**OFFICIAL** 70-200 IS **INSANITY**

[Sketcher]

*EDIT* A few people over in DP have received theirs and there a couple reported in-transit.

Further down this thread there's a link to the thread regarding the received lens.

It is the fabled 70-200 2.8L IS[/i] :D :D.



*******************

Come on now people - STOP THE INSANITY!! No, wait - it's hilarious, keep it up! :D.


Really now, reading through DP, FM and CN threads there are people who:

1. Are threatening to sue if they don't get their lens.
2. Have already sold their gear to pay for the "Dell Deal".
3. Have received confirmation e-mail from Dell.
4. Have "Bat Phone" access to non-existent Dell warehouses.
5. Have indignantly spouted numerous pseudo-facts about marketing, supply/demand matrix etc. etc.
6. Have screen shots of this page or that page.
7. Are in love with their Dell Rep and get pissed if anyone questions their loyalty.
8. Hear the name "Dell" and are given to fits of Tourettes outbursts.
9. Have wasted enough company time futily arguing these threads to pay the variance for 3 or more non-IS vs IS lenses.
10. Have written "Stop the Insanity/Dell" threads.
11. The list goes on :D.


The facts are:

I. Dell has made errors in the past and did not follow through.
II. Dell has also made errors in the past and has followed through.
IV. Dell has also offered items which have broke ground in pricing.


Perhaps the biggest fact of all is this little bit of wording on the order confirmation e-mail on ANY order of ANYTHING placed with DELL:

ADDITIONAL NOTES
-------------------------------------
Dell Inc cannot be responsible for typographical or other errors, and reserves the right to cancel any orders resulting from such errors.


You've all heard it before, "If it sounds too good to be true, then it's too good to be true". But we all know about the "Deal of the Century" that someone else got in on that we didn't (well, mabye some of us did ;)).


Good to know:

A). Dell doesn't charge your card until your order ships.
B). If they ship the wrong item, your CC is credited and DELL pays return shipping.
C). Your only Loss is your time (and any stupid actions or arguments you've made on assumption).
D). Dell Reps cannot tell you what they cannot see or have not been informed of.

I did place an order for one of the mystic Dell IS deals. I'm giddy thinking that there's a possibility (even if small) that this deal just might go through. I'm also reasonable enough to be bummed out but not pissed at Dell if there's an error. It's been a good ride.

Besides, when was the last time you got this much nail biting suspense and wonderment out of anything that you didn't have to pay for!? :D. It's exciting I tell you! And hilarious to watch the chickens run around with their heads cut off! :D

So, GAME ON!! Who has the next Conspiracy Theory? :D LOLOLOL!! :D

(BTW, **Please DO NOT** post in this thread to prove/disprove the legitimacy of the DELL deal. There are 15 other threads for that. This thread is a respite to the nonesense which will only end once Dell officially cancels or people open a package and see the elusive 70-200 IS/Non-IS; which gives us some time to come up with some good natured humor!).

CHEERS!

[Belmondo]

I also ordered the lens and am just sitting back waiting to see what happens. I consider it entertainment of a sort.

In one way, I almost hope I don't get the lens. I live in California, and if either of the Democrats win the upcoming election, they will no doubt track down all of us who get the lens and make us pay a windfall profits tax. It's in their blood---they can't help themselves.

[MediaMagic]

Sketcher wrote:


So, GAME ON!! Who has the next conspiracy theory :D LOLOLOL!! :D

CHEERS!

Um, I have a picture of Elvis holding his new 70-200 2.8LIS from Dell!

I took the shot from the grassy knoll. And I was the lone shooter.

Ben and J-Lo's wedding pictures were to be taken with the lens from Dell, but decided on gun permits instead.

DeWayne from the Ozarks was abducted and buttdiddled by aliens using the Dell lens, then dropped off at the local Wal-Mart. His image was totally stabilized, however he refuses to comment on his aperture.

The Dell lens removes stains from carpets, clothes, old ratty hotel rooms, and will whiten teeth one full shade brighter in 7 days.

I ordered one also so let the games continue! lol.

David

[Vegas Poboy]

Hey, this is getting pretty good, I have not placed an order but can't wait to see what happens this has been the biggest issue since I've signed up for this forum. I too really wanted the lens but due to the fact of other more important equipment for me right now, I figured I would wait. Good Luck to all and I hope the IS comes thru.
But how come all of the other lens posted on Dells site is normal online price or a little higher, even with the 10% off did'nt make it a real bargain.

Again good Luck

[MediaMagic]

This report just in... a known and loyal Dell customer in Scottland was observed with a new 70-200 2.8L IS. It can only be assumed that this lens was, in fact, purchased from Dell... this should put all fears to rest.


http://images.fotopic.net/?id=1299729&outx=600&noresize=1&nostamp=1

[Woodman7]

Someone said that Dell has 540 orders for the lense if that is true just think....

540*1100=594000... Not a bad couple days of revenue

[Sketcher]

MediaMagic wrote:
Um, I have a picture of Elvis holding his new 70-200 2.8LIS from Dell!

DeWayne from the Ozarks was abducted and buttdiddled by aliens using the Dell lens, then dropped off at the local Wal-Mart. His image was totally stabilized, however he refuses to comment on his aperture.
David, these are hilarious! (the others were good too - especially the Lock"IS" Monster :D.

BTW, I've seen a picture of Elvis holding his Canon as well but it's definitely not "Forum Safe". Pardon, I didn't look close enough to see if it was IS...


woodman7 wrote:
Someone said that Dell has 540 orders for the lense if that is true just think....

540*1100=594000... Not a bad couple days of revenue
Hey now woodman7, you're killing my buzz. No actual discussion about orders or numbers, just conspiracy theories!! Eh, wait.... you refer to "1100" as "Revenue". Seeing as how they can't possibly profit off that kind of selling price for that item ----> You have just entered the Conspiracy Zone! :D.

[Woodman7]

My theory on this is that Saddam had a store house of these lenses. His master plan was to assemble all of them into a master telescope to spy on neighbors and the US. Dell has found the hidden stash and is now selling them for a 1100 dollar profit.

How you like those beans

[CyberDyneSystems]

Iraq has no Lenses of IS (LIS for short)

The Bush administatration has used the LIS to whip up a pro war enthusiasm here at home. Likewise,. recently Bush made his announcement that Iraq has no ties with Dell,. never had.

The sad reality now however is that wiht the Iraq nation destabalized,. it leaves the country exposed to roving hordes of photographers that would not have been able to operate if Sadam still had controll. Although it is true that many of these photogs use humble cobbled together equipment, there is clear eveidence that there are Dell backed photogs working in the area... it is unclear at this point as to whethter any of these are equipped with the dreaded LIS or not. Buzz words aside,. it is understood that even conventional lenses with no IS can be used, in the wrong hands" to take perfectly adaquate pictures so the danger appears to be the same LIS or no LIS.

[Sketcher]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
even conventional lenses with no IS can be used, in the wrong hands" to take perfectly adaquate pictures

That's heresy I tell you! Stop it, I'm plugging my ears! lolol.

Lenses of IS. That's good :)

[Rob Larsen]

I think Dell is performing a new marketing strategy to penetrate a new market for them. Sell the lens at an unbelievably low price and hold off shipping any until the buzz among the community has reached feverish pitch and echoed among the photographic world. Then begin quietly shipping the goods as promised and watch the naysayers all line up and begin bowing "Dell is Great, Dell is Great... ." This is the first salvo fired at B&H and all for less than $200k in marketing dollars (Note: they stopped taking orders when they reached their advertising budget).

As someone who ordered the lens.... I'm gonna cling to this theory as long as possible. ;)

Rob

[EDIT: This is another ridiculous theory in the spirit of this thread. Some folks are taking me WAY to serious..... ;) ]

[DAMphyne]

When I was young, I bowed to the Great Yellow God "K"
Next IT will be the Great "DELL", or maybe a "COW BOX"

[Digital Canon]

>

And if the lens costs a dealer 1499 that adds up to 809,460.00

Or to put it in a more understandable light:

809,460.00 - 540,000.00 = 269,460 in the hole, that is not chump shange even for Dell.

Do you think Dell would take a loss of 269,460 dollars?

And I have also read that the orders were up around 850 or so in another thread so that would mean: 850 X 1100 = 1,274,150.00

935,000.00 earned and a cost per lens of 1,274,150.00 or a loss of 339,150.00.

[ilya]

Sketcher, CDS - LOL!! :)

On the marketing theories- Dell would spend several million dollars (or more) to buy their way into a new consumer category such as this...if they wanted to.

However, as this isn't an IS, and judging by the prices on their website for other canon goods, they aren't taking a loss on anything.

For perspective, Dell has $35 Billion in revenue. Probably unlikely they would purposefully perpetrate a hoax that effects ~1000 folks on message boards...or care about a loss on 540 lenses (which isn't a loss)... or know who B&H are? IMHO, hardly! :)

[CyberDyneSystems]

Haven't any of you ever heard of bulk pricing?

B&H is an old favorite,. but do you seriously think they can touch Dell for buying in bulk?

It is standard economics and sales,. the distributor who can move more merchandise gets a lower cost per unit.

Dell is getting these lenses for under $1400.00 (which is Dells asking price) and when Dell implements a 10% discount on EVERY FREAKING DIGITAL PRODUCT THEY SELL,. they DO NOT double check to make sure that the 10% won't drop any prices below there cost.

It's that simple,..


Sketcher,. sorry for destroying the sanctity of this post!

[Sketcher]

tsk, tsk...

Come on now people, what am I seeing here!? NUMBERS and Marketing ballyhoo!! I thought we talked about this... Conspiracy theories and like nonesuch only!! :D. No one's going to know until it shows up on the doorstep and wiggles (or not wiggle in the case of the IS lens).

The if/and/but is irrelevant and deserving of other threads. This thread is supposed to be productive!! Can we get with the program now!? ;). lolol

Now, my bootless socks. It has been said that the bird is in flight (that's code for someone said theirs has shipped). If this is so then it's just a hop skip and a jump until we find out the mystery of our marvel!

----> I have to make one marketing comment though (only because you've all forced me to stoop to this disgraceful level): Yes, DELL would absolutely take a $200,000+ hit on product if it meant securing a foundation in a new market with the potential of millions/billions. They've made bolder moves in schools and institutions where IBM and Apple had what were thought to be unmovable cornerstone positions. Now DELL is QUICKLY becoming the norm in schools and it's what teachers and students become familiar with. Families believe it or not are significantly influenced by their surroundings so it also becomes free marketing for Dell.

----> Oh alright, one foot is in might as well drag in the other. Think of this: Consider how much Pepsi, Coke, Nike etc. spend on Advertising. Their advertising is always there, sometimes it's neat - but mostly it's just circulating brand name recognition so that you think about it more often and therefore more likely purchase. Billions are spent on advertising and it does not even guarrantee product gets into the hands of the intended market. DELL on the other hand can choose to leverage much less money even more powerfully by moving product at unheard of prices simply by acting as a broker/retailer of a branded product. Someone somwhere did some kind of math and said DELL will lose $200,000.00+ on these 540 or so lenses if they really sell them for $1,100.00. Well, so what. They didn't spend 1 cent on marketing that product (aside from listing it on a web page). Word of mouth brought in Hundreds of people crawling over each other in a frenzied rush to place an order and hundreds if not thousands more are in line at this moment waiting to find out if the deal is good and if they can get a crack at it. Guarranteed, untold numbers of people are now frequenting DELL's product pages who had not done so before. Don't think that "impulse" buys account for much of DELL's success? Think again. Their new gadget audience is paying attention for another unique "in" and if other product they're likely to buy is equal or even just slightly cheaper through them, you bet they're gonna buy there. Crap, I've already shattered my own rule of being productive so I won't insult my own injury by giving percentage ratios of clicks/buys/cyclic inventory turns etc. It's huge.

I'm no marketing guru by any stretch of insanity but I am professionally trained in MRP/ERP/CRM oh yeah, and BS and I've seen more than one text book reference to DELL marketing strategy and their success in doing what traditional venture regarded as futile. Of course, not everything they've done has turned to gold - but they're apparently doing something right.

Now -------->Let's get back to this lens. Did DELL undercut the price of this lens to swing a blow at the holy grail of online retail or did they truly make a mistake? If they made a mistake are they then going to shock the hell out of everyone and fulfill orders at the confirmation price? (and while doing so garner even more worshipers and curiousts). Or are they going to dissappoint the manic masses and allow their legal disclaimers to protect them despite all the barstool lawyering that's been touted throughout the forums? (And still profit from the new audience who is now window shopping their inventory).

Tune in next time , Same Bat Channel Same Bat thread.

Check your stats and educational hats at the door and pull up your conspiracle bar stool.

Again, no matter how much you - me or that dillywacker in the other thread who posts screenshots, knows the pet name of their DELL Rep or is able to spell words that I can't even pronounce knows nuthin' about nuthin' until someone gets the maltese lens in hand.

And oh yeah, Bulk Buying power like CDS said (CDS, you're pardoned - but I'm expecting you to make good on another theory now!).

Now hit the bricks people, there are unspoken conspiracies out there! And mabye one or two tidbits of truth -----> but be sure to disguise those nuggets of nihilistic nuance with much theory so as not to make it look like anything worth arguing about. Like I said, that's for other threads! :D :D lolol

[CyberDyneSystems]

Okay folks here's the skinny,...

I was @ Lupos's HeartBrake Hotel this evening,. "The Young Adults" were playing. After several beers and some other mind altering agents I mistook the door to the basement for the restroom and ended up at the bottom of the stairs (the hard way) where I joined a table of people playing cards.

In my delirium it took me some time to focus,. but eventually I started to see exactly who it was i was playing cards with....

The African American to my right was none other than Jimmy Hendrix! Karen Carpenter and Mama cass were sharing a ham sandwich,. Janis Joplin was there,. and of course Elvis and "The Lizard King" himself. John Lennon was winning most of the hands,. Miles Davis had his face down on the table,... he had given up on the cards. Kurt Cobain was there but no one would talk to him. And good old Buddy Holly was no a dottering old man but he still could play that mosley hollow body just fine.

And then it all occured to me,. of course they are alll alive and well,. there "deaths" were all part of a huge CIA conspiracy,.

....AND ANYONE WHO THINKS OTHERWISE IS PARANOID!!!!

So what does any of this have to do with the subject you ask?

Well Jim Morrison was busily taking photos of this amazing amalgamation of rock legends... and do you know what lens was on his EOS 1?

A 70-200mm IS purchased from Dell!!!!!!!!

[Belmondo]

Actually, this whole lens thing is an Al Qaeda plot to undermine relations between the U.S. and Britain. Here’s how it works:
Osama Bin Laden sells a bunch of 70-200L IS lenses through his ‘front operation’ (Dell) to Americans at ridiculously cheap prices. The British are resentful but remain polite.---UNTIL-----

Harrods Department Store (owned by an infamous middle-eastern operative) starts taking orders for the 24-70L from British citizens for under $200.00. Harrods refuses to ship overseas; Americans are very resentful and start posting anti-British messages on internet bulletin boards. They are good-natured at first, but become more caustic as time goes by and the English begin to gloat over their good fortune. The Brits respond with nastier, more acerbic epithets, and pretty soon, the exchanges are downright ugly.

From the Americans: “My lens is longer than your lens.”
The English response: “So? Mine is wider. And by the way, Chaps, footballs are supposed to be round.”
The American reply: “Oh yeah?”
They continue: “Our football players can kick your football players’ arses, and cricket is a game for fairies.”
The retort: “Your football players will have to catch our football players first. By the way, George Bush is a cowboy and probably smells like his horse.”
----and on, and on, and on.

In the meantime, not one lens has been shipped, either from Dell or from Harrads.


After a month of this, relations between two friendly nations will have completely broken down. The British are burning their pictures of Britney Spears, and the Americans are trading their Jaguars in on Ford pickup trucks.

Eventually, American troops liberate Ireland, and the British re-occupy New York.

I figured this out last night instead of sleeping.

Maybe next time I’ll try sleeping.

[ilya]

sketcher, you're saying 'sort of' what i said but with much more flair. thanks. since you stooped, i will clarify something briefly you said since I do know a little bit about marketing and such. if a Dell was cutting prices to get into a line of anything, you'd know about it - not from chat boards, but from other media. its foolish to do an initiative like this half-assed, i.e. a stealth cut - no point to that...and on one lens! the PR value is wasted if contained to board chatter. second, they are overcharging for most of everything else right now even with 10% off. So there "IS" NO PRICE WAR about to start.

ok, speaking of half-assed, I have a theory on the chance that I'm wrong on the above.

France. Land of bureaucracy, skyrocketing social costs, fine wine and cheeses, and a hate of anything american. Jacques Chirac, in a blatant attempt to discredit the American way of life, devises a way to topple one of our beloved tech companies. The plan is fiendishly simple, and stay with me on this.

Jacques buys exactly 540 lenses from Canon. Ordinarily you need to buy 1000 lenses to get a bulk rate. He gets a bulk rate, though, because he runs France. France, unlike Dell cannot afford to lose $200k.

To hide his identity he gets Robert Palmer (may he rip), a close and personal friend of Michael Dell's to get a deal in front of him to bust open the 70-200 lens line by giving him IS lenses at under a $1000 each.

Ordinarily, Mike wouldn't bother, and would smell a rat, but friendship goes a long way.

While Rob is singing Addicted to Dell at the Dells' birthday party, Chirac secretly replaces the IS lenses in a nearby warehouse with non-IS. Rob having found this out, is consumed with self loathing, and takes his own life.

Now that we're caught up to the present, Le catastrophe is about to start. and here is how Jacque envisions it.

Dell having promised the IS lens to as many as hund..no thou...no mill... ok dozens of people faces a public relations nightmare.

Next week when Le Jig is up, dell's stock price is about to tumble.

Since Dell makes the market, all tech bottoms out over the next few days, Nasdaq down below 500.

The dow tumbles below 7000.

Bush, who is now considered to be as popular as bin laden, resigns in disgrace.

American economy is in disarray. Dell is bankrupt. Palmer is dead. Folks who paid for the IS lens, don't even get the non-IS lens or their money back.

None of this is obvious, but if you really think about it for a long long long time, it begins to make sense.

[Sketcher]

Ooooph,

Your guys's theories make a head spin! :). I was wondering who would make the first Robert Palmer reference. You must have found it simply irresistible... sorry.

Harrod's; Wow - I saw an hour long cable show on that place one night. Impressive to say the least. BTW, I spent a month in Scotland and learned to play cricket while there. At first I just sort of put up with the silly "sport" but by the time I'd left not only had I acquired a right good accent but a mean eye for the bail as well. Couldn't get my mates back here to play the game though. such is life. Sigh...

ilya wrote:
if a Dell was cutting prices to get into a line of anything, you'd know about it - not from chat boards, but from other media. its foolish to do an initiative like this half-assed, i.e. a stealth cut - no point to that...and on one lens! the PR value is wasted if contained to board chatter. second, they are overcharging for most of everything else right now even with 10% off. So there "IS" NO PRICE WAR about to start.

ilya,
It's not foolish at all. I know for a fact that moves "like" this have been made as an inexpensive market test. Are they the "ONLY" method for sampling, procuring and selling into niche or curbed markets? Certainly not. And I'm not saying that this exact DELL lens deal/snafu/dream come true is just that. I added the "Flair" as noted but stated significant information to rebuff the loyalists who insist that DELL loses money, couldn't bounce back from, would be insane etc. to try something like that. Online Forums are very often used for interest sampling. Look at how short a time it took for DELL to "over-sell" the first lenses and how many thousands of unique page hits, phone calls and forum posts have been generated since that first leak/posting of information. Then again, mabye a marketing manager or stock clerk just got fired for scanning the wrong SKU or entering in the wrong lot code and our current state of suspense is due to a clerical... DELL would STILL pay very close attention to where the most traffic is being generated from and which sector/demographic/income bracket etc. is conveying the message. You just can't pay for that kind of "free" feedback. But, tech forums have kept an eye on DELL for years so this is nothing new. There are many other factors and scenarios but there's little to be regarded as foolishness here. And hey, mabye I'm just putting a spin on a conspiracy theory of my own :)

Did you say that those who purchased the 70-200 IS don't get their money back once it's found out that it's the non-IS that ships!!!? Now that's worth spinning!! :) I might have to start a whole new thread on that topic alone :) lol.

Good conspiracies people. Thanks for chiming in. Now, at the end of this particular post we really need to segue from the comfort of our armchair experiences and throw in some right proper nonesense! I for one here and now vow to not directly respond to any further mention of pseudo-statistical-"I know marketing"-wordage. Just peruse the many other threads and forums for all the good juicy arguments on that front. I'm guilty for having compromised my own modus operandi in this thread and aim to make amends!!

Subsequent "fact" posts can only be referenced if the "fact" can be traced through no less than three unreliable sources, at least two language translations (dialects not included) and a minimum of one forum cross-post!!. \Gavel slams down w/resounding THUD!!

-English Football is better than American Football but both take back seat to Cricket.
-I'm looking forward to visiting Ireland.
-Chirac thought they said "Benzes" and inadvertantly ordered "lenses".

And CDS, I almost hefted the flag of your last post and started the drum beat anew but then you mention that Mamma Cass was "sharing" a sandwich... :) I'll leave it at that :D :D lolol

[defordphoto]

One the most bizarre threads on this board. Sheesh! Has anyone received one of these magic lenses yet?

[Sketcher]

RFMSports wrote:
One the most bizarre threads on this board. Sheesh! Has anyone received one of these magic lenses yet?
loloL!! :D. Thanks for the compliment RFM! And whoever DOES receive this lens darned well better be posting a picture of it in hand with shipping label intact!!! That is most certainly what I will do if/when I receive mine. The first orders should be arriving early this week. There's a chance that some might even be delivered today!! (for anyone who might have missed it, this is a "conspiracy" thread. Deliveries today are... ahh heck. should be arriving any time :)).

[CyberDyneSystems]

Eventually, American troops liberate Ireland, and the British re-occupy New York.

This is the funniest thing I have read in ages!

Did you know that back when New York was New Amsterdam,. Britain amassed the largest fleet action in history (short of D-day) to retake take Manhattan?

The fleet was so large and imposing that all they had to do was sail into the harbors,. New Amsterdam was given up without a shot fired!

[defordphoto]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:
Eventually, American troops liberate Ireland, and the British re-occupy New York.

This is the funniest thing I have read in ages!

Did you know that back when New York was New Amsterdam,. Britain amassed the largest fleet action in history (short of D-day) to retake take Manhattan?

The fleet was so large and imposing that all they had to do was sail into the harbors,. New Amsterdam was given up without a shot fired!

I'm just happy that someone had one of those Dell 70-200L's to capture that history! :)

[ilya]

Sketcher! You crack me up. ;)

I'll give you sampling. Nuff said on this topic.

This recently in from another forum:

*******************************
Just received this e-mail update:

Hi all,

I'm just writing to inform you that I just found out the latest inventory status regarding the EF 70-200 MM F/2.8 L IS

Dell customers have placed over 540 orders for this lens; we have around 40 in stock, expect to receive another 70 from Canon, and may be getting an allocation from Canon of 100/month. With this in mind, we hope to have your orders filled as soon as possible...but pls realize that it may take until February to do so (!!) As of this morning we have de-activated this sku from our catalog and will no longer be able to place orders for it until our supply can meet the current demand.

Also, pls understand that my information regarding your specific order status is extremely limited...with than in mind, unfortunately, I will be unable to provide you with even a general idea of where your order stands in regard to the orders of our other customers. (sorry!) Thanks for understanding. I'll keep you posted whenever I find out info here on my end... Also, some of you have inquired about other lenses and cameras. I'll let you know as soon as I find out if we can get the following lenses: 28-135mm IS 24-70mm

Pls let me know if there are any others you'd like me to check on...

Greg Patrick
Software & Peripherals
Dell Inc.
800.879.3355 ext. 69089

*******************

The plot thickens. There is no question in my mind that Greg Patrick is really Abdul Salem Moujahadin, and Belmondo's theory is spot on. Read between the lines of his message. In fact you have to read it from right to left. For those of you who do not speak Kurdish, Assyrian or Arabic, here is translation:

"Meet me in Falluja tuesday. Bring more ammonium nitrate, a dozen ET-86 lens hoods, and cheetos. Good day. May Mohammed give you eternal peace"

I'm not sure what to make of that.

[Sketcher]

** THIS JUST IN**

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1019&message=6212109

"I couldnt wait until Monday so I called Airborne and picked it up at the hub this morning. It was EXACTLY what I ordered .. 70-200 IS .. came with everything it is suppossed to - Bag, hood, caps full packing - just as if I bought it retail. Like I said in a previous post, mine came DIRECTLY from Ingram Micro NOT Dell.

Everyone else should get what they order as well.

To those party poopers and Nay Sayers... sorry you missed out. "

Sorry, no Conspiracy there - just a happy customer! :D

[defordphoto]

Well good! That should beat down the price everywhere else. Too bad for the people that have to wait 5-6 months to get their orders though.

The only thing I question is that I have tried several times with Airborne, FedEx, UPS, etc. to try and pickup a package before a delivery attempt and have ALWAYS been told that there is no way that could happen. Could be just the hubs in the Portland area that have that policy, but...

[Sketcher]

I've made a number of FedEx pickups at the local distribution when we've needed to receive before the next day.

Looks like I better start working on that "new lens" excuse for the wife... or get around to buying her an Elan7 because she still wants to shoot film...

Wahoooooo!! It's the REAL DEAL!! :D

But stay tuned to this same bat channel because we'll be scouring the forums for any bit of consipiracy which could use some spin!! :D :D.

THanks for tuning in!

[Belmondo]

CyberDyneSystems wrote:

This is the funniest thing I have read in ages!

Did you know that back when New York was New Amsterdam,. Britain amassed the largest fleet action in history (short of D-day) to retake take Manhattan?

The fleet was so large and imposing that all they had to do was sail into the harbors,. New Amsterdam was given up without a shot fired!

Well, it might work a second time. U.S. forces are spreak all over hell's half acre, so there wouldn't be much of a fight, if any at all.

[levine2]

I got it on good authority that Ben and Jen went al the way to Hinesville, Ga for their 70 - 200 lens as a gift from the city provided by courtesy of Dell.

[Belmondo]

levine2 wrote:
I got it on good authority that Ben and Jen went al the way to Hinesville, Ga for their 70 - 200 lens as a gift from the city provided by courtesy of Dell.

That's also why they're breaking up: dispute over custody of the lens. Jen is claiming that the 'L' lens is really named after her, and Ben is arguing that Jen really needs a wide angle lens (at least from the back). The good citizens of Georgia are taking up a collection to buy them a 2X Extender. That way, they'll each have one.

Well anyway, that's how they think in Georgia.

[ThePhantomsGirlfriend]

And by the way, next week there will be a made-for-TV movie about the great Dell Debacle.

Also expect blurbs in the National Enquirer. Justin Timberlake just bought one. Brittany Spears has no idea of what one is in the first place, but if Justin has one - then SHE wants one.

The Globe will also claim that Dell was taken over by Aliens after the 700-200 L IS caper. They were afraid we might be able to view them out there with that lens! Globe correspondents claim that any person who bought one might want to be careful about abductions...