Question Canon 5D IV Advice

Hello, I'm currently looking to get a 5d iv as my upgrade and I've been looking around and have came across this on this website for £2800 but the same kit bundle, body and lense is £4000+ on Clifton cameras.

Anyone know Panamoz is reliable or?

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV DSLR Camera with EF 24-105mm f/4L II Lens Kit

 

Panamoz are a "grey" importer. Plenty of people are happy to buy grey and Panamoz have a reasonable rep though I've never used them.
Your camera will come from somewhere outside the UK so there may be minor differences in what you receive vs. a UK model.
You're unlikely to get a Canon UK warranty so repairs or problems will go through Panamoz.
There may be VAT or duty things to deal with, do your research.
Search Results for Query: panamoz | AVForums

 

Well, cant visit their site because our firewall blocks it as suspicious.

I can see the domain is owned by a person in Hong Kong, now there are some reputable companies from there, and there are some that aren't. Without seeing the site its hard to say what my gut feel is, are they open about being overseas or are they making you assume they are here etc.

Slightly concerning that almost everyone on Trustpilot that has reviewed them have only written that one review too (though they may push the service).

Your questions should also be around warranty and import taxes/duty. One reviewer stated they got not Canon warranty but the vendor offers its own warranty (but that probably isn't very enforceable)

 

Cheers for the help. I'll probably just go through Clifton or another established camera seller.

 

Can't say I recall reading here or other forums of any issues with Panamoz, I think they've quite a good reputation and give, I think, a 3 year warranty to boot.

 

i have purchased many items from Panamoz, the service and delivery has been great, recently purchased the 5d mkiv and a couple of lenses all kit was delivered within 4 days and yes they offer a 3 year warranty.

 

They do, in lieu of you having a Canon UK warranty. It is however THEIR warranty and so dependent on them still existing and meaning you are pursuing a Chinese company based in HK if you cannot agree with them if something is covered by their warranty or not.

Now naturally Canon UK could go bust too but the odds aren't as high and a UK based company is easier to pursue.

Not saying not to buy from them but its something that should be reflected in the price

 

Panamoz are a HK co., so grey import. They provide their own 3year warranty (untested).

I recently bought a Sony A7R2 and several lenses totaling over £4K and had no issues. The delivery was fast and tracked throughout. There were no additional charges, price paid was as advertised. I used PayPal for the protection and did extensive research on them before ordering.

I would have no hesitation using them again.

 

I would also recomment HDEW, a UK based grey importer.

Canon EOS 5D Mark IV 24-105 II Kit

Slightly more expensive than Panamoz but they have a UK shop and you get 1 year manufacturer warranty plus an extra 2 years from HDEW included.

I have used these before (my son has also) with no issues.

 

Yes I know it's their own warranty, I'm sure I've read that people who've had a claim it was fixed by an authorised Canon repairer and Panamoz settled the bill. This could possibly only account for the 1st year of the warranty then after that you may have to send to HK.

My main point though was that I can't recall of reading any issues from anyone who's purchased from them.

 

I have seen nothing but glowing reports about Panamoz, both on here and loads on Talk Photography. I have also used them myself and cannot praise them enough. Also, everyone that has had a warranty claim has been highly satisfied, and it's actually been easier getting it sorted than trying to get it done with Canon or Nikon themselves (I myself had a nightmare with Nikon). Also worth noting is that it's a 3 year warranty vs 1 year offered by Canon and Nikon.

The only question is ethics as the only way that they can offer such low prices imo is to avoid paying full import duties and taxes, likewise for HDEW and Digital Rev. A £1200 saving and arguably better warranty is hard to ignore though

 

Cheers for that. I appreciate the help. I've seen one on SO Cameras, but HDEW and Panamoz seem a good choice. I'll be buying in the next 2 weeks so thanks for the info

 

I'd buy on credit card rather than PayPal. s75 means your credit card company is then sitting behind the 3 year warranty (and delivery and everything else) in case anything goes wrong.

Section 75 and Chargeback factsheet

 

I only have debit card, does the same pertain to that?

 

There is no way I would put a £2800 foreign purchase on a debit card - regardless of who I was paying. You have so little protection compared to a credit card.
When you buy with a credit card the card issuer is jointly liable for the transaction when you use a debit card once the money is paid the card issuer has no further responsibilities.
Worth reading up before you spend that kind of money.

 

I'd probably be best going with HDEW since they're uk based.

 

I'd still use a credit card, even if I had to apply for one first. Up to you though!

 

I hate taking out any kind of credit, I might take the risk and just go with the PayPal protection. Or I might just end up going through Clifton. We'll see & I'll let you's know. Cheers for the help.

 

If you don't want credit, you can always pay it off straight away - worth it for the added protection, IMO (whoever you buy from).
You could also get a credit card with aa period of interest-free on purchases - why use all your money when you an use someone else's an nil extra cost?

 

S75 makes them jointly and severably liable.

It makes them equally liable. How much do you know about Hong Kong contract/consumer law? Yes your credit card protects you against them going bust but doesn't translate your rights to English law. If you've no rights there you've no rights against your card company

 

I bought a £500 lens from Panamoz few years back and never had any problems.

 

Well I've only spent 6 months practising Hong Kong law as opposed to 17 or so in the UK so I'll agree a lot less than I do about UK law

But its definitely a fair point.

However, post October 2015 the issue has been mitigated a lot by the Consumer Rights Act. That gives you a whole raft of basic consumer protection as to fitness for purpose, unfair terms etc. and, unlike prior legislation, applies to sellers outside the UK as well as just those within the UK / EU.

Now that's likely to be not a lot of use against Panamoz as you'd need to take a judgement to Hong Kong to actually enforce it - but it massively shuts down the likely arguments a credit card provider could use. Its also important to bear in mind that you wouldn't actually go after a credit card provider in court - much easier to go to the Financial Ombudsman who are entitled to go beyond a strict reading of the law and are generally fairly pro-consumer.

Of course this isn't legal advice because I don't know you and your circumstances blah de blah and there is a risk that it all ends up more complicated than going against a manufacturers UK warranty - but I wouldn't personally have a concern about the warranty position from Panamoz if I was buying on a credit card (though it would be worth printing off a copy of their Ts&Cs so you can clearly demonstrate to a credit card company what you were buying).

It does still leave open the ethical question mentioned by snerkler though - not to mention that if everyone used them we wouldn't end up with any camera shops in the UK which would be a shame (though one I'm less fussed about after buying from Calumet partly for that reason and then being repeatedly messed around by them).

 

Brought loads from Panamoz, inc a 5D4. No issues so far.
As far as their warranty goes, ive yet to try it out, but when i had a faulty Tamron lens a few years ago i got a full refund the moment they got the lens back (to the London address).

They have been around for a good few years. Im sure they are just as reliable as Jessops ;-)

 

Now there's a stark warning

 

Haha, yeah, but my point was the opposite to that. Even a respectable high-street shop such as Jessops can run in to issues.

 

Hi,

I am in the same boat now, trying to buy 5d MIv from Panamoz, was reading reviews and found this blog seems very helpful, may ask few questions, please?

I used Nikon before and don't have much gear, love Canon 5DIV, of course, i like Nikon 850D, but I can't afford the price and love to take videos which believe canon will help me in that.

My questions are.

1. I heard this camera is suffering from focus issues, you think would it be easy to find and easy to repair with in the UK?

2. I heard C-Log is available, i called a local canon center in London to find out if they can upgrade gray import, the agent told they don't do the upgrade as it only comes with the kit if I buy with them. I haven't contacted WEXphotography yet. Any information on this?

3. I now have to buy all the gear, am thinking to take 5DIV with Kit 24-105mm f/4L II as it has IS compare to 24-70mm f/2.8L II USM, am i taking the correct decision?, (i need allrounder lens) planning to buy 70-200 f2.8 later this year.

Thank you, please advise

Regards,
Webvamsi

 

Focus issues? Not heard that one. Do you mean certain lenses, a few people or.......?

I haven't read that Canon are doing the retro fit for C-log yet (then again im not interested in it). If you dont have a need for it save a bit of money and dont worry about it. I doubt dealers would do it anyway, it has to go to Canon i believe.

I think the 24-105 f/4 mkii would be a good choice if you can live without f/2.8. It sounds like you can so i say go for it. Another option might be the 24-70 f/4 IS, mainly if you want Macro as well. Otherwise the longer zoom range of the 24-105 might be better.

 

Thank you very much

yes I've seen in DP review blog few people complains focus issues with L lens, anyway its less worry.
I will go with 4-105 f/4 ii as i need IS for videos, Thanks again.

 

A 'few' really means nothing. Ive not seen any mass hysteria over on DPReview about AF issues per say, and definitely nothing where its the camera and every lens
Are you sure the issues aren't with the lenses which just happen to be on a 5D4? Lens samples can very and its very common to read about almost any lens misbehaving for someone at some point.
This is not normally down to the camera. Of course there are faulty units out there, but you are wrong about the 5D4 'suffering' with AF.

Ive certainly had AF issues with lenses but having more than one body has proven its not the camera, but the lens.

Buy with confidence, this is a very, very good camera, with a very sophisticated AF system. Maybe its the fact that it is sophisticated that some people struggle with it.

 

Hey there @webvamsi666 to answer your questions

1. I've no issues with my 5DM4 and L lens (10 or so), neither visible to me nor measurable by FoCal software. Granted my one camera is a very small sample and maybe not representative.

2. Clog upgrade does look good to me and I'll most likely do it. The press release earlier in the year said it would be available as a paid upgrade in the U.K. from July from Canon, but I've not heard about it since.

3. Which lens to go for your first all rounder depends on what you will use it for. I had quite a lot of indoors when I got my first 5D so started with 24-70 f2.8 m2. I know people using the 24-105 f4 and getting amazing results. I don't think you will go wrong with either. If budget is important however the 24-105 can be obtained a lot cheaper second hand as its been the kit lens for 5Ds so there are a lot out there.

Hope this helps