I get asked about shipping products to Australia quite often to which I usually have to respond based on the rules set fourth by a particular manufacturer. Most lens manufacturers have obligations to their dealers to provide a fair market price and service. This means that dealers are equally obligated to obey the rules set by such manufactures in order to respect fellow distributors. Obviously this doesn’t always happen – sometimes for better and sometimes for worse. Duclos Lenses always does their best to accommodate international customers but sometimes the rules set fourth by manufacturers are simply prohibitive. One alternative for most regional restrictions is to simply purchase your gear locally, supporting your regional market, and sending equipment to Duclos Lenses for modifications such as the Cine-Mod or the Multi-Mount.
Down Under
Australia is one such market where most manufacturers have dedicated dealers. Unfortunately, these manufacturer reps and dealers aren’t always on the same wavelength as the reps and dealers in Hollywood. For example, the AU version of Canon’s 30-105mm product page doesn’t even have a photo of the lens. Why the heck not?!? It’s not as if the AU version of the lens is different than the US version or any version for that matter. I hope that the AU film industry can get the attention it deserves soon as I’ve seen some really, really great content originating from Australia and New Zealand. A prime example of the work-arounds for cinematographers and rental houses in the AU comes to us by way of Digital Logic in Sydney, Australia. They got their hands on a pair of Canon Compact Zooms and sent them straight off to Duclos Lenses for the Multi-Mount conversion. Yeah, the cost to ship a pair or cinema zooms from AU to the US is high, but now Digital Logic is the first rental house in the South Pacific with the advantageous Multi-Mount on their zooms. They’ve only had them back in rental for a week or so but they seem rather pleased with the results so far. 
You can read more from Digital Logic and their quick review of the Multi-Mount over here. If you’re a cinematographer based out of Australia, head over to DigitalLogic.com.au for more details or to check out some of the handy work of Duclos Lenses.