How long did you wait? (For Nikonian Lens owners)

11/25/2006 10:36:07 PM · #1

I've just placed an order (yesterday) for the 18-200 mm VR Nikkor lens. My question is how long did you wait to receive one, the camera store where I ordered it through says they do not know when it will arrive. I'm hoping to get it by late January at least.

It's frustrating to have to wait and sit for a lens to arrive. Hopefully someone sends one to my address with the wrong name like a person did on here when a Canon camera with two primes lens turned up on their doorstep. :-) :-)

MathewWithOneT

Nikon D80

11/25/2006 10:48:08 PM · #2

Its more a matter of how much you want to pay than how long itll take. You can find them right now on Ebay for ~900 or so. Major retailers (Circuit City, Ritz, etc) sell it for close to that anyways.

Personally, I got mine for 850 and waited about a week and if it broke right now, Id be more than willing to pay the 900 bucks to get it off ebay. I know of people who refused to pay more than the typical 750 asking price or did not want to buy it used or did not trust in having it shipped or buying it over ebay and they have been waiting for 6 months.

If VR is not important to you, check out the Tamron one. Optically, I found it to be just as good, if not better, than my Nikon 18-200. Of course, I cant live without VR...

11/25/2006 11:11:55 PM · #3

I ordered through Ritz and they are asking $749. I can't afford to go to $900, as every bit counts as I am saving to attend my brothers wedding in NZ in February which is why I'm hoping it arrives before then. I saw one on Craigslist for $870 but they want cash, and I'd only be able to pay in cash installments or by CC. If it doesn't come by then, I can easily cancel and get one off e-bay and have saved the extra.

Unless Santa gives me some cash gifts, then I can pay the extra. :-)

krafty1

Nikon D80

11/26/2006 04:54:01 AM · #4

I got mine in about a month. I called B&H the day after they had received some in (and sold through them in no time at all). They gave me their expected date for their next shipment. I began checking their site every morning for the next few weeks and lo and behold, one morning, right around the date I was given, there it was. They had them posted for about 3-4 hours and they were gone again. B&H is great because there is no waiting list. Once they're posted as in-stock it's anyones to grab. Diligence pays off.

squaredd

Nikon D80

Nikon AF-S Zoom-Nikkor 28-70mm f/2.8D IF-ED

11/26/2006 05:21:59 AM · #5

I got mine thru a small local store. It took about a week and I paid $750, but it was all part of the agreement I made with them when I bought my D80 (at a decent, but not great, discount) there. It's been a very versitile lens.

DelRioPhoto

Nikon D700

11/26/2006 06:06:08 AM · #6

Well, I first ordered one through Amazon and that was a total disaster. (Long story). I then ordered one from Ritz and that took about three months to get one. I had to have one for my trip to Europe and the one from Ritz hadn't arrived yet, so I bought one on Ebay for about $950 (ouch).

Anyway, it is a great lens. I would hope that three months from now you should have it. Although, I was so anxious to get one that I ordered several of them from different retailers and Ritz is the only one that has delivered so far. It's been about four months already from the other places.

Good luck. :)

BlueAngel

11/26/2006 10:00:27 AM · #7

To say I got lucky is an UNDERSTATEMENT.

I've been asking my local Henry's outlet about the waiting list on this lens for months, and each time the answer was, "Long." and "We don't know." They told me I wouldn't have to pre-pay to add my name to the list, they'd just call me when one was available. "OK."

While adding my name to their "double-digit" waiting list, the guy casually mentioned their "outlet" store showing one 18-200 VR available, then proceeded about his business. Knowing how hard this lens was to get I asked for the outlet phone number, and called right there from my cellphone.

They did in fact have one "...just sitting on the shelf." so I promptly drove right down to the Outlet on Queen St. and picked it up!

Price was regular retail, CDN$899.00 which works out to about USD$790.00 with today's exchange rate. The reason this lens was at the outlet and not consumed by a retail store was a small crease on the corner of the box... no biggie for me since the box doesn't take the picture and will just collect dust in my closet.

Not too bad, especially considering I only stopped into the first store because I was already in the mall...

I've only had it for a coupe of days and have only had a chance to play with it once, but I can say the VR appears to do quite well at stabilizing the image... you can see the VR at work when looking through the viewfinder.

The "kit" lens with my D70s was the 18-70. I've had lots of fun with this lens, but I can't wait to take advantage of the greater zoom range and low-light image stability with VR.

Everything I've read about this lens suggests a solid performer with few compromises for its flexability. Since I'm far from a professional photographer I expect it will surpass my needs and expectations.

Message edited by author 2006-11-27 10:48:00.

01/20/2007 08:21:00 PM · #8

Update: I ordered the lens on the 25th November and today it was charged to my CC, and so I checked with Ritz store, to learn it is being shipped to their store (Seattle) from the East Coast this week. Finally I'll be able to get my hands on it, as long as it does reach here and I will collect from the store once it arrives. I can't wait!

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

01/25/2007 12:56:30 PM · #9

Exactly 8 weeks to the day, I am now a proud owner of this lens, which I picked up today. So there's hope for you yet, those waiting patiently for it. Total Cost $815

Neil

Fujifilm X-T20

01/25/2007 01:34:05 PM · #10

Originally posted by heatherd:

Exactly 8 weeks to the day, I am now a proud owner of this lens, which I picked up today. So there's hope for you yet, those waiting patiently for it. Total Cost $815

Why did it cost $815 when you said before it was $750 from Ritz. Did they add on some surcharge?

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Nikon

01/25/2007 09:55:21 PM · #11

Tax was added.

blemt

Nikon D70

01/26/2007 02:38:23 AM · #12

As an update, the wait time has dropped from about 4 months down to a much more reasonable 2 months. ;)

Seriously it looks like the lens should be in pretty wide distribution come March. Nikon is FINALLY catching up with production.

RainMotorsports

Nikon D60

Nikon AF-S DX Zoom-Nikkor 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G VR

01/26/2007 02:59:57 AM · #13

Nikonian lets just stick with Nikkor lol!

hyperfocal

Nikon D7000

Nikon MF 105mm f/2.5 AIS

01/26/2007 03:35:43 AM · #14

Evidently it is not just the 18-200. Iâ��ve been trying to get a grey market VR80-400 from B&H for weeks, as Iâ��m not going to pay $150 more for the US version when I can buy a Mack warranty for $40. Anyway every time I get an e-mail from B&H stating its in stock, by the time I get to the store itâ��s out of stock. I had an even harder time getting an extra battery for my D200. Nikon needs to ramp it up.

tomcat

Nikon D300