I mostly buy from B&H but when I was looking for the hard to find Canon 5D II, B&H did not have them. I wound up buying from Beachcamera and was very impressed. They were by far the cheapest, had it in stock and shipped it for free and it arrived in two days!
Hard to say. B&H is my solid standby, but I've had great experiences with Beach Camera, Calumet, and J&R and would buy from any of them again without hesitation.
i purchased the bulk of my photographic equipment for more then 25 years (that is since 1977) from B&H. but now the commoditization of these products in addition to the competitiveness that it has brought about has equalized the marketplace. my money has been spread from sea to shining sea to operations that give me both product and service which still includes B&H. its business model has changed somewhat since it was down in city hall area and it has lost it personal approach that i used to receive when i walked in. for some its now the land of awe. for me its just less user friendly.
Sadly all my local brick'n'mortar stores suck so I usually go online to B&H, which seems to always have the good stuff at good prices with good customer service.
Calumet and Samy's in SoCal. I value service over price. I rent Lighting/Grip/Medium format from both of them and am greeted by my first name. Why would I want to buy from someone 3,000 miles from me who can't take care of my rental needs?
c.d.embrey wrote: Calumet and Samy's in SoCal. I value service over price. I rent Lighting/Grip/Medium format from both of them and am greeted by my first name. Why would I want to buy from someone 3,000 miles from me who can't take care of my rental needs?
I have to agree with sjms about B&H loosing the personal approach. You really feel like a mouse going through a maze, and it is not very comfortable to ask to see and hold equipment without feeling pressured.
BH has been great. Even if I'm on the other side of the Atlantic, I have my stuff in 48 hours and that's pretty amazing. Some stores here in Portugal take more time.
