Japan>Kawasaki>yodobashi. I love those points!
US>California>Canoga Park>Canoga Camera
BandH, JandR, Adorama
And my recent new vendor: BestBuy.

It's not just for the D800 or D4 - just in general what are some good stores locally or online you use. :)

TaoTeJared said:
MOto you are straying way off topic again! ;) No one has said they are not good companies - they are just out of stock with a lot of stuff due to the new releases.

All I was looking for is to make a list of without having to dredge through 1000's of comments. :)

OK, to make some amends I will go to a couple places and see if by chance they have an idea as to when they will have the D800 and D4 in stock. Sorry, I think I had been burned and was sharing this. But, your point is taken well and if I find some good feedback, I will drop it here.

wheelmanbmf said:
That's good to hear bj. All my family is in Ft. Worth and I keep meaning to go by but haven't done it yet.

Well, what do you know? More "Cow Town" people!!! ;)

FW Camera are straight but I don't expect bargains (like the online vendors) from them.

Arlington Cameras is somewhere I have never actually gone to (they are at inconvenient locations to me), and we also have the usual Ritz crew here as well, who seem to have even less of anything stock than ever. At least FW Camera had two (yes, count 'em... 1, 2) D7000 bodies in stock last weekend, which is more than I have seen almost anywhere else until most recently.

TaoTeJared said:
MOto you are straying way off topic again! ;) No one has said they are not good companies - they are just out of stock with a lot of stuff due to the new releases.

All I was looking for is to make a list of without having to dredge through 1000's of comments. :)

It was a great concept TaoTeJared and I was hoping this thread might lead to some fruit for those of us still searching for the illusive. Alas it has not, based on my phone calls to suggested sources. And I will apologize for taking the bait TaoTeJared. Sometimes the frustration just creeps into the rational thought processes.

MOto you are straying way off topic again! ;) No one has said they are not good companies - they are just out of stock with a lot of stuff due to the new releases.

TaoTeJared said:
...there are more places to buy camera equipment then those "Big three". (There is noting wrong with any of them - they just do run out of stock.)

...If people can add below the Name and Country of good stores (NO LINKS!) That may help everyone looking for items find them.

All I was looking for is to make a list of without having to dredge through 1000's of comments. :)

msmoto said:

And one of the local stores I used to purchase a lot of gear from was using my money to keep the business afloat. And I was not getting my equipment. Instead I was getting a lot of negative talk about NIKON and how they would not ship the goods, etc., so I decided to go with B & H. And they have been absolutely wonderful.

Well, I have orders in at both B&H and Amazon and neither has been wonderful. In fact, my last order/purchase with B&H exceeded $11K (not large I understand but above average)and they still won't provide an estimate of when my February ordered D800 might ship. At least Amazon will give me a date range of April 17 - June 1 as an estimate. And yes, I have tried the brick and mortar stores locally without success either although I remain on their lists. The bottom line is most all vendors are at the mercy of the manufacturer, who is apparently trying to share the limited product availability around. As for the vendors caring about their customers, the locals may if the relationship is lengthy and/or valuable to their business. Otherwise you are just another sale and inconsequential in the bigger scheme of things; particularly when product demand far exceeds supply. I have no allegiance to any particular vendor and will carefully evaluate all options before spending at B&H in the future under similar circumstances.

When I pre-order something prior to release and then find people are picking them up at Best Buy on the day of release I am a bit miffed to say the least. A fairer system would have been for all pre-orders to go into Nikon and be distributed to the selling retailer in priority order based on when the pre-order was placed.

Interestingly enough, two large stores in the area where I live, when I went in and started talking camera, they sort of brushed me off. It seemed to me they only want to take orders and did not want to go through the due diligence I require if I am to unload a bunch of money on them.

So, I bought my cameras, lenses elsewhere. Of course I saw what Willis said above, so I will not carry a bunch of lenses in with the D4 and ask if they would like to see them. This would irritate me as a customer as well.

And one of the local stores I used to purchase a lot of gear from was using my money to keep the business afloat. And I was not getting my equipment. Instead I was getting a lot of negative talk about NIKON and how they would not ship the goods, etc., so I decided to go with B & H. And they have been absolutely wonderful.

USA > Florida > Delray Beach > Delray Camera. Small but good.
They came thru for me with a D7K in November 2010 while B&H was still saying backorder, backorder, backorder.
Just for the heck of it, I put myself on their D800 waiting list.

Calumet UK say more coming next week

Trinidad -> Fly to Miami -> Collect D800E sent by B&H

That's the plan anyway. We don't have no Nikon dealers!

Precision is a good camera shop. I stop in every three months or so. Sometimes there is no substitute for being able to pick up the gear and test-drive it. I also rent equipment from them every so often.

My biggest gripe about physically going into a camera shop is the other customers. Don't be that guy that breaks out your D4 & your biggest zoom lens just to be seen carrying it when you go to the shop to buy a lens cap. Precision is full of these jokers every time I go in there.

That's good to hear bj. All my family is in Ft. Worth and I keep meaning to go by but haven't done it yet.

USA->Texas->Austin-> Precision Camera. Cameras and lenses tend to be on par with others regarding prices but I have noticed higher prices on some accessories when compared to other retailers. They will try to match prices with competitors, but they have told me on occasion that they simply can't. Regardless, friendly and knowledgeable staff with good inventory.

As much as I know all the online stores sell with no tax (as I'm not in CA or NY), my local store sells Nikon gear for right on the regular price with no price gouging.

USA/Texas/Fort Worth Camera.

The girl in there that runs the print shop side of the place is always happy to chat...

TaoTeJared said:
Experience: Generally speaking, if you see a great deal and then try to buy it, and they say you need to buy a battery for your camera, and is from Brooklyn or the Bronx, is probably going to take you to the cleaners. A key phrase is also if they rate batteries in hours - stay away from those sellers.

That goes for just about all of the camera shops on Nathan Road, Hong Kong too. Could be battery for the camera or a special lead if it is a GPS you are after or whatever - they take them out of the box before while they are getting it for you. Oh yeah.

All USA sites

Samy's Camera - CA
Tri-State Camera and Computer Inc. - NY
KEH - GA - Great used equipment and repairs.
Rockbrook Camera - NE
Photo Village - NY
Buy.com
National Camera Exchange
47th street photo - NY
popflash.photo
Dale Photo & Digital

Experience: Generally speaking, if you see a great deal and then try to buy it, and they say you need to buy a battery for your camera, and is from Brooklyn or the Bronx, is probably going to take you to the cleaners. A key phrase is also if they rate batteries in hours - stay away from those sellers.

Thank you TaoTeJ,

Now come on people don't be selfish with that knowledge, post away.... you already got yours.

Anyone in Maryland????

TaoTeJared said:

There are many large local and regional stores that have many items in stock. If people can add below the Name and Country of good stores (NO LINKS!) That may help everyone looking for items find them.

emember NO LINKS OR ADVERTISING - NAME - COUNTRY
*(Unique name locations please - adding B&H for the 40th time doesn't help)

Great idea TaoTeJared. As one who is both waiting and looking I appreciate all suggestions. I have tried all over Oregon and Washington without luck and have added my name to several lists besides orders with the usual suspects but no luck so far. I am sure time will resolve the frustration some of us feel but a camera sooner than later is the best cure. I will check with both suggestions tomorrow as well as any others that pop up. Thanks again!

USA> California> LA> Samys (ok it is a big store but whatever)

Canada -> Ontario -> Toronto -> Merkle Camera

Patrick Ng is my salesman there; he goes out of his way for me all the time. And getting stock of rare-ish items doesn't seem to be a problem for them.

To preempt the Admins - NO ADVERTISING OR LINKS! :)

At the time of this thread the D4 and D800 are just being received by customers.

What I am finding really funny is that all of those who have purchased from Amazon, B&H, Adorama (The top sellers in the U.S.) are somehow wondering where their orders are as if they are not 1 of probably 20,000+ people at each place who placed their orders on the first day. Others are going down to Best Buy and other non camera-centrific main stays are buying them off the shelf.

There are many posts on here of people who do not know where to look to buy equipment and assume something is odd when one of those are out of stock.

Point being, there are more places to buy camera equipment then those "Big three". (There is noting wrong with any of them - they just do run out of stock.)

There are many large local and regional stores that have many items in stock. If people can add below the Name and Country of good stores (NO LINKS!) That may help everyone looking for items find them.

Remember NO LINKS OR ADVERTISING - NAME - COUNTRY
*(Unique name locations please - adding B&H for the 40th time doesn't help)

No!

Don't discontinue them yet, I haven't even yet gained enough experience to be using high end film!

Hmm, then why bother with a name change if it's the same film? Just leads to confusion doesnt it? It's been a while since i've kept up with all the name changes with all the various films. I can understand if its a new formula or something but not if its just repackaging

as far as I know, 160s will become 160ns, and 160c will become 160nc

these have been the names of these films in japan for a while now, so I'd imagine they're just bringing the rest of the world up to speed.

It seems like enough people complained about them getting rid of 800z that Fuji did change their minds and are not getting rid of it after all :^) Their 160 films are going to now become 160ns. Supposedly it's the same film so I don't understand how 160s and c can be "combined" into one film?

Fuji also said they are not going to kill any of their instant films. YES!