Canon 70-200 F 2.8

[aweber5389]

I am looking to purchase a can 70-200 F 2.8 non IS lens. Does any one know where i can find the best deal?

[tdiep]

New: bhphoto, or adorama

Used: fredmiranda forums, potn forums, last resort would be ebay

[jlcharles]

if you're going used, try keh.com although they don't seem to have any in stock at the moment.

[mdwsta4]

if you're looking at the non-IS version i would also strongly suggest Sigma's 70-200 f2.8 macro. i've had it for about 4 months and it's a great lens. on par with canon's L glass (which i also have) as far as sharpness, contrast, and saturation go. not to mention it's black so a little less conspicous and comes with a tripod collar and lens hood. i purchased mine from sigma4less and it's a few hundred cheaper than canon's.

http://images24.fotki.com/v768/photos/5/51621/4246906/sigmatall-vi.jpg

http://images23.fotki.com/v858/photos/5/51621/4246904/birdboat2-vi.jpg

http://images25.fotki.com/v903/photos/5/51621/4246904/lillypad2-vi.jpg

http://images24.fotki.com/v864/photos/5/51621/4246904/purpleflower-vi.jpg

http://images24.fotki.com/v874/photos/5/51621/4246904/boatfishingpoles-vi.jpg

[jlcharles]

I actually got this lens this week. Ordered it Monday and had it on Tuesday from B&H. Very good place to order from.

[macgfxdesigner]

Is a a GREAT lens! Sharp as a tack and great color and contrast!

Photos taken with it :)

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1218/848225013_241bd39432.jpg
http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1059/539994164_4b11c8149e.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/184/450262669_9e23c55482.jpg
http://farm1.static.flickr.com/186/441182929_032bb2cc13.jpg

[JHacker]

Photos taken with it :)


http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1059/539994164_4b11c8149e.jpg


What a great shot! I love how a few of the pins are upside down.

[arogge]

If it is within your shipping area, check Abe’s Of Maine.

[Kamera RAWr]

If it is within your shipping area, check Abe’s Of Maine.

Is Abe's of Maine a reputable dealer? Something about them seemed "cheap" when I looked at them awhile back :o

[arogge]

Is Abe's of Maine a reputable dealer?

I can't comment on its reputability. If you are worried about reputability, avoid buying outside of brick-and-mortar businesses.

[jlcharles]

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/Abe_s_of_Maine

Lifetime rating in the mid 5's. I'd avoid them. B&H, Adorama, Keh, and Calumet are the places you should go online. And maybe if you can get enough coupons, Dell.

[brett33]

http://www.adorama.com/CA70200AFLR.html

Refurbished for $929 from Adorama.

Got my 85L from them refurb'ed and couldn't tell from new except for the box it was in and a small sticker on the rear cap.

Got my 70-200 from KEH used.

[jburns]

Is Abe's of Maine a reputable dealer? Something about them seemed "cheap" when I looked at them awhile back :o

New faces, same old scam.

Did you know there is a big ring of sellers in NY and NJ that operate many online electronics stores? Nothing wrong with that right? True, if only they were honorable sellers! Here are some of those scam rings we were talking about…

Abe’s of Maine
Website: abesofmaine.com
Address: 1957 Coney Island Ave., Brooklyn NY 11223
Phones: 800-992-2237, 800-992-2379, 800-272-2237, 718-645-1818

Domain: registrant: Abe’s Electronics Center, 2/22/96
1957 Coney Island Ave., Brooklyn NY 11223
Abe Mosseri, stylo@aol.com

NYS: Abe’s Electronics Center, Inc., 6/25/86
1957-61 Coney Island Ave., Brooklyn NY 11223
Abe Mosseri

The companies under this are:

Abes of Maine Scam Abes of Maine

Buydig.com Scam! Buydig.com

Beach Camera Scam! Beach Camera

This joke of a ring is run by the Mosseri family. Same old hard-sell tactics. Same old rude customer service. Don’t believe all the good feedback that you see on the ratings sites. They hire people to write good reviews for them.

This scam is busted!

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 25th, 2006 at 12:14 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
One Response to “New faces, same old scam.”

1. Hamor Says:
January 7th, 2007 at 10:54 am

you’re so wrong it’s pathetic! since your lacking in the life department is so deep that you actually took the time out to research the information and are posting information that is nothing but your ASSUMPTIONS, let me just inform you that Mosseri is a very common name in Brooklyn and even if they may be related to each other distantly, doesn’t mean they are the same company! you thick-headed loser, now go get a real job!

[Editor]

This post was from an Abe’s of Maine employee. Surprise surprise.

[tsk]

Beach Camera Scam! Beach Camera

This joke of a ring is run by the Mosseri family. Same old hard-sell tactics. Same old rude customer service. Don’t believe all the good feedback that you see on the ratings sites. They hire people to write good reviews for them.

Umm, I don't think Beach Camera is one of the scams. I generally order from them and have had no problems. Perhaps you are confusing them with Butterfly Camera. I have ordered from Beach at least 5 times and on at least one occassion I had to use the Canon warranty so I know it was a US warranty.

I agree with the rest of what you are saying though and am aware of a good deal of the scammers. Generally they are bait and switch and if you read through their reviews you will see that. They also tend to change names often (I believe Butterfly is the newest name). You order a camera, they call you needing to verify CC info, then they tell you the camera doesn't include a battery or warranty or whatever and they say you have to pay $$$ more and if you refuse they cancel your order.

[jessica.]

Looking at the shots between the Sigma and the Canon lenses above, it could be my tired eyes, but the Sigma (the bird shot) looks like the bird is out of focus.
The canon lens appears sharp. Could be user error, but just a thought.

And Abe's of Maine to the best of my knowledge is bad.

[arogge]

I saw Abe's of Maine advertised on pricegrabber.com. Buydig.com is also advertised in common searches. How do these apparent scam operations stay in business? They can't be defrauding too many customers.

I buy cameras and lenses locally, even if the prices are higher than the big Internet merchants. I like being able to see what I'm buying instead of looking at a cheap photo of it on some Web site.

[timnosenzo]

Umm, I don't think Beach Camera is one of the scams.

Me either. Beach Camera and BuyDig are run by the same company. I ordered my 5D from Beach, no problems or shadiness whatsoever.

[walangij]

Me either. Beach Camera and BuyDig are run by the same company. I ordered my 5D from Beach, no problems or shadiness whatsoever.

Buydig doesn't seem to be one of those shady dealers either, heard only good things from friends about them. But personally never ordered there.

tdiep posted the info OP should look into though, the used sites listed are fantastic for finds, also http://www.sportsshooter.com/classifieds.html would be a good place to look, I'd assume that they would have that range more often due to the nature of their shooting.

[termina3]

Looking at the shots between the Sigma and the Canon lenses above, it could be my tired eyes, but the Sigma (the bird shot) looks like the bird is out of focus.
The canon lens appears sharp. Could be user error, but just a thought.

And Abe's of Maine to the best of my knowledge is bad.

The tail looks slightly out. I also have never liked the looks of 3rd party lenses... but I guess that doesn't matter too much.

[tsk]

Me either. Beach Camera and BuyDig are run by the same company. I ordered my 5D from Beach, no problems or shadiness whatsoever.

Well, I looked into it further and these guys are off base on Beach and BuyDig. The extent of Beach being a scam is that Abe's is a scam and the owner of Beach seems to be related to Abe's owner. And from that point on they attribute and Abe's scam to the other companies because they are all the same in their opinion.

[840quadra]

I just ordered (5 minutes ago) this same lens from B&H.

I will let you know how it goes. Finally will be doing motocross photography with a "proper" lens. I almost sprung for the IS model, however I don't think it will do me any good taking pictures of fast moving motorcycles.

[walangij]

http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/562684

Headsup for OP here's one for sale on the FM forums, check it out.

[840quadra]

Just wanted to update that I got the Lens, and to bring up that another person is really happy with B&H.

I am getting many more "keepers" with regards to my MX images than I did with my (good quality) Canon 35-135 USM lens. The price was worth the money, and I personally like the build, feel, and operation of this lens over that of the Sigma.

For what I do, having the smoother white painted surfaces on the canon, will make it MUCH easier to clean than the rough black texture of the sigma copy.

[Kathy H.]

I am looking to purchase a can 70-200 F 2.8 non IS lens. Does any one know where i can find the best deal or any one that has one and wants to sell it?

I am a wedding photographer and I purchased a Canon 2.8 70-200 non IS L lens no more than a year ago, new from B and H.
I might be interested in trading it or selling it for the same lens with IS
This lens has only been used twice and it is awesome but I don't like to use a tripod or monopod so I am wishing I would have bought this lens with IS.
I would be interested in selling it to you if you are still looking for this lens.
The lens I have is immaculate and I have the original box and caps ect that it came with and I even have the receipt where I bought it from B and H.
Are you still interested in purchasing this lens?
I paid $1040.00 for it and I would sell it for around $950.00?
thank you
Kathy Hobbs

[walterm79]

The Canon F4 70-200 IS is also a great lens. I picked mine up from B&H last month after testing both the F2.8 and F4. I can easily get 3 to 4 stops with the IS however and have taken shots as low as 1/30th at 200mm. The 2.8 was a bit larger as well as a lot heavier. I primarily shoot outdoors so the extra stops really didn't matter to me, expecially for the extra $. If you end up going with the 2.8 make sure you pick up the tripod mount ring or you'll be liable to bend your mount if you don't support it properly. Either way they're both awesome pieces of glass you'll have for a long time! :)

http://artabet.net/photography/two.jpg
http://artabet.net/photography/three.jpg
http://artabet.net/photography/one.jpg

[Jay42]

It's an AWESOME lens...in fact, i can confidently say it is my FAVORITE lens (more so than the other L lenses I own). The only possible downside I could see to this lens is that it is a little on the heavy side, but I still lug it around everywhere because I love shooting with it.


As you also know, it is not an inexpensive lens, but you will likely keep it for several decades. There are tons of scammers out there. The basic rule of thumb of "If it seems to good to be true, it usually is" applies here. Sure you could save a couple bucks shopping around, but I don't think it pays to mess around with such a big purchase. I have bought several lenses and bodies from B and H Photo (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/). They have excellent customer service and very prompt shipping.

[840quadra]

The Canon F4 70-200 IS is also a great lens. I picked mine up from B&H last month after testing both the F2.8 and F4. I can easily get 3 to 4 stops with the IS however and have taken shots as low as 1/30th at 200mm. The 2.8 was a bit larger as well as a lot heavier. I primarily shoot outdoors so the extra stops really didn't matter to me, expecially for the extra $. If you end up going with the 2.8 make sure you pick up the tripod mount ring or you'll be liable to bend your mount if you don't support it properly. Either way they're both awesome pieces of glass you'll have for a long time! :)


The 2.8 version comes with the tripod ring from Canon.

I strongly considered the F4 IS, however the IS would do nothing to stop the type of blur I usually get (subject motion blur). The wider aperture was the only sure way to help with that, and keeping my ISO's down and my shutter speeds up to stop the action.

I actually had the opportunity to shoot with both at the type of events I cover, and had less keepers with the 4.0 (Motocross images turned out better with the F2.8) . I did love the IS for taking crowd shots, or images in the pits!

It's an AWESOME lens...in fact, i can confidently say it is my FAVORITE lens (more so than the other L lenses I own). The only possible downside I could see to this lens is that it is a little on the heavy side, but I still lug it around everywhere because I love shooting with it.


As you also know, it is not an inexpensive lens, but you will likely keep it for several decades. There are tons of scammers out there. The basic rule of thumb of "If it seems to good to be true, it usually is" applies here. Sure you could save a couple bucks shopping around, but I don't think it pays to mess around with such a big purchase. I have bought several lenses and bodies from B and H Photo (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/). They have excellent customer service and very prompt shipping.

I agree. I only shop at my local vendor (National Camera and Video) or if I need a better price or something they don't have (which is actually quite rare), I go to B&H.