Where to buy Canon gear?

[garyploski]

Possible noob question...

Where is the best place to order Canon gear?

I ask because I've been told that the equipment sold to Costco, for example, is different than to B&H or Amazon. When the time comes for me, or anyone, to purchase a DSLR, lens, bag, or accessories, what would you recommend?

Note: I am in the NYC area.

 

[dturano]

If you live in the NYC area, B&H or adorama are great places to get Canon gear. If your out on the island check out Cameta Camera or Berger-Bros. I find Cameta to have the best prices, i even check there ebay auctions becasue they list prices lower even than there retail site and store, they have no issue price matching and I can drive and pick up from there warehouse.

I usually order from Abesofmaine to save on tax but service and shipping times can be spotty.

 

[garyploski]

Great tips, dturano.

The drive might eat into any savings with gas prices being what they are. Abes completely slipped my mind, thanks for the reminder.

 

[JR]

I like B&H personally and I live in Canada. If I was in New York and could go to their store in person, I would do that for sure. Am sure Adorama is good too.

After purchasing more then 4 "L" lens from B&H, their customer service sold me as a long term customer. I prefer it to my local dealer now.

 

[linuxtuxguy]

While it may be true for some products that what you buy at the warehouse club is different than what you get purchased elsewhere, that is NOT the case for Canon camera gear.

What you get at the warehouse club is exactly the same as what you get at any other reputable merchant.

 

[Quasimodo]

To me this sounds like a luxury problem I live in Norway, and the prices in the U.S. are extremely low compared to here. Right now I have a friend of me popping by B&H to buy me a 2x teleconverter mk III (which saves me 314 $ from the norwegian price).

If I can add a question to your original one... I might be attending a week course at Harvard this summer, and I don't think the schedule allows me a trip to NY, so I wondered if there are any good places you know in Boston or in the MA area where I can get B&H prices and quality?

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

The main difference with Costco cameras is that often the manufacturers include extras, such as two lenses, or add memory cards or cases, even printers in some cases.

This makes it a product with a different sku / bar code from that sold in camera stores, so prices cannot be easily compared. Its the manufacturers solution to allow discounting by adding extra goodies.

However, the Canon or Nikon body or lens is no different.

 

[garyploski]

...discounting by adding extra goodies.

As Quasimodo said, it's not a bad problem to have if all the equipment is the same in quality. I wish I had something to suggest regarding Boston. Hopefully someone else can offer up a suggestion or two.

If my understanding is correct from the experiences noted with the brick and mortar vs warehouse vs online... If I'm looking for service and to build a relationship there are a few to stick with in the NYC area and equipment standards are the same regardless where it is purchased.

Curiously, or interestingly, I'm not sure which, nobody seems to have made mention or online options.