Photography FAQ

What are the costs involved in importing camera gear from outside Australia?

Buying photographic equipment from overseas can in many cases save you a fair amount of dollars as opposed to buying them locally, however, you will be required to pay customs duty and goods and services tax fees. If you wish to work out for yourself how much customs duty and GST you will need to pay, please refer to the official page of the Australian Customs Services and in particular their section on importing goods. There you will find detailed information on how to work out duty and GST. Apart from Customs import fees, when you buy goods from overseas using your credit card, your Bank will more than likely charge you what they call "Foreign Currency Processing Fee". This is generally a percentage (%) figure of the total amount of your purchase in Australian Dollars. For more detailed and up to date information please contact your Bank.

--Blayde 22:41, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)

If I buy camera gear from outside Australia, what happens with warranty?

When you purchase photographic equipment from overseas it is very important that you find out clearly what the warranty terms are of that particular piece of equipment you are buying. Certain products come with an "International Warranty" and some only come with a "Local Warranty".

International Warranty = should your photographic equipment fail and you need to make a warranty claim, you will be able to do so at the nearest authorised service centre in Australia.

Local Warranty = Should your photographic equipment fail and you need to make a warranty claim, you will need to send back the faulty item back to the store/service centre of the country from where you originally purchased that item.

Whenever possible try to buy equipment that comes with an "International Warranty" as this will enable you to have you item repaired locally without the need to send the items back to the place where you purchased it from originally. If an item you are interested in comes only with a "Local Warranty" try to enquire if you can buy an "International Warranty" for this item. Should your item only come with a "Local Warranty" then you either send this item back to where you got it from originally for any warranty repairs or alternatively you can more than likely get it fixed at you local authorised service centre but you will have to pay for it as the warranty will not be valid.

--Blayde 22:40, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)

What is a crop factor?

A "crop factor" also known as "focal length multiplier" refers to the actual size of the CCD (charge-coupled device) or CMOS (complimentary metal-oxide semiconductor) sensor of your digital camera. The digital sensor of most dSLRs is smaller than that of 35mm film frame. When you attach a lens to your dSLR the actual focal length, aperture, focus distance, depth of field etc does not change. However, because the digital sensor is physically smaller it effectively captures a cropped image from the centre of the lens's image circle. For further and more in depth explanations as well as illustrations follow the links below.

Crop Factor Explained

Understanding the DSLR Magnification Factor

--Blayde 22:41, 17 Aug 2005 (EST)