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Anybody buy from B & H?

M

MrMacMini

macrumors regular
Original poster
Im looking into buying a camera but Im a little scared to spend a huge amount of money on a website Ive never used or heard of before.

Can anyone tell me if B & H Photo is a reputable company? Am I safe to buy a camera from them?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
 
I've bought one camera, three lenses, one backpack, three memory cards, and one tripod from them without a hitch and with lower prices than anywhere else.

What are you looking at, OP?
 
They're one of the more reputable places around. Prices are usually pretty decent. And their customer service has been excellent as well, at least in my circumstances.

I've bought most of my pro video gear from them over the years. And I've bought DSLR lenses from them more recently.
 
Yes, good place. Most of my purchases are from B&H or else Calumet if they are similar in price (1 day UPS Ground for me with Calumet).
 
Im just getting into photography so Im starting small with a D5000, but what I was really looking for, was a video HD camcorder, Canon HV40. They have the best price Ive found but wasnt sure about the company.

So now that I found 1 location to buy both at a good price, and sure that I wont have issues Ill be ordering both from B & H.

Thanks for the Help!
 
MrMacMini said:
Im just getting into photography so Im starting small with a D5000, but what I was really looking for, was a video HD camcorder, Canon HV40. They have the best price Ive found but wasnt sure about the company.

So now that I found 1 location to buy both at a good price, and sure that I wont have issues Ill be ordering both from B & H.

Thanks for the Help!
Click to expand...

I have Nikon SLRs and I love them. Great call.

For the D5000, make sure you get a 55-200mm or a 70-300mm along with the kit lens. I have the 70-300mm and I love it for my D90, though it will barely fit in the D5000 kit case.
 
Between B&H and Adorama they are probably the 2 biggest camera stores on the east coast. They both have brick and mortar stores in NYC. Very large and very reputable. I generally go with either if I can wait a few days on shipping. You should have no problems with them. Enjoy!!
 
djbahdow01 said:
Between B&H and Adorama they are probably the 2 biggest camera stores on the east coast. They both have brick and mortar stores in NYC. Very large and very reputable. I generally go with either if I can wait a few days on shipping. You should have no problems with them. Enjoy!!
Click to expand...

B&H is the largest privately owned photo store in America, and they're consistently cheaper than Adorama. Only bring relevant details into the thread.
 
MrMacMini said:
Im just getting into photography so Im starting small with a D5000, but what I was really looking for, was a video HD camcorder, Canon HV40. They have the best price Ive found but wasnt sure about the company.

So now that I found 1 location to buy both at a good price, and sure that I wont have issues Ill be ordering both from B & H.

Thanks for the Help!
Click to expand...

I have bought many items from B & H. I bough a lens for my Panasonic Lumix G1, a camera bag and a few more things the last time I ordered from them.

The only issue I have had with them was they sometimes say an item is in stock and then I get an email informing me that the item is out of stock and more will be in on such and such a date.
 
Mr Slippy IV said:
I have Nikon SLRs and I love them. Great call.

For the D5000, make sure you get a 55-200mm or a 70-300mm along with the kit lens. I have the 70-300mm and I love it for my D90, though it will barely fit in the D5000 kit case.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice!

I was already looking into getting the 55-200mm lens when I order my D5000.
 
bought second hand stuff from B & H from over here (europe) in advance for my visit in the US. The items showed NO sign of usage. I mean both lenses were perfect. I am extremely happy with B & H (and adorama) and can't praise them enough. I also bought now 4 600x Lexar CF cards. It said: Box of 2, so i figured i get 2 bulk packaged cards... nope 4 retail packages came..

and the service is awesome, you ca cal them up and they are friendly and knowledgable on the phone.
I say go for it.
 
This is one of the most amusing questions I've ever seen, mostly because it's akin to asking if Tiffany's is a reputable jeweler, or perhaps if Rolex is a good watchmaker.

You can't know that until you get into photography, of course, or one of their other areas of expertise, like video. I remember not knowing anything about B&H, and it's why I didn't get my D300 from them (not a good call).

B&H is the standard all other photography retailers are judged by. Adorama is great too, but B&H is the king. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

B&H is the largest privately owned photo store in America, and they're consistently cheaper than Adorama. Only bring relevant details into the thread.


Adorama has excellent prices as well, and in fact two lenses and two cameras of mine came from Adorama. They were used and in great condition. My F5 was listed as being in E condition for $335. A terrific deal, and it's understandable that they raised the price a bit.
 
As others have said, they are the largest photo retailer in the US (or world?). I have bought many items from them in the past, and just ordered my Singh-Ray from them. Very fast and reliable.
 
One HUGE warning with B & H. If there is a Jewish holiday coming, they will be closed. Nobody will take orders, answer questions, process anything. And they won't warn customers more than a day or two in advance.

One time I ordered a few cameras from them. They were taking longer than normal, so I call them up. Turns out it was some weeklong Jewish holiday so my stuff just sat in their warehouse. 🙄

So before you order, check a holiday calendar.
 
Before buying anything online, always check out the reseller by looking them up at resellerratings.com.

B&H has been around for more that 30 years. I've been buying from them mail order for almost that long. They are ultra-reliable...generally recognized as the best and safest online camera reseller in the USA. I've bought tens of thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment from them, as well as virtually every Mac computer I've bought in the last 5 years (4 MacBook Pros, 2 Mac Pros, 2 30" ACDs). You cannot go wrong with them.

Here's their rating at resellerratings.com. Read the reviews down at the bottom. You can see it really doesn't get more reliable.

http://www.resellerratings.com/store/B_H_Photo_Video_Pro_Audio
 
luminosity said:
This is one of the most amusing questions I've ever seen, mostly because it's akin to asking if Tiffany's is a reputable jeweler, or perhaps if Rolex is a good watchmaker.

You can't know that until you get into photography, of course, or one of their other areas of expertise, like video. I remember not knowing anything about B&H, and it's why I didn't get my D300 from them (not a good call).

B&H is the standard all other photography retailers are judged by. Adorama is great too, but B&H is the king. I don't see that changing anytime soon.

B&H is the largest privately owned photo store in America, and they're consistently cheaper than Adorama. Only bring relevant details into the thread.


Adorama has excellent prices as well, and in fact two lenses and two cameras of mine came from Adorama. They were used and in great condition. My F5 was listed as being in E condition for $335. A terrific deal, and it's understandable that they raised the price a bit.
Click to expand...

This is pretty much all I was going to say. If you don't believe the above post, watch the video in the link I have here. I bought my 100mm 2.8 IS macro L from them. $885 bucks. I'm on the West Coast, and talked to other posters here first like the OP is. I don't know it the fact that the ownership and more than a few of the employees are Orthodox Jews has anything to do with it, but they are very reliable.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/find/HelpCenter/NYSuperStore08.jsp

Dale
 
dodge this said:
One HUGE warning with B & H. If there is a Jewish holiday coming, they will be closed. Nobody will take orders, answer questions, process anything. And they won't warn customers more than a day or two in advance.

One time I ordered a few cameras from them. They were taking longer than normal, so I call them up. Turns out it was some weeklong Jewish holiday so my stuff just sat in their warehouse. 🙄

So before you order, check a holiday calendar.
Click to expand...

That is not true at all. They have notices put up on their website for at least a couple weeks in advance, if not longer. They even apologize for their weekly sabbath online closing, which I think is highly unnecessary. No apologies are necessary. People are capable of going elsewhere or waiting.
 
MrMacMini said:
Im looking into buying a camera but Im a little scared to spend a huge amount of money on a website Ive never used or heard of before.

Can anyone tell me if B & H Photo is a reputable company? Am I safe to buy a camera from them?

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/
Click to expand...

Yes. B&H is one of the most reliable stores in the US, and have been around for quite a lot of years. Adorama is another good one, too.

Now, all are losing a good portion of the market to Amazon, perhaps because shipping is free I imagine.
 
luminosity said:
That is not true at all. They have notices put up on their website for at least a couple weeks in advance, if not longer. They even apologize for their weekly sabbath online closing, which I think is highly unnecessary. No apologies are necessary. People are capable of going elsewhere or waiting.
Click to expand...

Agree with you.

Not only do they post the notices long ahead of time, but also post it Friday evenings for Saturdays.
 
I've been quite happy with everything I've purchased from B&H.

And, although I'm not Jewish, I find it somewhat refreshing that the owner takes his faith seriously enough to close on religious holidays and on the sabbath.
 
Have bought new & refurb / demo film & digital cameras plus enough accessories to start my own store from B&H. They are one of the best around.
 
AlaskaMoose said:
Yes. B&H is one of the most reliable stores in the US, and have been around for quite a lot of years. Adorama is another good one, too.

Now, all are losing a good portion of the market to Amazon, perhaps because shipping is free I imagine.
Click to expand...

On the other hand though, Amazon purchases are taxed in many states now, whereas B&H purchases are taxed only in NY. For that reason, B&H is my primary source for photo/technology equipment.
 
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