GAS Dear Giary!

Is there a particular lens cleaner liquid that you swear by?
Most are created pretty equal. I go to the local pharmacy or department store and buy what they have in a spray bottle. Also get some disposable lens tissues, good ones like Tiffin. Never use paper towel or paper anything on a lens, no matter how soft it feels paper can scratch.

You can also get single-use packaged lens wipes. Bausch and Lomb, Zeiss, etc. Again, all are about the same. I buy in boxes of a couple hundred to keep at the desk. I also toss a few in each bag for when breath condensation and a tissue aren't enough.

Microfiber cloths work well, but clean them regularly. They'll pick up oil from your fingers and retain dust and dirt particles which can scratch. I put mine in one of those laundry bags and send them through the wash every now and again.

For a blower I use an inexpensive ear syringe. Yeah, I know they don't have filters like a regular lens blower, but I don't put them in my bag, I just use them at the desk. If there's something on my lens in the field I just blow on it and follow up with the single-use wipe.
 
BRACE FOR IMPACT

My (least) favorite dealer sent out a warning that on Monday begin the Black week sales.

With so many new bodies on me, what kind of things I should be on the lookout for?

Cheap lenses mainly. If interesting stuff catches my eye, I can pursue it, no matter the lens mount.
 
I've been pretty paranoid about this because of possibility of the stuff eating the coatings.

But perhaps I could just go and browse the selection at my local supermarkets. If that fails there's a plenty of opticians I can go to.
Not sure about a supermarket? Not talking about glass cleaner. If you read the labels you'll find some that list camera lenses in the use description. Those are the one you want.

I suppose I should've mentioned that before... :hiding:
 
BRACE FOR IMPACT

My (least) favorite dealer sent out a warning that on Monday begin the Black week sales.

With so many new bodies on me, what kind of things I should be on the lookout for?

Cheap lenses mainly. If interesting stuff catches my eye, I can pursue it, no matter the lens mount.
Do you ever shop MPB? I know they have a Europe and UK site, not sure about other places.
 
KEH I know from Youtube sponsorships. :)

Lensrentals is also something I sometimes wish existed here.

MBP's EU branch looks alright. They're located in Germany and I suspect that means good things, what comes to VAT and customs.

Outside the European Union, any shipment I'd order is subject to about 30 % extra.
 
A quick check from MBP EU.

Leica SL goes for a little less than I've seen in a while, interesting!

So I am hopeful and check Fuji XT3's... nope, these are all priced pretty high.
 
Kameratori black week (they titled it Green Week which makes sense since they deal with preowned stuff) deals are not at all crazy. The original Black Friday extravaganza has lost its meaning. What used to be desperately good deals, is now just a usual "5 % off" boring event.

I was invited to explore and test their new storefront which has been in beta stage all this year. I did so in the spring and made comments about usability and stuff. None of that stuff has been implemented. I'm losing taste of the whole dealer in a way.

To their defense, they remain to be very honest about the gear condition. If they rate a lens at 3/5 with "minor dust" that's probably equivalent to an eBay Mint.
 
Kameratori black week (they titled it Green Week which makes sense since they deal with preowned stuff) deals are not at all crazy. The original Black Friday extravaganza has lost its meaning. What used to be desperately good deals, is now just a usual "5 % off" boring event.

I was invited to explore and test their new storefront which has been in beta stage all this year. I did so in the spring and made comments about usability and stuff. None of that stuff has been implemented. I'm losing taste of the whole dealer in a way.

To their defense, they remain to be very honest about the gear condition. If they rate a lens at 3/5 with "minor dust" that's probably equivalent to an eBay Mint.
Yes, they tend to be very conservative in their ratings as a rule, it's better than risking a bad reputation. Recently though MPB rated a camera I sent them as 'good' when I had purchased it from them less than a year earlier as 'excellent'. The camera has hardly seen any use, so not sure why they did that, but I had them send it back.
 
The yesterday hunt of the silver X-T3 went expectedly: plenty of other interested participated in a bidding war and the final hammer price raised over what I was prepared to pay. There was at least another other sniper in there.

XT2 is another possibility to be sure, but I kinda really want a silver one, and silver graphite X-T2 is a special model unlike the silver X-T3, so the selection on the market is limited.

So my buying frenzy is over, for the time being. Of course, the black week deals have just begun...
 
Somehow this feels like half time in a match….

Agreed. The Fuji would have been a cool thing to put against Nikon Df and the Panasonic. I will definitely continue monitoring the markets.

Or maybe the calm before the storm?

What the hell man? :D I just spent two grand buying 4 pieces of unneeded gear within one day... is that not enough storm?
 
Yeah I got the tone alright. ;)

The X-T3 that I was hunting last week on eBay is now listed back, with a starting bid of 700 €. A bogus buyer perhaps? Perhaps the seller himself was drumming up the action and accidentally won his own camera? Who knows about these things.

I've seen enough XT3's go for 700 so I don't feel good about offering much over it. And that price better include a couple of spare batteries as well.

Maybe 800 if bundled with the grip? That's my limit on the X-T3.

And I think, since X-T4 has been around a year if not longer, it won't be long until they start to hit the markets more and that'll push the prices of X-T3 down.
 
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