THANKS Larry and Leigh--

I quickly glanced through the first of the two links you suggested -- just enough to see that one of the stores in question is generally agreed to be BAD, BAD, BAD . . .

There IS no such thing as a free lunch, and I appreciate your helping me re-realiize that.  Now that I know who WILL be my camera dealer, anyone want to help me decide whether or not to upgrade to the 20D???

--Ron R.

BTW, the "hidden" B&H price for the 20D is $1,449.95.  Add it to cart, in case you didn't know already.  It's definitely not worth only 900 bucks.  You get what you pay for.

T-1000

The link I gave you also has free shipping and is over $100 less than B&H - did you look?

One legit lower-cost dealer is www.digialmegastore.com.  I read some extensive reviews (unfortunately I can't find the site again right now) that included all of the lame bait-and-swithch places that don't include the battery, etc. Digital Megastore is NOT one of them. You get the whole camera and all accessories.

Their price right now with 2nd day shipiping is $1327. As of today B&H and Adorama are $1427 plus shipping. Enough savings to make it worth switching dealers but not a too-good-to-be-true scenerio

I've ordered MANY times from B&H Photo, with NO problems whatsoever -- excellent service, selection, etc...  But, now I've got the Canon 20D bug, figuring since my daughter would love my 10D for her birthday, the move up could be justified.

Checked B&H's price -- no surprise:  $1500.  Then this afternoon, while skimming a new photo magazine, noticed several mail-order houses offering the 20D for LOTS less ($900).  However, their websites have HIGHER prices listed, but still one or two hundred less than B&H.  So, two questions here: are these places legit?  Why the discrepancies between magazine and web prices?  And finally, do you have a favorite mail-order outfit you could share with me?

Thanks, and Happy New Year to all.

--Ron Ritcher

Below are two links for obtaining "Camera Shop" ratings:

http://www.photo.net/neighbor/one-subcateg...l?id=2&id=2

http://www.resellerratings.com/

Leigh

B&H is the 800lb gorilla of photo mail order for a reason: you can find it cheaper elsewhere, but be prepared for shoddy service, sleazy marketing, and bait-and-switch BS. It's generally not worth the  hassle.

If the price looks tempting, it's probably too good to be true.  They'll sell you the body with a lower quality lens than the one you ordered, and call it a "free upgrade."  

Stick with B&H and Adorama.  Both are nearly identical in price, service, and range of products.

T-1000

I bought from B&H but found much better prices with the same great experience from www.digitalfotoclub.com .  I have purchased 3 lenses and a 300D from them in the last 3 months, no problems whatsoever, great selection, best online prices from a LEGIT vendor you can find!  The 20D is 1,324 BTW: http://digitalfotoclub.com/sc/product-feat...sp?id=964594780

I recommend them to anyone that listens, and so far everyone has had great experiences as well!

One other place I forgot - Buydig.com.  I never bought from them, but I heard they're pretty reliable.

T-1000

THANKS again to everyone who's chimed in!  Canoga Camera looks good -- except with B&H, I avoid sales tax, and they're offering free shipping IF I decide to jump at the 20D soon . . .

--Ron R.

I'll second kaelaria's recommendation for digitalfotoclub.com. I recently bought a number of things from them because they had excellent prices and generally good reviews. My experience was good, and I won't hesitate to buy from them again.

Enjoy!

-- Jim

Would definitely buy from them again.  I had a great experience both times that I have bought from them.  Good prices too!

Resellerratings.com is the review site.  www.digitalmegastore.comis the correct link.

Ron,  I too have found other items (camera bodies and lenses)
offered much, much cheaper than B&H.
My experiences were horrible with almost everyone I tried to order from.  It appears to be a bait and switch add. When you call the body will come stripped of all extras (you have to buy everything, including warranty. by the time you add up the costs you have paid the B&H price or more) or really rude and I mean reallllly rude salesman trying to hustle you to buy the overpriced extras i.e. polarizers, filters etc.
I finally decided to just do business with the bigger names, including B & H (They have always delivered with few disapointments).
The little bit I might save just isn't worth the aggravation or worse.

One of the best articles I have ever read in Popular Photography was an investigation of the low price mail order outlets for photo gear (even though some of them are major PP advertisers!). It hit a number of the problems that I encountered in my one sad experience, and explained why my naive idea of "insist on getting just the item advertised at the price advertised" does not work: items in the manufacturer's standard kit like strap, battery and charger are removed and cost a lot extra, the camera is belatedly discovered to be out of stock and on long back-order if you do not buy enough over-priced extras, etc.

For example, I was sad to discover that A&M, whose Music World store in downtown Manhattan has a great product range at good prices, runs a sleazy internet photo gear store. They have lost me as a CD customer next time I visit NYC.

Having lived in NYC where many of these stores are, I can imagine that they recruit their sales staff from amongst the three card Monte operators on the streets.


Internet price comparisons have apparently produced almost the text-book ideal of a "free market", where enough customers have enough information about enough competing sellers to produce a common legitimate "market price".

The good news is that there are other reputable mail order dealers besides B&H; Adorama seems to be about the biggest reputable alternative to B&H. But the flip side is that these other reputable dealers have about the same prices as B&H.

On the West coast, Canoga Camera is reliable, great prices, and really great service.  You can call and talk to someone, write an email and get an answer, call for info about a particular product.  I have had no problems in the buying experience from them at www.canogacamera.com.  Same goes for Samys camera at www.samys.com

if they offer to compensate you for posting good feedback

than i would be leery .. you see b&h wont promise you a trinket compared to soem places like buydig.com or whoever

Once again, thanks to everyone who has taken the time and effort to reply;  this site is a wonderful fountain of information and encouragement!

--Ron R.