Pentax XW 1.25" eyepieces in Australia

[sarman]

Hi, I am trying to find the current retail price of the above. Found two sellers but no prices advertised. Can anyone help? Cheers, Sarman.

[Fox]

Goto Staroptics.com.au, they show their prices upfront on their webpages. Their banner is on this IIS site too.

What do you mean by 'no prices offered'? Is it a case they won't name the price unless you place an actual order ? (if so, I'd steer right away from such a retailer...) Fox.

PS: From your post title, I assume you mean you wanted Australian prices from Australian retailers?

[Mariner (Frank)]

Hi Sarman,
Couldn't find any in australia yet but, I am sure there are a lot of people who know where to get them. Suzy and Ausastronomer (John) both seem to know where they would be (see earlier posts). But, they are sold at OPT in the states.

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?...0-62-2684&tb=8

THat is the link for the famous 10mm (thinking seriously about it for myself)

Good luck.
Regards, Frank.

[Lowepro]

I've been looking at grabbing one for myself:

http://www.staroptics.com.au/catalog...roducts_id=242 XW 7mm = $749 plus local shipping

http://www.frontieroptics.com.au/ XW 7mm = ?

http://www.optcorp.com/product.aspx?...ntax%20xw&st=2 XW 7mm = $295 plus international shipping/mail forwarder

http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html XW 7mm = $392 international shipping included

I like to support local, but more than double is a bit silly (I know, I know. Small market, perhaps bought at the wrong end of the dollar, etc).

I'll probably go with kkohki.com as I've read some good feedback here on IIS. Although I'd be tempted to go optcorp and use priceusa with a return protection in case something goes wrong with the ep.

Sorry, I know you said prices in Australia. Just sharing my thoughts is all.

[GrahamL]

Barry Gooley is really good to deal with
http://www.kkohki.com/English/visitKokusaiKohki.html

I see The 20 xw has now joined the 7mm in the $700 plus bracket
down under at star , I don't mind supporting local and always seem to
unless not available here , but can't understand why these two are such a huge jump from the other 1.25 " barrels ??

[rmcconachy]

Originally Posted by Lowepro

I've been looking at grabbing one for myself:

http://www.staroptics.com.au/catalog...roducts_id=242 XW 7mm = $749 plus local shipping
...
http://www.kkohki.com/English/kkohkiparts.html XW 7mm = $392 international shipping included

Surely the Star Optics price is a mistake? Some of the other Pentax 1.25" oculars are priced at $549 on their web page although the 5mm and 20mm are also different. You could ring them and check if you were thinking of buying from them. I've bought stuff from Barry at Kokusai Kohki and always had excellent and swift service, I've not tried the other vendors you list.

Enjoy your Pentax XW when you get it, they are excellent eyepieces!

[Fox]

According to their website, there's also kirkscameras.com.au in Ringwood, Melbourne, but you will need to email them to see if they still actually do sell Pentax XW's and find their prices.

[Waxing_Gibbous (Peter)]

I'd go with either Barry at kkohki.com or OPT.
Both are pretty reliable and but OPT's postal prices have shot up recently.
Kirks are always friendly and helpful, but rarely have top 'o the line EPs in stock.

[sarman]

Thanks to all, very helpful indeed. Cheers, Sarman.

[blink138 (Pat)]

theres an xw 10mm for sale on iis at the moment for $285 on the first page
i picked up one on this site a month or so ago
it is unbeleivable
pat

[Suzy]

I bought my 7mm XW a few months ago from OPT. It only cost me AU $340 in total including the $40 shipping.
I had it delivered inside 7 days, beautifully packaged. They were a pleasure to do business with. I purchased from them after asking John Bambury (Ausastronomer) if their service was reputable and he had no hesitation in recommending them.

I agree, the $700+ price tag is incredible! It was a no brainer to get it from the U.S.
The XW10's brand new sell for around $500. Early last year, the second hand market for XW's had them selling at $350 as pretty much a standard price for them. I bought my XW10 second hand for $330 (thanks Liz ). Then the dollar started working in our favour which meant you could buy them brand new from the U.S. at the same price of a second hand one.

And I have to add... it's worth every single penny I spent.
You won't have any problems with this eyepiece: sharp to the edges, excellent contrast, pin point stars, adjustable eye cup, focuses beautifully, 20mm eye relief, and the most comfortable eyepiece I have- I can observe with the XW's all night long.

The only reason I never went for one in a 14mm or 20mm was due to problems it inherently has with fast scopes (which I have).

[Fox]

Thanks for the info Suzy, $340 for a 7mm XW, whoa...! that's one good price. Off topic, but I can't wait till the Delos's arrive and establish their range... Fox

[sarman]

I have tried to call the seller on IIS advertising a 10 mm pentax on this site. Probably called 10 times at least, to no avail, very frustrating I must say. Cheers Sarman.

[Lowepro]

10 times today? I think that would scare me a little bit as a private seller here.

It's good you're keen, but I'd take a more relaxed approach. Leaving a single private message or phone message is probably enough on this and other forums. If it was a business, then yeah, it's good practice to answer the phone. But I know that I don't have my personal phone around or in reception at all times.

To send a private message, just click on the user name on a post, and then click "send a private message to..."

Good luck

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Fox

Thanks for the info Suzy, $340 for a 7mm XW, whoa...! that's one good price. Off topic, but I can't wait till the Delos's arrive and establish their range... Fox

Your welcome Fox.
I can't wait to hear the reviews on the Delos' either... but nothing will make me give up my XW's.

[ausastronomer (John Bambury)]

Originally Posted by Suzy

Your welcome Fox.
but nothing will make me give up my XW's.

Me either Suzy. I have used just about every eyepiece made in the the last 40 yrs and the only thing I could categorically say was a better eyepiece in a couple of criteria when compared to the Pentax XW's is the 12.5mm Docter. That's close to a $1,000 eyepiece and it doesn't win by very much at all.

Cheers,
John B

[Mariner (Frank)]

Hi All,
With all this discussion about Pentax XWs I got thinking I should really get one, one of these days - which ended up being today (XW 10mm). If anyone is interested, OPT has them in stock for $309 US ($290 AUS) with free postage domestically. The cost for international postage to Australia was $45.30 US. I am lucky enough that my wife is from the US, so my inlaws can mail it to me at a fraction of the cost.

I have also read that they are starting to, and will very shortly, become very hard to get due to loss of manufacturing facilities (don't know this for sure, just read it in a couple of other forums.....) caused by the recent natural and unnatural disasters in japan.

For me personally, thanks to all those who have discussed and advised on this subject (in particular Suzy and John). I didn't even know Pentax made the XW range before i joined IIS!

Regards, F.

[Suzy]

Originally Posted by Mariner

Hi All,
With all this discussion about Pentax XWs I got thinking I should really get one, one of these days - which ended up being today (XW 10mm).

Frank that's fantastic news! Congrats on the purchase.
You won't be sorry... wow I really can't wait for you to give this ep a whirl.

The price you mentioned is the same I paid for my XW7 about two months ago, except our dollar matched the US and that's when I jumped in to buy, but wow, $290 at the moment, that's such a great price!!! 12 months ago, $350 was the second hand price for these eye pieces - and they sold at that price very quickly.

Sarman, I see that you have ordered your XW10, have you received yet?