bnsf

Found a new camera store on internet located in N.J. called Abe' s of Maine. Need your opinion about this company. According to the website has been around since 1979 and is cheaper than B&H on Camera Equipment. My other son wants to spend over $10,000 on Camera Equipment and found a Sony a7rii for $500.00 cheaper at Abe's vs B&H. I know the old saying you pay for what you get. Abe's is also selling a 6 year drop replacement policy 100% $599.99 Sounds too good to be true. This is wht l am asking before he spends his hard earn cash and gets what he pays for!

tomad Loc: North Carolina

Abe's has been around since the 70's and has always had a bad reputation. I would not shop there.

jdedmonds

Ditto.

Indylp

Try Roberts out of Indianapolis...great reputation and I personally recommend them
Lp

A. JEAN

Roberts is absolutely honest! Lyle

tomcat

If you are prepared to spend over $10,000 then I would not risk the chance of a bad deal just to save $500. Go with B&H so that you can have the confidence of a satisfied customer if something goes wrong. With Abe's, all you will get may be excuses or an apology and that's it. Listen to what the folks are telling you on this thread about dealing with Abe's

drmike99 Loc: Fairfield Connecticut

Ditto on Roberts. First class. Also the ABC’s: Adorama, B&H, Cameta. And KEH for used. And Hunt’s Photo/Video in New England. I’m 20 minutes from one of their brick and mortar stores.

NJphotodoc Loc: Now in the First State

Stay Away from Abe's unless you want to give away your money! If you want to buy online suggest you look to ABC (Adorama, B&H, Cameta) and throw in KEH for used equipment. If you are in NJ, look at Unique Photo on Rt 46 in Fairfield or Bergen Photo in Westwood and both ship as well

will47 Loc: Indianapolis, IN

I live in Indianapolis and they are honest.

will47 Loc: Indianapolis, IN

I live in Indianapolis. They are honest.

ronpc

What tomad said. Many years ago I live not far from their brick and mortar store. For general Information the shop was not in Maine, but in Brooklyn,NY on Coney Island Avenue & Avenue P. Usually (at that tme) items were left out or Gray Market.

jdubu Loc: San Jose, CA

They do a variety of money grabbing strategies to part you from more money than you bargained for. Switch and bait, break up included accessories and charge extra for cheaper replacements, call you for hard selling upgrades because they are out of stock, etc.

If your son wants to spend that kind of cash in one transaction for equipment, I hope he knows what and why he is getting it. Is it based on dreaming about what the perfect setup should be??? or is it based on practical experience on what he actually needs for his type of shooting? It is very easy to overbuy and find that a lens or light modifier or ? isn't going to be as useful as you envisioned. That can become a very expensive dust collector. Ask any photographer... most will have a piece of kit they regret buying. If he is dreaming, he would be better served adding to the basic camera and lenses as he gains experience shooting, IMHO.

Purchase from a reputable dealer, not by trying to save $500. That will become a $1500 headache really fast.

wrangler5 Loc: Missouri

I don't think I've EVER seen somebody recommend Abe's when a post asks where to buy, and I think I ALWAYS see "don't do it" answers when somebody asks about them. There's a reason B&H and Adorama are ALWAYS on the recommended list. I've personally had a good experience with Roberts, too.

Consider KEH also - the used lenses I've bought from them over the years have always looked better than their published rating, and the one that looked great but wouldn't focus properly was easily returned with just an exchange of emails. I see that KEH also sells new, now, but I don't know how competitive they are on price compared to other internet sellers.

Depending on your preferred brand, you might also consider the manufacturer's refurbished offerings. I say this as one who now uses Olympus Micro 4/3 equipment. Olympus America has an online shopping site with a continually changing list of refurbished cameras and lenses. I've signed up for the email notifications, and earlier this year scored an OMD EM1-MkII refurb for $1275 on a 24-hour flash sale (Original List $1999, available most places today for $1599 new.) Even adding $99 to extend the refurb 90 day warranty to 2 years (a year longer than on a new one) I was pretty far ahead. I've saved some money on refurbed lenses, too. But all of this may take some time if you're after a particular model of camera or lens - most of 'em show up eventually, but they may not be there when you first look. I assume other manufacturers have similar programs, as they all deal with equipment which can properly be sold as refurbed.

jdedmonds

For Abe's to undercut a B&H price by five yards it is almost certain that Abe's is going to ship you a grey market item.

bnsf

Thanks all of you. I purchased all my camera equipment years ago from B&H but you know how kids are they want it the cheapest regardless what they are told.