Hopefully this will help another member of the photography community, whether it is in Singapore or in Geneva. Haoyang Sun, trader at Engelhart Commodities Trading, of mobile and WhatsApp number +65 8181 1412 and carousell username @hsun51 is a con-artist and scammer. Haoyang knowingly sold me a fungus-riddled Sony FE 85mm F1.4 GM Lens on Carousell, passing it off as a lightly used item with no flaws listed, and lens which was supposedly “always stored in a dry box”. He has ghosted me since the day of the sale, 13th December 2023.
Images: Con-artist, scammer Haoyang’s online profiles
Images: Carousell listing from @hsun51
Haoyang, like most con-artists, was friendly all the way, sharing the lenses he loves best and the fact that he goes to the Engelhart Commodities Trading’s Geneva office often for business. He suggested to meet at the dimly lit Collyer Quay bridge to transact. I didn’t think much of it then – all my past 4 lens purchases were from honest, friendly sellers, some of which turned into long-term friends – and I agreed.
I examined it under the slightly dim light – there were no scratches and I didn’t notice the small smudge on the inner lens under that the lighting. I paid him the agreed 1530 SGD – there was another seller who listed his pristine lens for less 2 days ago but I chose to honour my meet up with Haoyang on December 13th.
Later that evening, under bright light, I took the lens out and found a smudge I couldn’t wipe off with my lens cleaning equipment – because it was on the inner lens. To give you an idea how tricky it was to spot it, the official Sony Repair customer service agent took a good 5 minutes and directions from me to angle the lens correctly under the brightest light in the service desk before he could identify where it was.
Images: The smudge of fungus when examined in bright light during dinner and Haoyang ghosting me immediately with no reply since 13th December 2023
Image: Sony official repair cost
Haoyang knew this all of course. Way beforehand. He’s even selling off the dehumidifiers that didn’t work on the lens on Carousell. Every single camera repair store I spoke to said he would have knowingly sold me a defective lens. As a photographer for a decade (he has listings for both Canon and Sony Lenses on ClubSnap since 2015), he would understand how devastating fungus is for any lens, and how much it devalues the lens.
For non-photography people reading this, this is how devastating fungus is to a lens – Sony repair quoted SGD 1480 before GST to remove the fungus completely. It’s basically the cost of the second hand lens itself.
And yet, Haoyang deliberately lied about the condition of the lens in his listing, and pointedly excluded the extremely crucial and fatal flaw of fungal infection.
I have lost over 1700 SGD on this lens (1530 for lens, 180 for cleaning and inspection at official Sony repair store at 313 Somerset). As Haoyang is still actively selling his lenses on Carousell and potentially other platforms, most of which are most likely contaminated if he stored it in a similar fashion like this lens, let my pain serve as warning to Singapore’s photography community.
Peace out and have a good 2024.
Images: Con-artist, scammer Haoyang’s online profiles
Images: Carousell listing from @hsun51
Haoyang, like most con-artists, was friendly all the way, sharing the lenses he loves best and the fact that he goes to the Engelhart Commodities Trading’s Geneva office often for business. He suggested to meet at the dimly lit Collyer Quay bridge to transact. I didn’t think much of it then – all my past 4 lens purchases were from honest, friendly sellers, some of which turned into long-term friends – and I agreed.
I examined it under the slightly dim light – there were no scratches and I didn’t notice the small smudge on the inner lens under that the lighting. I paid him the agreed 1530 SGD – there was another seller who listed his pristine lens for less 2 days ago but I chose to honour my meet up with Haoyang on December 13th.
Later that evening, under bright light, I took the lens out and found a smudge I couldn’t wipe off with my lens cleaning equipment – because it was on the inner lens. To give you an idea how tricky it was to spot it, the official Sony Repair customer service agent took a good 5 minutes and directions from me to angle the lens correctly under the brightest light in the service desk before he could identify where it was.
Images: The smudge of fungus when examined in bright light during dinner and Haoyang ghosting me immediately with no reply since 13th December 2023
Image: Sony official repair cost
Haoyang knew this all of course. Way beforehand. He’s even selling off the dehumidifiers that didn’t work on the lens on Carousell. Every single camera repair store I spoke to said he would have knowingly sold me a defective lens. As a photographer for a decade (he has listings for both Canon and Sony Lenses on ClubSnap since 2015), he would understand how devastating fungus is for any lens, and how much it devalues the lens.
For non-photography people reading this, this is how devastating fungus is to a lens – Sony repair quoted SGD 1480 before GST to remove the fungus completely. It’s basically the cost of the second hand lens itself.
And yet, Haoyang deliberately lied about the condition of the lens in his listing, and pointedly excluded the extremely crucial and fatal flaw of fungal infection.
I have lost over 1700 SGD on this lens (1530 for lens, 180 for cleaning and inspection at official Sony repair store at 313 Somerset). As Haoyang is still actively selling his lenses on Carousell and potentially other platforms, most of which are most likely contaminated if he stored it in a similar fashion like this lens, let my pain serve as warning to Singapore’s photography community.
Peace out and have a good 2024.
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