My GW690ii arrived today...

nwilkins said:

Japan has an amazing postage system. I remember I ordered a lens and it cost $17 CDN to arrive in 3 days from Japan, insured, with tracking etc. I ended up returning the lens and the cheapest option back to Japan with tracking through Canada Post was $45 and a 4 week delivery time.

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This has been my experience too. I've ordered two 35mm cameras from an eBay seller based in Japan, not only was the seller just great but the Japanese postal system was incredibly fast and careful. Nothing but good things to say about all things Japanese for camera sales!

Colin Corneau said:

This has been my experience too. I've ordered two 35mm cameras from an eBay seller based in Japan, not only was the seller just great but the Japanese postal system was incredibly fast and careful. Nothing but good things to say about all things Japanese for camera sales!

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I'm batting .500 with Japanese camera purchases. Half of them showed up with haze and fungus even though the 100% rated ebay seller specifically mentioned there was none of that.
Interestingly they were with Fuji GW690 cameras - I ended up managing to source one locally. The Xpans I bought from separate Japanese sellers were immaculate.

Well I lucked out because the dealer sent the camera with the previous owner's original skylight still on it, apparently the whole time. The filter itself was all scratched and beat up, but the lens itself was immaculate - not a trace of even dust inside. Looked brand new. I deliberately wanted a "beater" camera for bad weather use -
something I wouldn't cry about if something happened to it, but functionally flawless. They also failed to detect and disclose that the tip of a cable release had broken off in the socket and made the release unworkable. But with a two buck hardware store easy-out that was fixed in about five minutes. Most of the haze on the viewfinder was easily buffed out. I've learned to live with the remaining tad of internal haze to the rangefinder system. It's apparently typical of these cameras after
awhile. But now I'd like to supplement this with another one in mint condition, for more pampered use. They're a real bargain for what they do.

OK, my experience has been mostly good buying from Japanese sellers. Only two I recall were not so good. Fungus in a lens and the seller quickly refunded me the money after I sent him a photo. The other time was a MINT Leica M6 had a bent rewind knob. Sent it back for refund but out $60 shipping cost. But most ( over 20? ) transaction have been great. All transactions the shipping was very fast. My GSW680III was my most recent camera purchase. 220 Velvia from Kumar here.

wjlapier said:

OK, my experience has been mostly good buying from Japanese sellers....

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Same here - I bought a Konica III, Bronica ETRSI with lenses and accesoires, 3 Fuji GA645 series cameras and last not least a Nikon F2 in Japan. All these came in good condition (often better than described).
A Bronica S2 came with fungus in both lenses and with a non working film back - sent it back and got refund - had to pay shipping.

Nice camera! I have the same camera from Japan too and it it's a nice a shape as yours. From the counter, it had many rolls of film ran through it. Though ugly, my camera is still a top performer. You'll get many great pictures from it too. The lens is razor sharp.

My general experience with Japanese dealers has been superb. But if you are seeking a bargain, expect at least some cosmetic issues, including rangefinder haze. For very dim light, I just attach my Nikon F eyepiece magnifier for critical focus of nearby detail. For infinity scenes, you just twist the lens all way to the infinity stop and don't even worry about the rangefinder. But so far, I've gotten precise focus every time, regardless of the varied lighting conditions. It's a very sharp lens, yet with pleasing out-of-focus rendering too, if that is what you desire.