To bring my enlarger into France or to buy one when I got there?

[barisdemiray]

Hello,

I'll be moving to the south of France, specifically Antibes, in less than a month, and for at least three years and I'm undecided about either bringing my enlarger or buying one there. I couldn't find proper information regarding the customs rules and any experiences here in APUG (just a guy who experienced a latency of two months and had to write a letter to the customs office to bring some darkroom stuff from Budapest to the South of France) so I wanted to ask your opinion. My enlarger is Kaiser VPM 9005 and since Kaiser ceased to produce enlargers I have no idea about the availability of such great tools nowadays. Besides, I'm not sure I'll be able to afford buying new one. So it seems there is a trade-off between paying for customs expenses or for new darkroom tools.

Is there anyone who had such an experience or any with suggestions?

Cheers,

PS: At first this seemed to me off-topic for Darkroom Equipment topic but I've sent anyway since I also wanted to hear about the availability. Sorry if this should have gone under The Lounge.

 

[sandholm]

If you had the enlarger for more then six months, and its for your use (you are not bringing it to sell it) then you wont pay any custom.

There are plenty of homepages, but this one is really good when it comes to laws and finding movers http://www.moverworldwide.com/francecustoms.htm

(I have never moved to france, but I have helped friends. Antibes is nice, I have worked there quite a bit, and you wont have problem finding film/chems or paper, I know some really good labs (E6,C41,BW) in Paris, shoot me a message if you want link and contact info)

cheers

 

[77seriesiii]

something to consider is the amount of time it would take to source a new, albeit a temporary, enlarger AND would it be as good as the one you currently use? I am loathe to leave things I plan on using often in storage and then having to spend the $ to re-purchase the item.

How are you moving? Moving service (container or moving van) or throwing all of your stuff into the back of a car? how you are getting stuff there will really dictate what you can bring.

Good luck w/ the move.

./e

 

[barisdemiray]

I appreciate this information sandholm, yet something I forgot to note is that I don't have the invoice, since I bought these supplies as second hand and the guy didn't keep the invoice. I will check the website anyway.

And regarding the labs I mostly develop/print BW so I'd like to set my darkroom up as the first step. After all these are arranged I'll ask you for the contact information.

Thank you very much,

Cheers,

 

[barisdemiray]

Hello 77seriesiii,

I think the same, since it is also better IMHO to get used to use the same supply over the years.

Actually all my stuff will be shrinked into two luggages so I don't think that I'll have space for that "emperor". Now I'm planning to box it up and leave ready to be sent by cargo later till I get ensured that I won't have any customs, etc. problems, and take it with me during my next visit if so.

Thanks for your wishes!

Cheers,

something to consider is the amount of time it would take to source a new, albeit a temporary, enlarger AND would it be as good as the one you currently use? I am loathe to leave things I plan on using often in storage and then having to spend the $ to re-purchase the item.

How are you moving? Moving service (container or moving van) or throwing all of your stuff into the back of a car? how you are getting stuff there will really dictate what you can bring.

Good luck w/ the move.

./e

 

[Роберт]

From Budapest (Hungary) to France you should have open borders hence Hungary is in the EU and is Shengen zone so there should be no border control. Same is valid for Slovakia, Czech Republic, Austria, Italy and Germany. Only traveling via Switzerland will give problems.