going with B&H
i'm very much an amateur photographer that has decided to go DSLR. i'm a happy smugmug member, happy member of this forum, and after reading all the great reviews on B&H, i'm going with them for the purchase of my new camera.
i've decided to go with the Rebel XTi. a huge upgrade from my Canon A620 (great point and shoot camera, by the way)
I've never used BH for an overseas order, but I use them all the time for domestic orders. I've had to call them to verify cc orders, but you know what? I don't mind because not only are they covering their butts, they're keeping my credit card from fraudulent use. My account with them is now set-up to verify cc orders through a third-party application through my bank, so even if someone swipes my CC, they can't use it at BH.
I'm not sure where you live, but identity theft and fraudulent credit card use is a HUGE problem where I live (portland, oregon). Any steps BH can take to limit this problem is appreciated by me.
It's ironic, because I've seen other threads on other forums upset at BH for closing on Jewish holidays and people saying they'll never buy from BH because of that. Add that to this discussion, and it's surprising they have any business. Yet somehow they do and I've personally never had them be condescending or rude to me.
I understand you're frustrated by their overseas ordering process, but I still don't think that calls for insulting people on this forum who have had good experiences with them.
At first I was amazed at the completely insane low prices on lenses (look up the EF 24-105 for example). I noticed they had a fairly generic looking website with a link to a ratings site I'd never heard of:
For a laugh, read the few, odd good reviews on this page. They sound as though they were written by thecamerapros.com employees or perhaps some Stepford wives. The good reviews sound completely fake, as though they were given keywords by their boss.
At first I was amazed at the completely insane low prices on lenses (look up the EF 24-105 for example). I noticed they had a fairly generic looking website with a link to a ratings site I'd never heard of:
For a laugh, read the few, odd good reviews on this page. They sound as though they were written by thecamerapros.com employees or perhaps some Stepford wives. The good reviews sound completely fake, as though they were given keywords by their boss.
Pindy, I posted about this ratings site a week or so ago. I did name searches on reputable camera stores such as Adorama, B&H, Cambridge camera, and some others. The only company carried on the site was B&H and the review was a bad one. Like you, I felt the site "RatingsPlanet" was a con. I advise anyone seeing that sticker on a site to leave immediately beforeyou catch some dreadful disease!
I know we have a forum to post good companies but it seems only management can do that and they are not receptive to posting any companies aside from the ones they know or who advertise on this site. Also we should be able to post a list of bad sites such as these two and let people post the good & bad stuff they find.
Photography: the art of seeing the uncommon in the common.
+++++++ CANON EOS XT- 350D - Sigma 28 - 80 mm macro, MC Zenitar EF 3.5/16MM CANON F1n, Canon FD 28mm 2.8 SC, Canon FL 200mm 3.5 Jupiter 9 2.8/85mm used on bellows for EOS & F1 Bellows is M42 thread with adaptors for both cameras. Tair 135mm 2.8 Kiev 88 6x6 camera - Mir 38B 3.5/65mm, Arsat B 2.8/80mm, J26V 250 mm tele
16 various FSU & German cameras
I always deal with BergerBrothers.com, RobertsImaging.com, BHPhoto.com, jandr.com, CameraWholesalers.com, occasionally Adorama.com though last on my list.
watch out : bluestripe photo
I had purchased several items from bluestripe photo in the past ( 24-70L , 24-105L, 70-200 isusmL ) and always had good results up until now. hopefully someone from their orginization reads this post and straightens things out. I was in the market to buy a 100-400 isL lense so naturally i looked at all of the suppliers that i have purchased from before ( bluestripe, B&H, Canoga, Beach ) and saw that bluestripe had the lense for $1,224 or their abouts which was approx 150 cheaper then anyone else. So i called on thursday to conferm the price on line. the gentlemen that I spoke to verified the price and I told him that I was a repeat customer and would call next week and order the lense as soon as the funds came in. he said thanks and I hung up. Yesterday ( friday) one day later the funds arrived and I called bluestripe to order the lense. I told the ideot that answered the phone that I called yesterday ( by the way, read on and you'll see why he was an ideot) and was ready to place the order for the 100-400 that was advertised. I a real gruff tone he says "well why didn't you just order it yesterday instead of calling again today?". I said whats the difference i want to order it today. He says ok but you know in order to get the lense you also have to order filters and an extended warantee inorder to get the same price. I told him do me a favor, I'm a repeat customer and don't feel like getting f****d with. either sell me the lense the way i want it for the price that was confermed yesterday or keep it. he then said that he had to put me on hold and would have to speak to a manager. I hung up. I called back figuring that I had the luck of the draw the first time and they picked this dunce up off of the shelf and told him to answer the phones if anyone called instead of cleaning the bathrooms and that if i called again i would speak to someone who cared about their sales reputation which i never had a problem with before since I had previously purchased over $4,000 worth of equipment from them. "WRONG". The next rocket scientist tells me " well this lense is discontinued from Canon and they replaced it with the 75-300 is usm and its a better lense for less money". He also stated that if i bought this lense i would have to buy the extended warrantee and the UV filter to protect the glass. At this point i realized that bluestripe had slipped into the now "famous INTERNET SCAM ARTISTS foundation". I told him to keep this "NEW REPLACEMENT LENSE" stick it where the sun don't shine and hung up. I called up Canoga Camera in California who I have had other pleasurable dealing with, ordered the lense for $1,399 and had them ship it. Unfortunately living in NY, i only order certain items from B&H because of sales tax. Canoga has always been good, has competitave pricing, and freindly sales people. once agaiin, hopefully bluestripe or someone from bluestripe reads this post, fires the garbage that they have working for them now, turns things around back to the old days or goes out of business if they don't do this, so that some unsuspecting customer doesn't fall into their line of "S**t" and regrets it. wcj
Considering their splendid 4/10 rating at resellerratings, the experience is not surprising. Think about it -- they were, "...approx 150 cheaper then anyone else." Maybe everyone else knows something this place doesn't?
Considering their splendid 4/10 rating at resellerratings, the experience is not surprising. Think about it -- they were, "...approx 150 cheaper then anyone else." Maybe everyone else knows something this place doesn't?
Henry,
I think the link I suggested was trying to show that BlueStripe (or whatever company name is associated with it) is, indeed, a company to stay away from. Did you read it differently?
I think the link I suggested was trying to show that BlueStripe (or whatever company name is associated with it) is, indeed, a company to stay away from. Did you read it differently?
I think you missed Henry's tongue firmly planted in his cheek.:lol
So you decide you're the one who won't get ripped off by using a Brooklyn-based camera retailer. Or you just really, really like their prices.
OK. But at least check out their storefronts before you give them your money. See if you recognize your store among the AKA's for each of these store fronts.
I checked your list but could not find Enterprisephoto Store. I have just ordered a 50 - 500mm lense and now I am worried. Bob Dumfries & Galloway Scotland
I checked your list but could not find Enterprisephoto Store. I have just ordered a 50 - 500mm lense and now I am worried. Bob Dumfries & Galloway Scotland
You mean these guys? Rating's low enough to concern me. They also show a RatingsPlanet link on their page, which is now a known bogus ratings site (BestPriceCamera--the best-known crooks online--show them as well). The oddity is their prices are close to being right, just under the best I've found at a reputable site (sigma4less).
Uh oh. :uhoh:(: Taking a look at their address & the famed Brooklyn Storefront photo site, this place appears to be identified as those very same crooks (see #178 & 218), bestpricephoto/infinityphoto/etc. Another hit on a search here. I'd try cancelling the order, and cancelling the credit card. Good luck, andprepare for some serious suckage. :cry
My experiences buying cameras
I own four cameras right now: two I bought through e-Bay, one privately, one from a local camera store.
First off, I got a good deal on a used Canon Powershot from an individual on e-Bay.
Next, I wanted to move up to a pro-sumer and decided the Olympus 7070 was best for me at that time. So, onto e-Bay and ordered one. Waited. Waited. Called. "What, did nobody get back to you yet?! The Olympus is out of stock, so we'll either substitute a Minolta or give you a refund." So, Minolta sounded like a good brand name to me and I ordered it without realizing the pitch was the old "bait and switch" line.
Well the Minolta DiMage Z6 was nowhere near the quality of the Olympus, but I learned to use it until it started to fall apart.
Third camera came to me via a man desperate for money. For less than $100 I got a well-used Canon G3 which exceeded my expectations for such an ugly camera.
Lastly, I felt it was time to get a REAL camera and opted for a Nikon. After viewing three online e-Bay shops, I thought the best alternative was to head to a local vendor and negotiate a good deal. I had the salesman plop comparable Canon, Pentax K10, Nikon onto the counter and let me hold them. then I walked away and read up on consumer reports on all three. A few days later I returned and compared Nikon's D200 to D80 and liked the smaller one.
Several minute of tough money talk was followed by a signed order form. A week later I had the D80 with a great lens and decent tripod. Without the sales person's advice, I would've bought a second-rate lens unsuitable for my purposes.
Bottom line: you can get lower prices through on-line shops, but if the local vendor will give you the stuff without making you feel financially gouged, then go for it and thank him with repeat business.
I was surfing ebay tonight and saw this shop called DigRev and they looked pretty professional and had (for dutch standards) very good prices for a sigma 10-20. i tried to check them at resellers and in dgrin but could not find anything. did you ever order anything from them? does this look like something you would do? link to ebay page
link to shop
I was surfing ebay tonight and saw this shop called DigRev and they looked pretty professional and had (for dutch standards) very good prices for a sigma 10-20. i tried to check them at resellers and in dgrin but could not find anything. did you ever order anything from them? does this look like something you would do? link to ebay page
link to shop
thanks!
I may be wrong, but I think Resellers is primarily for US-based shops.
I get a good vibe from DigRev's website, for what that's worth. For example, the warnings that their data center will be down for maintenance, and then the announcement that it's back.
I could be wrong, but the place doesn't look or act like it's after a quick ripoff.
I agree with WXWAX...and you have Ebay to help if things go awry...plus they do have brick and mortar shops spread around ....my only prob is everyting comes out of Hong Kong and that may mean duties and import taxes....but if you LOG onto their site you can see that from what I read on their site.
Good Luck and let us know (if you buy from them) how it goes............
I was surfing ebay tonight and saw this shop called DigRev and they looked pretty professional and had (for dutch standards) very good prices for a sigma 10-20. i tried to check them at resellers and in dgrin but could not find anything. did you ever order anything from them? does this look like something you would do? link to ebay page
link to shop
thanks!
£199 appears to be a very good price until you add on the £37.00 shipping, import duty and VAT. The real total to the UK would more like £284 which for me isn't enough of a difference to compensate for the complications with the warranty.
I recently bought a Nikon D80 from Digitalrev, the service was fine. I have recently had an issue with the contacts between the body and lense, every now and then it delovers a fake low battery signal. I think this may be an issue with the D80 rather than the online store. BUT next time I will go to the local camera shop.....support your local guy.
Comments
i'm very much an amateur photographer that has decided to go DSLR. i'm a happy smugmug member, happy member of this forum, and after reading all the great reviews on B&H, i'm going with them for the purchase of my new camera.
i've decided to go with the Rebel XTi. a huge upgrade from my Canon A620 (great point and shoot camera, by the way)
thanks for all the help!
Wow, that seems pretty harsh.
I've never used BH for an overseas order, but I use them all the time for domestic orders. I've had to call them to verify cc orders, but you know what? I don't mind because not only are they covering their butts, they're keeping my credit card from fraudulent use. My account with them is now set-up to verify cc orders through a third-party application through my bank, so even if someone swipes my CC, they can't use it at BH.
I'm not sure where you live, but identity theft and fraudulent credit card use is a HUGE problem where I live (portland, oregon). Any steps BH can take to limit this problem is appreciated by me.
It's ironic, because I've seen other threads on other forums upset at BH for closing on Jewish holidays and people saying they'll never buy from BH because of that. Add that to this discussion, and it's surprising they have any business. Yet somehow they do and I've personally never had them be condescending or rude to me.
I understand you're frustrated by their overseas ordering process, but I still don't think that calls for insulting people on this forum who have had good experiences with them.
Portland, Oregon Photographer Pete Springer
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Dog, Gus and David are cool, that wasn't a harsh comment, I bet they forgot we weren't bullsh*tting in the "back room".
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
moderator of: The Flea Market [ guidelines ]
http://www.thecamerapros.com
At first I was amazed at the completely insane low prices on lenses (look up the EF 24-105 for example). I noticed they had a fairly generic looking website with a link to a ratings site I'd never heard of:
http://www.ratingsplanet.com/merchant_rating.asp?merch_id=1159410159
Not a poor review on this site, which looks like it's on the take.
A trip over to the more legit resellerratings.com showed this rather ugly underneath:
http://www.resellerratings.com/store/TheCameraPros
For a laugh, read the few, odd good reviews on this page. They sound as though they were written by thecamerapros.com employees or perhaps some Stepford wives. The good reviews sound completely fake, as though they were given keywords by their boss.
"You miss 100% of the shots you don't take" - Wayne Gretzky
Pindy, I posted about this ratings site a week or so ago. I did name searches on reputable camera stores such as Adorama, B&H, Cambridge camera, and some others. The only company carried on the site was B&H and the review was a bad one. Like you, I felt the site "RatingsPlanet" was a con. I advise anyone seeing that sticker on a site to leave immediately beforeyou catch some dreadful disease!
I know we have a forum to post good companies but it seems only management can do that and they are not receptive to posting any companies aside from the ones they know or who advertise on this site. Also we should be able to post a list of bad sites such as these two and let people post the good & bad stuff they find.
Michael
http://www.tabblo.com/studio/view/tabblos/mikeb380/
========
CANON EOS XT- 350D - Sigma 28 - 80 mm macro, MC Zenitar EF 3.5/16MM
CANON F1n, Canon FD 28mm 2.8 SC, Canon FL 200mm 3.5
Jupiter 9 2.8/85mm used on bellows for EOS & F1 Bellows is M42 thread with adaptors for both cameras.
Tair 135mm 2.8
Kiev 88 6x6 camera - Mir 38B 3.5/65mm, Arsat B 2.8/80mm, J26V 250 mm tele
16 various FSU & German cameras
I remember andy mentioning this place but consumerist recently blogged about this infamous Broadway photo:
http://consumerist.com/consumer/broadway-photo/broadway-photos-sheistylooking-business-addresses-230560.php
Sorry if i miscategorized this. I thought this would be the right place for the right audience.
Hope this helps out people.
Chris
Detroit Wedding Photography Blog
Canon 10D | 20D | 5D
30 D for $ 1350 with 18-55 & 70-300 (the two lenses are not top of the line, but to start it's great)
BP
I dealt with Broadway about 20 years ago on a VHS camcorder deal. What a mess.
http://donwiss.com/pictures/BrooklynStores/#202
I always deal with BergerBrothers.com, RobertsImaging.com, BHPhoto.com, jandr.com, CameraWholesalers.com, occasionally Adorama.com though last on my list.
I had purchased several items from bluestripe photo in the past ( 24-70L , 24-105L, 70-200 isusmL ) and always had good results up until now. hopefully someone from their orginization reads this post and straightens things out. I was in the market to buy a 100-400 isL lense so naturally i looked at all of the suppliers that i have purchased from before ( bluestripe, B&H, Canoga, Beach ) and saw that bluestripe had the lense for $1,224 or their abouts which was approx 150 cheaper then anyone else. So i called on thursday to conferm the price on line. the gentlemen that I spoke to verified the price and I told him that I was a repeat customer and would call next week and order the lense as soon as the funds came in. he said thanks and I hung up. Yesterday ( friday) one day later the funds arrived and I called bluestripe to order the lense. I told the ideot that answered the phone that I called yesterday ( by the way, read on and you'll see why he was an ideot) and was ready to place the order for the 100-400 that was advertised. I a real gruff tone he says "well why didn't you just order it yesterday instead of calling again today?". I said whats the difference i want to order it today. He says ok but you know in order to get the lense you also have to order filters and an extended warantee inorder to get the same price. I told him do me a favor, I'm a repeat customer and don't feel like getting f****d with. either sell me the lense the way i want it for the price that was confermed yesterday or keep it. he then said that he had to put me on hold and would have to speak to a manager. I hung up. I called back figuring that I had the luck of the draw the first time and they picked this dunce up off of the shelf and told him to answer the phones if anyone called instead of cleaning the bathrooms and that if i called again i would speak to someone who cared about their sales reputation which i never had a problem with before since I had previously purchased over $4,000 worth of equipment from them. "WRONG". The next rocket scientist tells me " well this lense is discontinued from Canon and they replaced it with the 75-300 is usm and its a better lense for less money". He also stated that if i bought this lense i would have to buy the extended warrantee and the UV filter to protect the glass. At this point i realized that bluestripe had slipped into the now "famous INTERNET SCAM ARTISTS foundation". I told him to keep this "NEW REPLACEMENT LENSE" stick it where the sun don't shine and hung up. I called up Canoga Camera in California who I have had other pleasurable dealing with, ordered the lense for $1,399 and had them ship it. Unfortunately living in NY, i only order certain items from B&H because of sales tax. Canoga has always been good, has competitave pricing, and freindly sales people. once agaiin, hopefully bluestripe or someone from bluestripe reads this post, fires the garbage that they have working for them now, turns things around back to the old days or goes out of business if they don't do this, so that some unsuspecting customer doesn't fall into their line of "S**t" and regrets it. wcj
Bluestripe (or Blue Stripe) is provided as alternative name for many questionable dealers. Perhaps in the past you just got lucky.
GreyLeaf PhotoGraphy
Considering their splendid 4/10 rating at resellerratings, the experience is not surprising. Think about it -- they were, "...approx 150 cheaper then anyone else." Maybe everyone else knows something this place doesn't?
B&H Photo-Video
Henry,
I think the link I suggested was trying to show that BlueStripe (or whatever company name is associated with it) is, indeed, a company to stay away from. Did you read it differently?
GreyLeaf PhotoGraphy
I think you missed Henry's tongue firmly planted in his cheek.:lol
Gotta love #202 "Check in the Mail". Wasn't that one of the 3 Great Lies?:thwak
-Fleetwood Mac
I checked your list but could not find Enterprisephoto Store. I have just ordered a 50 - 500mm lense and now I am worried.
Bob
Dumfries & Galloway
Scotland
You mean these guys? Rating's low enough to concern me. They also show a RatingsPlanet link on their page, which is now a known bogus ratings site (BestPriceCamera--the best-known crooks online--show them as well). The oddity is their prices are close to being right, just under the best I've found at a reputable site (sigma4less).
Uh oh. :uhoh:(: Taking a look at their address & the famed Brooklyn Storefront photo site, this place appears to be identified as those very same crooks (see #178 & 218), bestpricephoto/infinityphoto/etc. Another hit on a search here. I'd try cancelling the order, and cancelling the credit card. Good luck, andprepare for some serious suckage. :cry
http://www.chrislaudermilkphoto.com/
I try to follow your advice
I own four cameras right now: two I bought through e-Bay, one privately, one from a local camera store.
First off, I got a good deal on a used Canon Powershot from an individual on e-Bay.
Next, I wanted to move up to a pro-sumer and decided the Olympus 7070 was best for me at that time. So, onto e-Bay and ordered one. Waited. Waited. Called. "What, did nobody get back to you yet?! The Olympus is out of stock, so we'll either substitute a Minolta or give you a refund." So, Minolta sounded like a good brand name to me and I ordered it without realizing the pitch was the old "bait and switch" line.
Well the Minolta DiMage Z6 was nowhere near the quality of the Olympus, but I learned to use it until it started to fall apart.
Third camera came to me via a man desperate for money. For less than $100 I got a well-used Canon G3 which exceeded my expectations for such an ugly camera.
Lastly, I felt it was time to get a REAL camera and opted for a Nikon. After viewing three online e-Bay shops, I thought the best alternative was to head to a local vendor and negotiate a good deal. I had the salesman plop comparable Canon, Pentax K10, Nikon onto the counter and let me hold them. then I walked away and read up on consumer reports on all three. A few days later I returned and compared Nikon's D200 to D80 and liked the smaller one.
Several minute of tough money talk was followed by a signed order form. A week later I had the D80 with a great lens and decent tripod. Without the sales person's advice, I would've bought a second-rate lens unsuitable for my purposes.
Bottom line: you can get lower prices through on-line shops, but if the local vendor will give you the stuff without making you feel financially gouged, then go for it and thank him with repeat business.
I was surfing ebay tonight and saw this shop called DigRev and they looked pretty professional and had (for dutch standards) very good prices for a sigma 10-20. i tried to check them at resellers and in dgrin but could not find anything. did you ever order anything from them? does this look like something you would do?
link to ebay page
link to shop
thanks!
I get a good vibe from DigRev's website, for what that's worth. For example, the warnings that their data center will be down for maintenance, and then the announcement that it's back.
I could be wrong, but the place doesn't look or act like it's after a quick ripoff.
Catapultam habeo. Nisi pecuniam omnem mihi dabis, ad caput tuum saxum immane mittam
http://www.mcneel.com/users/jb/foghorn/ill_shut_up.au
Good Luck and let us know (if you buy from them) how it goes............
Warehouse Express ship this lens for £298
gubbs.smugmug.com
http://www.chrislaudermilkphoto.com/