Ordered my XM2

Hans Henrik Bang · March 17th, 2003, 06:42 AM

After lurking around these forums for about 1,5 month, I just ordered my first own camcorder, an XM2 from Germany, so now my father can get his cheapo JVC 1 CCD camera back :-)

An XM2 is 35% cheaper in Germany than here in Denmark where I live, so quite worth shopping across the border.

I got an UV filter, bag and 930 battery with it, but I will be aiming for tripod and shotgun mic very soon.

Just wanted to thank the DVI forum for the wealth of competent information presented here in a very friendly style ie. flamefree environment.

It is truly a treasure trove and I hope that I will eventually be able to return the favor to the DVI community - I have already tried on the subjects that I know something about.

Now if that postman would just hurry up from Germany!!!

Hans Henrik

Nathan Gifford · March 17th, 2003, 12:11 PM

Good luck, I am sure you will love the cam.

Lars Siden · March 17th, 2003, 12:12 PM

Hello Hans Henrik,

I'm curious, how much did you pay for the camera when you ordered it from Germany? And how did you pay? Where from did you order it ( website ? )

Cyberphoto here in Sweden sell it for 24074:-SEK ( with Swedish guarantee and documentation ). 24074:-SEK = 2777 USD or 2617 Euro or 18296 Danske Kronor( I think ;-)

Best Regards,

Lars Siden

Hans Henrik Bang · March 17th, 2003, 02:52 PM

I was originally inspired by this thread:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=3499

The seller can be found at www.foto-bartmann.de

I E-mailed the original poster about his experiences with Foto-Bartmann and he was very positive, so I decided to give them a try.

I have spoken to them repeatedly over the phone and via E-mail. I ordered it last Thursday, and the price was set at 2147 Euros (slightly more in USD atm.) They wanted to send it "cash on delivery" but it turns out that Denmark does not accept COD over the amount of 1600 Euros.

I talked to them again on Friday, and I decided (after taking a deep deep breath!) to prepay the camera, and trust the store to send me the camera. It was not done totally out of the blue of course. It turns out that they have a physical store with showroom, they were perfectly happy should I come by and pick it up in person instead, and they have been in business for about 30 years, so I think I can trust them to send me a camera. I also have full documentation of my payment, order number etc.

I actually paid less, since I buy it for my company, and thus get it without 16% mehrwertsteuer (sales tax) but even with the tax, the price seems almost 500 Euros lower than the price you have seen in Sweden, so it should possibly be a good deal for you too. The sales tax difference from Swedens 25% to Germanys 16% alone is a nice difference, and provided that the German company are not a major exporter, you can import it to Sweden as an EU country without extra taxes (how it works for Denmark anyway, your results might differ - call your local tax authorities)

Shipment came to 41 Euros, including insurance.

Right now they say they have the camera ready to go, and will ship as soon as I fax them my bank transfer confirmation which will be in the mail tomorrow.

If you are interested, I can keep you posted on how things turn out....

Staring at the mailbox....

Hans Henrik

Mogens Dahl Pallesen · March 17th, 2003, 05:01 PM

I am in the same situation - just got my new XM2 from Germany last week. Bought it at pixxass.de - price 2145 EUR. I had to transfer money by bank transfeer - bank charged DKK 100 in fee.

I got the DM50 microphone, 64 Mb SD card, BP-945 (ordered BP-930 but got BP-945 instead for the same money - lucky) and VL-10Li. All stuff at 2570 EUR included shipping cost - great price compared to prices in Denmark. I am think I will bye the WD-52H later on an mayby a 2X lens. So I am interested to hear about your experience:

Where did you get yours?
At which price?
Could you pay with credit card (visa) and save the fee to the bank ?
Which bag did you buy? Can you give me a hint if it is excellent for the XM2?

Delivery time was pretty long - about 6 weeks because they did'nt have all items in stock. But everything came at last. All in unbroken boxes, so I can sure recommend pixxass. All my e-mail enquiries was answerred the same day. Only one complaint - the order status on my account on the site was not updated - had always status open.

I agree that this community is a great for us new XM2 users - have got a lot of usefull information.

I hope you will get your gear soon. It's great. Maybe we can share further information by e-mail if the community think this is borring stuff.

Mogens Dahl Pallesen

Graham Bernard · March 18th, 2003, 01:37 AM

"by e-mail if the community think this is borring stuff." - Hey, how would you know?!?!

IMHO - C'mon stick any XM2 stuff up here - I for one would love to hear from y'll - Nice to have a few more people who live in Europe on this site - yes? Apart from anything else I'm fed up doing the "GL2=XM2" typing !

Lars Siden · March 18th, 2003, 03:26 AM

Good morning Hans Henrik,

Foto-bartmann sounds very interesting - I tried to check out their online shop this morning, but alas, my school German is very poor ( http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ can be helpful for others in my situation, it translates Eng->German, German->Eng ).

I also had some trouble getting stuff into my shopping-basket, even though I lowered my security settings to low in IE 6.02 sp1.

I'll call the Swedish toll to hear what they say about ordering a camera from Germany ( shouldn't be any problems since we're both EU countries...but you never know, Sweden is often "special" )

Checking the rest of this forum-thread I can see that many of us work with same things in real life ;-) I'm also an intranet/internet developer - devoted to MS .NET technology.

Once again, thank you very much for your information - could be that you made me save about 5000:- SEK

Best regards,

Lars Siden

Hans Henrik Bang · March 18th, 2003, 04:30 AM

Lars,

I gave up on their web page ordering system too. I only used it to check prices which seem to be updated every week or so. It seems their focus is more on the physical store anyway.

Instead I used E-mail and phone. You can write them in english. If you phone, you may ask for herr Wienen. He speaks excellent English.

They had all items in stock by the way, and will be shipping my XM2 today. I'll keep you posted.

Hans Henrik

Lars Siden · March 19th, 2003, 03:03 AM

Hans Henrik,

I contacted Foto-Bartmann yesterday via e-mail. I refered to you ;-) Told them I'd like to order a XM-2 and a BP-945 batterypack.

They haven't answered my mail yet, like you, I'm jumping up and down in anticipation! I want the camera now ( or more likely, last week ;-)

// Lazze

Graham Bernard · March 19th, 2003, 03:07 AM

Are your ever gonna have fun!

Hans Henrik Bang · March 19th, 2003, 03:12 AM

My feelings exactly Lars. I cannot wait either.

According to Foto-Bartmann, my package is now in Hamburg. It seems that the German postal service only offers tracking by phone. Ie. calling a certain premium number, and not via the Internet.

Good luck with your order.

Hans Henrik

Stewart McDonald · March 19th, 2003, 04:14 AM

I'm jealous. Won't be getting my XM2 for another couple of months :(

Lars Siden · March 19th, 2003, 05:28 AM

Tada!

It is on its way! The Swedish Postal serices accepted COD up to 3500:- EURO. So Björn W at Foto-Bartmann sent my camera today!

I got the Camera, 2 extra BP930 batteries(non Canon brand), bag(ROWI), UV filter and 6 Sony Highgrade miniDV tapes for 150:- Euro less than the camera alone costs here in Sweden.

So far the service has been excellent!

// Lazze ( The Bouncing one... )

Benjamin Taft · March 19th, 2003, 08:52 AM

Another swede checking in! ;)

I've pretty much decided on getting a XM-2 but since it's a lot of money I've been holding of on a purchase.

Lars: what kind of warranty (garanti) do you get. Will a local swedish repair shop/service center honor it or would you be required to send it back to Germany?

What was the total cost of your order in euros or kroner? Also I know that COD means cash on delivery but will the swedish post office accept any thing else? Withdrawing twenty something "Gustav Vasa" bills isn't exactly convenient.

Hans Henrik Bang · March 19th, 2003, 09:22 AM

Benjamin:

The German warranty is 2 years. I have been told that Canons warranties are European wide so I should be able to get it serviced here in Denmark if it should break, but have written to Canon to get this confirmed. I can keep you posted on the reply.

The total cost including german sales tax and shipment was 2190 Euro.

Hans Henrik

March 17th, 2003, 06:42 AM	#1
Hans Henrik Bang Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Frederiksberg, Denmark Posts: 133	Ordered my XM2 - and huge thanks After lurking around these forums for about 1,5 month, I just ordered my first own camcorder, an XM2 from Germany, so now my father can get his cheapo JVC 1 CCD camera back :-) An XM2 is 35% cheaper in Germany than here in Denmark where I live, so quite worth shopping across the border. I got an UV filter, bag and 930 battery with it, but I will be aiming for tripod and shotgun mic very soon. Just wanted to thank the DVI forum for the wealth of competent information presented here in a very friendly style ie. flamefree environment. It is truly a treasure trove and I hope that I will eventually be able to return the favor to the DVI community - I have already tried on the subjects that I know something about. Now if that postman would just hurry up from Germany!!! Hans Henrik

March 17th, 2003, 12:11 PM	#2
Nathan Gifford Wrangler Join Date: Sep 2001 Location: Tickfaw, LA Posts: 1,217	Good luck, I am sure you will love the cam. __________________ Nathan Gifford Southern Cyclist Magazine & Productions For quick answers try our Search! To see me and Rob Lohman click here

March 17th, 2003, 05:01 PM	#5
Mogens Dahl Pallesen New Boot Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: DK-8680, Ry, Denmark Posts: 12	I also ordered XM2 - and new in DV Comunity I am in the same situation - just got my new XM2 from Germany last week. Bought it at pixxass.de - price 2145 EUR. I had to transfer money by bank transfeer - bank charged DKK 100 in fee. I got the DM50 microphone, 64 Mb SD card, BP-945 (ordered BP-930 but got BP-945 instead for the same money - lucky) and VL-10Li. All stuff at 2570 EUR included shipping cost - great price compared to prices in Denmark. I am think I will bye the WD-52H later on an mayby a 2X lens. So I am interested to hear about your experience: Where did you get yours? At which price? Could you pay with credit card (visa) and save the fee to the bank ? Which bag did you buy? Can you give me a hint if it is excellent for the XM2? Delivery time was pretty long - about 6 weeks because they did'nt have all items in stock. But everything came at last. All in unbroken boxes, so I can sure recommend pixxass. All my e-mail enquiries was answerred the same day. Only one complaint - the order status on my account on the site was not updated - had always status open. I agree that this community is a great for us new XM2 users - have got a lot of usefull information. I hope you will get your gear soon. It's great. Maybe we can share further information by e-mail if the community think this is borring stuff. Mogens Dahl Pallesen __________________ MDP

March 18th, 2003, 01:37 AM	#6
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	".....think this is borring stuff" "by e-mail if the community think this is borring stuff." - Hey, how would you know?!?! IMHO - C'mon stick any XM2 stuff up here - I for one would love to hear from y'll - Nice to have a few more people who live in Europe on this site - yes? Apart from anything else I'm fed up doing the "GL2=XM2" typing !

March 17th, 2003, 12:12 PM	#3
Lars Siden Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sweden, Stockholm Posts: 469	Hello Hans Henrik, I'm curious, how much did you pay for the camera when you ordered it from Germany? And how did you pay? Where from did you order it ( website ? ) Cyberphoto here in Sweden sell it for 24074:-SEK ( with Swedish guarantee and documentation ). 24074:-SEK = 2777 USD or 2617 Euro or 18296 Danske Kronor( I think ;-) Best Regards, Lars Siden

March 17th, 2003, 02:52 PM	#4
Hans Henrik Bang Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Frederiksberg, Denmark Posts: 133	I was originally inspired by this thread: http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...&threadid=3499 The seller can be found at www.foto-bartmann.de I E-mailed the original poster about his experiences with Foto-Bartmann and he was very positive, so I decided to give them a try. I have spoken to them repeatedly over the phone and via E-mail. I ordered it last Thursday, and the price was set at 2147 Euros (slightly more in USD atm.) They wanted to send it "cash on delivery" but it turns out that Denmark does not accept COD over the amount of 1600 Euros. I talked to them again on Friday, and I decided (after taking a deep deep breath!) to prepay the camera, and trust the store to send me the camera. It was not done totally out of the blue of course. It turns out that they have a physical store with showroom, they were perfectly happy should I come by and pick it up in person instead, and they have been in business for about 30 years, so I think I can trust them to send me a camera. I also have full documentation of my payment, order number etc. I actually paid less, since I buy it for my company, and thus get it without 16% mehrwertsteuer (sales tax) but even with the tax, the price seems almost 500 Euros lower than the price you have seen in Sweden, so it should possibly be a good deal for you too. The sales tax difference from Swedens 25% to Germanys 16% alone is a nice difference, and provided that the German company are not a major exporter, you can import it to Sweden as an EU country without extra taxes (how it works for Denmark anyway, your results might differ - call your local tax authorities) Shipment came to 41 Euros, including insurance. Right now they say they have the camera ready to go, and will ship as soon as I fax them my bank transfer confirmation which will be in the mail tomorrow. If you are interested, I can keep you posted on how things turn out.... Staring at the mailbox.... Hans Henrik

March 18th, 2003, 03:26 AM	#7
Lars Siden Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sweden, Stockholm Posts: 469	Good morning Hans Henrik, Foto-bartmann sounds very interesting - I tried to check out their online shop this morning, but alas, my school German is very poor ( http://dict.tu-chemnitz.de/ can be helpful for others in my situation, it translates Eng->German, German->Eng ). I also had some trouble getting stuff into my shopping-basket, even though I lowered my security settings to low in IE 6.02 sp1. I'll call the Swedish toll to hear what they say about ordering a camera from Germany ( shouldn't be any problems since we're both EU countries...but you never know, Sweden is often "special" ) Checking the rest of this forum-thread I can see that many of us work with same things in real life ;-) I'm also an intranet/internet developer - devoted to MS .NET technology. Once again, thank you very much for your information - could be that you made me save about 5000:- SEK Best regards, Lars Siden

March 18th, 2003, 04:30 AM	#8
Hans Henrik Bang Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Frederiksberg, Denmark Posts: 133	Lars, I gave up on their web page ordering system too. I only used it to check prices which seem to be updated every week or so. It seems their focus is more on the physical store anyway. Instead I used E-mail and phone. You can write them in english. If you phone, you may ask for herr Wienen. He speaks excellent English. They had all items in stock by the way, and will be shipping my XM2 today. I'll keep you posted. Hans Henrik

March 19th, 2003, 03:03 AM	#9
Lars Siden Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sweden, Stockholm Posts: 469	Hans Henrik, I contacted Foto-Bartmann yesterday via e-mail. I refered to you ;-) Told them I'd like to order a XM-2 and a BP-945 batterypack. They haven't answered my mail yet, like you, I'm jumping up and down in anticipation! I want the camera now ( or more likely, last week ;-) // Lazze

March 19th, 2003, 03:07 AM	#10
Graham Bernard Old Boot Join Date: Aug 2002 Location: London UK Posts: 3,633	Are your ever gonna have fun!

March 19th, 2003, 03:12 AM	#11
Hans Henrik Bang Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Frederiksberg, Denmark Posts: 133	My feelings exactly Lars. I cannot wait either. According to Foto-Bartmann, my package is now in Hamburg. It seems that the German postal service only offers tracking by phone. Ie. calling a certain premium number, and not via the Internet. Good luck with your order. Hans Henrik

March 19th, 2003, 04:14 AM	#12
Stewart McDonald Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: UK Posts: 130	I'm jealous. Won't be getting my XM2 for another couple of months :(

March 19th, 2003, 05:28 AM	#13
Lars Siden Major Player Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Sweden, Stockholm Posts: 469	Tada! It is on its way! The Swedish Postal serices accepted COD up to 3500:- EURO. So Björn W at Foto-Bartmann sent my camera today! I got the Camera, 2 extra BP930 batteries(non Canon brand), bag(ROWI), UV filter and 6 Sony Highgrade miniDV tapes for 150:- Euro less than the camera alone costs here in Sweden. So far the service has been excellent! // Lazze ( The Bouncing one... )

March 19th, 2003, 08:52 AM	#14
Benjamin Taft Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Gothenburg, Sweden Posts: 52	Another swede checking in! ;) I've pretty much decided on getting a XM-2 but since it's a lot of money I've been holding of on a purchase. Lars: what kind of warranty (garanti) do you get. Will a local swedish repair shop/service center honor it or would you be required to send it back to Germany? What was the total cost of your order in euros or kroner? Also I know that COD means cash on delivery but will the swedish post office accept any thing else? Withdrawing twenty something "Gustav Vasa" bills isn't exactly convenient.

March 19th, 2003, 09:22 AM	#15
Hans Henrik Bang Regular Crew Join Date: Feb 2003 Location: Frederiksberg, Denmark Posts: 133	Benjamin: The German warranty is 2 years. I have been told that Canons warranties are European wide so I should be able to get it serviced here in Denmark if it should break, but have written to Canon to get this confirmed. I can keep you posted on the reply. The total cost including german sales tax and shipment was 2190 Euro. Hans Henrik