The road to nirvana

My journey into Photography, Horology, and Audiophilia

Buying camera gear from New Sankyo (HK)

It is a sad fact that not all 3rd party lenses are represented here in the Philippines. The two notable lense manufacturers, Tokina and Tamron do not have official representatives here.

Friends who've been in the hobby much longer than I am always mentions Hong Kong as the source for these lenses and in particular, New Sankyo is always mentioned.

I did a Google search on "New Sankyo" that led me to a post made sometime in 2003 on how happy he was in dealing with this seller. At the bottom of the article was the email address.

I sent an email and I was communicating with Mr. Tony Leung. He was zippy in responding to questions about prices, and equally responsive in serving my order.

I'd like to summarize the steps towards a hassle-free, straightforward transaction with New Sankyo.

  1. Send an email to Mr. Leung at Tony Leung [newsanky@hkstar.com] and ask for an official  quote. Do not use Tony Leung as your price catalog. If you just wanted to know indicative pricing, this website will do. The prices listed here are in HK dollars.
  2. When you get the reply and you're happy with the price, tell him to prepare the lens. He will reply to you again to tell you it's ready. Do this when you're absolutely sure about the order.
  3. Call Falcon Forex at 338-8921, and ask for Mr. Lao and tell him you will transfer money for Mr. Leung. He'll give you the day's conversion rate, and you need to pay P300 for the processing fee. He will tell you how much you have to transfer. I transferred to his BDO Account. Give him your mobile number, so he will call you ONLY IF there's a problem, such as your payment is not confirmed.
  4. You don't need to call back Mr. Lao. Your transfer will be done in 15 minutes.
  5. I called Mr. Leung at +852-2367 0350 to inform him that the transfer was consummated. He'll give you the date when your shipment will leave HK. I discovered that placing an order on a Friday will allow them to ship Saturday, and you'll get it on Monday following week.
  6. Wait painfully over the weekend.
  7. You will receive a call from Celine Express. I received the call on Monday, the following week. They told me to pick it up and that I'll pay P650. You are charged according to the weight. Mine registered 1.1K on their digital scale.
  8. Pick it up at Celine Express 2643 P. Manaloto, Pasay. The street has a big badminton court in front of School for the Deaf. Near PLDT along F.B. Harrison.
  9. Pay and check your item.
  10. Go home and enjoy

A friend of mine who ordered a Tamron 17-50mm f/2.8 on a Tuesday got his item the following day, Wednesday.