While I was researching into buying my Nikon D40 I searched the internet looking for good deals and reviews. There were several pages that compared prices such as shopcartusa.com these would show you the internet sites that would sell you what you want at their prices allowing an easy comparison. I was looking for a Nikon D40 with a 18-55mm lens. For comparison I will tell you that at the moment Circuit City normally retails at $499.99 plus tax. Other local retailers such as Ritz Camera and Cord Camera sold them for similar prices. Online retailers were showing prices at $330 and up. I was flabbergasted.That was CHEAP! So cheap it made me feel a bit dirty.
During an idle conversation with Jeremy about cameras in which I asked him why I feel so dirty for it being such a cheap price, he pointed me towards the midwest photo and camera exchange. Having ducked out of work early I went to show them the prices of cameras to see if they could match the price. What I was told by them and other high street stores (it's a British phrase meaning well known. They dont all have to be on High Street!) was that there are some websites out there thatseem to good to be true.
I was told a story of a online company that would sell you a camera and then put it on back-order until either you cancelled it or coughed up alot more money for batteries and chargers.
I was also told of a person who bought their camera off a website and sent it to Nikon to get fixed only to find that it was stolen and Nikon kept it.
These stories are vey helpful, but sometimes I have to wonder whether these stores have a bias against online retailers. Either way the infomation was helpful. My view on the matter is that unless you know of someone who has already shopped using a particular online retailer it will always be a bit of a gamble. The retailer who I eventually purchased my camera from was B&H photo which are located in New York. I have only heard good things about them from everyone I talked to.
Looking at magasine and customer reviews. They all gave the D40 good to great reviews. Except one. I think. I'm not too sure when it comes down to it. There is a website called digitalcamerainfo.com who review like I have never seen in my life before. They take it seriously. If you dont believe me look at the technical review of the Nikon D40. That is a boat, nay an ocean liner full of effot. Basically it got me a bit down because if you read the conclusions of the D40 it said that it wasn't nearly as great as other makes and was poorly made. Except that if you read the reviews of the cameras that they list as better, they rip into them as well. If you weight the overall scores from the D40 (~600) against the Fujifilm S5200 (~330). I guess it means that the D40 is twice the camera! We will just have to see...
During an idle conversation with Jeremy about cameras in which I asked him why I feel so dirty for it being such a cheap price, he pointed me towards the midwest photo and camera exchange. Having ducked out of work early I went to show them the prices of cameras to see if they could match the price. What I was told by them and other high street stores (it's a British phrase meaning well known. They dont all have to be on High Street!) was that there are some websites out there thatseem to good to be true.
I was told a story of a online company that would sell you a camera and then put it on back-order until either you cancelled it or coughed up alot more money for batteries and chargers.
I was also told of a person who bought their camera off a website and sent it to Nikon to get fixed only to find that it was stolen and Nikon kept it.
These stories are vey helpful, but sometimes I have to wonder whether these stores have a bias against online retailers. Either way the infomation was helpful. My view on the matter is that unless you know of someone who has already shopped using a particular online retailer it will always be a bit of a gamble. The retailer who I eventually purchased my camera from was B&H photo which are located in New York. I have only heard good things about them from everyone I talked to.
Looking at magasine and customer reviews. They all gave the D40 good to great reviews. Except one. I think. I'm not too sure when it comes down to it. There is a website called digitalcamerainfo.com who review like I have never seen in my life before. They take it seriously. If you dont believe me look at the technical review of the Nikon D40. That is a boat, nay an ocean liner full of effot. Basically it got me a bit down because if you read the conclusions of the D40 it said that it wasn't nearly as great as other makes and was poorly made. Except that if you read the reviews of the cameras that they list as better, they rip into them as well. If you weight the overall scores from the D40 (~600) against the Fujifilm S5200 (~330). I guess it means that the D40 is twice the camera! We will just have to see...
1 comment:
Another camera review site I like is dpreview.com
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