Camera Equipment Trip Report!Phototechnica (Nikon Agents in Sri Lanka, +94 11 257 7877)“Hello?”
“Nikon 18-55 lens ekak kiyada?”
“Ey lenses api vikunan nehe. Camera eka ekka enawa ne.”
“Prime lens ekak kiyada? Nikon 35mm F/1.8G wage?”
“49,000”
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Majestic CitySo, from the hospital, I began my quest for an 18-anything Nikkor lens for my Nikon D5000 at Majestic City.
Panama Traders I heard was a good place. Went there to find it closed with a police officer sitting in front of it. I was wondering if I should ask him about Nikon lenses but I thought better not. Turns out the owner of Panama Traders has been doing some desha drohi stuff (
http://www.thebottomline.lk/2009/05/27/defence_col.htm) and that’s why it’s sealed.
PettahLKR 12 got me from MC to Pettah. I immediately went to Prince St which, surprisingly enough, is not a camera street. I mean, you know how 2nd cross is all sari shops. Prince St had just two camera-ish shops.
First shop was Henry Munasinghe, 31 Prince St, Colombo 11 - +94 11 2446613. I was immediately disappointed. The dust on the cameras here must have dated back to the Central Bank bombing. They have a lot of flash guns and tripods but that’s all they have. Oh, and some really old film cameras.
They sent me down the street to Reco-ma Photo Tech, 67 Prince St, Colombo 11, +94 11 2424554, +94 11 5646277, which was more promising with some newer cameras/lenses in stock. They had an NIKKOR 18-55 VR for LKR 23,000 (used probably but man swore it was new) with a bulls*** “1 year warranty” (have you ever tried to make a claim on a warranty from a Pettah shop?)
After there, I wandered around on Front St/Malwatte Rd and I found the Batik Center camera shop – no, I’m not kidding, it’s really called Batik Centre – at P29, Front St/Malwatte Rd, Colombo 11 where the guy told me he’d give me an Nikon 18-55 VR for LKR 17,000 without a warranty. At least, he’s honest.
PS: I also found this camera repair shop called Nelson’s off Malwatte Rd where they repair manual cameras and also have a huge stock of antique cameras - the owner says some are 100+ years old!
PPS: I also bought a brown plastic lime squeezer for LKR 50.
KiribathgodaMr Gamage (0777 197310) advertises in the Hit Ad and in the paper. You can call him and find out when he is available.
I drove bleary eyed on the Kandy Rd past Kelaniya Campus to St Jude Mw on your left. Go down and you come to a little junction with a signboard for 87/1 pointing right. Turn right and go down and his house is number 87 – it’s still being built, it seems.
Mr G – in operation he says for the last 20 years - has a number of used lenses which he says are imported from Australia. He also has tripods and filters. I was keen on the Sigma 18-50 DC (no Optical Stabilisation) for LKR 23,000, the Sigma 18-125 DC (no Optical Stabilisation) for LKR 27,000 and the Nikon NIKKOR 18-135 (no VR) which he said would be around LKR 36,000.
He let me try both out and, as I am a first time DSLRer, gave me some tips about how to hold the camera and how to store it, etc.
