When you’re buying a camera or any item of photographic equipment, the service you receive is as important as the price you pay.

Whether it’s informative buying advice, swift delivery and equally swift action if things go wrong, good service is a precious commodity that should be shouted from the rooftops.

That’s where the What Digital Camera/Amateur Photographer Good Service Awards comes in, by recognising and rewarding those retailers who go that extra mile.

If you have dealt with Grays of Westminster and have found our service satisfactory, we would greatly appreciate your voting for us at the ‘What Digital Camera 2013 Good Service Awards′.

Please click here to go straight to the voting form:

www.graysofwestminster.co.uk/voteforus

Voting ends: Friday 11 Jan 2013

Thank you in advance!

London, UK, 14th June 2012: Nikon today announces a new FX-format zoom lens with broad 24-85mm focal range, compact build and Vibration Reduction. With a versatile reach from wide-angle up to telephoto and a lightweight body, it’s a smart choice for FX camera users looking for a multi-purpose lens that doesn’t cut any corners when it comes to image quality.

24-85mm f3.5-4.5G ED VR_500

Hiro Sebata, Product Manager, Professional products at Nikon UK, says: “The new 24-85mm is a high quality, versatile lens that is ideal for a variety of shooting scenarios; from portrait to landscape to low light situations. With a compact build, this new lens perfectly complements Nikon’s FX format bodies to produce stunning results.”

Multi-tasker

Developed to be especially compact for an FX-format zoom lens, this 24-85mm NIKKOR is ideal for people who want a lens that offers the freedom to shoot a wide variety of day-to-day moments and subjects. The versatile 24-85mm range covers most commonly used focal lengths with ease: from landscapes to portraits, you can go fairly wide or zoom into distant objects without needing to change lenses.

Sharp and Steady

Complementing the versatile focal range is Nikon’s second-generation Vibration Reduction technology (VRII) — that allows substantially sharper handheld images across the zoom range and dramatically reduces image blur, especially when shooting towards the telephoto end of the range. VRII also enables you to shoot using shutter speeds up to four stops slower, enabling you to shoot more effectively when shooting in low light.

Nikon’s Super Integrated Coating ensures superb colour reproduction, while Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass and three aspherical lens elements help deliver stunning sharpness and contrast, even at maximum aperture.

Good to Go

Well-balanced in terms of size, weight, price and image quality — and boasting a weather-sealed mount — this lens offers a worthwhile combination of precision NIKKOR optics, broad focal range and lightweight build for people on the go. This lens comes with a lens case CL-1118 and hood HB-63.

London, UK, 14th June 2012 – Nikon today announces a new high-powered DX-format zoom lens with wide-angle to super-telephoto reach and Vibration Reduction. Boasting an ultra-high 16.7x zoom ratio and incredibly wide 18-300mm focal range, this new lens is a great all-rounder for photographers with a broad range of interests.

Simon Iddon, Product Manager for Enthusiast Products, at Nikon UK says: “This new 18-300mm lens is ideal for photographers looking to travel light – it’s a versatile lens that allows you to capture a whole range of scenes with ease, thanks to its remarkable zoom range.”

18-300mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR

All in One

With its versatile wide-angle to super-telephoto reach, this 16.7x zoom lens is perfect for travel or for times when you only want to take one lens out with you. The remarkable 18-300mm focal range (FX-format/35mm equivalent: 27 to 450mm) easily covers most commonly used focal lengths, going further than many comparable lenses by offering 300mm reach and a maximum aperture of f/5.6 at the telephoto end of the range. From wide landscapes to tight portraits and action photography, this lens will capture it all.

Sharp and steady

Complementing the versatile focal range is Nikon’s second-generation Vibration Reduction system (VRII) — that allows substantially sharper handheld images across the zoom range and dramatically reduces image blur, even when taking extreme telephoto shots. Three Extra-Low Dispersion (ED) glass and three aspherical lens elements provide high resolution and superior contrast, and the nine blade rounded diaphragm opening makes out-of-focus elements blend together smoothly. Nikon‘s compact Silent Wave Motor technology (SWM) combines fast and precise auto focus with super-quiet operation.

Built to travel

A practical zoom-lock switch keeps the lens secure when not in use, and it boasts a metal mount with rubber sealing for protection against dust and moisture.

This lens comes with a lens case CL-1120 and hood HB-58.

70 million lenses produced

Since 2011 and the 65 million milestone, Nikon has continued to actively develop new products under the NIKKOR brand and has released four 1 NIKKOR lenses with a simple design in various colours for the compact and lightweight Nikon 1 J1 and Nikon 1 V1 AC-IL system cameras – the first two models in the Nikon 1 series. In addition, Nikon launched new FX-format compatible NIKKOR lenses that maximize the potential of high-performance cameras such as the new D4 flagship D-SLR camera, and the 36.3 million pixel D800 and D800E D-SLRs.

Thirty million SWM-equipped NIKKOR lenses

The Silent Wave Motor, or SWM, is an ultrasonic autofocus motor developed by Nikon. Nikon’s SWM converts ‘traveling waves’ into rotational energy to focus the optics. This enables extremely smooth, quiet and comfortable autofocusing. Among the first lenses for which Nikon adopted the SWM was the Ai AF-S NIKKOR 300mm f/2.8D IF-ED, released in 1996. Since then, the SWM has been built into a total of 58* different lenses of all types, from ultra-wide-angle to super telephoto DX- and FX-format lenses, zoom lenses, and even Micro lenses. It has been adopted for more than 90% of NIKKOR lenses currently manufactured.
*The total number of NIKKOR lenses equipped with the SWM currently available (as of June 14, 2012).

The NIKKOR brand

As the brand name for Nikon lenses, NIKKOR has become synonymous with high-performance, high-quality SLR lenses. The NIKKOR name comes from adding “R”, a common practice in the naming of photographic lenses at the time the name was established, to “Nikko”, the Romanized abbreviation for Nippon Kogaku K.K. In 1933, the large-format lens for aerial photography was released with the name Aero-NIKKOR.

NIKKOR has always been ahead of the times. The OP Fisheye-NIKKOR 10mm f/5.6 fisheye lens for SLR cameras, released in 1968, was the world’s first lens to incorporate aspherical lens elements. What’s more, NIKKOR lenses for the latest SLR cameras utilize a number of Nikon’s own cutting-edge technologies, including Nano Crystal Coat, which virtually eliminates internal lens element reflections across a wide range of wavelengths.

The current line-up of NIKKOR lenses for Nikon SLR and Nikon 1 system cameras offers a rich variety of lenses, including fisheye lenses, super wide-angle to super telephoto lenses, micro lenses and PC-E lenses.

A translated excerpt of the article on Grays of Westminster that appeared in the Danish photographic magazine Zoom, Denmark’s Professional Photo magazine, number 1, 2010

Despite the traditional façade in Pimlico, Grays of Westminster is one of the world’s most famous Nikon dealers.

Grays of Westminster in London is so unique as a shop that it is well worth a visit.

Few European cities attract the Danes like London, either as a holiday or a shopping destination. Experiences merge seamlessly with one another in London. Museums, theatres, cinemas, markets with antiques – some real, some not so real…..

Shopping is an experience whether you visit Fortnum & Mason, Harrods or any of the many renowned department stores.

Britain’s oldest wine and spirit merchant, Berry Bros and Rudd, the cigar dealers Robert Lewis & James J. Fox and the many shirt makers in Jermyn Street all attract the cognoscenti.

All this can be found in the relatively small area of London called Westminster. Photographers – at any event Nikon users – should also make their way to Pimlico and Grays of Westminster, only a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace.

Grays of Westminster is a wholly unique Nikon dealer which has the most complete stock of Nikon products in the world – both new and second hand.

From the outside, Grays could be mistaken for any of the other traditional shops in Westminster with one window for display and a dark blue façade with hanging baskets around the door.
No neon or brash signage. The name is discreetly painted over the window and inscribed on a polished brass plate. In a previous life, the premises was a barber’s saloon.

Like a Club for Gentlemen

Inside around 100 square metres is divided between two floors and it’s amazing to think that this small shop sends Nikon equipment all over the world.

The British tradition is inescapable. A pair of mahogany leather-topped desks, where you expect to find the staff writing in double-entry accounting books with their Mont Blanc or Parker fountain pens. Mahogany glass cabinets line the walls.

It is the contents of these cabinets which will exhilarate every Nikon user and, indeed, any other photographic enthusiast. The cabinets bulge with the very latest from Nikon. Cameras, lenses and every known accessory to tug at your wallet. When you have had your fill on this floor, you can venture downstairs where you will find a showcase and more glass cabinets. There are very few places where you will find a selection of second hand equipment to match what you see here.

You get goose pimples when you see a Nikon F just like the one you once exchanged for an F2. Everything oozes English tradition and when you walk through the narrow rooms you get a feeling of entering a gentlemen’s club. This is also the way in which you are treated when you enter as a customer. Whether you are there to buy a D3s body, a manual for an older camera or something for a few pounds, you are treated as though the world revolves around you for that moment.

The Idea Nobody Believed In

Although the shop feels like something from another century, it actually originated in 1985 when a young man decided to try an unusual business idea. There was a lot of head shaking particularly when the one-make (Nikon) idea was proposed.

Gray Levett was born soon after the Second World War and into a rather bleak world. The 60s and 70s turned this world upside down. Gray Levett, the son of a Royal Air Force Officer, had tired of discipline and order and, in his youth, worked in the developing fashion industry in London’s Carnaby Street. It was here that he and his colleagues were often used as photographic models though he would have preferred to be on the other side of the camera. It was his combination of artistic temperament and technical skill, together with idealism and good business sense, which were the foundations of the institution which is Grays of Westminster.

Service Is All

In no time, the business idea was flourishing because, in addition to a quality product, the service to every customer is first class. If, on rare occasions, an item is not available every effort will be made to source it.

On one occasion, a customer from the north of England ordered a camera for an imminent trip abroad. The camera was not in stock and that day’s delivery from Nikon was delayed. To avoid disappointment a member of staff took the first train north and delivered the camera in person. The round trip took 8 hours but the Grays of Westminster slogan, “the kind of service of which legends are made”, was fully vindicated.

Among the clientele you find famous names such as film director Stanley Kubrick, David Suchet (television’s Hercule Poirot), The Duchess of York and many more.

In recognition of the international nature of the clientele, Grays of Westminster has established the Nikon Owner subscription service which publishes a quarterly photographic magazine with images, articles and workshops.

To visit this very special camera shop in Pimlico is a unique experience in the world of photographic retailing and is enhanced by the feeling that you are a valued guest, whether you make a purchase or not.

If you are a Nikon user and spending a couple of days in London, you must take the tube to Pimlico or Victoria and visit Grays of Westminster at 40 Churton Street. Should you use another camera make, visit anyway – just for the experience.
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Grays of Westminster celebrates its 25^th Anniversary this year. In the last twenty-five years, Grays of Westminster has become an international icon of all that is excellent in the way of bespoke service for Nikon enthusiasts and professionals alike, and it is as much for its service to its customers as for the variety and quality of its Nikon products that Grays of Westminster is renowned.

As a celebration of this very special year, there will be a number of items of Nikon kit and exciting Nikon special offers that we are pleased to be able to provide for our customers over the months ahead.

This week, while stocks last, we are delighted to be able to offer our UK and Republic of Ireland customers, with their purchase of a Nikon D3S, the following vouchers:

D3S

	Nikkor Micro 60mm f2.8G £40 Voucher
	Nikkor Micro 105mm VR f2.8G £40 Voucher
	14-24mm f2.8G AF-S £50 Voucher
	WT-4B W-LAN Adapter £70 Voucher
	COOLPIX S640 £50 Voucher

Alternatively, with their purchase of a D300s:

D300S

	10-24mm f3.5-4.5G AF-S DX £75 Voucher
	16-85mm f3.5-5.6G ED VR AF-S DX £50 Voucher
	Nikkor Micro 85mm VR f3.5G £50 Voucher
	70-300mm f4.5-5.6G AF-S VR IF-ED £50 Voucher
	MB-D10 £50 Voucher

Second-hand Department
Whatever your photographic needs, as a uniquely Nikon-only shop, Grays of Westminster is the perfect destination. Now, as well as a full range of bodies and accessories, we are pleased to announce that we have a number of Mint and Mint Minus second-hand items in our Second-hand Department, to including a D3s, D3, D300, a D700 and some spectacular lenses including a 70-200mm f/2.8G VR, 200-400mm VR f/4G VR IF-ED and a Fisheye 10.5mm f/2.8 DX; we have also sourced the much sought-after 16-85mm f/3.5-5.6 G AFS VR DX, and much, much more!!

Three-year warranty
A three-year warranty is available to Grays of Westminster customers who are also Nikon Owner subscribers for any new Nikon purchases made at Grays. Whether your new purchase is a camera, a lens or an accessory, Grays offer an additional complimentary period of warranty on top of the one offered by Nikon to make it up to a total period of three years, and an 18-month warranty on any second-hand kit.

(Please note that VAT is included in all of our prices for new equipment)

Contact details
For further enquiries please call 020 7828 4925 or for International calls, telephone + 44 (0)20 7828 4925 to speak to any of our staff; alternatively, go onto our website www.graysofwestminster.com

If you need anything at all, please k now that we are here to help you, and stay in touch by telephone or by viewing our website to find out about our special offers as they occur during our Silver Anniversary Year.

Kindest regards

Gillian Greenwood
For Grays of Westminster