Camera Shopping in Delhi

For me buying a camera is a long and tedious process. Almost one and a half years back, I planned to upgrade to an SLR. After doing months of research I zeroed down to Nikon D5000. Nikon was my first choice despite being advised to buy Cannon by some of my friends, I just find the name and logo more appealing. I was waiting for the price to fall, and finally when it happened, I did another round of research. Guess what? Now I was not impressed enough with D5000, I wanted Nikon D90 now, that too at the right price. A friend was coming from the US, but the online price was far lower than off-the shelf price there and she had only 3 days to fly. So, I finally decided to buy it in India.

The first stop was Nikon India web site, which quoted the price Rs. 58950 with Nikkor 18-105mm lens. I was not impressed. So, I started hunting the web space for a good deal and the next point was JJ Mehta. The web site didn’t quote the price, although they asked me to drop a mail (who has time to wait?) of course! I didn’t. Then, I thought to try ebay, again, all the sellers who offered company warranty, didn’t differ much in pricing from the Nikon web site. The best quote was 58500 rupees. I also called a few dealers and to my disappointment, they didn’t appear to be in mood to bargain.

Still I didn’t give up hope.

One morning while browsing I came across a thread on IndiaMike, where I got a clue about Pritam & Sons, Chandni Chowk. I instantly made a call, and to my disbelief, the price they quoted was 51000 with invoice and 2 year warranty. I was not sure whether I’m going to get the right stuff, so I asked my brother to recheck, since I didn’t want to get into a shady deal. He too confirmed and reconfirmed, everything is going to be WHITE, nothing grey.

Chandni Chowk, to be honest, is not the best place to shop a high value camera, but the price was tempting. Next morning, I left auto at Jain temple and started walking inwards. Just a few meters away, was the cycle market where Pritam and Sons is located. It could be seen from the main road. When I reached, I found it a busy shops where many people, mostly the photographers who were waiting for their old cameras to be repaired. Another reason for my radar to stay active. However, I asked if they have D90 and the gentleman asked his sales person to show a packed unit to me. Just to be on the safer side, I wanted to check every bit of it.  The box was opened and I clicked a few shots and was convinced. But, I was not happy with Nikkor 18-105mm lens which would limit my photographic ambitions. When the gentleman came to know, he offered me a few other lenses, among them, Tamron 18-250mm was most suitable. Finally, I decided to replace the kit lens with Tamron. Obviously, I made full cash payment (because credit card attracts extra charges)and a few minutes later was carrying a huge kit box in the busy streets of Chandni Chowk.

It’s been two month and I have enjoyed every bit of it. By the way, Pritam & Sons also repairs the cameras.

You can see photos shot by this camera at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/vivekvpsingh

By Vivek