Friday, April 20, 2007

How I Met My Canon

I had been procrastinating about buying a new camera since my old Olympus is already showing signs of senility. My aim was to get one before I leave for Singapore (tomorrow) and of course, cram artists like me would understand why I would end up buying that camera two days before the trip.

There are “reasonable reasons” for the delay—I had to make sure I stay on my budget and get camera out of it. My internet research showed that the Canon Powershot A550 was the right one for me and my requirements.

Then a friend of mine said she had a churchmate who owns a shop in Quiapo and the owner can just give the camera to her at church and I can just send the payment through her. All these sans the hassle of going to Quiapo. But time passed and I was kept waiting by the shop. I called often and they kept promising that their stock would come…”call again tomorrow..maybe it will come tomorrow…blah blah blah.”

Until I decided to just go for the lower-end one which they had on stock, a Canon A430, which was just a 4 megapixel camera. Since I was happy with my 2 megapixel one, so I thought that 4 megapixel should be okey. I can settle for that if the Canon A550 (7 megapixel) one wasn’t available. I know I should check other features as well--but I’m not really savvy so I judge cameras by their megapixels!

For one reason or another, I didn’t manage to make it to Quiapo. The one day I decided to finally go, I was told not to because of that hostage-taking incident near Manila City Hall! Of all days..!

With my Singapore trip breathing down my neck, and checking out the net and realizing that Quiapo is still cheaper than Singapore, I finally took time off work yesterday—at 1pm, a slow time for people, and went off to Quiapo from my office in Commonwealth. In less than an hour, I was in Quiapo (it’s a miracle!). I made my way to Hidalgo Street and decided to just check out each of the camera shops. Nothing seemed to click—not even when I was prepared to settle for less.

Then I remember a tip from blogpal Abaniko about a camera shop called Mayer Photo. I found it tucked unobtrusively in between shops and almost blocked by fruit stalls in front of it. The owner was Chinese and quarreling with his wife when I came in—anyway I took a shot at asking about the Canon A550 and the owner said there’s no more stock and that I should go for the Canon A560 instead.

Oh, I didn’t know about the A560—so much for my supposedly meticulous research! I asked how much it was and he said PhP11,000.

Hmmm, I thought, I brought PhP10,000 with me and made a quick assessment (by memory) that I might have an extra P1,000 tucked somewhere, so I should probably get this one instead of the lower-end A430.

Anyway, being Chinese, I am obligated, culturally, to haggle. I haggled in Chinese and asked if he could give me a discount…I was actually trying to squeeze a word in between the on-going argument between the owner and his wife *snicker.* So he turned to me and said, “Okey, P10,500.”

The shoplady stared at him seemingly surprised at what her boss’ said. So I guess I did get a good deal.

I decided to negotiate with the owner again and asked if I could get a higher MB memory card with my camera for P11,000 and again, to the shoplady’s surprise, he said yes!

So then I fished out my money—tucked in different pockets—in case some resident Quiapo snatcher not on his mid-day siesta took interest in me—I found out I had exactly P10,500--not P11,000! Oops. So of course the memory card had to wait. By the time I finished paying up, I only had enough left to get home!

But I’m a happy camper.

Here’s hoping I get good photos in Singapore!

22 comments:

Leah said...

Good buy Gypsy. Is that the 7.1 M?
Dito its selling for $300 canadian bucks + taxes pa. Good timing ka nga dun sa chinese shop.

Looking forward to seeing your photos from Singapore. Have a safe trip.

Jen said...

Hey! Travelling ka pala! Glad to know that you bought a new camera. And you got the higher version! :- ) i just went to the store where i bought my camera... to have it fixed. It fell so now it is not functioning. Hay. :-( I might go to that same place Abaniko mentioned.. one of these days :-)

Enjoy your trip!

hoop said...

Ang lakas mo kay Lord!... can you pray for rain too?... have a safe and happy trip to Singapore :D

btw, I also used Niko's tip to buy a camera at Mayer :D

Anonymous said...

gud lak sa trip sa singapore :)
di ka naman tyak luluha dyan sa bago mong cam kahit na medyo nahirapan ka... bout the cramming hehehehe pareho tayo kung kailan malapit na malapit na lumarga saka nag cacram :)

Monster Girl said...

Awesome, I love my Canon.

Abaniko said...

Congrats on your new Canon camera! Glad you bought the A560. When you're back from Singapore, I hope you'll have plenty of pictures to share. Start creating your photo galleries already. I'm excited for you. Hehe.

Abaniko said...

BTW, your link to my site on this post isn't working. You typed http:// twice. Hehe.

vernaloo said...

I don't even know what a megapixel is hehehe

Congrats on the new cam! Have a safe trip tomorrow Gypsy. Looking forward to seeing the pics :)

Wil said...

Funny post, Gypsy! :-) All I know about cameras is also just the megapixels -- the higher, the better, I hear. :-D I think I need a better zoom feature though because when I take a picture of something from afar, they don't look that big despite the zoom. Bummer.

Anonymous said...

Great new camera Gypsy! Take lots and lots of photos in Singapore. Oh, so that's how to haggle... go shopping while the shop owner is having a tiff with his wife... hehe! :)

Anonymous said...

We recently bought a Canon A640. :) It looks almost similar to the camera you bought, only that it has a black body. It's our 3rd Canon digital camera. Di naman kami masyadong loyal sa Canon ano? heheh
Have fun in your trip to Singapore!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your new toy, sistah! Wait, are we really culturally obligated to haggle? Hehe :-D

Anyways, hope you get a lot of good photos in Singgieland.

Have a safe trip Gypsy.

Gypsy said...

Leah, thanks! Grabe, $300 dyan?? Baka may chinese-owned camera shop dyan, tucked somewhere..;)

Jen, make sure to go on off-peak times like what I did, para hindi magulo and crowded. Cheers!

Hoop, I guess the shop owner became agreeable kasi distracted sa away nilang mag-asawa. Wala na siayng energy to deal with another nagging woman!! BWAHAHAH!

Melai, luluha sa tuwa kamo! Hehe. I labs my Canon, yehey! :)

Monster Girl, thanks for dropping guy. Yeah, a lot of my friends also love Canon, so I decided to go for it as well. :)

Abaniko, photo gallery--aba! Malulula ako dyan. Wag muna hehe. Practice practice muna. By the way, inayos ko na link..sorry! Blooper! Hehe.

Verns, ano ka ba, mare, para megapixel lang eh. Ang megapixel ay ano yon..yong ano...ah, basta yon na yon! :)

Wil, pareho tayo ng problema sa Olympus ko. Ang mali pa non, digizoom sya so kahit nag zoom ka parang wala din kasi blurred ang result.

Toe, oo nga, eh. Galing ng timing ko! Hehe.

Kathy, sayang walang black nody tong model ko. I think black would look really cool. :)

Snglguy, I think so..hehe. Bakit hindi ka pa tumatawad? I heard that we are only second to the Jews sa pagiging expert hagglers. Sila nga merciless daw, eh!

Oo yan, nasagot ko lahat ng comments here in Singapore at 4 in the morning! Gising na gising pa ako! Grabe, iba talaga ang caffeine propelled energy..hehe. Thanks all!!

Forever59er said...

Welcome back Gypsy.

So its from Singapore you came from when you said you just came home from the airport straight to blogging/bloghopping. We will then expect beautiful pictures of Singapore from the one the only Ms. Wanderlust (do you know you have a counterpart in Bill Mitsuru, another blogger?). Of course you went to Sentoza ... the underworld ba yon? Nice ha ... and to thnk karamihan ng tourist spots in the City of Fines are manmade. Hope your trip to London is going through the channels on sked.

Anonymous said...

Wow, new toy! I have never owned a digicam pa. The pics in my blog are taken using my N6230i.

I heard from an officemate that it's cheaper if you buy electronic gadgets in singapore. Have you compared the prices?

niceheart said...

Enjoy your trip to Singapore. And happy clicking. :)

Gypsy said...

Annamanila, actually andito pa ako sa Singapore. I arrived last Sunday in the wee hours--but I understand your confusion..friends always wonder if I'm coming or going! Oh well..such is the life I lead. :) Hmm...should check out this Bill guy--have never been to his blogsite..

Lazarus, actually I did check from the net and it turns out, Quiapo is still a bit cheaper than Singapore...surprising, eh?

Niceheart, thanks! Our meetings finished early so I was able to go happily clicking at the Botanic Gardens. Oh joy! :)

Anonymous said...

Nalulula ako sa gastahan. I look at my wallet while reading your topic hehehe kakahiya pa ako, 3 dollars lang pera ko hahahaha.

Oh well, it's not the money daw, it's the smile :)

MISYEL said...

Enjoy your trip gypsy. We'll wait for your photos :)

Anonymous said...

So when can we expect your next entry? ;-)

Anonymous said...

the only thing that keeps me from buying Quiapo is the quality of the products. i'm suspicious when it comes to that. i'd rather buy stuff from malls or from the shops of the products themselves and spend a little extra. ^_^ but whoa, 10500 for that camera sounds like a steal!

Sidney said...

It sounds like a good deal !