# Good online Camera Retailers?



## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

Anyone here have any experience purchasing camera gear online from the US or Canada?

I'm thinking of upgrading to a better DSLR, but all the stores with really good prices are all in the US – The camera I'm looking at is just over $2,000 with a decent lense in the US bu is 2,100 in Canada, no lense. 

Any advice/thoughts?

James


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

As good as the US dollar is right now, it's better to buy from a Canadian retailer because of the warranty. I don't know if you're looking for a Canon or Nikon, but from what I know Nikon Canada won't touch anything that hasn't been through their office, I believe the same can be said about Canon too. The only way around this is if you go and buy it in the US (or in any other country)in person. Can't be done online.
Best bet if you want to buy online, buy out of province so you don't pay PST.

If warranty is not important to you, by all means. But I wouldn't chance it with digital, there's so many more things that can go wrong then on a film camera.

Oh, and if you're still thinking of buying from the US, just buy it from ebay from a HK supplier, it's even cheaper. You're getting grey market any ways, minus well get it for the best price. I bought a lens earlier this year, bought on a Tuesday, at my door on Friday. LMK if you want the name of the seller.

vince


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

Yeah, the Warranty question did enter my mind- it's good to have some clarification. 

Essentially, I have (or my credit card has) $2500 to "spend" and I need:

A nikon D200
one of their 18-70mm lenses
and a CF card. 

What are the odds I could phone up somewhere like Henrys and say, "here's what I have, would you give it to me for this?"

J


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Just a suggestion, look at Simon's Cameras. A terrific photographic store in MTL (my favourite); they also have an online shopping thing. The D200 (body only) is $1949.95 before taxes etc. Follow the _Digital Photography > SLR Bodies_ links on the menu on the left hand side of the Simon's homepage.


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## ender78 (Jan 23, 2005)

I have not bought from them but have heard good things about Camera Canada.
They have a D200 kit for $2466 with a memory card. Since they;re in AB, no PST

http://www.cameracanada.com/eNet-cart/Product.asp?pid=17002kit&type=1

Keep in mind that Nikon is releasing a new camera in three days. This may affect pricing of all other bodies.

If you want to go the American route, I've bought various gear from BHPHOTO. By far the best pricing and reliability I have seen.


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

The D200 is too hot right now for them to give you a discount, and that's if they have it in stock, I was Henry's a few weeks ago buying a casio pocket camera, and asked to play with the D200 for a bit, and asked if they had any instock besides the demo, and they said "no, but we can order one for you".
Yes Nikon is introducing a new camera on Aug 9th, but don't expect to see it until January at least, the way Nikon brings things out. Rumours have it that it'll be 10 mp, and SD memory, could be called the D80, to replace the D70, possibly the D50 too, probably won't affect the price of the D200.

I know its a bit more, but screw the 18-70, that's yesterdays news, go for the 18-200. Or wait until the 9th, and put yourself on a waiting list for the soon to be announced Nikon, probably be $1200 or less, sure you can sqeeze the 18-200 into the budget if you go for the new Nikon.


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## MacMaster (Jan 22, 2006)

*Nikon D200 w/18-70 Lens*



thejst said:


> Yeah, the Warranty question did enter my mind- it's good to have some clarification.
> 
> Essentially, I have (or my credit card has) $2500 to "spend" and I need:
> 
> ...


I can do that deal for you, but you will have to come pick it up and pay by cash or debit. $2500 (taxes in) is pretty darn close to cost price. I don't think its reasonable to expect any dealer to pick up the credit card costs and shipping (not to mention the risk factor).

In a perfect world I'm sure we would all like to buy cameras, computers and cars at or below cost price. But realistically, that's not going to happen unless the dealer is selling grey market product with no warranty, or is on his way out of business.


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

MacMaster- Thanks for the offer, but I live in Winnipeg, so I couldn't come and pick it up myself. It's really cool of you to reply here though. What store do you own or work at?
I know I'm probably asking a lot of a retailer, but it's the gear I need, and it's really all the $$$ I have. 
I currently have a D50, which I really like, and a couple of lenses, but my work is requiring me to shoot more sports photography, and the 5 fps of the D200 is the one feature I need the D50 doesn't have. 

I may wait until the release of the D80 just to see what it's all about. It's rumoured to have 4.5 fps, which may be suitable (if I can get one in a reasonable amount of time)

Of course I would love the 18-200 VR, but It's too much money right now. I'm open to sticking with my Sigma 18-125mm for the time being, along with my telephoto 70-300 and 50 mm prime for portraits.


James


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## mikef (Jun 24, 2003)

I second Simon's Cameras. I've only ever bought a digital P&S from them, but the customer service and email response time was great.


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

There are a few factors for speed. The most important element is your lens choice, what you have won't cut it except the 50. All the other lens you listed are slow lenses, even the 18-200 is considered a slow lens. You need a 2.8. If there's a proper camera store near you, and blacks, japan camera or best buy doesn't cut it. Go in and try a fast lens with your D50, also look at high speed write memory cards. That's were the speed is.

Just saying before you rush out to get the faster camera, you probably won't be able to take advantage of the faster continuos shooting mode if your lenses can't give you the proper exposure to shoot at those speeds. Also if you bought the cheapest cards at the time, that can also make a huge difference. Use quality cards by Sandisk or Lexar, and use only their high speed cards. The other cards are okay for the average user, and any point and shoot, but when speed and reliability is the issue, there's only 2 brands of cards to consider.


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

Now I'm really confused. 

The cards arent the issue- they are all sandisk media, and quite fast. 

The lenses I have have been fast enough for the outdoor sports stuff I've been doing...but I certianly know what you mean by the faster lenses, S&L

The whole reason for wanting an upgrade is winter brings many more indoor sports assignments and I'd like to have the fastest and most reliable gear to do them. 

Perhaps the faster lense is really the way to go...

As I said, now I'm really confused...


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

Just go to a real camera store and ask to see Nikon 80-200, or 70-200 2.8 VR, let them know what you plan on shooting. They'll probably have the same answer for you too. The other lenses you listed probably sit at F5.6 at the 200 mm mark right, that's basically useless even if you have a fast camera, since it won't be able to take advantage of the high speed shutter to shoot 4.5 or 5 fps. You'll still have to shoot at the same speed if your lenses can't handle it.

Don't forget, Pros have shot sports for years using manual cameras, that were only capable of shooting 2.5-3 fps using old fashion motordrives. It's a combination of being prepared for the action, and experience. No camera no matter how good it is or fast can give you that. There's nothing like practice.
But don't get me wrong, I won't turn down a D200 with a constant F2.8 zoom, that's a killer combination. 

But if you need to depend on your camera bag, look at lenses first, then bodies. I use a D70, it just shoots slightly faster than a D50, but the part I didn't cheap out on is my lens selection. I have 4 lens, and it's just all I need. Tokina 12-24 F4 to cover the wide, Nikkor 35-70 F2.8, Nikkor 80-200 F2.8 and Nikkor 50 F1.8. It's all I need, and it covers everything that I would possibly want to shoot. Plus I have all the speed I could possibly need.

If I was in your position, I'd look out for a used 70-200 2.8 VR or 80-200 2.8 with tripod collar. You could buy new, but used will save a few bucks for a sb-800 if you don't already have a speed light. The thing about lenses is you don't need to worry too much about warranty. Nikon have been making some the worlds best optics for over 60 years, and Nikon lenses are bullet prove, and don't have much to worry about, since there is minimal electronics, so no worries if buying used or grey market. 

The name escapes me now, but there is a really good retailer in states that deal with used equipment, and often over categorize a product in a good way ( they would label a lens a bargain while other shops would label it very good, but give it to you for the bargain price). Maybe somebody can jog my memory, but lots of + reviews from people on the camera forums.

vince


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

We shot probably 40K+ sports images last winter/spring, everything from hockey to basketball to skating to dance.

Main lens (99.9% of the images) was a 70-200 f2.8 w/ image stabilizer. Hockey rinks ISO was 1600, basketball ISO was anywheres from 800-1600, gym dependent, skating was 1600, dance was 800-1600, venue dependent. Shutter speeds (wide open @ f2.8) varied from 1/30 at some of the dance events to 1/500 at one gymnasium that had pretty good lighting and white walls (a real treat for both shutter speed & white balance). Hockey was usually around 1/250, fast enough to slow a puck down, if not freeze it. At ISO's above 1000, we used Noise Ninja for noise reduction in our prints.

You will need 2.8 glass (or better) to consistently pull off indoor sports, as most amateur venues have very poor lighting.

At this stage of the game, I'm not convinced that the image stabilizer (=added cost) helps much for moving subjects. Sometimes we turned it on, others times off-there wasn't a huge difference either way. There is some debate regarding this subject on many online forums.

Get good glass. Five frames per second does you no good if the images are all blurry. You can sell noisy (= high ISO), you can't sell blurry.

FWIW, we use a Canon 1D MkII body & 1GB Sandisk Extreme III CF cards. Rarely do we fill the buffer to the point that the fps is slowed down.

$.02


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

Thanks FeXL- the nikon 80-200 f/2.8 is on sale at camera canada

but I'm not so sure about the weight of it. I'll head down to the pro shop Tomorrow and try one out. 

James


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

http://www.adorama.com/NK80200AFNU.html


did you guys mean something like this?

http://cgi.ebay.ca/NIKON-NIKKOR-AF-...4402082QQihZ015QQcategoryZ15215QQcmdZViewItem

How does this look? It's reasonably priced!


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

thejst said:


> http://www.adorama.com/NK80200AFNU.html
> 
> 
> did you guys mean something like this?
> ...


Yes to the lens

The ebay one, that's an old version of the lens, you can tell by the push pull barrel. So it's probably over 10 years old, they're a bit slower with the autofocus. They're still incredibly sharp though. Newer lenses use the rotating ring. My 80-200 is similar to this but no macro. I don't recommend this one, it was great in its day, but new ones have tripod collars on them now, and the old ones won't fit one. This lens needs all the support it can get, cause it is heavy, more so with digital because of the smaller sensor too, I've had a lot of lost shots because I didn't have this lens on a tripod or monopod.

Go for a newer one.

vince


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## scootsandludes (Nov 28, 2003)

The American shop I was thinking about is KEH.com, they've been in business for years, so they're not a fly by night bait and switch shop like most american sellers. They have a lot of good reviews from buyers and sellers on the photo forums. You can also always check resellerrating.com too. They seem to have a few 80-200 there too, probably better condition than the ebay with the dented filter ring, which btw is very hard to dent, so it must've had a pretty nasty accident in it's life to get a dent, which could lead to other hidden problems like soft focus internally etc.

vince


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## FeXL (Jan 2, 2004)

Only thing I've dealt w/ KEH on was a light meter. Transaction was very smooth.

As far as a tripod/monopod is concerned, I've never been able to use one for event photography. It's not that I don't want to (my setup weighs in around 10 lbs, it starts getting heavy after 8 or 10 hours...), I've just never been able to follow the action w/ one. Younger children are easier (they don't move as fast ), but as soon as the action speeds up, I found that the monopod just got in the way. YMMV.

The push/pull lens is also harder to use than a rotating ring type. In addition, there is the chance that dust will get pulled into the lens while extending the length. If memory serves, there are no filters to stop this from happening.

You may want to try The Camera Store (www.thecamerastore.com) in Calgary, as well. Good people to deal w/ & I believe they have a sale on glass right now, too. Most of the manufacturer's currently do, what w/ exchange rates being what they are. They may also have some good used on consignment.

You need to be careful how you carry that lens around, also. If the lens mount on your camera is plastic, you'll need to carry the pkg around by the lens, not the body. The lens is fair heavy and can damage/break the lens mount if you carry it by the body. Higher end bodies deal w/ this by using a metal lens mount.


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## MacMaster (Jan 22, 2006)

*Local Camera Dealers*



thejst said:


> MacMaster- Thanks for the offer, but I live in Winnipeg, so I couldn't come and pick it up myself. It's really cool of you to reply here though. What store do you own or work at?
> I know I'm probably asking a lot of a retailer, but it's the gear I need, and it's really all the $$$ I have.
> James


Check out fotosource.com to see if you can find a local dealer near you. Foto Source is Canada's Largest Photographic Buying Group with over 225 stores across Canada. Your local dealer should be able to match or beat any Big Box Price, and still provide you with service and support.


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

*I did it – Couldn't help it...*

I ordered the Nikon D200 with the 18-70 lense from CameraCanada in Alberta. Came with a free 1 GB compact flash card – I'm super stoked!

total was $2600. 

I gave serious thought to the 2.8 80-200 mm, but I realized I had started off on the wrong foot in the DSLR world in the first place. 

For my needs, I seriously outgrew the D50 a lot faster than I thought. 

I plan to have the D200 for a long, long time. 


Thanks All for the tips and advice. I seriously appreciate it. 

James


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## The Doug (Jun 14, 2003)

Congrats - and _enjoy_, eh!


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## thejst (Feb 1, 2005)

I plan to!


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