Online Camera Shops?

ANy good ones?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/

Adorama seems to be good as well. one-call up in washington too.

Gotta put in a plug for Samy's Camera. 5 stores in SoCal. Always have what I need... www.samys.com .

zotsdigital.com i believe it is.

Use B & H as a benchmark. You can shop around and save a couple bucks, but it probably isn't worth the risk.

Be careful, there are a lot of bad photo equipment sales web sites on the net.

There are many reputable shops out there. If you're ever curious, look up the shop on www.resellerratings.com . You'll quickly find out if they're good or bad.

Another quick way is look on their website for a mailing address or retail locations. If it's hard to find... stay away. If it's located in Brooklyn, NY... stay away (that is a stereotype, but it holds true for 90% of bad online vendors)... and if they have a phone number in 718, stay away...

Good:
www.adorama.com
www.samys.com
www.bhphotovideo.com
www.glazerscamera.com
www.calumet.com
www.ritzcamera.com

BAD (STAY FAR AWAY):
www.digitalliquidators.com
www.broadwayphoto.com
www.royalcamera.com
www.amphotoworld.com
www.ubdigital.com


If you want to see what those bad camera shops' "stores" look like, take a look here: http://www.panix.com/~donwiss/pictures/BrooklynStores/ .

If, after you place an order, you get an e-mail telling you to "call to confirm your order"... chances are it's shady. Usually, they want you to call so they can up-sell you on accessories, and if you don't buy more things, they'll tell you that your item is back-ordered, even if it says "in-stock" on their website.

There's a lot more I could write about buying online..... but the best advice I can give you is that if something feels at all shady or sketchy, don't commit to it.

I worked in a camera shop for quite awhile, and I've bought a lot of camera equipment from various places over the last 5 years...I've seen how a lot of these things go down.

Mike


EDIT: fixed incorrect link

(Message edited by isler on September 01, 2005)