junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Very interesting, thanks.

loperR Loc: Medina ,Ohio

Try Refurbish at Canon store ,one year warranty .

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

I prefer to buy from a business that will make a profit and stay in business - rather than the manufacturer.

These are my dealers: Adorama, Amazon, B&H, Cameta, Costco, Crutchfield, Hunt’s, Robert’s. One authorized dealer will charge almost exactly what another one will charge.

As Selene said, try to avoid FedEx delivery.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

👍👍👍

jerryc41 Loc: Catskill Mts of NY

Speaking of dealers, I received an email from Abe's of Main yesterday. They have very good prices.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Already well answered - but I want to double-down: Amazon is a for-rent store-front as well as a store. So - they may sell a lens, Canon may pay a fee for them to store that lens and sell it for them, or Jako in Jersey may sell gray-market Canon lenses through Amazon. Be sure who you are buying from. I buy - carefully - from Amazon, but I also like buying from our trusted major dealers - I have never had a problem with them and feel comfortable knowing that they may be more responsive to problems than a giant company. BH Photo Video may now have to charge sales tax - but they do give you a 4% gift card (only good for six months or so).

Country Boy Loc: Beckley, WV

I use B&H and Amazon but I do wonder at times if purchasing from the company direct would provide a camera that has less bumps and bangs. If you purchase from anyone other than the company direct it gets ordered by that company and who knows how old the shelf stock is or how many times it has been stocked and restocked and shipped multiple times. It does not seem to be a problem but something I think of at times.

MarcH Loc: Doylestown Pa

B&H or Adorama
Fast shipping,great service

markngolf Loc: Bridgewater, NJ

Jim,
Prices are always the same for authorized Canon dealers. All of those mentioned are authorized dealers. Returns are very easy with B & H and Amazon.
It's your choice.
Mark

fetzler Loc: North West PA

My choices would be

B&H or Adorama
Cannon
Amazon
A Local Camera Store
Best Buy would be last.

B&H or Adorama will resolve any problems quickly.

junglejim1949 Loc: Sacramento,CA

Good point, I care about customer service and return policy.

sb Loc: Florida's East Coast

Not to mention buying refurbished from Canon - full warranty and the product has been inspected and fine-tuned if needed. I have purchased several refurbished items from Canon and have always been happy with them - although the difference in price from new is not always very much....

genocolo Loc: Vail and Gasparilla Island

I suggest you add Adorama to your list. Great selection, reputation, return policy.

amfoto1 Loc: San Jose, Calif. USA

Depends upon what you're buying. If it's a fairly high ticket Canon item, B&H might be a little lower price. Last time I looked, they weren't charging CA sales tax. (This is changing after a recent court decision saying that online retailers are supposed to collect sales tax too, based on the buyer's location... I'm not sure whether it's been implemented or not, yet.)

The other three will charge 8.5% in addition to the price of whatever you buy. They all have brick & mortar stores and facilities here in Calif. B&H doesn't.

If buying something like a $3000 Canon 5D Mark IV, that 8.5% sales tax amounts to $255.

Now, when you make a purchase like that and sales tax isn't collected, you're supposed to report the purchase, calculate the tax on it and send a payment along with your 2019 state income tax in 2020. Not doing so is against the law and I'd certainly never encourage anyone to break the law.

Other than that, it's possible to get free shipping from B&H, Canon... possibly Amazon too... and Best Buy is local, so no shipping involved (just your gas driving there).

Retailers also sometimes throw in things to sweeten the deal. For example, with the purchase of a lens from B&H a couple years ago I got a free B+W XS-Pro Circular Polarizing filter. With camera purchases in the past I've gotten a free inkjet printer and free external hard drive. At the very least, many times B&H and Adorama include free memory cards and maybe a camera bag with cameras. Their "sweeteners" are useful, quality items (unlike some of the utter crap I see sometimes bundled from other retailers... such as some of the "vendors" on Amazon).

Personally I will never buy anything from the local retailer you mention. Their photo dept. at the store near me is poorly stocked and have ripped me off in the past. The sales staff flat out lied to me and they overcharge hugely for accessories. I needed to buy some memory cards immediately for a job, otherwise I'd have bought elsewhere... they were selling inferior items at inflated prices. It may be different at other stores in that chain, if a local manager works harder to maintain a good photo dept.

As some others have mentioned, on Amazon I will mostly only buy from known retailers or Amazon Direct (Prime w/free shipping and other perks).

cjc2 Loc: Hellertown PA

Although I do love my B&H and Adorama as well, I would finding a local dealer as most good ones would also have the same price. I believe in supporting local dealers, when that makes sense, to help keep them in business so they'll be there when I need them. Best of luck.