Uncle Frank has a great deal to answer for...

[Clivegriff]

Earlier this month in his "Backslider's Confession" post, Uncle Frank wrote:

"I added the 80-200/2.8 AFD to my kit, and discovered the benefits and joy of pro-glass. It made me realize that there was a level that the 24-120VR couldn't reach. I started researching alternatives..."

His words set me thinking and I eventually decided to attempt to discover "the benefits and joy of pro-glass" for myself - when the time and the price was right.

This morning in the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate the right time and the right price juxtaposed. There it was in the independent dealer's window... a mint condition Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED IF AFS c/w original packaging, HB17 hood, case priced at 850GBP.

I wasn't expecting to buy anything today so didn't have my camera with me so the dealer put the lens on a D70 body (which he opened especially for the purpose) and invited me to go outside a fire off a few shots.

I like it when a trader trusts the client; it usually means that the client can trust the trader..

"What do you think?" he enquired on my return.

"I think it's over-priced", I replied having hastily put my negotiating hat on.

"We can move a little on the price", he countered.

"Move to 600GBP and the plastic's out of my pocket", I returned fire.

He did. It was.

I'm delighted.

Here are a couple of "testers" taken this afternoon:

A saddening result of inner-city vandalism...

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A street named for Lord Raglan who led the famous, courageous but foolhardy Charge of the Light Brigade during the Crimean War...

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[Flew]

Great negotiating job Clive. I don't suppose that being a 300 lb rugby player had anything to do with it did it?? :lol:

Nice lens BTW.

Frank

 

[Clivegriff]

Great negotiating job Clive. I don't suppose that being a 300 lb rugby player had anything to do with it did it?? :lol:

Nah, I'm not intimidating, Frank.

Unless I want to be, of course.

 

[PJohnP]

This morning in the North Yorkshire town of Harrogate the right time and the right price juxtaposed. There it was in the independent dealer's window... a mint condition Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED IF AFS c/w original packaging, HB17 hood, case priced at 850GBP.

I wasn't expecting to buy anything today so didn't have my camera with me so the dealer put the lens on a D70 body (which he opened especially for the purpose) and invited me to go outside a fire off a few shots.

I like it when a trader trusts the client; it usually means that the client can trust the trader..

"What do you think?" he enquired on my return.

"I think it's over-priced", I replied having hastily put my negotiating hat on.

"We can move a little on the price", he countered.

"Move to 600GBP and the plastic's out of my pocket", I returned fire.

He did. It was.

Clive :

Amazing how these things play out sometimes. I used to work with a man who said (somewhat ungrammatically), "If you don't ask, you don't get."

Same thing happened with me getting my 12-24mm DX/AFS in September. I went into a local dealer, liked the lens for the WA aspect, but couldn't get past the pricing. After lunch that day, I telephoned back and asked if they'd consider a partial trade for the 28-105mm that I had, and we quickly reached an agreeable price. He needed exactly that lens to make a deal with another customer as it turned out, and so he sold a body and two lenses.

Great deal for you, and nice to see Harrogate mentioned, a place I spent time at for a fantastic major conference when I lived in the U.K. some two plus decades back.



John P.

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[Clivegriff]

Great deal for you, and nice to see Harrogate mentioned...

It was, John, I'm still exhilarated by it.

Harrogate is so delightfully Olde Worlde in a genuine kind of way.

 

[Uncle Frank]

Uncle Frank has a great deal to answer for...

1. I'm delighted to help you empty out your pockets.
2. I expect you to give me photo-credit on future masterpieces from the 80-200AFS.

Now here's the problem. Once you get a taste for the kind of pictures the 80-200 makes, you're going to need to upgrade your mid-range zoom, too :twisted:.

Man, you worked an awesome deal for that lens! Next time I make a purchase, I'm going to ask you to negotiate for me.

 

[Clivegriff]

Man, you worked an awesome deal for that lens! Next time I make a purchase, I'm going to ask you to negotiate for me.

Frank, I was amazed when he capitulated so easily.

I began to think there must be a catch (you know the old saying - if something sounds too good to be true then it probably is). But so far everything seem OK and the lens really is in mint condition.

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[PJohnP]

Great deal for you, and nice to see Harrogate mentioned...

It was, John, I'm still exhilarated by it.

Harrogate is so delightfully Olde Worlde in a genuine kind of way.

Clive :

Enjoy the moment with the new lens. I can "see" holding every new one I've purchased.

There are many moments when I miss living in the U.K. Spending time in Retford (Notts) in the 'sixties and later, then going back for post-graduate at Loughborough, I had a lot of wonderful opportunities around the countryside. Interestingly, I really spent very little time in the larger cities, unlike my wife, who worked with the V&A in the 'seventies, and thus knows London very well.

And I still miss my local, although beer in the U.S. has improved by leaps and bounds over the last twenty years. There's actually an IPA at a microbrew in Socorro here in New Mexico that's some of the best I've ever had, but it's nonetheless nothing like my local in Loughborough, or another more upscale pub in Woodhouse Eaves that used to frequent...



John P.

 

[Clivegriff]

I was finishing up post-graduate work at Loughborough

You will know, Paul, that the town you mentioned above is pronounced "Luff-burrer" but there was once an American tourist in these parts who puzzled us all by enquiring about "Luger-ber-uger".

 

[MontyDog]

#1064 - You have an error in your SQL syntax;

 

[Clivegriff]

...another more upscale pub in Woodhouse Eaves that used to frequent...

By pure coincidence, both the test shots I included at the start of this thread were taken in the Woodhouse district of Leeds.

 

[PJohnP]

I was finishing up post-graduate work at Loughborough

You will know, Paul, that the town you mentioned above is pronounced "Luff-burrer" but there was once an American tourist in these parts who puzzled us all by enquiring about "Luger-ber-uger".

Clive :


{Long chuckle}

I also had some American tourists stop me and ask if they were in "Lye-cest-ter" county.

English has some interesting oddities, and the placenames in the U.K. are strongly amongst all of that, even holding aside the interminably long Welsh words with the double L sound placed within them. :twisted:


John P.