On October 31, I fully succumbed to a GAS attack and I purchased my new EOS R. It is beautiful, I Love it, and the price had been recently dropped from $2300 to $1800, so it seemed like a good time to buy. Bought the camera, the adapter and the (new) Canon warranty. Oh, and I bought all this at Normans Camera in Kalamazoo, MI. The guy told me I was also buying a new printer - I said I absolutely do not have room for a new printer, and he TOLD me I was buying the new printer - a PIXMA Pro 10 and he was going to sell it to me, and he was going to throw in 50 sheets of 13 X 9 Canon Luster paper, all for $350. And, he completed and handed to me the paper work for a $350 rebate, so the printer he foced me to buy was free - with ink and paper!

Part 2

In December, Canon dropped the price $300 on the EOS R and added the adapter back into the price! instead of $1800, it was now $1500! If I had only waited!

Well, Yesterday, we were in Kalamazoo (its 50 miles from us) and I told the wife I was going to stop into Normans to say "Hi"; and maybe ask a question or two....

20 minutes later, I left the store with $300 going back into my Credit Card!

I have maintained here before that the local photography store can compete with the big boys - I have proved it again. I don't believe the Printer deal would be available at Amazon, and I don't think that most stores would rebate the price difference (a) after 30 days, and (b) when they do not have to look into your eyes.

So, no I did not get screwed, I was taken very good care of by a local camera store that has battled the big boys for 62 years. If you are ever in Kalamazoo - or Grand Rapids - stop in to Normans and say hello the the good folks there. If you can't get there, Normans sells on line at the same prices as the big boys - always have, and they include service at no additional cost.

Support your Local Camera Store - They will always return the support for your needs!

Merry Christmas, Friends.

Hi and happy holidays to my friends here on UHH. I don't post here often but I do lurk a lot, so I wanted to start out with something positive before I start my rant.
Several years ago, I heard on UHH that Abes of Maine was a good reputable camera store, but I had never dealt with them before. Fast forward to Dec. 12. I was looking for a new camera online and noticed that Abes of Maine, (who I have reason think is actually in New Jersey, if so, just another thing he lies about), had a Canon 90D on sale for about $100 less that everyone else. Their website led me to believe that this was the exact same, brand new 90D I would get if I went to my usual favorite stores, (Adorama & B&H). So I bought it. Within 5 minute I get a call from a fast-talking salesman from Abe's trying to sell me a warranty, a memory card and God knows what else. When I questioned the need to purchase a warranty on a brand new camera, it was only then that I became aware that I had purchased a Gray Market Camera! Now I know some people like to save some money and think that gray market is just fine. After all it is the same exact camera, just without a manufacturers warranty. So if that's what you want, Abe's has it, but they just don't like to talk about it, or the fact that they are not even a Canon authorized dealer! To my way of thinking, that is a deceptive way to do business, and so I immediately told the guy to cancel the sale. He responded by saying that he would 'Upgrade my purchase" by giving me a legit Canon USA camera with full USA warranty, plus a memory card that retails for something like $160 and only charge me an additional $79.00 for the entire deal. He convinced that me this was not a gray market camera, so I said okay. Right after I hung up, I had a bad feeling about this.
The following Monday the package comes. I open the package and find the camera packed in a box that originally included a kit lens, but the lens was removed. I take out the camera, go online to Canon's website to register that camera, and found out that they sold me a gray market camera after all.
I repacked the camera and got on the phone to Abe's of Maine.
After talking to no less than 7 people as I was passed around from one person to another and to voicemail, I finally got someone to help me.
 I explained the situation to her no less than 3 times and asked her to send me a shipping label for the return. She said she could not promise that, but would try. Obviously she did not try hard enough, because now it cost me $30.85 to return this item because their salesman lied to me at the time of purchase!!!
Anyway, I sent it back at my own expense, and learned my lesson. From now on I will only buy cameras and the like from Adorama or B&H. Meanwhile, although they sent me an email stating they have issued a refund, as of this moment, my card has not be credited. I was hoping to get that credit in time for me to place an order from Adorama and receive my new camera in time for the holidays. That is not going to happen. If I don't get the refund soon I will file a claim with the credit card company. I would have done that already, but the CC company suggested I wait and give them a chance to do right.
This was supposed to be my xmas present from my girlfriend, so I guess it will eventually be a New Years present, or maybe easter or Yom Kippur! I'll have to wait.

Dave

I am well aware of the arguments regarding UV/clear filters to protect a lens. I don't want to jinx myself, but I have been involved with photography for over 60 years and have never had a cracked, scratched, or other form of damaged from of a lens. So you can understand that I am biased by the fact that even the most expensive filters, and who says that they are necessarily better than the least expensive ones, are placing another piece of glass in front of the lens that I prefer to use to take a photo. I checked with my personal property insurance carrier and they told me that damage from dropping a lens, etc., will be covered by them as well.

I am going on a safari in February and was told, by many, that it is very dusty and to carry 2 camera bodies so I don't need to change lenses. I bought a second body. Now I was told to wrap the camera and lens in a scarf when not shooting, so I got a bit worried about sand, dust, etc., sand blasting the front of the lens.

I started listening to u-tubes about the discussion of filters and various people's discussions about quality and price. When looking for a UV/clear glass filter I noticed that Tiffen, which was really a leader in filter manufacturing in the 1960s, still seems to have filters for sale, at this time. I found some of my old Tiffen filters from the 1960s and they look just great. They new Tiffen filters are far less expensive then other manufacturers' brands. I was surprised to find that they actually claim they make their filters in the USA. I took the chance and ordered one for my lower and one for my upper zoom lenses. I have polaroid filters for other lenses that I will be taking as well, so all of my lenses should be protected.

I just wondered if anyone has had any good or bad experiences with their filters?