Grays of Westminster - www.graysofwestminster.co.uk

I pre-ordered a Nikon D800 with these guys and when it was released I called to see where I was in the pre-order list. I was told I was number 236 because many people had paid for 'gold membership' and so had been given priority! In other words they had effectively bumped me down the list. I wasn’t told about this system when I pre-ordered and it was too late to go with someone else. After about 6 weeks I called to ask where I was in the list, they told me number 201 – because more people had taken out the gold membership. I decided to go with someone else because it appeared I was in a never-ending queue. I called lots of places and ended up calling Jacobs digital online who sent me out a D800 the next day.

I've desired a Nikon F5 35mm SLR camera body for many years though I could never afford to buy one new. So about a year ago I decided to buy this particular model second hand as prices for film cameras are relatively low in comparison to their digital counterparts.

My first attempt in buying a second hand F5 on-line was from a company in Scotland that nearly ended in disaster. On that occasion that particular camera, was rated as being in excellent++ condition and guaranteed to be in 100% full working order and came with a 6 months guarantee. However, when I received it, it was in such a poor condition with far too many faults to it that I immediately returned it for a full refund and have never shopped with them since.

When I found out about Grays of Westminster who specialise in Nikon photographic equipment earlier this year, I started saving again whilst waiting for a Nikon F5 body of an acceptable condition that matched my finances to be put up for sale on their website. Eventually, I swooped upon a F5 body in mint- condition for the price above. Their second hand equipment comes with a 12 months guarantee which is extended to 18 months if you're a subscriber to their 'Nikon Owners' magazine!

Grays of Westminster website has a virtual tour of their shop that takes you around the shop floors where you can zoom in to their various display cabinets somewhat. Although it's quite impressive, I wonder how often it's updated.

However, two improvements that I think this company should make and which is the norm for the 21st century Internet shopper, is to firstly implement a secure encrypted shopping page so goods for sale can be bought and paid for via a credit card with just a few lines of personal information and a couple of clicks of the mouse. And secondly, they should consider uploading HD images of their second hand goods, some of which are rare classic Nikon cameras and lenses.

I'm still rating their website with 5 stars simply because of the quality of it together with it's virtual tour as these are still rare to find on-line.

That said, my telephone order went through without a hitch. The male member of staff who served me was very knowledgeable, helpful and courteous. He went on to suggest possible delivery methods in which I could receive my order and I opted for their guaranteed next day delivery via the Royal Mail, at an extra cost of course.

I received my order on time and when I opened the packaging, I was blown away by the condition of my camera. It was listed and sold to me as mint- but to be honest, it looks brand new. It was boxed and included everything plus a set of new batteries already in the chamber. I checked how many rolls of film that had been taken by the previous owner by using a Nikon MV-1 DATA Reader and that indicated only nine rolls of film, some of which were only about 17 frames long!

I've put a couple of rolls of Ilford Pan F+ film through it since to check the functions of my camera and every button, switch and knob works perfectly. However, I'll only find out if the exposure and auto focusing is working properly once I process these films.

All in all, my shopping experience with Grays of Westminster has proven to be excellent and I certainly will shop there again, especially for second hand Nikon photographic equipment.

Thank you very much indeed Mr Gray Levett.