been hit very hard economically with many friends and colleagues being made redundant. I've been laid off once and we have had 3 further formal "at risk" consultations at my work in the last 12 months. It's not over yet....seatbelts on for the bumpy ride and lifejackets under the seat!
I am always sad to hear of difficulties for anyone. No matter what, I wish all Scots, Brits, Europeans, etc. well for the future. The whole world seems to be in a chaotic state these days with lots of discontent. I am reminded of the old Chinese curse:

May you live in interesting times.
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bakubo
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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I read this today.

A Special Relationship for the UK After All
Germany seems to be softening its stance on what happens after Brexit.

https://geopoliticalfutures.com/a-speci ... after-all/
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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This week sees a further round of price increases, for example the entire Intro2020 stable (including Samyang and Tamron, but no longer including Phottix which has moved to MAC Group Europe) increased prices by around 10% on August 22. However many stores still have older priced stock, it's just new stock which will go up. Also, it's not impacted on the used market yet, so some used gear which was overpriced (no recoverable VAT, no reduction in price if exported outside EU) is now more affordable.

I've been quiet here mainly because I was unable to log in to the forum for several months to manage it or write anything. I seem to have fixed it now so that I am correctly logged in and not confused with the main site though it still gives me a choice of about six identities and passwords! Anyway, in June I bought nearly £1800 worth of lenses - 55mm f/1.8 CZ and 70-300mm f/4-5.6 G OSS. This was a considered decision after trying the 70-300mm briefly, as it's clearly in a class above any other lens of this range ever made before. Still not perfect but close to being. I still do not like the 55mm - horrible rough bokeh and poor close focus - but it tests out as the sharpest, cleanest such lens made if you simply want to record a flat subject. Ideal for work like copying large paintings or pictures of brick walls, but honestly not the wonder lens so often claimed if you're photographing a 3D scene at medium apertures. Still, having tested as many other 50-58mms as I can, it's the best compromise.

I seem to have saved at least £300 just by buying before prices rose, but they may come down again.

The issue in Scotland has changed from a small active sector wanting independence to a majority wanting to end dependence, if that makes sense, but specifically wanting not to be dependent. Our gold mine is producing gold and by the end of the year there will be a new Edinburgh Stock Exchange - all we don't have is a decent camera dealer or a single photographic importer-distributor. But we do have the UK's largest pro photo lab and we have Amazon!
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pakodominguez
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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David Kilpatrick wrote: I still do not like the 55mm - horrible rough bokeh and poor close focus - but it tests out as the sharpest, cleanest such lens made if you simply want to record a flat subject. Ideal for work like copying large paintings or pictures of brick walls, but honestly not the wonder lens so often claimed if you're photographing a 3D scene at medium apertures. Still, having tested as many other 50-58mms as I can, it's the best compromise.
I thought you had settled for the Minolta/Sony 50mm f2.8 Macro... (and the Tamron 70-300)
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Still got the 50mm macro - the Tamron is not mine, and will go back, it's not as good as the Sony 70-300mm FE (mostly, CA/purple fringe which is completely absent in the Sony). The odd thing is that the 55mm is better than the macro for copying artwork because it has very high microcontrast, but the 50mm macro is much better for general scenes, just a cleaner defocused image.

I'm hanging on to the 50mm macro as it is used with the A580 and A700 (in fact it is officially Shirley's macro lens for her A580 and was never bought to use with the E mount). I have also been looking for an A99 or hoping there will be an A99 II which has GPS and 36 or 42 megapixels, in which case it's got even more use ahead. I'm also keeping our 70mm Sigma macro.

I did think of working with the A7RII+LA-EA4 as a body and using A-mount lenses, and I have my Sigma 70-300mm, Sony 24-105mm, the macros above, SAM 28-75mm f/2.8, 30mm macro DT, SAM 85mm f/2.8, 24mm Samyang tilt-shift, 16mm Sigma fisheye, 500mm Tamron mirror and a few odds and ends. But ultimately there are too many complications such as the tripod mount and the recent acquisition of the Voigtlander 10mm f/5.6 kind of cemented my need to use native E-mount (as I already have the 16-35mm).

My biggest dilemma is whether to dispose of the 24-240mm OSS FE after getting the 70-300mm FE. I really needed to sell something to go towards that cost. But it cost me very little and they have stayed low in price (relatively) so are not worth a lot used, and last week I really missed having a single walkaround lens. So I think it goes on the A7 body and stays here.
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

Unread post by pakodominguez »

Hi David,

I remember you talking about the beauty of the SEL 28f2 -you didn't get to buy/try that one? I recall you been fond on superzooms, just keep the 24-240 for a while and then decide.

Apparently (...) the camera that Sony will announce September 1 will be a high-end A-mount because a)they haven't left behind the A-mount (even if it doesn't look that way); and b) Sony understand ppl are not happy with a new A7xx model every 10 months, that kill the value of existing models.

I'm happily using my A900 on some events, and try to use the noise/grain in a creative way. Otherwise the A7S is my main camera for events and the A7R for everything else (I just bought the A7SII, the A7S go for sale after the wedding I have to shoot this Saturday) But I'm not ready for buy any A-mount lens right now, not even the SAL 20mm f2.8 we talk about before.

I went yesterday to the new Sony Plaza NYC in Madison Park (Flatiron district), it is really a small showroom and they do sales also, no need to compete with Apple Store anymore. They want to introduce a lend plan (you can borrow lenses or cameras for a couple of hours) in the next couple of weeks -last week they already organize a photo-walk. It will be a good plan for locals and visitors, for trying new stuff.
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

Unread post by David Kilpatrick »

Yes, I have the 28mm f/2 and it's a great lens. I spent some time with the Batis trio too (but can not write about it yet as the review was commissioned by the BJP, and they can take three months to print - I used those lenses in June!). Without their added muscle I would never, ever have got all three Batis lenses at once on loan but I can not cheat and write them up on-line or in my own magazines.

What's missing for me is a lightweight compact 90 or 100mm f/2.8 in the same 'series' as the 28mm, 55mm CZ. If I had that, I would have my ideal lightweight kit returning me to the same position as when I used Minolta CLE. A 100mm would be perfect. I find the 28-70mm or 24-70mm zooms just too short at the long end for so many subjects. I may well have an 85mm CZ M-mount but for this basic kit I would like AF. And although I really like the Batis 25mm, it's too bulky. The Loxia 21mm is more attractive. Still, 28/55/100 would be about perfect but we know Sony much too well, that won't happen.

I also have a 40mm Canon STM permanently on an adaptor and that actually fills a gap neatly. I did have the Canon 85mm USM but it stopped working on my adaptor.
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Re: "Brexit" hits prices hard on tech goods

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David Kilpatrick wrote: What's missing for me is a lightweight compact 90 or 100mm f/2.8 in the same 'series' as the 28mm, 55mm CZ. If I had that, I would have my ideal lightweight kit returning me to the same position as when I used Minolta CLE.
I realize this is of no particular interest for you or most others here, but I just wanted to say that with m4/3 I have several primes:

Olympus 9mm f8 fisheye bodycap
Panasonic 14mm f2.5 pancake
Panasonic 20mm f1.7 pancake
Olympus 25mm f1.8
Olympus 45mm f1.8

They are all small and light. Reminder: m4/3 has a 2x crop factor so double all of those to get FF equivalents. I sometimes go out with the 14mm, 20mm (or 25mm), and 45mm. I take the extra grip off my E-M10II and have a small, light package to carry.
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