Where do Canadian members by Lenses and gear

I get mcbain here in Edmonton to price match all my goods with the camerastore...

local pick up and decent prices that way...mcbain is expensive...but with their price match, i find it more convienient than shipping it and save on shipping as well...and if my lens is bunk, I can exchange it locally so less hassle.

stuff mcbain doesnt stock, I';ve had ordered from thecamerastore.com

blam wrote in post #2148637
I get mcbain here in Edmonton to price match all my goods with the camerastore...

local pick up and decent prices that way...mcbain is expensive...but with their price match, i find it more convienient than shipping it and save on shipping as well...and if my lens is bunk, I can exchange it locally so less hassle.

stuff mcbain doesnt stock, I';ve had ordered from thecamerastore.com

McBains won't price match with B&H, at least they wouldn't for me, and I've bought a ton of stuff from them over the years. After seeing how much I was losing by purchasing from McBain Camera I've been buying from B&H ever since.

TheCameraStore in Calgary seems to be closer to B&H prices for quite a few things though, so I may use them one day. B&H still is cheaper than thecamerastore overall though.

I've only bought one lens, and thecamerastore's price for the 1.4 50mm isn't much higher than B&H, saved time and got it locally...I'm happy...

I was looking at B&H for my next lens though.

and no, mcbain wont match B&H because they are in the US. they match anyone in Canada though I believe.

This is a wealth of information, I only wish I would have asked this before.

BTw in case most of you don't know you can haggle a bit at henry's, their price is not the bottle line...espeicially if your buying multiple items and sometimes there are factory rebates they don't even tell you about.

From what I understood from the owner of HIT Camera in T.O. he imports nearly all his stock direct from Japan and hence Canon Canada will not offer warranty.

I agree with Petkal, you will be hard pressed to find a lot of the more expensive lenses sitting on the shelf at a Henry's store though they'll order them in, but for the wait you'd get a cheaper price from B&H.

Yes, you can haggle with Henry's, I did just that when I bought my 70-200 2.8 IS. At the time their list price was $2499 before taxes at the time but I walked away paying $2150 and taxes and they included a B&W UV filter at no extra charge. They just need a good nudge

I notice that not many people know that you can haggle a little with henrys , of course you really have to nudge them.

What I hate about henrys is waiting for the orders, they seem to take forever

www.downtowncamera.ca is where I shop for my gears. Their prices are competitive and service is excellent.

We really don't have as many options as they do in the US or Europe.

Broncobear wrote in post #2149364
We really don't have as many options as they do in the US or Europe.

All US options are our options.
We must be grateful for not having to pay any import duties and levies on the equipment in question. That means an open border for goods.
We live and shop in the North American economic community. Let the good business prosper, I say, regardless of the flag. A demise of inefficient and paternalistically sustained businesses benefits us all in the end.

I buy my gear at Henry's here in Ottawa / Kanata. They price match for me and have very good after sales service... For the few extra bucks it's not woth it for me to order on-line. Also bought lens and my Sigma flash from B&H and I am happy with their service. Worst place for camera gear in eastren On is Galaxy camera, hands down!

I'm in Ottawa as well, I go to the downtown store but some of the attitude of the sales poeple really irk me, they try to rush the sale and this one particular jerk leaves a bad taste in my mouth so I avoid and make sure I'm served by someone else...

I did go to the one in orleans to buy my 17-70 and I thought they gave me great service.

I don't have a car thought , so I'm limited

Petkal wrote in post #2149387
All US options are our options.
We must be grateful for not having to pay any import duties and levies on the equipment in question. That means an open border for goods.
We live and shop in the North American economic community. Let the good business prosper, I say, regardless of the flag. A demise of inefficient and paternalistically sustained businesses benefits us all in the end.

This is actually news to me , I did not know that there were no duties for camera gear...I remember ordering for the US maybe 10 years ago and got iscouraged when the duty foe the item was a smuch as the item itself.

These are good things to know.

I called Canada Customs last year, before ordering my nifty50 and Sigma flash and they told me that I don't have to pay duty on camera accessories, but if I buy the camera itself, I will pay duty. This measn if you buy lenses, flash, filters, tubes, etc, there is no duty, but still have to pay GST (6%) & applicable provincial tax!

Janika wrote in post #2149444
I called Canada Customs last year, before ordering my nifty50 and Sigma flash and they told me that I don't have to pay duty on camera accessories, but if I buy the camera itself, I will pay duty. This measn if you buy lenses, flash, filters, tubes, etc, there is no duty, but still have to pay GST (6%) & applicable provincial tax!

Ok this makes sense...thanks for clearing that up Janika...I got a lot more info out of this thread.

thanks to everyone for their feedback.

I would think Canadian go somewere hot for that may be Cali or FL instead of NY.