Canon 24-70 2.8 ll, Thanks BuyDig.com and Canon Rumors

[rlarsen]

Thanks to BuyDig.com and Canon Rumors for the 5% discount on select Canon bodies and lenses.
I decided I wasn't going to purchased the over-priced 24-70 2.8 ll until I found a deal from a reliable seller.
Canon Rumors and BuyDig worked together to offer special pricing. The 5% turned into a $100 savings on a lens that's hard to find on sale. BuyDig.com also offered a Hoya uv filter, a modest lens cleaning kit, and rush shipping.

I had purchased from BuyDig.com many years ago but was reminded what a class act they are. The service could not have been better. They offered free, 2-day shipping, but sent my US warranty lens next day air.
The included 82mm Hoya filter was excellent quality and saved me nearly $70. My local camera repair man put a scope on it and told me it is as sharp as I could get at any price.

BuyDig.com is a quality online dealer, I hope Canon Rumors will continue to team up with them to offer discounted pricing.

The mid-range zoom is my most used lens for professional work. When Canon introduced the 28-70 2.8 L many years I immediately added to my kit, and then up-graded to the 24-70.

After a lot of thought I'm glad I got the 24-70 2.8 ll. It's sharper, has better contrast, focuses fast, and
is most impressive when shooting back-lit subjects.

The popular new lens is not perfect in my opinion. Though it costs an extra $1000, the focal length is not the same. It's wider, and I'm not happy to give up focal length at the long end. If version 1 is 70mm, the new one falls short of that. I wrote about it in a previous post and some photographers didn't like it. Some said it wasn't true, others said they don't care, and a couple people wrote about "focus breathing." The new lens is wider ! I have both and I can see it's not even close. The MK ll doesn't focus nearly as close either, and that doesn't help me at all.
The new lens has a zoom lock and I'm not sure why since the zoom ring is so stiff.

I appreciate the deal from BuyDig.com and Canon Rumors, and I'm glad I purchased the lens. For the extra $1000, I sure wish the focal length and minimum focus distance matched the older, less expensive zoom.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Beach Camera and Buydig are the same outfit. Sometimes Buydig sells for a little less. They have not had the best reputation over the years, the real test comes when something goes wrong and you need customer support. The internet has helped some outfits clean up their act. Poor customer service news spreads quickly and can really hurt sales.

I'm glad your deal went OK, I think most of them do.

 

[rlarsen]

I did contact customer service about a problem and got immediate help. I used a discount code I found online for $5 savings and it turned out that prevented their 5 percent discount from showing up when I completed my order. When I called customer service they explained what happened and quickly corrected the order to include both the large and the small discounts. They were friendly, helpful and fast.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

I did contact customer service about a problem and got immediate help. I used a discount code I found online for $5 savings and it turned out that prevented their 5 percent discount from showing up when I completed my order. When I called customer service they explained what happened and quickly corrected the order to include both the large and the small discounts. They were friendly, helpful and fast.

That's good. They have a 75% rating on reseller ratings which is not too good, but not horrible either. People tend to be quick to complain, but slow to give praise, so go to Reseller Ratings and tell of your experience.

 

[K-amps]

Anyone has experiences with Big Value Inc? Selling the 24-70ii for $1957...!

 

[Canon Rumors Guy]

I'm glad your experience went well. BuyDig.com has been pretty aggressive (in a good way) to become a partner with Canon Rumors and other web sites. I demand their service and process are top notch and if there's any issues in that regard, I'd pull all their links from the site.

So far so good. As with any retailer, the odd issue is going to come up, and how they handle it will dictate how successful they're ultimately going to be.

Enjoy the lens.