Post your memorable St. MAARTEN PICS HERE!

[Aplmac]

Alpmac- I love your shots and always look forward to viewing them- keep them coming. ===> Trying to..

 

I remember you mentioned that you had just purchased your lens while on your trip.

I'm assuming it was in one of the St. Maarten port camera shops. ===> Boolchand's on Front St.

 

I bought a nice inexpensive digital at the shop on the pier

and got a great price. ===> probably the same Boolchand's firm, difrnt location

 

I was wondering if you know if the Nikon D90 was sold there. ===> Quite likely!

I'm going there next year and thinking about picking one up while there,

The Nikon D90 should no longer be The Hot Item by the time you get there

so you might indeed get a decent price on it.

 

It's when a model is brand-new The Latest that the price is warm. ;)

Give it a year or so, and that warm price starts to cool to sane levels.

Go for it!

.......................

 

 

The camera shop on the pier you spoke of

is off to the right,in this picture

..out of sight, but right there

 

 

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[Aplmac]

Here's a shot taken right after boarding the water taxi at the pier, for the trip over to Philipsburg..

..which you can see in the distance there -at right.

 

 

When you get over to Philipsburg, the scenery looks like this...

 

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Edited May 6, 2009 by aplmac

[Aplmac]

It's different over on the French side.. chic. ;) --worth checking it out!

Taxi fare over there is around U.S.$ 6-7 per person.

We've done it twice now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[MDSue]

OOHHH!!! Purchased lens while on the trip?? Is there another store I must visit!!???!!!:D

I purchased a Sony Cybershot on my last trip there right on the pier at the store APLMAC mentioned. I hadn't intended to purchase a camera, but my daughter had dropped and broken hers right before my trip. I thought she was out of luck- I had paid $300 for it about a year before and gave it to her as a graduation gift. I shopped around before I left and the lowest price I could find for an identical model was $250. When I got to St. Maarten, I saw the camera shop and priced it out there. I was a bit nervous buying abroad, but was assured it came with a factory warranty. I ended up paying $185 and got a memory card and carrying case to go with it. I gave her my old camera [same model] and kept the new one- it still works great.

I've always wanted a better, more expensive camera with interchangable lens. I just booked another cruise that stops in St. Maarten so I may buy one there if the price is right.

[fantabulous]

Aplmac,

 

Thanks for sharing the pics! I enjoyed your photo albums at the link you gave on a previous page...

 

http://pictures.cruisecritic.com/member.php?uid=272460&protype=1

 

Just sending it a long for those that only view the last page :)

[Aplmac]

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[xxjulzxx]

Favorite part of our stop here!

 

[MDSue]

Here's another of the airport- Maho Beach

 

And Orient Beach

[Aplmac]

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[DrmnOfMaui]

Thanks for brightening my morning! We are here in San Diego with our annual "May Gray".... it's a low marine layer that sits here off and mostly on for about 5 weeks...:( <80 days till we get our view of the turquoise waters!!

[rob51]

aplmac, such nice photo's. Just think, I will be in St Maarten in just under 3 weeks....keep the photo's coming...they are so nice.

 

Rob

[Aplmac]

aplmac, such nice photo's. Just think, I will be in St Maarten in just under 3 weeks..

..keep the photo's coming....

It's a good place to buy stuff at great prices!

If you need a new camera or a lens, SXM is the place!!

 

This shot just as we disembarked from the Water Taxi that carried us from the pier to the downtown area!

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[The Big Booper]

What lens setting did you use on the 2 photos of Great Bay at Phillipsburg? Almost a near fish-eye look.

 

10-15 mm. range?

[Aplmac]

What lens setting did you use on the 2 photos of Great Bay at Phillipsburg?

Almost a near fish-eye look.

 

10-15 mm. range? ===> 10.5 mm. fixed focal length, this time!

Not almost -the real thing! :D

 

 

Three hrs. previously, I bought a 10.5 mm. Nikkor fisheye for the D60.

Paid Boolchand's in Philipsburg US$599 for it and started using it once we got over to Marigot!

 

On our return, I shot a small series of Great Bay as we walked out to the Water Taxi

with that gorgeous turquoise water just begging to be shot.

 

 

Funny thing with that fisheye: as long as you hold the camera back dead-vertical, with horizon bang thru the middle of the shot

distortion occurs only at the extreme ends of the wide/horizontal part of the full-frame pic....a part I often crop slightly..

..thus your accurate observation that those shots looked to be "almost-fisheye"

..............................

 

 

 

And then of course, one can go to the other extreme

and make a rogue wave for the Capt. to handle

in an otherwise fairly-flat sea! LOL!!

 

 

 

 

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Edited May 11, 2009 by aplmac

[rob51]

aplmac....I have heard of Boolchands, are they a reputable company to purchase camera gear from? Any idea if their prices are competitive to those in the States here? Appreciate any info you may be aware of.

 

Thankyou,

 

Rob

[rob51]

aplmac........You sure seem to take loads of photo's. When you last visited St Marrten, any idea how many pic's u took? Just curious.

 

Rob

[Aplmac]

aplmac........You sure seem to take loads of photo's.

When you last visited St Maarten, any idea how many pic's u took? Just curious.

In a mini-cruise of 4 days I only managed to take 950, sorry.:(

 

While ashore in SXM...the figure would seem to be around 150

but that doesn't include ship-oriented shots taken on the pier.

 

I'll try to take more-and-varied, next time! :D

 

............

 

Boolchand's seems to be OK.

The lens I bought came with the usual Nikon Guarantee forms to be filled out

(which I haven't, of course)

 

I bought a little Canon Powershot from them back in May 2007

- it lasted the usual 2 yrs. for that genre...before the processor started malfunctioning on one rare occasion, I must say

so I sold it to a friend,cheap.. who continues to use it as we speak

and I've heard no complaints from him about it.

 

 

They're OK -and their prices are definitely OK !

Try getting a Nikkor 10.5 mm. fisheye for 599.

I checked the internet and the cheapest I could find was 699 ;)

 

 

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[rob51]

Hey, I like that....only 950 cruise while on a 4 day cruise. I was on the 7 day Glory cruise this past Januray, must have only taken maybe 150.....guess i have some learning to do.:D

 

Thanks again, Rob

[Aplmac]

..the scenery looks like this!

 

Water taxi at right.

 

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Edited May 12, 2009 by aplmac

[Dave_MaryJo]

Here are some pictures from our Cruise...

 

 

Mall in St Maarten

 

 

 

 

We had to pay a dollar to use the bathrooms.

 

 

Interesting, restaurant built around this tree.

 

 

Great name for a bar!

 

 

Carnival Glory next to Sea Princess

 

 

We did the Island Tour along with staying on the Beach. I have more if anyone is interested...

Edited May 12, 2009 by Dave_MaryJo

[The Big Booper]

Not almost -the real thing! :D

 

 

Three hrs. previously, I bought a 10.5 mm. Nikkor fisheye for the D60.

Paid Boolchand's in Philipsburg US$599 for it and started using it once we got over to Marigot!

 

On our return, I shot a small series of Great Bay as we walked out to the Water Taxi

with that gorgeous turquoise water just begging to be shot.

 

 

Funny thing with that fisheye: as long as you hold the camera back dead-vertical, with horizon bang thru the middle of the shot

distortion occurs only at the extreme ends of the wide/horizontal part of the full-frame pic....a part I often crop slightly..

..thus your accurate observation that those shots looked to be "almost-fisheye"

 

..............................

 

.

 

30 years ago, I had a fisheye converter for my old film SLR so I am aware of the distortion effect. That was the basis for my observations.

 

That being said, my pics and the pics of others don't begin to compare to yours, in terms of composition, vivid colors that jump off the page (screen), etc.

 

Now that tax season is over time to post more pics to webshots and link to here.

Edited May 13, 2009 by The Big Booper

[The Big Booper]

Added note, we have bought 5 cameras from Boolchands over 15 years and have always been satisfied with them. I bought the brand new Panasonic FZ30 in Nov 2005 for $599 and a throw in of an SD card and a hard case for the camera. When we got back, the cheapest price I saw was for $699 + sales tax + shipping.

 

And this was not a planned purchase; my old 2001 Nikon digital 655 (?) fell on the ship and was badly damaged (bathroom marble floors are hard). So I had no time to research it.

[Aplmac]

Nice pics!

The first few taken at Marigot, over on the French side.

 

I recognize the swanky mall!

Pricey shops with lovely stuff, but $$$$$..no, worse!...Euro's!!

 

Mall in St Maarten

 

 

 

 

We had to pay a dollar to use the bathrooms.

 

 

Interesting, restaurant built around this tree.

 

 

Great name for a bar!

 

 

Not sure about the Blue Bitch shot: which side is that on?

Dutch or French?

Edited May 13, 2009 by aplmac

[The Big Booper]

We never take the normal cameras off the ship at SXM since it is always a beach day for us. These pics were done with the Olympus waterproof camera (720) , an armored waterproof, shockproof camera. Not the best pics but great at the beach.

 

 

Maho

 

 

Water Taxi sign

 

 

Maho

 

[MDSue]

aplmac....I have heard of Boolchands, are they a reputable company to purchase camera gear from? Any idea if their prices are competitive to those in the States here? Appreciate any info you may be aware of.

 

Thankyou,

 

Rob

I just wanted to say that I did a spur of the moment purchase while I was there last year. I had researched the price of a Sony Cybershot model that my daughter had recently broken and the lowest price I could find in the states was $249. At Boolchand's they sold me the identical model [new-in factory box with warranty] for $185 and included a memory card and carrying case. Not having to pay sales tax also saves extra money. So far it still works like brand new.