lukan Loc: Chicago, IL

I'm trying to phenagle a complete system-switch deal via two stores locally (Chicago), and it is a sizeable deal. It was spawned by a pro-photog friend of mine having available a like-new Canon 1DX. Do you know that neither store's manager has gotten back to me yet, and one is a long-time (25 years) acquaintance of mine?! I feel like calling Adorama and doing the deal through them! It's always timely, not necessarily top-dollar. Top-dollar is here locally, when they call you back!
Bottom line, I WANT to do business locally, but the people make it hard, even though they're nice. :hunf:

pego99

call adorama and ask about becoming a vip member. Lots of freebees including a 8x10 metal color print.

username

I have a mirrorless camera and was unable to find locally, including big box. I did buy some used legacy lenses from a local camera store. Had to drive a town over, because the camera store owner closest to me completely "ripped on" mirrorless cameras - I figured he must not want my business too badly and I did not want to do business with someone that thought the crop factor on my Oly pen was 2x and insisted I not believe everything I read on the internet.

smith934 Loc: Huntsville, Alabama

At least he was right on that score :)

fgavigan Loc: Norwich, CT

I usually shop at my "local" photo shop about 18 miles from home. I have bought some equipment on line but want to ensure that my Photoconnection remains open and available so I spend there fairly often. It's a great place for advice, the hub of our Camera Club and a great source of shooting buddies.

dsmeltz Loc: Philadelphia

I used to work with my local to get a price match because I want to support the local stores.

But my local Calumet just wnet belly up. Don't have a new favorite local store yet. I mean I could walk to Calumet.

:-( :-(

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Very true, unfortunately, many of the good camera stores have closed. This is partially due to sales pressure from the big box stores, from the unlearned camera buyers buying solely on price and not taking service into account and from internet providers giving good prices and fast service. They automatically have a built in savings if they can get around the sales tax. Good, knowledgeable, stores in your location are a treasure to hang onto. Many of them have (either because of financial reasons or greed) become not much better than the big box stores. One here, wanted to sell me a Nikon 1 mirrorless camera and tried to tell me it would take better pictures than a Nikon D4 at 1/10th the money. Now, the Nikon 1 is a good camera between the point and shoots and DX, but it is NOT a better camera than the D4 or for that matter a D7100. It might, in some cases be better than the D3200 but I would probably even challenge that. This is an example of a retailer that probably should find another type of business to be in.

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

I mentioned earlier that I work part-time at a local running store. We faced the same competition from online and big box stores. Fortunately, because although it's a small company, it's very highly regarded nationally, and thus the running shoe companies confer with management on public impressions, trends, etc.

The good news is that the shoe companies have banded together and have become a lot more restrictive on what they sell and to whom when it comes to online and big box stores. They have come to realize that it's the in-store experts that keep the brands in front of the public, and keeps the trust alive that runners have in the shoes they wear.

Maybe the camera companies will come to this same conclusion: that discounters and ticket-punchers actually diminish the brand; that customer loyalty is fleeting, and when consumers shop only by price, they wind up getting what they pay for.

So, camera equipment is a bigger ticket item than running gear? Maybe at first. But when you consider that a pair of $120 running shoes needs to be replaced every six months or so, the expenditure becomes telling.

Try it: Go to any online running shoe vendor, and I can virtually guarantee you that any shoe you find discounted from MSRP is an older, out-of-date version. It's almost impossible now to buy a current model shoe online for any less than you'd pay in a store.

dcampbell52 Loc: Clearwater Fl

Very true. Camera body sales are very similar. Because of the mega pixel wars and everything else in cameras, a body like the D300 (which was Nikon's top of the line DX) suddenly finds itself replaced by the D7100 which was the upgrade to the D7000 which was supposedly the body below the D300. The designs last about 6 months before the camera company has to come out with a new line. The D600 is the exception, due to issued with spots. The D610 replaced it. The D3000,D3100, and now D3200 all were within a span of 1 and 1/2 years. D5000, D5100 and D5200 were the same. However these are entry level cameras and I would never recommend them to a serious photographer.. Great for vacations and holiday shooting but not rugged enough for heavy work. (This is where everyone starts yelling at me about their d3000 etc) I am not saying that these don't take good pictures, just that they were intended for sale in big box stores to get peoples feet wet and hooked on good entry level cameras.
These do not have internal focus motors and many a customer has complained that their "old" auto focus lens doesn't work.. lol it is suddenly a manual focus and you have to set the aperture to f16 so the camera can auto aperture..

HelenOster Loc: New York

Good to read that so many ‘hogs’ are happy shopping from Adorama!
I love receiving your emails - Helen@adorama.com, so if you ever want to give us feedback on the website or the items we sell, or indeed, if you have any queries, or dare I say it, complaints about any aspect of our service, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me directly.

HelenOster Loc: New York

AND loads of savings to be had! All the info is right here: http://www.adorama.com/pages/vip

username

I meant not 2x

username

That is correct, but would have been taken more seriously if that camera store owner actually knew what he was talking about.

Just Fred Loc: Darwin's Waiting Room

Seriously?

FREE registration (the site is confusing: it says FREE, but then says registration is $149)?

HelenOster Loc: New York

Currently registration is free, and membership is forever ie you never need to renew. But the nominal value of all the goodies is $149.