Best Place to buy a 5d MKIII?

I have a wedding coming up and it is time for me to upgrade from my 50D. I am making the jump to the 5d platform. I will need to get a new normal lens as my Tamron 17-55 lens will not work on the full frame. I am good with the 70-200 f2.8.

I have looked at Best buy,
adorama (has some open boxed there, ever bought open box there?)
bhphotovideo,
what other options? They all seem to be the same price unless anybody has a softly used version here.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

I am going to sell my 50D+Tamron to get money towards new camera.

If you're looking for the best bargain, I would buy a low-mileage used one here on POTN. I am not saying that because I have one up for sale. I have a local Craigslist buyer that wants it and I will be meeting up with him tomorrow. I'm saying this because if you keep a close watch on POTN's For Sale forum, good used ones come up for sale on a pretty regular basis. It's a great way to save a significant amount of money.

If you really want to buy new, you have two choices: USA model or Grey Market. There is nothing wrong with Grey Market bodies as long as you buy with care from the right Grey Market Dealers on eBay. As for USA models, the best deal out there is to go to www.canonpricewatch.co​m and use their Street Price program. CPW is also a great resource for learning about grey market gear as well.

Hope this helps,
Bryan

Most reputable and reliable place IMO is BH Photo - that's where I purchased mine as well as the 5Dc. I shutter to think how much money I've spent there over the years

The ones you mentioned (Adorama and B&H) are the only places I purchase from. I haven't stepped foot in the local Best Buy in about 5 years. Probably longer.

What are you looking at to replace the 17-55?
The EF 16-35 f/4L IS is superb on the 5DIII.
The Tamron 24-70 f/2.8 VC is good if you need something longer than that, but shorter than the 70-200.

I've used the 24-105 for nearly 10 years to do wedding and social events. There are a lot of them floating around in a variety of price ranges both new and used since they often come bundled with the body. Admittedly it is not the sharpest lens in the world but it is far from the worst. You cannot argue the convenience of it's focal lengths for large bridal parties on the wide end to wonderful portraits at 105mm. I have also had a number of prints with that lens accepted into museum shows. I don't think you can go wrong with it.

Additionally I have the 17-40, 70-200 f/2.8 IS, 85 f/1.8, 135 f/2 and 35 f/1.4 that I use for wedding and event work.

Just missed a good deal on a Canon Refurb kit.

http://www.canonpricew​atch.com …-for-2311-32-canon-store/

Personally, I'd buy a grey market one off eBay. Only difference is a one year warranty that is guaranteed to be honored instead of merely likely to be honored.

If you are deadset on the warranty, go Canon refurbished when they have a good sale. I got mine for $1,600 last year during their super sale, and I doubt I'm the only one on this board that did so

Adorama i have bought used, open box, and new. Great people to deal with. I have traded in gear too with Good trade in value. I also use Adrorama print services with excellent results.. I use B&H too but rarely...

Have you considered using the Greentoe.com site? No membership required. You name the price on the camera you'd like to purchase. They negotiate with approved manufacturer's vendors to get you the lowest price possible. Negotiated prices are usually below most retailers' prices. Their approved vendors only sell new, USA warranty products; no grey market or open-box products. I've personally used them in the past to purchase some Nikon and Canon products.

https://www.greentoe.c​om

Have a look on the Panamoz website..their stuff is grey import but they offer a 3 year warranty and I have yet to hear a bad word about them..
5d3 is about £1,400 ( UK pounds) a huge saving..

I get most of my gear on the POTN forum, or over on FM. I've never had any real issues buying/selling on here.

I would also recommend canon refurbished. I have gotten several lenses and my SL1 body there. Everything was basically brand new.

BH photo IMO

canonpricewatch will give you the best prices. just picked up a new 5d3 for under $2100 from an ebay seller via canonpricewatch

Buy from a Canadian online store. The exchange rate will favor you....

I don't like how B&H packages expensive stuff. They typically send me expensive stuff in shoddy boxes with trite padding.

I bought my 5dIII from a grey marketer on ebay. No problems.