Long lens prices

I was recently looking at photography gear prices in Bangkok and came across something that may interest those who may be considering buying Canon gear at the moment. It seems that Canon has not changed its local pricing – whilst the baht continues to devalue. That means that it is possible to make significant savings, at the moment, if you are buying with money from overseas.

Normally we expect that the US is the cheapest place to buy this gear but…………..

For example:

EF 500mm f4/L IS II
Thai price is 288,000 baht or 8,044 USD (at SCB exchange rate today)
USA price (B & H) $8,999 plus $1100 shipping and duty = $10,099.

EF 600mm f4/L IS II
Thai price is 365,000 baht or 10,195 USD (at SCB exchange rate today)
USA price (B & H) $11,499 plus $1260 shipping and duty = $12,759.

Nikon’s prices don’t seem to offer any advantage but as the new Nikon long glass (V II) is now available, the second hand prices of older gear, due to people wanting to offload their old models to upgrade, are very good at the moment.

Just got back from a visit to Bangkok beginning this week. I never go to Bangkok, now I finally went and happened to pick the wrong days. While buying the D810 the seller received a message that few hundred metres down the road a bomb blasted.

Anyway, I have only compared prices to Europe but also for Nikon it seems worth it to buy here.
In NL the price for the D810 is 125000 baht, here it sells for 89900 baht
In NL the 300mm f4 PF VR sells for 82500, while in Bangkok it sells for 55500 baht.
Quite significant difference.
Also the 800mm ( no I did not buy it, haha) is more than 100k cheaper in Thailand.

So worth considering.
Only at the moment, visiting Bangkok's busy spots is a bit too much excitement for me...
I feel a lot safer in the jungle