Also from the UK,
As some others have mentioned, I like Calumet because they know what they're talking about - they sell to Pro's and I've had lots of good advice from them. In comparison, I find that I know more then 95% of the staff in the high street stores that deal with amateurs and the salespeople in the big box stores are just plain wrong about almost everything !

American prices are still a good deal lower than UK so I'm very happy to buy from B&H when i'm visiting.

My other habit is to shop for deals from the various retailers who take stands at the annual photo exhibitions like "focus on imaging" each February.

Cheers

Another chapter in the continuing "Why buy local?" story. Purchased a used 24-70 from a local dealer a few weeks ago. It was originally owned by a customer who'd stretched to buy it (cost wise) and never felt he could justify it. He returned it a few months after, never having really taken advantage of its capabilities. It was in pristine condition externally, and in a couple of test shots in the store, which I uploaded to my computer, it seemed fine internally. The price was a little higher than I'd expect to pay for a used lens (even a gently used one), but it did come with a 3-year warranty.

I brought it out to San Francisco with me two weeks ago and this week finally got around to culling through images. It become immediately apparent that something was wrong. On virtually every image, the right side was much less sharp than the left. This was true at varying focal lengths and apertures. Brought it in yesterday, told the owner I thought something was wrong, and showed him one shot on my laptop. He saw it too, also immediately. He shot a couple of test shots against a target, just to confirm what his eyes told him to be true, but then took the lens from me, boxed it up, and sent it back to Nikon, no questions asked.

So maybe I paid $100 more than I would have for a used lens at a big chain or $200 more than I would have paid on eBay, but the difference just paid for itself. Being able to walk in and get a resolutions in 10 minutes is pretty great.

(We'll of course see what Nikon says but that's for another thread I suppose.)

Vistek, Mississauga Ontario. Great bunch of people. Somewhat Tattooed Photographers always make me feel like I'm buying from the people that use the equipment. Most of them have a passion for Photography too, so they know their stuff.

And Craigslist and Kijiji. Nothing beats buying Pro lenses at half price. :)

B&H, pretty much exclusively.

I want to buy something used I check the buy&sale topics of various local forums first, if no luck I buy on ebay. I only buy cheap accessories new and only on ebay.

I'm sorry to say I can't afford to be loyal to one company. While there are People (I know some of my local store managers well) that I try first, I'll buy from whoever offers me the best deal. Sometimes that might mean paying more than I need to on occasion, if it buys future good will, but basically I'll buy from anyone anywhere to get the best deal.

Being in the UK, you do have to be careful when buying from Hong Kong and other places outside the EU, as import duty and VAT can dissolve any saving on local prices, but I've saved £hundreds from buying all over the globe.

sevencrossing said:
From UK
for New Cameras and lens Calumet, they are no more expensive than buying on line
for accessories eBay and Amazon

I have been using Calumet and found that the customer service and responsiveness to be excellent. I recommend them :)

Pierre, I didn't realize that you and I are practically neighbors. I live right down the road in northern Vermont. I used to go to Montreal (one of my favorite cities anywhere) quite often when the dollar was better, but I am going this summer. Any camera stores you'd particularly recommend in Montreal? More importantly, any places you'd recommend shooting?

I used to buy a lot of stuff from B&H, both via phone and in person. The store is pretty incredible. But fair warning: If you don't know exactly what you're searching for you're liable to get sidetracked very easily. More recently I've been buying from a small local dealer. They don't always have everything in stock and tend to specialize in quirky, esoteric items, but they always have time to chat. More importantly, whenever I've had a problem with gear they've been great about standing behind it, something that's not always easy with a larger Internet retailer. I relayed a story earlier this year about a carbon fiber tripod I purchased that had a problem within the first week. They called the manufacturer, got the part, and replaced it for me at no charge. Not saying that B&H or others wouldn't have done that, but it would have been infinitely harder. I probably paid $30 more but that $30 paid for itself.

I always buy from local stores, we have many in the Montral area and I have a account in 5 different ones.

I do not trust EBAY and the PayPal stuff and would use craiglist only for locals purchases or sells. I find people are asking almost the same as a new so saving the tax to lose the guarantee it’s not worth.

On the other hand, I buy all of my computers online (Dell), go figure.

Hello, old threads.....

As it is sometimes asked on NRF about different dealers both online and local stores, I thought a reminder would be good, especially with the lack of product from NIKON and our anxiety about getting the camera and at a good price. So, my caution is this: Before ordering from an Online Store, check out the reviews. Simply putting in to a search engine "(Name of online store) reviews" and you will often find a lot of negative issues about certain retailers. Also, make certain they have a "brick and mortar" store where one can actually see, touch, and purchase goods. The purely "online" merchants may be one or two people who pretend to be a large business yet are just shipping from someone's warehouse and never actually see the goods. It is easy to get caught up in "too good to be true" prices, and in some cases this is exactly the case.

My suggestion to those shopping online is to go to the ones who support NIKON RUMORS and my guess is you will always be taken care of. Not always immediately, but they will never just go away with your money as some of the "fly by night" outfits will do. Look around the website and see whose banners fly.... good reliable merchants.

I buy my cam stuff from Grey market in Delhi .Nikon India retail prices are insane .

I've used them all as listed on this site it seems. B&H Photo and Video has held up the best by so far I just stopped using all the rest and that happened due to my guys who work for me with their frustration with dealing with other suppliers. I did use Amazon but of course then they come from whoever is the merchant dealing with a particular item. B&H seems to have the best policy, best attitude and a visit there in person would be a real experience as their superstore is for real. I used to deal a lot with a local Ritz but then the stores with leases that could be broken or were almost up were dumped and some questionable stores were kept open. It was nice to have a local shop. In this Internet era though I would not recommend that to anyone. So for our outfit now it is B&H. When I lived in California for awhile I had some really well stocked photo stores, but if you are way out there in the wild places (which I prefer) B&H is the connection.

Hi all,

I'm an Amazon Prime customer, so some there, but I'm also a B&H customer.

I've taught in their classroom above their store, too, and the day afterwords when I was to do some shopping, there was a snowstorm in NYC, so I had the store to myself. It was quite an experience.

If you can visit them, you won't regret it.

My best to all,

Mike

Hunt's Photo was my source. Link was removed, see above.

framer

From UK
for New Cameras and lens Calumet, they are no more expensive than buying on line
for accessories eBay and Amazon

Used #1 KEH hand down the best.

Used #2 ebay can not be over looked for specialty items that you can't find anywhere.

New hard to get stuff because it's new and B&H or Adorama want you to order and wait, I go to ***link removed*** I get the name and phone number of one of there stores, call up ask for the manager, tell him what you want and ask that he check the warehouse if not in stock. Pay by CC and have it shipped. I did this 48 hours before the release date of the D3s and had it in my hands one day after it was released. I've done this several times over the last ten years and always had it fast.

Prices have always been the same as B&H on that new hard to get stuff.

Now the secret is out.

framer

I usually, buy from BH photo and don't have to pay tax just shipping to CA. I have purchased from Ritz and Calumet on occasion where I didn't want to wait with no issues.
I've purchased used equip from Keh and fellow phtogs at fred mirandas site.
I once purchased a 300 f2.8 afs-II from FM and received a box of air freshner. The carrier was FedEx and they had what is called an exception during delievery. My guess is thats where someone in house changed labels. The lens was insured and never found. The seller refunded my money and was reimbursed a few months later. I ended up buying a new 300VR because of this and still have it today.

Paddysnapper said:

... 7 Day Shop online ...

Good point, well said that man. I'd forgotten about 7dayshop, phenomenally good prices for memory cards - I buy all mine there.

Welcome to the forums, I'm sure you'll find everyone here very friendly.

From Ireland.

On visits to the UK Jessops.

Spare Batteries etc., 7 Day Shop online

Adverts. on other forums..Talk Photography, Photography Ireland.

One small but well stocked camera shop new/secondhand..Beverley Camera Centre. East Yorkshire.

From the UK...

Jessops if I want to 'try before I buy' - the nearest shop is only a few miles from my home.

Camerabox online for lowest price - excellent next day delivery service.

-oOo-

Occasionally Amazon - if their prices beat Camerabox's.

Sometimes Jacobs (shop or online) - they keep large stocks of small items (bags, straps, batteries, screen protectors, etc)

About 80% of my purchases are from B & H. The rest is from a local camera store. I did just pick up a 80-400mm from Craig's list.

I bought my first DSLR (D70s) from Shutter Bug in Salem (Lancaster Mall). I was there visiting my parents for a couple days and planned on buying there (instead of Seattle). I was very happy with their initial service and subsequent visits. The sales rep I purchased from still asked my mom about the purchase a year later when she went in by herself.

My D700, 80-400, 24-70, flash, etc have all come from B and H and I have again been exceedingly happy with them. The last order from them included a new laptop, 4 TB Home Server, new GB router and miscellaneous other stuff.

For bits and pieces I go to the local Kits, but they are pretty far down the pecking order, sales tax not withstanding.

I buy so much stuff from Amazon, the Prime is well worth it - and now the two day (free) shipping delivers on Saturday, too. And if you're in a real hurry, overnight shipping is only $3.99. I often order stuff one day, and even with the free two day shipping, I get it the very next day.

The best place to buy used to be Amazon because of their pricematching policy. For 30 days after the purchase, if the price on Amazon went down and you emailed them, they would credit the difference. You could get the latest stuff on release day for the lower price of 30 days after release, which is usually good savings.

Now, I avoid Amazon because they are always very slow to ship. They seem to hold stuff up on purpose to drive people towards Prime or additional shipping charges. Amazon "Free" shipping sucks. When I order from BH/Adorama,I get my stuff super fast.

But I wish there was still someone doing the pricematch trick. I guess the .com boom is really over.

I buy at my local dealer but he matchs all online prices. photoprice has price comparison of most Nikon, Canon products