10 16 May 2020I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI subscribe 0330 333 1113
I
fsomethingis toogoodto betrue,
moreoftenthannotit usuallyis.
Imaginemyreactionthenwhena
fewweeksagoI visitedtheprice
comparisonwebsiteCameraPriceBuster
(www.camerapricebuster.co.uk)onlyto
stumbleacrosstheNikonZ 6 beingsold
for£1,199(bodyonly)onAmazon.Surely
thiscouldn’tberightI thoughtto myself?
Aftera littleinvestigativeworkintothis
seeminglyincredibleoffer
I foundoutthatJohn
LewisandArgoswere
price-matchingAmazon
andalsohadtheNikonZ
6 upforgrabsat £1,199.
Howcouldthispossibly
be,whensomanyother
retailerswerecontinuing
to sellthesamecamera
for£1,549?
Coulditbeforreal?
Havingheardaboutpricing
mistakesin thepastwhereretailershave
accidentallymispricedproducts,my
immediatethoughtwasthata mistake
couldhaveoccurredsomewherealong
theline.Thefactthatthreeonline
retailerswereallsellingit for£
cheaperthanit wasbeingsoldelsewhere
suggestedthiswasn’ta caseof it beingan
error,buta genuinespecialoffer.
ClickingonthelinktotheJohnLewis
websiterevealedtheyhadtenNikonZ 6s
in stockat £1,199.Ratherspontaneously
I hitthe‘addtobasket’iconnotreally
thinkingaboutwhatI wasdoingorthe
dentit wouldmakein mybankbalance.It
wasat thispointI decidedtodowhatI
oftendowhenI makea bigpurchaseand
mademyselfa brewtogivemyselfa few
moreminutestothinkit through.
I subsequentlydecidednottoproceed
withwhatwouldbea veryimpulsive
acquisition.Asfondof theNikonZ 6 as
I amafterreviewingit, I’mnota Nikon
userandwouldalsoneedtobuya lens
forit. Evenif I choseit withthecheapest
lensin Nikon’scurrentZ-serieslineupthis
wouldhavetakenthepricetoover
£1,700.Notreallyan amount I was
prepared to pay.
A fewdayslaterwhileattendinga press
event,theknockdownpriceof theZ 6
cameupfordiscussion.Fellow
photographyjournalistswhowerehearing
abouttheamazingdealforthefirsttime
franticallypulledouttheirphonesto check
if it wasstillavailable.It wasn’t.Thechance
of snappingit uphadbeenandgoneand it
waslistedbackat £1,549again.The
reasonforthehugepricedropfora
limitedtimeis unknown.Maybeit wasan
incentiveto getphotographerstalking,
perhapssomeretailersweresittingon
stocktheywantedto shiftquickly,or
maybeit wasjusta freakdeal?
Whateverthereason,thosewhowere
quickoffthemarkgotthemselvesa
bargainandpickeduptheZ 6 fora
whopping£900cheaperthanit costwhen
it waslauncheda year-and-a-halfago.It
goesto showtherearesomeincredible
camerabargainsto behadif youobserve
themarketcloselyandactquickly.
THE
VEWS
EXPRESSED
IN THIS COLUMN ARE NOT NECESSARILY THOSE OF AMATEUR PHOTOGRAPHER MAGA ZINE OR TI MEDIA LIMITED
WhilesurfingthewebforcamerabargainsMichael
realisedyouneedtobequickoffthemarkand
ready to act in order to fi nd a great camera deal
View point
Michael Topham
MichaelTophamis ReviewsEditoratAmateur
Photographer. In hissparetimeheshoots weddings.
Visitwww.michaeltopham.co.uk
Doyouhavesomethingyou’dliketogetoffyourchest?Sendusyourthoughtsinaround
500 wordstotheaddressonpage 21 andwina year’sdigitalsubscriptiontoAP,worth£79.
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In next week’s issue
On sale Tuesday 19 May
Fora briefperiodoftimetheNikon Z 6
was available online for £1,
