Purchasing - Vendors

[alwayslearning]

I am looking at buying a second SLR and a lense. I've bought from B&H Photo before and am very happy with them. I just saw at Adorama the same camera, same price PLUS they include a 8GB CF card, which I was also going to buy anyway. Does anyone have experience with Adorama? Is there stuff factory warranty? I don't want any of that so called "grey market" stuff. I'd rather pay extra for the CF card from B&H if in the long run their service is better .... I definitely take that into account too.

Thanks, Larry

[alwayslearning]

On CF cards. One reviewer said the fastest dSLR's write at something like 20MB / sec. so a 45MB / sec. card is unnecessary. I was looking at Sandisk CF Extreme IV (45MB/s) because that is what I got with my first dSLR and it works great. Does anyone know if this is an advantage over say, an Extreme III at 30MB/s at half the price?

Thanks, Larry

[alwayslearning]

Total from B&H is $4040. Adorama amounts to the same. Amazon - $3920; saves $120. The only thing I've ever bought through Amazon is an occassional book.

Any thoughts?

Larry

[egproductions]

Adorama is legit, I've been in their NYC store.

In regards to CF cards, make sure the card can write as fast as the camera needs. For more MP and a bigger burst buffer this means faster required write speeds. After that the write/read speed will only matter to you if you want to offload your photos really quickly to your computer. If you are using the camera to offload and not a dedicated CF card reader then don't worry about the speeds.

[egproductions]

Youve listed the three places I would recommend for buying equipment B&H, Adorama and Amazon. Aside from those places, I only order from my local camera store because I like to go in a try out the equipment and give them the business.

[Jeff Anderson]

Yeah I'll second the vote for support your little local camera shop if you can. BH and Adorama are both perfectly legit but IMO they are too big and really dont care about the customer. I see them both along the same lines of any of the other big box stores.

You can trust your local camera shop for advice and get a chance to hold the equipment and see how it works for you. Buy from them and perhaps they will stay around. I can recommend Calumet Photo though if you really want an online vendor. These guys are great, have outstanding customer service, and competitive pricing. There are a few brick and mortar stores out there - maybe one near you. I've had great luck ordering online from them and had the recent pleasure of attending a seminar at one in Chicago. Great store, great people.

[HelenOster177]

I am looking at buying a second SLR and a lense. .........I just saw at Adorama the same camera, same price PLUS they include a 8GB CF card, which I was also going to buy anyway. Does anyone have experience with Adorama? Is there stuff factory warranty?......
Thanks, Larry


Dear Larry

While Adorama does indeed sell a small number of 'grey market' (or direct import) items, these are always marked clearly as such.

For the first 14 days of your purchase (First 7 days for video and audio), you may return merchandise for a full money back refund.

If you check our feedback at http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Adorama (http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Adorama) , you will see that while our current lifetime rating is only 8.36, over the past 6 months this has climbed to 9.18, reflecting the recent additional investment in customer care and service delivery. However, if you ever have a query or concern regarding Adorama Camera, or AdoramaPix, please don't hesitate to contact me directly: helen.oster@adoramacamera.com

Sincerely

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

helen.oster@adoramacamera.com

www.adorama.com (http://www.adorama.com)

[DivotDan]

I love Adorama. I've never experienced them being too big, as they have always had fantastic customer service. I've bought from B&H too, and have got the responses from them that made me think they are too big....but even that has improved with them a great deal in the last few years.

I always go to Adorama first now, and as displayed by Helen's post....there are great folks available from their store whenever you need them.

[alwayslearning]

Well Helen, I went to the link you provided and read the feedback. Forget you, I'm going to call Ray Garcia! :) (Just kidding of course ...)

Thank you for your input. I'm still working on this. I am sad to see that the HVL-F56AM flash has been discontinued. The 58 is nice but too expensive for me. Now B&H lists having some still but I don't know if they have them for real or will say go with a 58. I'm spending approximately 4K when I do buy but I still care about 150 dollar differences. (I cannot wait to get the SAL-2470Z!)

Still looking .....

I agree with you guys about supporting local shops. That's usually my first choice when possible. But where I live is VERY, VERY limited. I may see wha't in Ann Arbor, MI as that is only about an hour away.

Thanks for input so far ....

Larry, wanting everything NOW but it has to be right.

[HelenOster177]

Well Helen, I went to the link you provided and read the feedback. Forget you, I'm going to call Ray Garcia! :) (Just kidding of course ...) .


Ray is great - he is Pro Services Sales, and truly the best of the best!

But it's me on the front line, trawling the Internet, picking up your queries, problems etc etc - (and the compliments, too, thanks DivotDan, very much appreciated), and ensuring they are fed back to the relevant person or team.

Sincerely

Helen Oster
Adorama Camera Customer Service Ambassador

helen.oster@adoramacamera.com
www.adoramacamera.com