Where to buy?

squareballoon

Where is the best place to buy photography equipment?

Internet sellers like ebay
Internet stores like pixmania et al
Physical Shop

I've only ever bought online and never had any problems but is the aftersale service in a shop (like Conns) worth the extra money?
I can claim back VAT so that's not a problem.

Creamy Goodness

i've only bought two things for my camera in a brick and mortar store.

a tripod and a shutter release cable.

only reason for buying in a store was i needed them ASAP.

my 450d was bought from 7dayshop.com

and all my lenses

50mm f/1.8 - Kea-photo
70-200mm f/4.0 - Kea-photo

and i have a...

100mm f/2.8 macro on a plane in hong kong at the moment from you guess it - Kea-photo.

seriously if i priced up my lenses here and priced them up with kea-photo i could have had a small holiday for two people with all the money i have saved. think i saved 350 euro on the 70-200mm alone :eek:

challengemaster

I got my 50mm f/1.8, 24-70L & 70-200L off Kea Photo - Excellent service + prices.
I just ordered my 5D mkI from 7dayshop.com - for quite a decent price!

Around this time of year, customs are a bit more careful I'd assume, and any HK sellers who would mark their packages as 'gift' might get caught out. I'd reccomend buying from inside the EU if buying over the Xmas month..

whyulittle

Did you manage to get a body only from 7dayshop CM?

squareballoon

thanks for that advise. How do warranties work if buying from somewhere online?

I can't get anything from a Kea-photo search. It comes up as an empty site.

stylie

kea-photo seems down at the moment...Ive had no trouble from hong kung supplies in the past http://www.hksupplies.com/

nilhg

Since the OP can reclaim VAT it wouldn't seem to make any sense to buy from outside the EU, and it will also make the warranty situation easier.

The warranty will be the same whether bought online (inside the EU) or bricks and mortar, though the shop might look after shipping it back to the manufactuer's service agent for you, if you are buying pro spec gear the shop might give you a loaner while yours is away but that would depend on how good of a customer you are.

As for where to buy there's loads of info in the FAQ in the stickies.

challengemaster

whyulittle wrote: »

Did you manage to get a body only from 7dayshop CM?

Nah, Picked up a kit with a 24-70L that i'll be selling off

squareballoon

Thanks a million that's all I needed to know. I think I'll go with 7dayshop as that's vat included and a UK company.

Thanks again everyone!:)

Creamy Goodness

stylie wrote: »

kea-photo seems down at the moment...Ive had no trouble from hong kung supplies in the past http://www.hksupplies.com/

kea are in the process of making their own webstore.

for the moment you can email Albert at albert[at]keaphoto[.]com with what you want and he'll say whether he has it or not and his prices.

delly

I got my Canon 1000d from jessops.co.uk, my nifty fifty lens is on order from 7dayshop.com, cable release from eBay, SD memory card from eBay and UV filter from eBay.

Bertie Bassett

I was thinking of going to Jessops in Newry next week to buy a 450D and I tried ringing their Newry shop but couldn't get any answer. Does anybody know if they still have a shop in the Buttercrane Centre?

whyulittle

I was there a month ago, and they were there then. Try 02830 833818.

Mylow

whyulittle wrote: »

I was there a month ago, and they were there then. Try 02830 833818.

If your ringing from South the number to use is 048 3083 3818, charged at National rate.
If you ring 028 you will get a Cork area number. According to their website number above is fax number. They use a UK local rate number 0845.

You could try 048 9023 6610, this is number for Belfast store, they maybe able to help you with a proper landline number.

whyulittle

I had to ring their Lisburn store, so I dropped the 0 and added +44 and got through no problem. If they can't get through with the number on the website, the number I posted is what was given to me by their CS.

Bertie Bassett

Thanks Whyulittle and Mylow, I got through to Jessops, Newry on 00442830833818 and they confirmed they have the 450D is stock, so I won't be making wasted journey:D

squareballoon

rather than start a new thread I just wanted to ask if people thought I would be mad to buy a 5D when the 5D mark II is out?
I rang Conns to get a price on the 5D and they said that while they had lots of second hand ones they weren't stocking anymore new ones.

I'm so worried about making the wrong financial decision but I've used a 5D before and loved it.

whyulittle

My trip to Jessops was to pick up a 5D MkI, and I don't regret my decision. Video is of no benefit to me, and will hardly need to use mega-high ISO either. Was able to add a couple of lenses to it as well, for the price of the MKII.

squareballoon

Thanks, that's made me feel a little calmer. I'm in the same position. I won't need video although the high ISO would be of benefit to me. I don't have the money to justify it though and if I buy this I'll have a lens I can sell so recoup some of the cost.