B&H: wow!

[Geoffrey Cox]

Dunno whether it is normal / acceptable to big up a company on these boards but here goes anyway.

I live in the UK and ordered a wide angle lens for my XH-A1 from B&H on Wednesday morning - I have never done this before since once you add on all the tax and duties the price difference mostly disappears but in this case it still worked out less than half the price than in the UK. But here's the thing, the lens arrived at Friday lunchtime, about 48 hours later. My first reaction was that it seemed almost physically impossible to get it here that quickly but no, it was real, I was holding and admiring the lens. It can take that long to get a letter from a few miles away normally, let alone across the Atlantic! Amazing.

[Mike Beckett]

This is not unusual for B&H, trust me!

I use them for things that are difficult or impossible to get in the UK. Pre-paying all the taxes is a pain in the wallet, but better than risking your parcel languishing in some depot awaiting payment, or getting a surprise Fed-Ex customs/duty invoice later (as happened with another supplier).

[Geoffrey Cox]

Yes Mike, I made the mistake of not paying duties etc in advance once before when ordering stuff from the US - what a rigmarole that ensued.

[Allan Black]

Geoff, sounds like your lens caught all its freight connections just in time. If you bought the Canon WD-H72 convertor, let's know what you think of it.
Be careful when you clean the lens, use a blower brush first to remove the sticky microgrit before you use a micro cloth, and don't lose the front lens cap.

Canon WD-H72 | B&H Photo Video

And when you're in NY, visit BnH, amazing store, but get there early. On a Sunday morning there's a line around the block waiting for the doors to open.

Here in Oz, anything over $1000 attracts 10% import tax, but it's usually still cheaper.
The downside is, retail camera stores here in Sydney are closing through on line sales, that's progress I guess.

Cheers.

Disclaimer: I'm not associated with BnH in any way, just like 'em.

[Steve Game]

Geoff,
I agree with Allan. If ever you are in NY then a visit to B&H is a must. Imagine a store about the size of a medium to large Tesco's on 2 floors. It seems like all the goods are on display and the assistants have the almost unique combination of attributes, i.e. very knowledgable and not pushy.They will help you with any questions about video/camera equipment without just using your questions as a lead to a sale.
The goods always seem to be in stock and are delivered to the ground floor pick-up desk quicker than you can complete payment and get down there.
That's no bigging them up, its just my experience of 4 visits.

p.s. you may find some comments on various forums from US posters saying that their prices are not the best. Well we are used to higher prices in the UK but we do get better warranties thanks to EU law. B&H are probably one of the few US suppliers where you can rely on good after sales support, despite lower consumer protection in the US.

[Stelios Christofides]

I bought, and still buying goods from H&B and always get the staff here in Cyprus quite fast; and as your are saying here, their support is also excellent. Once I bought a Canon G11 and for some strange reason I could not get to the menu. Sent it back to B&H and had another new one in record time.

stelios

[Geoffrey Cox]

If I ever get to NY, I'll definitely make a date with B&H then! And good idea about a blower brush Allan - never had one of these, but this lens is quite large. Will report back in the A1 forum on the lens.

Re pricing Steve, yes, we are just used to higher prices in the UK and I normally go for customer care / UK based suppliers out of a sense of loyalty and being able to easily get in touch with people. I've never seen the point of always going for the cheapest deal regardless of anything else. And I may be weird but I don't go to shops (such as they exist), try out then buy online - I'll buy form the store and pay the extra generally because I want to support them for offering that service, though obviously there's a limit to that. Camera shops are pretty thin on the ground these days though I recently found an excellent second-hand one in Manchester who were very careful to match online prices and did it by having a very small store, piled high to the rafters.

[D.J. Ammons]

I have been buying from B&H for many years and they have always been great to deal with. Great prices and great customer service.

[Allan Black]

Originally Posted by Geoffrey Cox

If I ever get to NY, I'll definitely make a date with B&H then! And good idea about a blower brush Allan - never had one of these, but this lens is quite large. Will report back in the A1 forum on the lens.

So you got the WD-H72 lens Geoff, great lens at a great price at BnH. In the cities, there's atmospheric sticky microgrit < I call it :) that gets on everything. If you use a dry cloth, you risk scratching the glass, so blow and brush the grit off with a blower brush first. Never run your fingers through its bristles, that puts grease on 'em .. bad scene bix.

I first thought not having a front thread on the WD-H72 for a filter was a minus, but imo it doesn't need one. If it did a 110mm front filter would cost about $200 :( But it could have provision for a lens hood.

I ran some tests and the colours through that Canon lens are outstanding, so much so I've now got 4, one for my A1 and A1s and one each for my Canon HV20 and 40. I don't take 'em off.

Using them on my HVs when I hold the cam, I support the lens under the very front with my left thumb and hold my left fingers over the top flat out as a lens hood, get the picture?

That works very well and I can shoot facing the sun, raising and lowering my 'finger hood' depending on how zoomed in/out the lens is, and it helps stabilise the cam.

Cheers.