Photo Shops in Manhattan

[jalafer]

A friend of mine is travelling to Manhattan in December. I will ask her to buy an S70 camera for me.
Can you please recommend me a good photo shop in Manhattan not far away from her hotel?
She will be in Rossevelt Hotel (Madison Av /45th street).
Thank You

[MDJAK]

B&H Photo is generally regarded as the best.
They are located on 34th Street and 9th Avenue, about 15 blocks from the Roosevelt Hotel.

Adorama is also excellent and is located on 18th Street between Broadway and Fifth Avenue, I believe.

Keep in mind, both stores are run by Orthodox Jews and close early on Friday and are closed on Saturday. They are also closed for all Jewish Holidays, so check their web sites for that info.

Be very careful in Manhattan as there are dozens of rip-off stores that have very nice display windows but will totally cheat you.

[caldgrp]

There is no reputable dealer in the midtown (Madison/45th). A 25 minute walk will get her to the obvious B&H (9th Ave / 34th St), 17th St Photo (17th Street bet 5th and 6th) or Calumet (19th St bet 5th and 6th). If she will be downtown, J&R (23 Park Row Brooklyn Bridge subway stop) is okay

[Jesper]

B&H is very good - they have almost EVERYTHING that exists in photography land... it's a very large shop close to the post office and Madison Square Garden.

Watch out for the many small "electronics & photo" stores around Times Square. They're full of annoying sales people who just want to sell you stuff you don't want to buy for prices that are much too high. For example, they'll try to push you into buying all kinds of wide angle adapters, etc.

My dad bought a Sony digital camera in one of those shops. He wanted to buy a Memorystick Pro with it, but just before he paid they switched it with a regular Memorystick, saying "you need this one, yes, it's the same price as the other one".... this was just a trick to let him pay more for a regular Memorystick.

So tell your friend that she shouldn't let herself be lured in by those sales people.

[jalafer]

Thank you all for the info

[Miika]

For 12 years ago a I stayed at Edison Hotel at 47th and Broadway; just few feet off Times sq.

There was (probably still is) a camera shop between 47th and 48th with doors that open both Broadway and 7th Av.

I was there with a colleague of mine, he was interested in a particular film SLR camera. They made an offer, a lot of bargaining followed. Finally he decided not to buy, and we left the store. After we had left the building, few moments later the dealer ran after us telling that they would still come down 50 bucks...

Still no deal... he found out later, that the final offer would've been more expensive that it would have been in Europe. Never seen that kind of salesman before and afterwards!

Be careful out there!

Miika

[pcasciola]

I grew up in NYC and there is definitely a scam on just about every street corner around Times Square, so be careful. As others have suggested, just go to B&H. It's a pretty impressive place, too, and they have good enough prices so you won't feel ripped off. Being that they are Jewish, like someone else also said, they close very early Friday and are closed Saturday, but Sunday is a full day though, and because of the holidays they will be open until 7PM every Sunday.

[Ogrt48]

Try JR, 17th photo or Adorama before BH. The store is like a jungle and it takes FOREVER to get any help.