Where to buy equipment in New York?

man1

Hi guys
I am heading to New York in a few weeks and want to get some camera equipment over there (bag, lens, new tripod etc) as the exchange rate is so good at the moment.
I have heard a few guys on here talking about B & H's shop. Is that the one to go to or are there others, would like to go to a few anyway as I like browsing in camera shops.
Any advice appreciated.:)

Carrigman

B&H or Adorama. They are a few blocks apart. Don't consider anywhere else.

man1

Thanks a lot. Just saw that B&H is on 33rd Street. We are staying on 34th street. Deadly!!!

RoryW

make sure you note the opening hours of B&H.
Closes at Lunchtime Friday
Closed all day Saturday

Superstore and Phone Orders

Sunday: 10:00am - 5:00pm
Monday thru Thursday: 9:00am - 7:00pm
Friday: 9:00am – 1:00pm
Saturday: Closed

liamtinney

Dont go near any of them so called camera shop on Broadway, Times Square,
rip off prices, they will try to sell crap equipment for crazy money, they quoted me $899.00, B&H price $69.00 for some sort of lens,

xshayx

Just echo-ing what Liam said, didnt know about the two good ones at the time, went into random store, asked for Nikon f1.8 50mm, he tried to sell me a Sigma 3.5 70-300 for $750 "It'll do a better job" - up yours buddy!

Freddie59

xshayx wrote: »

Just echo-ing what Liam said, didnt know about the two good ones at the time, went into random store, asked for Nikon f1.8 50mm, he tried to sell me a Sigma 3.5 70-300 for $750 "It'll do a better job" - up yours buddy!

Ditto to the above. I got caught (:o:rolleyes:) in a shop on 34th Street - just above CompUSA. Guy persuaded me that what I was buying was a JVC machine - it wasn't - and was utter crap. Luckily my sister changed it for me the following week.

As has been said already - Adorama or BH. BH is worth seeing - simply for the size of the place.:)

Fajitas!

I think I'm staying around the corner from B&H when I'm heading over...

God help my bank account...

CH3OH

I certainly would recommend a visit to Bhphotovideo 8th avenue corner of 34th street. I was there last week and was extremely impressed with the whole operation. They employ approx 1600 - 1700 people between the store and warehouse operations.
It is an awesome store and a little intimidating. Security is quite tight and they expect people to check rucksacks into a left luggage area. Sunday is extremely busy ( as they close Saturday). I was there on Monday and Wednesday morning and the store was reasonably busy.
I would recommend to have a very good look at their website before you visit and have reference numbers for the items that interest you.
The floor area is huge and most cameras are on display in the central floor area upstairs. If you need to look at lens, you will need to queue to speak to a sales advisor. I ear wigged a couple of them while I was browsing and found them to be very knowledgeable without being pushy. On Monday, I spoke to a sales advisor about some Canon Lens which he went and brought for me to examine. He seemed a little annoyed when I asked to look at another one ( he had to walk maybe 50 yds to get it).
Anyway, I went back to purchase on Wednesday and dealt with a different chap who was extremely helpful and genuinely appeared to appreciate the business. I used a coupon I located on this page for the 70-200mm and they had no problem accepting the code.

http://www.supercoupon.com/Coupons/Electronics/B%26H_Coupon_for_Canon

You order from the sales advisor and pay downstairs. You then go to collect you items near the exit

If you haven’t got a flash the 580exII for $339 + tax is a great buy.

By the way, I stayed in the New Yorker which is approx 100 yds from the store! It was just too tempting!

Carrigman

CH3OH wrote: »

If you haven’t got a flash the 580exII for $339 + tax is a great buy.

That's a great price. I got one from Albert recently for €317 incl P&P and that too was a good deal. The Irish price is €550.

man1

CH3OH wrote: »

I used a coupon I located on this page for the 70-200mm and they had no problem accepting the code.

http://www.supercoupon.com/Coupons/Electronics/B%26H_Coupon_for_Canon

You order from the sales advisor and pay downstairs. You then go to collect you items near the exit

If you haven’t got a flash the 580exII for $339 + tax is a great buy.

By the way, I stayed in the New Yorker which is approx 100 yds from the store! It was just too tempting!

Thanks for that info. Did you print out the coupon page and show it in the shop or just write down the number.

I am staying in the affinia which is down 2 blocks I think.

CH3OH

man1,
I had a printout of the coupon page and a printout of the linked page on the bhphotovideo website.
Once he put the item code off the supercoupon page into their website, there was no problem. Some of the prices on the supercoupon page have changed, so worth checking all the links to the bhphotovideo site.

Stokolan

CH3OH wrote: »

I certainly would recommend a visit to Bhphotovideo 8th avenue corner of 34th street. I was there last week and was extremely impressed with the whole operation. They employ approx 1600 - 1700 people between the store and warehouse operations.
It is an awesome store and a little intimidating. Security is quite tight and they expect people to check rucksacks into a left luggage area. Sunday is extremely busy ( as they close Saturday). I was there on Monday and Wednesday morning and the store was reasonably busy.
I would recommend to have a very good look at their website before you visit and have reference numbers for the items that interest you.
The floor area is huge and most cameras are on display in the central floor area upstairs. If you need to look at lens, you will need to queue to speak to a sales advisor. I ear wigged a couple of them while I was browsing and found them to be very knowledgeable without being pushy. On Monday, I spoke to a sales advisor about some Canon Lens which he went and brought for me to examine. He seemed a little annoyed when I asked to look at another one ( he had to walk maybe 50 yds to get it).
Anyway, I went back to purchase on Wednesday and dealt with a different chap who was extremely helpful and genuinely appeared to appreciate the business. I used a coupon I located on this page for the 70-200mm and they had no problem accepting the code.

http://www.supercoupon.com/Coupons/Electronics/B%26H_Coupon_for_Canon

You order from the sales advisor and pay downstairs. You then go to collect you items near the exit

If you haven’t got a flash the 580exII for $339 + tax is a great buy.

By the way, I stayed in the New Yorker which is approx 100 yds from the store! It was just too tempting!

I wish I saw that link before i went over and got all my stuff.. that shall be bookmarked for my next trip over

pete4130

If you have a proper address to get stuff shipped to (not a hotel address, friends house etc...), I tend to buy from out of state and get my stuff shipped to my secure address and this way I avoid paying the State sales tax which can be 8% or 9%...a significant difference if you have a large order!

RoryW

pete4130 wrote: »

If you have a proper address to get stuff shipped to (not a hotel address, friends house etc...), I tend to buy from out of state and get my stuff shipped to my secure address and this way I avoid paying the State sales tax which can be 8% or 9%...a significant difference if you have a large order!

8.375% is the sales tax

and for Nikon Users I found this link for the B&H Nikon Coupon Codes

man1

pete4130 wrote: »

If you have a proper address to get stuff shipped to (not a hotel address, friends house etc...), I tend to buy from out of state and get my stuff shipped to my secure address and this way I avoid paying the State sales tax which can be 8% or 9%...a significant difference if you have a large order!

So is it 8% tax on top of all the advertised prices on the B&H site and in store? Is this how it works?

If I am taking the stuff back with me on the plane would there be any problems with customs on the way back with VAT or anything like that?

(first time in the states or hadn't you guessed.)

Thanks again guys

man1

Or can we get the tax back at new york airport like the yanks do here on their way home?
Should I be worried about the Irish customs and excise guys in dublin??

GristlyEnd

You cannot reclaim the tax and you don't have to worry about Customs unless you have something to declare

Jenka

Have been to BH 4 years ago. I would agree with all of the comments, excellent customer service and they certainly know what they are talking about. You should be aware that if anything does go wrong with your camera equipment, the warrantee is not covered in Europe. I know there is a good saving by buying in NY, but just be aware of this. Also if you buy a digital SLR, and you need to have your sensor cleaned, you woudl have to pay for it to be done here in Ireland, unless you buy your camera from a shop that cleans the sensor for the life of the camera. Just additional little things that we noticed.

run_Forrest_run

Fajitas! wrote: »

I think I'm staying around the corner from B&H when I'm heading over...

God help my bank account...

Red Roof Inn?

nilhg

Jenka wrote: »

Have been to BH 4 years ago. I would agree with all of the comments, excellent customer service and they certainly know what they are talking about. You should be aware that if anything does go wrong with your camera equipment, the warrantee is not covered in Europe. I know there is a good saving by buying in NY, but just be aware of this. Also if you buy a digital SLR, and you need to have your sensor cleaned, you woudl have to pay for it to be done here in Ireland, unless you buy your camera from a shop that cleans the sensor for the life of the camera. Just additional little things that we noticed.

Not true for all brands, Olympus's warranty is worldwide, not sure about other brands but in any case, its possible to buy a third party warranty if needed.

Jenka

I should have mentioned I was talking about Canon cameras. Olympus do stand over their warranty. Out of interest if I bought a Canon camera in Us for $2500, how much roughly would a third party warranty cost? I assume you can choose it to cover 1-3 years?