I now have my 5D MKIII

Well I have taken the plunge and bought a new 5D MKIII from Calumet Edinburgh, keep an eye out for the photos i have taken with it.
Cheers Goggs

Did you see about Calumet in the USA? suddenly closed all shops and in liquidation. Staff can't get personal possession out of shops, cameras and lenses in for repair or cleaning owners have lost and same with on loan can't be returned. Staff getting no back wages or holiday pay. Same as what happened to Jessops over here.

Link
http://www.dpreview.com/news/2014/03...?ref=title_0_4

its all over photographic sites suprised you havn't seen it

It also says that the European branches will continue to operate.
nothing much to worry about at the moment if it does come to a warranty claim, I would send it to Canon and pay for the repair if Calumet does close its doors in the uk.

worrying though isn't it? makes you wonder who will have the axe fall on next.

It seems to be the sign of the times large business going to the wall.
I am waiting for the axe to fall at my place of work thats why I started
my small photography studio from home. just incase, and we are doing not to bad.

I went self employed over 21 years ago and it was the best move of my life work wise. Now about to retire fully and take up photography more seriously as a hobby. Working for yourself means any pressure is what you put on yourself, not what some boss thinks you should be doing more and more with less and less time to do it in.

The previous job was working for BT for 20 years and at the start it was a great job until it went private. it nearly gave me a complete breakdown health wise.

To give just one simple example

When I first joined in 1970 we did anything from houses to large offices providing telephones and everything inbetween. To provide a telephone extn they allowed 3.5 hours after arriving on site, when I left they allowed 1.5 hours including travelling time to get to the site. In south London to get from Bookham in Surrey which may well have been the first job taking anything up to 0.5hrs to get there, the next job could well have been in Wandsworth/Putney area taking up to an hour or more, travelling depending on traffic.
This meant you only had half an hour on site to provide an extension phone let alone finding the telephone building layout or who to contact there. That was the kind of pressure BT were putting on engineers. I was working from 8am to sometimes 6 pm without a break to get the work done. On top of that I was often asked to stand in for the manager or go and help a workmate as well as do my own job. As you can see this was impossible which is why I was on the verge of a breakdown, especially when customers rang in asking why an appointment am or pm wasn't kept. It was hell and so glad to get out taking early vol .retirement.

To get back to what I first said working for yourself is fantastic,more should try it, yes hours may be longer with bookwork in the evening but you work at your own pace not some numpty out of Uni who never did a days work in their life.

So Goggs build up you private work to when you can do it full time and stick two fingers up to the job you just left. Everything you earn goes into YOUR pocket income tax accepted etc, and do what you really want and good luck to you, I really mean that.

Hoping to get Nikon D7100 shortly. Whey hey! Look forward to seeing some of your shots with the new camera.

out of principle for what they have done with their liquidation, i would boycott their European branches.

Cheers Richard..

Unfortunately here in Scotland there are only two main players in photography
Jessops and Calumet.
And due to to the amount of money I spend at Calumet Edinburgh.
L series lens's x3, studio lighting x2, Canon 7D, Canon 5D mkIII, backdrops,
reflectors, modifiers, and loads more. I do get quite a good discount.
This is why I use them.