The B&h Photo experience.

Pinarello

Hi all,
Just back from a trip to New York.Went to B&H Photo on Monday of this week and would like to thank everyone connected with the Photography forum here on boards who advised me to go there and on the choice of equipment to buy.

It is really like a big Argos of camera stores.Dealt with a guy called Matthew who was an absolutle pleasure to talk to and was in no hurry to get us out the door.We spent almost an hour with him.He let me handle every piece of equiptment i asked about and advised me on all of it.He even advised my wife on buying a Canon compact digital camera.

In the end i went for,Canon 40d with battery grip and spare battery.Canon 17-55mm F2.8 IS (Instead of Canon 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM,i'd loose my wide angle),Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM,Canon 430 EX II Flash,Flash diffuser and two Hoya filters for the lenses.And finally a Sandisk Extreme III 4gb compact flash card.

All in all a very memorable and worthwhile experience.Even if you are not interested in photography, the shop has to be see to be believed if you are in New York, if only for the conveyor system in place there.Now all i have to do is get out and start snapping...;)

run_Forrest_run

Glad you liked it, I had the same experience when I went there last year for the first time. It really is an amazing store, and yes, the conveyor system is so efficient.

Ricky91t

Wow thats some shopping spree you went on!:eek:
Glad you enjoyed
Look forward to seeing our photos

PJW

Pinarello wrote: »

In the end i went for,Canon 40d with battery grip and spare battery.Canon 17-55mm F2.8 IS (Instead of Canon 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM,i'd loose my wide angle),Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM,Canon 430 EX II Flash,Flash diffuser and two Hoya filters for the lenses.And finally a Sandisk Extreme III 4gb compact flash card.

WOW that is some serious spend and cause I'm a noob and also a nosey B*****, How much did this set you back

shrapnel222

Pinarello wrote: »

Hi all,
Just back from a trip to New York.Went to B&H Photo on Monday of this week and would like to thank everyone connected with the Photography forum here on boards who advised me to go there and on the choice of equipment to buy.

It is really like a big Argos of camera stores.Dealt with a guy called Matthew who was an absolutle pleasure to talk to and was in no hurry to get us out the door.We spent almost an hour with him.He let me handle every piece of equiptment i asked about and advised me on all of it.He even advised my wife on buying a Canon compact digital camera.
In the end i went for,Canon 40d with battery grip and spare battery.Canon 17-55mm F2.8 IS (Instead of Canon 24-70mm F2.8 L IS USM,i'd loose my wide angle),Canon 70-200mm F2.8 L IS USM,Canon 430 EX II Flash,Flash diffuser and two Hoya filters for the lenses.And finally a Sandisk Extreme III 4gb compact flash card.

All in all a very memorable and worthwhile experience.Even if you are not interested in photography, the shop has to be see to be believed if you are in New York, if only for the conveyor system in place there.Now all i have to do is get out and start snapping...;)

not surprised he was in no hurry to kick you out the door!!! when you've got a big one on the end of the line reel him in slow!!!:D

Cabaal

nice amount of items to spend money on, curious how much it came to in the end though

Pinarello

Cabaal wrote: »

nice amount of items to spend money on, curious how much it came to in the end though

I just looked at my Mastercard bill online and the full total for the trip to B&H was €3,930.34.I'm not too worried as this time last year i had Testicular Cancer and saw how quickly thing's could be taken away from you.I have to admit that the 40D is a different monster compared to the 400D i'm used to.I didn't use the 40D in New York but when packing away the 400D on Tuesday night it felt like a compact camera compared to the 40D in size.This might sound a bit harsh as the 400D is a beautiful camera to start off with.I'm looking forward to getting accquainted with the 40D though...:)

kensutz

You're gonna love the 40D, I know you were looking forward to it for a while now. Mine will be sold fairly shortly I'd say but for bigger and better things

FX Meister

Looking forward to browsing there next month. Calumet in Belfast is cheaper though so I'll buy what I want there after trying it in B&H.

smelltheglove

Pinarello wrote: »

I just looked at my Mastercard bill online and the full total for the trip to B&H was €3,930.34.I'm not too worried as this time last year i had Testicular Cancer and saw how quickly thing's could be taken away from you.

Glad to you are back on track, my uncle just found he had that in January and is now recovering from the treatment and clear of the cancer.

I wish you a beautiful and happy live with your new camera.

murpho999

FX Meister wrote: »

Looking forward to browsing there next month. Calumet in Belfast is cheaper though so I'll buy what I want there after trying it in B&H.

Can't agree with this.

Looked at the Calumet website and used 70-200mm f/2.8 IS as example.

Calumet price is £1248.99 which is approx €1576 whilst in B&H it's US$1649.95 which is about €1219. Approx difference of €357

Links are below:

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/321-700N/

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/234444-GREY/Canon_7042A002_70_200mm_f_2_8L_IS_USM.html


If I were you I would buy in New York

CH3OH

murpho999 "whist in B&H it's US$1649.95"

Don't forget the New York sales tax : 8.375%

murpho999

CH3OH wrote: »

murpho999 "whist in B&H it's US$1649.95"

Don't forget the New York sales tax : 8.375%

Ok, that brings it up to about €1321. Still a lot cheaper.

Pinarello

shrapnel222 wrote: »

not surprised he was in no hurry to kick you out the door!!! when you've got a big one on the end of the line reel him in slow!!!:D

Shrapnel222,
Have you ever been to B&H Photo?There were people around me buying Nikon D3's and Canon 1Ds Mark III, so i'd safely say what i was buying was small change compared to others.Also the guy Matthew i was dealing with just liked to give good advice.He told me that the last thing he'd like to see me do is to make a mistake by buying something i didn't really need.I wanted to buy the Canon 24-70L f2.8 but he talked me out of it.It was also a bit dearer..:)

Setun

We are supposed to be going over to NY in march with college, don't know if that's going ahead anymore though. Just as well tbh, I'd be best off staying well away from B&H for a while

Fajitas!

Don't get your hopes up about NY, push for Russia instead

FX Meister

murpho999 wrote: »

Can't agree with this.
If I were you I would buy in New York

I compared both of them already,

Canon 50 1.4 CALUMET 235 B&H 240
Canon 50 1.2 CALUMET911 B&H1021
Canon 14 2.8 CALUMET 1492 B&H1517
Canon 16-35 2.8 CALUMET955 B&H1073

You just need to talk to the sales dude's at calumet and haggle with them. Only suckers pay list price. Same goes for B&H, I've gotten them to knock prices down for me before. It is harder to haggle with NY Jews though.

Setun

Fajitas! wrote: »

Don't get your hopes up about NY, push for Russia instead

So I can get some cheap soviet cameras that smell like the cold war? :rolleyes:

Fajitas!

Are you saying there's something wrong with mine?

In Soviet Russia, camera radiate you!

BanzaiBk

Camera equip. is v. inexpensive in Russia (Moskva/P'burg) in my experience.

jackdaw

murpho999 wrote: »

Ok, that brings it up to about €1321. Still a lot cheaper.

even cheaper on Kea...

FX Meister

and less legal too

Mylow

FX Meister wrote: »

and less legal too

Are there degree's of legal-ness?

I am sure people who buy in NYC and Online fully declare goods at point of importation.

I would personally prefer to deal with bricks and mortar store. Calumet is very handy for me only an hour away.

FX Meister

I'd say there are different degrees of legalness. I'd go for Calumet too. Mainly because I can get stuff cheaper there than B&H, but also cause it's easier if there's a problem.

murpho999

FX Meister wrote: »

I compared both of them already,

Canon 50 1.4 CALUMET 235 B&H 240
Canon 50 1.2 CALUMET911 B&H1021
Canon 14 2.8 CALUMET 1492 B&H1517
Canon 16-35 2.8 CALUMET955 B&H1073

You just need to talk to the sales dude's at calumet and haggle with them. Only suckers pay list price. Same goes for B&H, I've gotten them to knock prices down for me before. It is harder to haggle with NY Jews though.

I would really love to know where you are getting these prices.

Here are the prices (with links) that I have found on the Calumet Belfast site.

Please note all prices are in GBP.

Canon 50mm f/1.4 £226.95

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/321-260E/

Canon 50mm f/1.2 £878.95
http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/321-073C/

Canon 14mm f/2.8 £1437.00

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/321-254B/

Canon 16-35mm f/2.8 £918.96

http://www.calumetphoto.co.uk/item/321-260A/

I really wondering if you are getting prices from their American site which would not apply to their store in Belfast?

I do not see how you can claim that Calumet in Belfast are cheaper than B&H in New York. I really wish it were true as it would be easier to get to Belfast!

FX Meister

Like I said, I haggle with them. My prices are based on the discount they offer me and the exchange done on www.xe.com. I got my 5D and 24-105L from them for around €1900 last June.