Just a little report on hvStar.com, for anyone in the UK thinking about ordering from them.
The order process was straight forward, with confirmation e-mails for the order itself and the despatch date, which was accompanied by a tracking number for Hong Kong Post (only covers the parcel's journey within Hong Kong, but confirms when it has left the country).
The order took one day to be processed and despatched. The tracking number confirmed that it had left Hong Kong after two days. The package arrived at my door seven days from when I placed the order, which I thought was good. One detail that made all the difference was the fact that they mark a low value on the Customs slip so there is no duty and VAT to pay at this end.
Postage costs for the individual items mounts up quite a bit, so you have to take that into account when you are adding items to your order. You can calculate postage as you go along though, so it's no problem.
I bought two Hoya Pro1 clear filters, a Kenko Pro1 circular polarizer, a step-up ring, an adjustable rubber lens hood, a Cokin P filter holder and a lens cleaning pen. The filter prices were excellent and the additional items cost next to nothing, so would have been no great loss if they were no good. I even got a free little SD card reader because my order was over $100!
The filters are as you would expect, in official sealed Hoya and Kenko boxes. The two-part Cokin P filter holder and step-up ring were in anonymous plain plastic bags, but seem to do the job. I'm not sure I'm going to use my filters very much with this holder when I get them because it looks as if it may scratch the filters where the plastic retaining 'springs' hold them at each edge. I have heard this mentioned about the official Cokin holders too, so I assume this item is a faithful copy. The metal step-up ring works as expected. It looks as if it won't take too much persuasion to lose its painted finish, so I'll keep an eye on that.
The adjustable rubber screw-on lens hood was in some obscure Chinese bubble back, but again seems to do what it is supposed to, so I'll experiment with that. It has a tendency not to stay in its intermediate (half-retracted) position and will pop out of position, so you have to hold it there for a moment until it gets the idea! Fully retracted and fully extended positions are fine.
The lens cleaning pen was in an official bubble pack from Schmidt Marketing, whoever they are! I have looked it up and found the manufacturer, and it is this one: http://www.lenspen.com …rig_SpecSheet_Mar08_1.pdf
. It seems to work okay, although I'll be taking it easy with this thing until I'm convinced it's harmless! One thing to note is that the retracted lens brush has no cap to cover it, so bear in mind you could get dirt in there if you don't store it carefully. Obviously you would need to be sure that the lens cleaning pad at the other end of the pen doesn't get anything abrasive on it or you'll be grinding particles into your front element. The circular cleaning pad is impregnated with some sort of carbon material that will make a faint black mark if you rub it on your hand. If anyone has experience of this particular lens pen, please let us know if it is safe!
And here is a link to hvStar, if you don't know about them: http://hvstar.com/
Mike
