Originally Posted by pinniped
Here is my dilemma: Canon, Nikon, Minolta, and Sony all have fairly new "prosumer" models out now, released in late '03 or early '04. All have received fine reviews from the main review sites. All of them sell for $650-800 shipped. The problem is that I haven't found a single vendor that offers these cameras at a fair price and
doesn't have pages and pages of very negative customer reviews from people who have been baited-and-switched, had their camera never show up, had a camera show up without the UPC bar code (I guess the code tore off when it fell off the truck
), etc., etc., etc. Problem after problem - and the only positive reviews look like poorly-written planted comments. I know the easy way out is to go to my local high-end camera store and pay about $1100 for the $650 camera, but know walking out the door that I have what I paid for.
Or...I can wait until Costco has what I want. (They are always a few months behind, but they frequently have good stuff at 10-20% higher than the best online price, which is a premium I'd be willing to pay to walk out with the gear in hand.)
So my question is: how do you guys buy cameras? I have always had great luck buying computer gear from deep-discount online shops, but camera stuff seems to be different. Ripoffs abound. And is it any coincidence that every single online camera vendor is based in Brooklyn? Is it just one big company?
I recenty purchased the Canon 10D. The "reputable" mail order camera shops will sell you the camera, but at not much of a discount from retail for the new models. The other downside is they pressure you to buy accessories at inflated prices. They are masters of the hard sell.
I also checked out my local retail mom-and-pop shops like Ritz, but found the prices no lower and their technical knowlege quite lacking.
I bit the bullet and went to my local pro-photography shop and paid the retail price. I made them very happy and supported a local business.
Edited to add: Don't forget to add in the cost of the lenses. Good glass can easily exceed the price of the camera body itself!