Some recent AK photo's

[JohnPF]

I was told what often is sold by the Internet discount shops is equipment "Made in Phillipines" not in Japan. Fakes. Adorama is a reputable source. Sort of hard to browse IMHO.

I am buying Canon T1i right about now and looking for a best buy. Safe best buy. I will buy on the Internet as there is no tax and free shipping. And than there is the extended warranty issue.
But 15mega, full HD movie and large screen/ electronics from upper end models that finally came down to consumer cameras.
Not the NY stores- there are real horror stories about those guys- same owner, giving themselves positive opinions. I called one once asking for an underwater camera that I was going to buy for a friend in Poland. And had not much time before leaving. The emotionless voice of the guy: yes, we have it in stock, yes you should get it on time just raised my guard. He just did not care. I bought it elswhere and got it on time. My friends with Nikon D300, Canon 50D all bought at Adorama. Plus lenses. Things out of stock get charged only when stock arrives. No gimmicks. That's all I can say.

Grannys, with the new models just on the market, the basic digital slr models became much cheaper and they are still great cameras for half the money!

[RayinAK]

Originally Posted by JohnPF

I was told what often is sold by the Internet discount shops is equipment "Made in Phillipines" not in Japan. Fakes. Adorama is a reputable source. Sort of hard to browse IMHO.

I am buying Canon T1i right about now and looking for a best buy. Safe best buy. I will buy on the Internet as there is no tax and free shipping. And than there is the extended warranty issue.
But 15mega, full HD movie and large screen/ electronics from upper end models that finally came down to consumer cameras.
Not the NY stores- there are real horror stories about those guys- same owner, giving themselves positive opinions. I called one once asking for an underwater camera that I was going to buy for a friend in Poland. And had not much time before leaving. The emotionless voice of the guy: yes, we have it in stock, yes you should get it on time just raised my guard. He just did not care. I bought it elswhere and got it on time. My friends with Nikon D300, Canon 50D all bought at Adorama. Plus lenses. Things out of stock get charged only when stock arrives. No gimmicks. That's all I can say.

Grannys, with the new models just on the market, the basic digital slr models became much cheaper and they are still great cameras for half the money!

B&H, and Adorama are from NY, and perhaps the most reputable camera dealers in the US. There are a few others, too. But B&H is huge!

[notreesininceland]

I cited the B&H price because that establishes a baseline price. I can understand a store offering, say, $100-$150 less than B&H, but $699 points to a sure scam.

It is always best to buy from reputed vendors like B&H, Adorama (these two set the gold standard), Amazon, 17th Street Photo, Calumet Photo, Canoga Camera and so on. You may not get the cheapest deals here, but you can sleep well knowing you bought a genuine article. Then there are the return policies. These reputed stores will easily swap out a defective item or give you a quick refund. Not so with the other stores which often make you run through hoops.

Don't fall for the sweet deals at these stray online stores. It is often a bait & switch. Snare you in with what sounds like a super deal, but then you discover that you have to buy the battery separately, or there is no warranty, or to get that super deal you have to buy a stack of compact flash cards. Suddenly the super deal doesn't look so super.

Bottomline: stick to the reputed stores.

[warptman]

Third day on T-storms skirting Bethel


Brother using my boat, I still haven't taken it out yet.

[Jerseykat]

Hey Wartp is this the brother with the dog you want to ummm acquire?
When he's out on your boat that would be a convenient time for
a dog-napping.

[warptman]

That is a great idea! Hasn't seen Buddy in a while...interesting!

[JohnPF]

Originally Posted by RayinAK

B&H, and Adorama are from NY, and perhaps the most reputable camera dealers in the US. There are a few others, too. But B&H is huge!

Yes, it is not good to be so broad and not detailed:
I meant the "NY stores" that pop up at top of any search for cameras with prices lower by hundreds than others.

[JohnPF]

Warpt that boat looks like a lot of fun to run. I am currently restoring an 18' SwitzerSS that I have a 175hp Merc for. That is promising to say the least.

[warptman]

Paid $3000 for the boat and $1500 for the 50hp Yamaha, it's not bad at all!

[Moose Whisperer]

Originally Posted by notreesininceland

I cited the B&H price because that establishes a baseline price. I can understand a store offering, say, $100-$150 less than B&H, but $699 points to a sure scam.

It is always best to buy from reputed vendors like B&H, Adorama (these two set the gold standard), Amazon, 17th Street Photo, Calumet Photo, Canoga Camera and so on. You may not get the cheapest deals here, but you can sleep well knowing you bought a genuine article. Then there are the return policies. These reputed stores will easily swap out a defective item or give you a quick refund. Not so with the other stores which often make you run through hoops.

Don't fall for the sweet deals at these stray online stores. It is often a bait & switch. Snare you in with what sounds like a super deal, but then you discover that you have to buy the battery separately, or there is no warranty, or to get that super deal you have to buy a stack of compact flash cards. Suddenly the super deal doesn't look so super.

Bottomline: stick to the reputed stores.

Yep, I've heard stories about some of those "deep discount" NY stores that actually open the original manufacturer's box and take out things like the battery, charger, etc. then try to scam you for big bucks when you try to buy them back! No thanks, often time I've willingly paid 20 or 30 bucks MORE just to buy from one of the reputable, established big names mentioned above.

Sometimes I will also gladly pay a little extra to buy something from our local Anchorage camera shop. Particularly if it's a convenience thing, I have no problem with helping support their business.

Of course, sometimes the fly-by-night outfits can work to one's advantage. Way back in the old film days (mid '90s) I bought a Nikon N90s 35mm film body from one of "those guys" in NY. This was actually a phone in order as there was no WWW at that time - I know, hard to believe! Well, apparently this outfit was so cheezy that they shipped my camera, but then closed up shop before ever charging my Credit Card! SWEET!!!

By the time I noticed the charge never came thru, there was no one left to call and ask! Best deal I ever got on a camera! And to this day that camera still works just fine, I even powered it up the other day and it still works like the day it arrived in the mail. Just a little hard finding film these days!