Chamonix 45N-2

**JON BUTLER** · 30-Jul-2010, 09:24

With a some luck you may not pay anything, I know lot of people that have not paid any duty/VAT when importing Chamonix cameras from China.
You may well be lucky.
JON.

**lilmsmaggie** · 30-Jul-2010, 10:35

FYI - The cameras are dropped shipped directly from the factory in China.

Hugo doesn't carry any inventory that I know of. So any duty/VAT is computed from China to its final destination.

**stevebrot** · 30-Jul-2010, 17:33

Originally Posted by lilmsmaggie

FYI - The cameras are dropped shipped directly from the factory in China.

Hugo doesn't carry any inventory that I know of. So any duty/VAT is computed from China to its final destination.

I paid no duty on my Chamonix shipped from China via EMS directly to my home. That is probably because there is no duty on LF cameras from China into the U.S. The situation may be different when importing into the EU. A little peek into the EU tariff rate database seems to indicate a tariff of 4.20%. I would be surprised if tariff and VAT are included in the shipping. Hugo is the man to ask.

Steve

**Ulrich Drolshagen** · 31-Jul-2010, 00:56

Originally Posted by stevebrot

I paid no duty on my Chamonix shipped from China via EMS directly to my home. That is probably because there is no duty on LF cameras from China into the U.S. The situation may be different when importing into the EU. A little peek into the EU tariff rate database seems to indicate a tariff of 4.20%. I would be surprised if tariff and VAT are included in the shipping. Hugo is the man to ask.

Steve

Duty on Cameras are peanuts. In Germany VAT is 19%, I don't know about UK. In the EU you have to pay Import VAT in the same amount as as normal VAT in the respective country. VAT differs between European countries a bit so if you are located in two countries say UK and Germany it may be considerable to import the camera to the country with the lowest VAT. May be you can get around paying duty for importing a single field camera if you are lucky but you never get around paying VAT.

Ulrich

**maurits** · 31-Jul-2010, 01:27

I paid no duties and no VAT, twice!

Both my 45n-1 and 45n-2 were sent by Chamonix from China to Amsterdam by China Express. Apparently their packages, when arriving in The Netherlands, are processed through a different channel than (for example) USPS packages from the States.

The latter are locally processed by TNT/TPG and, as a rule, they always make you pay VAT and import duties as well as a handling fee. To make things even worse, the packages are usually held in some custom's depot for a few days for no clear reason.

The China Express packages on the other hand arrived here lightning fast. I unexpectedly sold my 45n-1 on Sunday, quickly ordered a new camera from Hugo on Monday and had the 45n-2 in my hands on Friday. No duties, no VAT, no processing fee, almost no waiting...

YMMV in Germany or England. But it might be worthwhile to check which postal service is locally handling China Express packages. Worst case scenario is that you pay about 125 euro's extra because of VAT and duties. But you'd still have a nice camera, fast.

Cheers, Maurits

**eddie** · 31-Jul-2010, 03:31

[QUOTE=maurits;613480]I paid no duties and no VAT, twice!

The China Express packages on the other hand arrived here lightning fast. I unexpectedly sold my 45n-1 on Sunday, quickly ordered a new camera from Hugo on Monday and had the 45n-2 in my hands on Friday. No duties, no VAT, no processing fee, almost no waiting...

Cheers, Maurits[/QUOTE

no duty for me in the states....three times...

yeah, i ordered mine with maurits and he had it way before me (grumble grumble)

**Brian Ellis** · 31-Jul-2010, 08:41

Originally Posted by lmlmlm

Hello everybody, on the same subject - which body should i choose between the Chamonix 45N-2 and the Toyo 45CF? They both cost around the same price, so i'm just now trying to figure out which could be my first LF.

Also, could you please suggest any dealers in Europe where to buy these cameras?

I'm not going to read the whole thread to see if someone else has responded so if this is a dupe my apologies. But I've owned a Chamonix and I've used a Toyo 45CF. My keyboard balks at even typing the two brands in the same sentence. But to answer your question - as between those two there is no real choice, get the Chamonix. It's an infinitely better camera in terms of ease of use, quality of construction, extent of movements, and every other camera criteria I can think of.

**chemicalbrother** · 31-Jul-2010, 15:48

Originally Posted by shibby4x5

Hey guys, this is my first post here!

I'm currently a college student studying photography in NY. I took my first 4x5 class and absolutely fell in love with the format, the camera, and the whole process. The camera I used was a cambo that the school provided, but now I'm left with nothing to use for the summer since classes are over.

A friend of mine just bought a Chamonix 45N-2 off someone online and showed it to me and now I'm considering buying one. My only problem is that I cant figure out where exactly to order it from..

Just as a secondary question: Does anyone have any other ideas for good 4x5 field cameras?

Thanks a bunch!!

-Shib

I purchased from Hugo Zhang
I was never in the dark about my transaction with him and just received my EMS tracking for my Chamonix 45N-2 still patiently waiting for arrival of my teak pretty !