buying advice

[paigew]

So I was going to purchase the mark iii today (refurb) but BHphoto sold it So I am trying to find another seller. Has anyone bought from Ryther Camera or 42nd street?

Basically what I am asking is, is it stupid to buy from someone other than adorama/bh/amazon?

 

[Derrel]

I've bought a couple of items from 42nd street Photo over the last 25 years. I bought a very expensive Bronica SQ-A series 150mm f/4 PS medium format lens from them at a ridiculously low price back in the pre-internet era, and later a Sunpak 622 Super flash. My old friend David F. bought a Fuji S2 Pro d-slr from them, which was at the time a $2495 d-slr body, and he got it far cheaper than that then-current normal retail price. 42nd Street has always been a low-price specialist. I have not bought anything from them in a long,long time.

I do NOT think it is stupid to buy from other vendors besides B&H or Adorama. Neither place is the "low-price leader" that they used to be, now that they have driven so many other smaller dealers out of business. In fact, when an item is scarce, I have seen B&H price-gouging, by up to $1,000 per lens for example, on the Nikkor 200-400 AFS-VR-G pro zoom lens. Of course, that was when the lens was new, and was "the hot ticket". I was able to locate seven 200-400 VR-G lenses here in town, 3,000 miles from B&H, all for sale at $1,000 UNDER THE B&H PRICE at that time. WITH full USA warranty, and original manufacturer's packaging. The 70-200 VR-G was the same way, priced at well over MSRP when new, but was not gouged to such a high percentage, when it was new.

At times, when items are in short supply, oftentimes the "big five" dealers will be sold out, and the only place to get hard-to-find items is "elsewhere".

 

[grafxman]

I've never bought anything from Ryther however a few years ago I did buy something from 42nd Street, don't recall what now, and I tried to get a refund. IIRC it wasn't anything especially expensive. Anyway, I remember it being a bit of a hassle. IIRC they charged a restocking fee, made me pay return postage (which Amazon doesn't do) and some other thing I can't remember now. I think it was something that wasn't what it was represented to be. Anyway that pretty much soured me out on 42nd St. I'm sure many folks have had an excellent experience with them. I don't imagine they're much trouble if you're happy with what they send you. They are both highly rated here:

RytherCamera Reviews - rythercamera.com Ratings at ResellerRatings

42nd Street Photo Reviews - 42photo.com Ratings at ResellerRatings

 

[paigew]

Thanks Derrel! I did some more digging for reviews etc. and it seems they both sell a lot of grey market items so I decided against it. I found a seller on ebay selling brand new, non grey market, with full warranty for $2900. I'm so excited to finally go FF!! I should have it by next week :mrgreen: