Jason Dunn
02-23-2006, 11:00 PM
I'm about 90% sure that I'm going to go for a Nikon D200. When I was holding it, something just felt right - it really captured my imagination, and I think being excited about the possibilities of what you can do with a camera is a powerful component of photography. I haven't completely ruled out the Canon 30D, but I found that the announcement and features didn't stir my soul very much.
Being a member of the media, I often have an opportunity to review products, so if there's something I'm interested in buying, requesting it for review is good way to take it for a spin without having to drop the cash at a retail store. And sometimes, there's an editorial discount price that allows the members of the media to save a few bucks if they decide they want to buy the product. The discounts aren't offered in exchange for positive reviews, don't worry. So when I decided today that I wanted to review a Nikon D200, I contacted the Canadian PR agency that's representing Nikon. What I initially thought would be a cakewalk turned out to be very surprising series of disappointments.
The PR agency has one D200 to loan out to the media in Canada. 8O The waiting list is 4-5 months long to get this camera on loan for review. Not wanting to wait that long, I asked about simply buying one outright at an editorial discount. In all the years I've been doing this, that's a "last resort" option (buying something to review it), but it's always an option. Not so in this case - I was told that the list for buying a D200 at editorial discount was even longer than the 4-5 month review wait. So it seems that Nikon is severely throttling access to the D200 for the media. I thought, ok, surely if I was willing to pay full retail to bypass the 2-3 month wait I'm seeing from local retailers, Nikon can just sell one to me at MSRP price, right? Not even an option according to the PR agency.
This is so bizarre - I must be spoiled, because I'm not used to having to wait to get the tech I want...I just go out and buy it. The Nikon D200 is one hot product, that's for sure. So if anyone from Nikon happens to be reading this, well, drop me a line...
Being a member of the media, I often have an opportunity to review products, so if there's something I'm interested in buying, requesting it for review is good way to take it for a spin without having to drop the cash at a retail store. And sometimes, there's an editorial discount price that allows the members of the media to save a few bucks if they decide they want to buy the product. The discounts aren't offered in exchange for positive reviews, don't worry. So when I decided today that I wanted to review a Nikon D200, I contacted the Canadian PR agency that's representing Nikon. What I initially thought would be a cakewalk turned out to be very surprising series of disappointments.
The PR agency has one D200 to loan out to the media in Canada. 8O The waiting list is 4-5 months long to get this camera on loan for review. Not wanting to wait that long, I asked about simply buying one outright at an editorial discount. In all the years I've been doing this, that's a "last resort" option (buying something to review it), but it's always an option. Not so in this case - I was told that the list for buying a D200 at editorial discount was even longer than the 4-5 month review wait. So it seems that Nikon is severely throttling access to the D200 for the media. I thought, ok, surely if I was willing to pay full retail to bypass the 2-3 month wait I'm seeing from local retailers, Nikon can just sell one to me at MSRP price, right? Not even an option according to the PR agency.
This is so bizarre - I must be spoiled, because I'm not used to having to wait to get the tech I want...I just go out and buy it. The Nikon D200 is one hot product, that's for sure. So if anyone from Nikon happens to be reading this, well, drop me a line...