Found out the real value of my local Ritz... [Archive]

timmyquest

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 19:25

I am going to be buying a 550EX and 100-400L for my Drebel so like i always do before i buy (in this case, way before) i went into my local ritz and asked the guy:

"I'm gonna be buying a 550EX today and am just wondering if you guys have on i can look at"

him-"Digital? uhh, yeah leme see here"

He then walks over to the cheap point and shoot digitals at which point i say:

"No, it's a flash..."

him-"Oh you just want the flash...uhh, actually we dont carry just the flash"

I then realize that he has no clue what i'm talking about which leads me to belive they dont have it. So i moved on to topic number two...

"I'm also wondering if...*look around* and i dont see any canon lenses..."

him-"No, we only sell quantary..."

So, they didnt have the drebel so i walked across the parkinglot and bought it from Best Buy, and now this...

What a waste

Forget them :roll: :roll:

JZaun

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 20:06

I sure agree with you. I spent 2-3 weeks online trying to decide what new camera to buy. Looking at the Drebel, Nikon D100 and Canon 10D. Looking to spend around $1k - $2K. The sales rep at Simjo Photo in Richmond answered every question I had about the 10D. Showed me his work with one. He spent almost 2 hours with me on the camera. He did not have a Nikon in stock but favored the 10D. I then went to Ritz to see the Nikon. 1st question. How does the D100 handle its built in flash?
Sales person's answer, Pop it up if you want it or leave it down,, "that is what I do" I didn't get the best price on the 10D and 24-85mm lens and 512 mem at Simjo Photo but I got a store and sales person that can and will help me should I need it. Price is never everything

JZaun

defordphoto

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 20:11

Ritz/Kits are the Radio Shack of camera stores. The salespeople are (many times) dumber than stumps. I shudder just driving past their stores. And I bought my D60 from Ritz. They screwed the order, but I got my camera 3 months earlier than I was supposed to. 8)

GenEOS

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 20:48

You do realize that the 100-400L's white body is going to clash with your Drebel, don't you? Better buy some paint.

msnow

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 20:52

timmyquest

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 20:52

You do realize that the 100-400L's white body is going to clash with your Drebel, don't you? Better buy some paint.

i think that those L lenses clash with all bodies :-)

Wickedfn4u

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 21:08

shiningstardv

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 21:20

Belmondo

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 21:29

Yeah. I don't know who bought who, but they're owned by the same people. And you're right about the average Wolf store being much better than a Ritz/Kits, although not all of them. They also have some smaller locations that are very much like Ritz/Kits. Also, they aren't open on Sundays---at least the last one I tried to go to in on Sunday wasn't open.

Tom W

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 21:32

The one funny thing about those Ritz camera stores is that I believe they are linked with Wolf Camera stores (http://www.wolfcamera.com) and I find my Wolf Camera to be very very helpful and knowledgable. The people there know what they're talking about and even use their equipment off job. Must have been a buy-out or something, because I don't see the two stores in the same category. Do any of you have Wolf Cameras around? Do they seem better than a Ritz to you? Cause maybe it's just my specific Wolf Camera...

My Wolf camera is great as well, at least in the help department. They're also great for getting enlargements and such. But, they also have a display counter full of Quantaray lenses. I won't say that an SLR with a quantaray lens isn't going to take pretty good pictures, but I've seen too many instances of pretty bad pictures from them. They're worth their price and nothing more.

shiningstardv

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 21:35

Yeah. Well my Wolf Camera has a full line up of Canon lenses as well. (L-Series too!) They are very nice about letting you try them out extensively before you buy.

Tom W

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 21:37

Yeah. Well my Wolf Camera has a full line up of Canon lenses as well. (L-Series too!) They are very nice about letting you try them out extensively before you buy.

I want to go to your Wolf camera! :D
It sounds like a franchise situation where the operator has some latitude as to what he or she carries. Perhaps mine will follow suit.

CyberDyneSystems

28th of January 2004 (Wed), 23:09

Well it allways depend on th individual behind the counter,. we have two Ritzs nearby,. a standard one in a mall that has Radio Sahck type people behind the counter.. and nothing in stock of interest to me..

And a Ritz "Clearance warehouse" or some such thing???

It has a real counter loaded with high dollar lenses, some serious print facitlites and a large section of used and clearance itmes I love to dig through.

The best part is that one of the gents behind the Counter is a Canon man,. and a "semi-pro" (essentially a hobbyist that tkaes extra work),. and he is married to a Nikon Woman who is a real pro (the source of his extra work)

Any way he is a trip to talk to,. and is knowledgable in both brands for obvious reasons. :)

fwhitesides

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 09:29

Hey! I used to work at a Ritz when I was in college a few years ago. I can assure you that I knew every camera in that store like it was my own. However, that is not the norm. The knowledge of the salespeople varies greatly from store to store, and even from shift to shift in some cases. I was a photo freak that got the job because I wanted access to cheap prints and discounts on photo gear. Lots of people work there because it pays better than Wal-Mart and it's much easier work that lots of other retail jobs. Also note that there is no specific training on how cameras work or the differences between models, etc. Employees learn that as they go from other employees. So, if nobody at the store knows what they are talking about, new employees can't learn the right stuff. So take it easy on the poor Ritz employees. Many of them are just trying to make ends meet.

As a side note, I was told by a region manager of Ritz that the Quantaray lenses are manufactured by Sigma. That information isn't exactly secret, but I've never seen it actually written anywhere or confirmed by a company spokesman. Also, the Ritz brand 35mm film is made by Fuji.

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 10:07

In the Atlanta area, we have a Wolf Camera "Superstore" in downtown Atlanta (14th St.). There they have all the "L" glass, the high-end cameras, studio equipment, high end tripods, etc. as well as some pretty knowledgeable people. When you venture out into the mall stores and other Wolf and Ritz locations, it's an entirely different story.

I did run into a kid at the Wolf Camera Roswell store location that is apparently in college and working part time at the store. He is a beginner in photography but seems very enthusiastic. He asked me about a zillion questions while I was in there looking at Tripods...but that's OK. At least he didn't pretend to know everything and just make up BS stories. He admits that he's new to photography and he wants to learn. I have no issue with that at all.

One good thing about the Wolf stores (I don't know about Ritz). If you want to see a particular lens in person and they don't have it at your local store, they can transfer it from another location so you can see it. The problem with that is that their prices are somewhat high, so I suspect that most people go try it at the Wolf Camera store, then order it from B&H or Adorama.

Mikesht

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 10:29

...so I suspect that most people go try it at the Wolf Camera store, then order it from B&H or Adorama.

No!!!!

Scottes

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 10:50

The problem with that is that their prices are somewhat high...

I almost got my 17-40L from Ritz, but their price was $999 when B&H had it for $699. Now I wouldn't have minded paying an extra $100 to get it the same day, but there was no way that I was going to pay a 40% markup for very little reason. The 70-200 2.8 was about the same percentage.

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 11:11

...so I suspect that most people go try it at the Wolf Camera store, then order it from B&H or Adorama.

No!!!!

It's true, I tell ya!

GenEOS

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 12:13

Owning both the 300D and 10D I dont know why people trash on the 300? To me it looks very nice in its own right. Seems like people are stuck on "white" lenses and Black cameras not whats in it or who's behind it. Do we buy for looks or ablity? Guess that would be a topic all its own huh?

2 cents.

Lighten up! Do you really believe anyone really cares if your camera is black, silver, red, green or pink? Well, maybe pink is taking it a little too far...
:wink:

CyberDyneSystems

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 15:16

I agree tha making fun of Silver cameras is almost as fun as making fun of Ritz,.. but truth be told,. I think the Drebel is a great looking Camera.. I ike the Rebel TI a lot too... I was actually surprised that the Drebel did not look more like the TI with its wild hand grip.

emartin

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 16:03

Ask them for their Fuji Frontier's .ICC profile

Scottes

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 16:13

Ask them for their Fuji Frontier's .ICC profile

ROFLMAO!

Once I asked how many Pixels Per Inch their Frontier did. Person 1 didn't know what a Frontier was. Person 2 knew Frontier, but didn't know the PPI. The manager knew the PPI, and when I asked about ICC he said "If you find out please let us know."

RichardtheSane

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 17:59

Owning both the 300D and 10D I dont know why people trash on the 300? To me it looks very nice in its own right. Seems like people are stuck on "white" lenses and Black cameras not whats in it or who's behind it. Do we buy for looks or ablity? Guess that would be a topic all its own huh?

2 cents.

Have a read back through the forum, you'll soon see the humour that is going on here.
Chill out :)

Bubber Jones

29th of January 2004 (Thu), 18:21

In the Atlanta area, we have a Wolf Camera "Superstore" in downtown Atlanta (14th St.)....

The problem with that is that their prices are somewhat high, so I suspect that most people go try it at the Wolf Camera store, then order it from B&H or Adorama.

I bought my DRebel from that store... Funny thing about Wolf, they'll mark up list price ~10% then show you 'your price' which comes out right at list. Instant gratification has a price and I decided to pay it to get my camera same day...

I've gone the B&H route for lenses and accessories, though...

TeraGram93013

9th of February 2004 (Mon), 10:34

I was searching for something else and found this old thread.

Thought I'd share my experience that I had at the Ventura, CA Ritz in the Pacific View Mall.

I had my three year old daughter with me (as I almost always do) and decided I'd pop in there and check out their battery options and prices.

I noticed they had several deals on Sigma lenses, so I inquired. Turns out they had only one package in stock. I told him I didn't need the smaller of the two lenses, but wanted just the longer telephoto. Then the guy pushed very hard for me to buy Quantaray. "No, I'm not interested in those lenses. The quality isn't good enough", I told him.

"Well you know they're made by Sigma and I'm sure they're good enough for any shooting you're going to do."

My left eyebrow just about arched right off my forehead. Then, I squinted and glared at him for a good 10 seconds. I bit my tongue so hard I think I may have injured it. Did he assume a SAHM couldn't take good pictures? Did he think I slog my 10D around practically 24/7 because I like the chunky jewelry look?

I put my hand out and said "time to go honey", and my daughter and I left without buying a darn thing.