Korean Job Discussion Forums

[swigs]

There used to be a map of the N grey market in the camera sticky, but the link is broken know.

I learned my lesson by going to Yongson thinking I could 'figure it out' with out a map. This will save me a day if some one can tell me where the hot spots are for cameras via map or good directions.

I'm open to regular markets or grey markets.

Feel free to give any shotouts to recomendations of locations or DSLRs...

I'm looking for a somewhat compact DSLR if possible, with a small lens. Which I will mainly use for landscapes and portraits.

Then eventually I would like to buy a telephoto lens as well.


Cannon I think is the best overall, but I am willing to look at other brands for smaller size...

The one thing I'm worried about is getting a DSLR with out image stablization (but there is one model I am interested in w/o it). Does anyone use a DSLR with out image stablization? Can you take alright zoomed in pictures via hand held?

Also what telephoto lenses do you recomend? mm-mm?

[ttompatz]

search DSLR and author superdave.

lots of great stuff and links to his buyers guide for cameras in Korea.
http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/search.php?mode=results

http://www.davidsmeaton.com/index.php/2007/09/super-daves-korean-camera-buying-guide/

.

[swigs]

thanks ttompatz...

I know there are quite a bit of photographers on this website, just wasn't sure if anyone had a specific map like you had for yongsan. I will try david's picture by picture walk though.

[superdave]

i don't think there's a gray market per se ... all of the sellers stock gray market kit because if they don't then they will lose business.

of course, the only place you can't get gray market is through authorised distributors like nikon and canon.

in korean, gray market is called nae soo, but these days they often say bee jong poom. so ask the seller if it's nae soo and he'll tell you.

jong poom is genuine import, bee jong poom is gray market ...

make sure you have a ballpark figure for prices too. www.danawa.com is good for that.

good luck

cheers

david

[swigs]

Thanks again.

Yeah, I did check out danawa.com's website for pricing guidance before going. And it helped. Just not enough for my silliness mentioned in the other thread.

On the up side though; I love the camera. And it's not like I paid full MSRP for the camera, but still a good bit more than I should have. I usually consider myself a better shopper. Oh well.

Again, thanks for sharing the information though!!

My advice to any other shoppers out there is to never buy from the first shop you go to. They will smell that and then take advantage of that; make sure you shop around to other stores before even thinking about making a purchase. I checked danawa, but that wasn't enough; I should have gone to all of the stores in the area first before going to the ATM. Always be polite, but never be ignorant to their tactics.

[nosmallplans]

don't worry about image stabilization in the body so much as in the lens. a lens stabilization system works far more effectively than a body system can.

if size is really a priority (backpacking, climbing, etc) then i would suggest something like a ricoh gr digital ii or canon g9 (or whatever the latest variant is) as they'll give you near dslr quality with a far more compact size. moving up from there a three fourths system or micro three fourths system camera will be quiet small and perfectly usable tripod-mounted but lacks a really good IS lens. from there you're basically working with full size dslrs.

[superdave]

[blackjack]

http://map.indm.net/map_eng.htm

heres a good one

[swigs]

Thanks for the map blackjack.

Superdave, great tips. Advice taken.

Nosmallplans: Good info, I appreciate it. I ended up going ahead with the four thirds lens system. Previous to owning a DSLR I had (still have) a superzoom canon s5 is, which I was impressed with(great price on it too). But I was ready to upgrade to a real DSLR camera. The S5 did have the ability to have full manual functions, and its lens was not bad considering how small it was.

If I had the money I would get the IS in the lens, but having IS in the body is more cost effective for me at the moment. I still want to play around with a bunch of lens; but I like the idea of quick photography on the go, which IS enables. I want to carry around a camera with me everywhere, but maybe not a tripod. Although, I would like to get a monopod. My DSLR and lens at the moment are small and light enough to carry around in a nylon bag pretty easily.


By the way:
Does anyone have good tips on buying used lenses? Any thing a new buyer should look out for? And if buying a new lens, how do you know they are not selling you a used camera lens as new?

[superdave]

[joeheckel]

I see the map that Blackjack had provided. Is there a map with this type of functionality to it for all the Seoul? The Seoul Governmental map is not very good and often hangs up. I am going to be in the Mapo-gu region and could really use something to get around.
Thanks in advance

[blackjack]

[swigs]

[maingman]

anyone maybe with map for /of line 1/ north east seoul, area and for going towards the feckin airport quite soon - let me know

thanks !