Looking to buy a camera

[emathias]

Originally Posted by i_am_hydrogen

Central Camera is very pricey. I usually only go there for smaller items such as filters or memory cards. B&H is a good bet. It's where I've gotten most of my gear. Fast, free shipping.

Originally Posted by Slipperman

may be but from what i saw on Centrals web site, they didn't offer anywhere near the same selection of cameras and other stuff as BH does. not sure but i think Best Buy may have a better selection than Central did and it's also a brick and mortar.

You can negotiate somewhat with Central. For example, they try to absorb some of the sales tax difference if you're not from Cook County. If you're buying a $100 point and shoot, I doubt they'd budge much, but if you're looking at $1,000 Nikon dSLR plus a $500 lens, you could probably get them to knock of a little.

As far as selection goes, if you're just a consumer who wants "a nice camera" then you'd do fine at Best Buy. The fact that you asked for "an electronics store" instead of "a camera store" tells me this is probably the type of consumer you are.

However, if you are actually a photographer - even just a dedicated hobbyist - the selection of what you can get at Central will easily far outstrip what you can get at Best Buy. Central has far more advanced tools and specialist tools and things that regular consumers wouldn't even know what to do with, let alone what they are or why they might want them.

I consider myself an advanced amateur photographer. I've sold a few photos over the years, but mostly I do it just for my own pleasure. I've been doing it for about 25 years, since I was in high school and doing darkroom prints on photo paper with photo chemicals.

When I know exactly what I want, know I won't want to return it unless it's actually broken on arrival, and know I won't need support for it, I usually order from B&H because they're inexpensive, I save on tax, and they know what they're doing. I've ordered from them since before they had a web presence.

If I want to be hands-on with something so I know I'll like what I'm getting, I'll go to either Calumet or Central. Central is easier for me to get to. Their prices are a bit higher, but their service is great and they know what they're doing at least as well as B&H does. Calumet is easier to get to when I have a car, their prices are slightly lower than Central's, but they're a tiny bit less service-oriented when it comes to consumers as opposed to professionals.

Whatever you do, do not go "try out" a camera at Central or Calumet with the intent of then buying it online. It's just tacky and selfish to do that.