One thing that I've missed since leaving Australia is my grandfather's old SLR camera. I inherited his beautiful Minolta SRT-1 complete with Rokkor lenses after his death. For a number of years this equipment sat unused in my parent's home until the day I learnt how powerful and creative SLR photography can be. I remembered this camera set, dug it out, and started mucking around with it. Soon I was hooked and spent a lot of time annoying my friends and family with constant shot-taking. All this occurred in the year before I left Australia for Shanghai. When faced with the reality of moving to Shanghai (as everyone knows this occurs when you pack your belongings) the hard decision was made of what to bring and what to leave behind. I ended up leaving my camera kit back in my parent's abode. The main reasons for this were... (1) uncertain shipping conditions, (2) I could use all of Linda's photographic equipment as she was bringing her Nikkon F80 SLR and a recently purchased Canon iXUS5 compact digital, (3) I thought it could be broken, and (4) it would get stolen.

Over 1 year later and living in Shanghai - I see that perhaps only 1 of those reasons was well-founded (shipping). Even though I have a SLR and digital compact at my fingertips, I do regret that decision - I miss my 'own' camera.

But now, its all happy days. I've made the two firm and unshakeable decisions. To first was to purchase a DSLR, with the second firm and unshakeable decision as to what one to buy. I have selected the Canon Digital Rebel XT EOS-350D Kit system. The only thing that needed to be done was to figure out where to purchase the darn thing. Shanghai, HK, or somewhere else?

Shanghai is a bit of a puzzle when it comes to purchasing 'authentic' items. First you have to find a place that sources the kosher items. Then there's a lot of conflicting information to what is cheap in China, and what you are better off purchasing abroad. One thing most people are certain of is that high-end electronics expensive in China, and that places like the U.S., Hong Kong, Singapore and even Japan are cheaper. But when it came down to checking out prices for my particular camera, I found that EOS-350D DSLRs are competitively priced in relation to HK, SG and AUS prices. I went and approached the Shanghai Flickr group and asked them the best places & prices for DSLRs in Shanghai. After confirming my price research, there were a few places that were recommended to me.

I shared this information with my friend Matt-man - he promptly jumped on the band-wagon, decided to purchase a 350D as well, and threw himself with gusto into the sourcing and negotiation process. He hit Cybermart (Hong Kong Plaza Electronics Mall on Huaihai Lu & Huangpi Lu), and the 3 electronics malls at Xujiahui, but ended up sinking lots of his RMB at the Huan Long Mall Photographic Market located above the Shanghai Railway Station Metro Station.

Needless to say when Matt-man showed me his camera gear, I went into a geek-envy-frenzy and needed to purchase my own. During the May 1st Holiday Week, Linda, myself and Matt-man returned to the scene of the purchase to check out the market. Linda has had designs on purchasing lots of lenses for her Nikkon F80 SLR. Three eager camera geeks. Our RMB were not going to last long in there. Miraculously, Linda & I managed to leave the mall salivating but without sinking money, but Matt-man (pictured: in deep shopping frenzy) was hit hard by the purchasing bug and picked up 'a couple of things'. He went back to his 'dealer' a few days later to pick up a wide-angle taking his lens count from 0 to 4 in less than 5 days. I am sure he will have hundreds of good quality photos of various RC-things in the near future.

As for me, I'm going to pop back there in the next fortnight, and perhaps I too will have some seriously high-quality photos on my website as well.

This entry was posted with flickr

Technorati Tags: Shanghai, China, expat, flickr