Where do you buy the majority of your kit from??

Got my 450D + kit lens from Warehouse Express, 55-200mm lens from Ebay, and have bought a nifty fifty (new) and Sigma 10-20mm (used) through the classified forum here. My tripod and filters have mostly come from 7dayshop (except my macro filters which I got from ebay).
 
with the exception of one flash (some random 2nd hand dealer that was selling a sb24 for £30...yes please) and my S5 (new when calumet was doing crazy deals), pretty much my entire kit has been bought on here (apart from cheap stuff like batteries, flash stands etc).

Let someone else take the 1st buyer hit, and also saves the sigma shuffle :)
 
I've bought most of my stuff from Stuart at Digital Depot. He usually does me a great deal, or price matches online sites (and no delivery charge either as I work near his store in Stevenage).
 
Wherever I get the best price, if I know what I'm after, although with expensive items I prefer to buy from local bricks'n'mortar (and for my last 2 bodies, Jessops have been as cheap as UK stock internet deals). If I want to have a play before I buy then I visit the local high street and see who's offering the best price, I'll then have a play there and if I want the thing I'll buy it from them. With a wishlist of 2nd hand kit, I'll keep my eyes on here, Mifsuds site and the local places and see who comes up with what I want at a price I'm happy to pay. Filters, cards, ink, paper etc comes from 7dayshop unless I spot a better offer.
 
Various places:

SRS (Local Camera Shop)
40D + 17-85 (As traded in old Minolta stuff)

DigitalRev
Sigma 120-300 2.8 (as v. good price and couldn't afford uk price)

Redsnapper
Bags, tripod, ball head, monopod (always excellent value)

Kerso (again highly recommended)
580EXII flashes, nifty fifty, other bits and bobs

Jessops
5D + 24-105L (as excellent price manager's special)

Amazon
Recent good deal on 77mm Hoya CPL
 
400D, spare battery and 4 CF cards - AV Forums
Canon 50mm 1.8 - Kerso
Sigma 70-300 - AV Forums
Canon EF-S 18-55 mm IS - Classifieds Here
Cleaning stuff, Kenko UV filter - London Camera Exchange
UV filter, cheapo ND filter - 7 day shop
Welding glass (still not used this) - eBay
Hama Card reader - Amazon
 
Quite a lot of my kit is from jessops. Combination of discount codes, quidco cashback etc I haven't been able to get it any cheaper from anywhere else and I prefer to buy from brick and mortar.

Few other bits have all been presents so no idea where it came from.
 
Kerso has been a godsend to me, he has saved me a couple of thousand in the last 12 months alone. Great stuff. Camerapricebuster gives some good ideas for best prices too.
 
How anybody can consider jessops competitive with prices is beyond me in my experience they always are at least 20% more expensive than any other retailer..and even more on internet sites ..if they want to survive they need to compete at least with the likes of amazon , warehouse express,and park cameras and the like...watching the classifieds in TP can also save you mega bucks may not be new but you know you are buying from honest decent law abiding citizens...:D
 
350d got from friend
105 sigma macro lens from ebay
170 - 500 sigma from ebay
18 - 55 from ebay
nifty fifty - here
memory cards from play.com
70 - 300 sigma from warehouse express
450d with 18 - 55 is and 70 - 250 is from argos
 
Mr G said:
How anybody can consider jessops competitive with prices is beyond me in my experience they always are at least 20% more expensive than any other retailer..and even more on internet sites
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Mainly because when I bought my D300 and 10-20, not only was it the cheapest place listed on CameraPriceBusters for both items, I also got quidco cashback and got another 5% off through a voucher and I didn't have to pay for delivery as did pick up in store.. It meant I saved well over £100 from the next cheapest places.
 
As long as it's a reputable source with a good reputation then I'll buy from whoever gives me the best deal at the time. I'm afraid there's no such thing as loyalty to any particular firm nowadays.

Having said that, I'm prepared to pay a bit more from a bricks and mortar place, providing they have what I want in stock and I can get it there and then.
 
Mr G said:
How anybody can consider jessops competitive with prices is beyond me in my experience they always are at least 20% more expensive than any other retailer..and even more on internet sites ..if they want to survive they need to compete at least with the likes of amazon , warehouse express,and park cameras and the like...watching the classifieds in TP can also save you mega bucks may not be new but you know you are buying from honest decent law abiding citizens...:D
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Because they often are the cheapest around, especially as far as High Street prices go.

While they are a little more expensive for a D700 than WHE today (Jessops, £1799 {free delivery}; WHE £1729 {+P&P @ £4.99}) When I bought mine, they were a couple of hundred quid cheaper than anywhere else. Even at today's price, they are nowhere near 20% (your minimum estimate of Jessops overpricing) more expensive than WHE.

I'm sure some of the far eastern companies are offering better prices but when was the last time you could just nip into their shop to have a play with the kit you're after? Or are you one of their (Jessops) favourite type of customer who plays with their display stock before buying from the internet?
 
Cameras/lenses Mostly Jessops, then WEX, then Digital Depot/Campkins of Cambridge/1st Cameras (for lastolite stuff), Bristol Cameras.

Memory Cards - Amazon (always)
 
No problems with Spa Photo; Clifton Cameras; Walters Photo Video; smallish eBay sellers in Germany, Hong Kong and Japan; Play and PlayTrade; amazon.

Treat with caution: Calumet; ffordes; Jessops; SRS; eBay sellers from Belgium and Holland; amazon marketplace.
 
Amazon - 5Dii, 50G of Cf cards
Jessops - 30D, 550EX, 50/1.4
Kerso - 5Dii grip, 580exii
2nd hand - 30D grip, 16-35L
 
photon said:
No problems with Spa Photo; Clifton Cameras; Walters Photo Video; smallish eBay sellers in Germany, Hong Kong and Japan; Play and PlayTrade; amazon.

Treat with caution: Calumet; ffordes; Jessops; SRS; eBay sellers from Belgium and Holland; amazon marketplace.
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Suprised to see Calumet in your "caution" list. Always been impressed with them personally.
 
Various.

Ebay, Warehouse Express, Jessops, DEvon Camera amongst a few.

I tend to view and review online, have a go in Jessops at lunch and then buy in the afternoon online with next day delivery!

:D
 
I tend to look around for the best deals and I'm not too bothered who they come from, but I do try to stick to reputable companies though. After the Simply Electronics fiasco, any unknown company to me, I now check out first now with online reviews.

D90 kit. Dixons £708 delivered with discount code.
70-300mm VR lens. Argos £394 store pick up, plus Quidco.
Tamrac bag. Warehouse Express.
Kata bag. Amazon.
Filters, memory cards and batteries. 7DayShop.

I would support my local shops and I do go in them to check out there prices, but I always find it cheaper else where online. I have a Jessops, Currys and The London Camera Exchange near me at work, but they seem more expensive than ebay etc. I got my Mum a Lowepro case recently and Jessops, Currys and The Camera Exchange all wanted around £30 for it. I found it new on ebay £12 delivered. I didn't mind waiting a couple of days for the amount of saving.
 
I tend to buy gear privately although I have also purchased gear from Grays of Westminster, Nova and Mifsud in Brixham, all of which offer excellent service. Better service is more important to me, than getting something for less money.

Nigel.
 
a vote for kerso 24-105 l and a canon efs 10-22 great price great guy
 
First new purchase today for ages and best on price and knowledgeable customer service went to
Curry's
I was a bit surprised, but the chap there was very helpful and price matched other local stores too

Usually put off by them, but glad I went in there today
 
9%% of my kit I buy second hand off this and other forums the only thing I have bought new was my 50D from kerso as there was no s/h ones around and his was a cracking price. I also bought a 70-200 f2.8 from hong kong great price and service but that was sold and replaced with a s/h f2,8 IS model. from a member on here along with my 1d mkll
 
Split depending on where i am and how quickly. cam and sigma 24-70 from Jessops. cam before i checked into it too much, the 24-70 bought from the local jessops in case it was duff(it wasnt) and wasnt too badly priced. 50mm and flashgun from kerso, 50-150 from WHE as they were bout 50-100 quid cheaper at the time. I decided after reading all the reports of possible sigma quality control problems that i wouldnt buy an imported sigma lens, but they both been fine:)
 
I bought 580ex 24-70 and 70-200 from Wilkinsons (before i knew of the places to get a bargain online) Bought MKIII and 400 from Calumet Liverpool as they were £500 cheaper on the 400 than anywhere else and had it in stock.135/f2 from Mifsuds. Long lens bag from Morris photo, Remote from MBP, 50/1.4 on here and will be buying some kit from Kerso early next year
 
Grays of westminster (because they had everything in stock, and sorted my BFPO tax free easily)
D700
24-70
MB d10
SB900

ebay
Sigma 100-300 f4
walimex studio kit (2x400w heads & extras)

POTN
2x nikon SB28's

amazon
cheapo flash triggers

warehouse express
Manfrotto triop & monopod

I dont seem to favour one dealer, usually I will get it wherever is hte cheapest, but if I get bad service once they can forget repeat business and referalls!
 
Local shops if they have them in stock and are not too unreasonable.
Otherwise this forum is always worth a look 7dayshop has been useful in the past.

Used to use mx2 back in the day, but not used them for ages
 
I noticed someone here mentioned buying from argos so I decided to have a look at their prices for gear :eek:

Nikon MB-D10 battery grip £429!!!! omfg :cuckoo:

Nikon SB900 Flash.... £399!!!

anyone who buys at that price is mad :gag:
 
on here secondhand, ebay v rarely and camera price busters recommended for new

if next day isn't good enough its devon camera in town then LCE then Jessops if they aint got what I need
 
Kerso and second hand purchases at the moment.

I'm just shopping around for a Gitzo (not going to be cheap) tripod and ball head combination at the moment which I'll buy on-line.
 
In the past I have used alot of places

Jessops
Jacobs
MPBPhotographic
Kerso
Talk Photography
Calumet
Park Cameras
Redsnapper

there will be more but I can't think of them at present
 
Organic said:
Kerso and second hand purchases at the moment.

I'm just shopping around for a Gitzo (not going to be cheap) tripod and ball head combination at the moment which I'll buy on-line.
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Those gitzo tripods seem rather expensive. Are they actually worth the extra?
 
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