How do you guys handle rude Nikon shooters?

I walk when confronted by rudeness or lack of knowledge about the product. I will sometimes, if feeling provoked enough, wish them a Mery Christmas, just in case I don't see them again before then. It's not as effective in November, but when said in April, it's a kind of humerous way of letting them know I am walking out for the last time. I do not go back, ever.
It's your money, if the service is poor, what are you buying? The product is available any number of ways, going into a retail shop and paying the higher price to be treated rudely is just not gonna happen. Wish them a Mery christmas and walk.

MikeFairbanks wrote in post #9922512
Next time someone starts giving you a hard time about brands, ask them:

What brand of camera took that famous picture of Lee Harvey Oswald getting shot?

What brand of camera got that famous photo of Marylinn Monroe over the street vent?

Which brand of camera got the last skanky photo of the latest Hollywood startlett making a fool of herself?

Get my point?

But then you can ask, "Guess which brand of digital camera was the first in history to get the official presidential portrait?"

That's right: Canon 5D Mark II.

Any proof on that? lol. Those are really interesting points

lespaulowner wrote in post #9922615
Any proof on that?

There's one in every crowd... lol. Oh wait, this is POTN... There's 100's in this crowd...

I wouldn't attack the dude or belittle him for pushing a particular make. I'd just tell him the boo-koo bucks worth of little red-ringed lens in my bag tells me Canon will always be my choice. Honestly though, I'd probably just say these top manufacturers are so close in product it comes down to the person using it more than it does the camera itself... now may I please have my damn camera!

JWright wrote in post #9921337
I would have just set the camera down on the counter and walked out...

Yep. And then written a letter to their corporate headquarters (cc'ed to the manager of that particular store) explaining how their salesman cost them a sale....and my future business.

lespaulowner wrote in post #9922615
Any proof on that? lol. Those are really interesting points

I didn't write that as clearly as I could have.

What I meant was that the famous Monroe shot, along with the pic of Oswald and Jack Ruby, etc. were taken by cameras, of course, but nobody knows which brand and nobody cares. A good photo is a good photo regardless of what was used. Sure, through research you could find out which cameras took those iconic photos, but the point is that when we first see an amazing photo in National Geographic or whatever, we don't immediately ask, "which brand of camera was that?"

The part about Obama getting his family portrait by a 5D MII is true. Look it up through Wiki and you'll see. It was the first digital camera to get the official presidential portrait.

The reason I only purchase Canon products is given in my signature. I think Nikon is great, along with Fuji, Kodak, Sony and the others, but when someone gives me a series of letters and numbers for a camera model I either know it immediately (if it's a Canon) or think
"I have no idea what a 40Zdg56os is."

Been there, but didn't do that. When I first moved back to Daytona before finally retiring, I worked for a while at a local camera store. Nikon was good about paying incentives for selling their product. Canon less so. But, as a long-time Canon user with a large investment in lenses, I didn't plan to switch.

As far as customers were concerned, I tried to sell what they could use. First question was always, "what have you got now?" I never tried to convince someone to switch from one brand to another. The choices were even greater for point and shoots and the boss would always try to sell the latest and most complicated to everyone that walked in, often elderly people who only wanted to be able to snap a simple picture. He got a lot of returns, but it was his business. I sold them the simplest camera that would meet their needs and got very few returns.

On the other hand, an employee at another local store that has since gone out of business due to the economy, was the complete Film and German camera snob. One of his tasks was to assess trade-in and consignments and determine their resale value. When I bought a new lens and put an older lens up for sale, he would constantly run down anything Canon and compare it negatively to Leica or Contax.

I had found a nice deal on a 24-70L while vacationing in St. Thomas and was putting my older warhorse 28-70L on consignment, when he started telling me what a piece of S**t it was. This was the zoom that had shown a lot of news photographers, including me when I first purchased it, that you could match results against a prime lens. It was too much for me and I unloaded on him. I won't try to detail the rant, but I berated him pretty thoroughly. Enough that his boss came out and took over. Later, she said she had to give him her own lecture since 20 to 25 percent of the sale of any item on consignment went to the store and his running down Canon was not in the best interest of the shop since Canon was their main supplier.

Thing was, the guy was a decent photographer. He did do good film work and he was probably right about the comparative quality of stuff they didn't offer for sale. In fact when they had some nice used glass for sale, Contax G or Nikon lenses, it often was one of my consignments as I converted to digital and experimented with adapting other lenses to the Canon EOS mount. So, in the end, I regretted my loss of temper. His real mistake was merely calling one of my proven quality lenses a piece of...

The fundamental issue is that some owners seem to link their own sense of self worth to the brand they happen to currently own/sell, and they run down the other brands simply to inflate their own self worth. Cars, cameras, computers...you see loyalists in all these areas who promote 'their brand' at the expense of other brands. All that in spite of the fact that few brands or models of anything are perfect and without some area of relative weakness, yet owners find them beyond reproach.

I would have said "Forget it, I'll buy it else where" and turn around and walk out.

Snobs are everywhere. Camera snobs, bike snobs, guitar snobs, etc.

Here in my town there are two bike stores. One sells Trek and Gary Fisher + Redline products, and the other sells Giant, Electra, etc. All good bikes at both stores.

I shop at Trek. When we go in there they don't care if I'm looking at the 300-dollar bike or the 13,000 dollar bike (yep, they can be that expensive). They help out anyway they can.

The other place: Bike snobs. If you're not trying to win the Tour-de-France then you're not a very serious rider, in their opinion.

This partially explains why one store is huge and had to build a new store for their inventory and is constantly ordering new bikes and the other store looks like a ghost town with little inventory and no clear date on when new stuff will come in.

I want to put a sticker on their store window that says "no bike snobs".

It's like that in local music stores too. I actually like Guitar Center, the big store, because you can walk right up to a 150-dollar guitar or a 5000-dollar Les Paul and plug into an amp and make a bunch of noise playing Smoke on the Water and they don't care.

Most local music stores have "do not touch" signs everywhere and salespeople who think they are Randy Rhodes or Eddie Van Halen, and have no interest in helping you, and certainly no wish to help a beginner.

In the world of retail, nice guys finish first.

Here's a passage and quote about Lee Harvey Oswald's assassination by Jack Ruby. It's about the photographer and the picture. Nothing is mentioned about the brand of camera, and that was the point I was trying to make. It doesn't matter about brand of camera if a good photo comes out of it.

The dramatic story of Robert Jackson’s Pulitzer Prize photograph of Jack Ruby killing Lee Harvey Oswald is recounted in both the Pulitzer catalogue and the video. The tragic events surrounding the death of President John Kennedy in Dallas happened early in Jackson’s career as a staff photographer for the Dallas Times Herald.

Snapping photos during Kennedy’s motorcade on November 22, 1963, Jackson stopped to change film and in that moment heard the shot that killed Kennedy. Continuing to pursue the story, he arrived at Dallas police headquarters for the transfer of suspect Lee Harvey Oswald to the county jail on November 24.

When they brought Oswald out, Jackson raised his camera as Jack Ruby stepped in front of him. He described the moment: “My first reaction was, ‘This guy’s getting in my way.’ Ruby took two steps and fired—and I guess I fired about the same time.”

It is a photo that recalls the turmoil and disbelief that engulfed the entire nation as events spiraled out of control following President Kennedy’s assassination.

Mike buy at guitar center I think the place is a zoo. I don't buy guitars from stores I have them made custom order. How's that for feeding the snobbery motif? People who are serious about performance won't go to Walmart looking for a race bike. The snob bike store store may be virtually empty but it doesn't take many high end bike sales to keep the doors open for those who are attracted to that.

when shopping for my camera, i wasnt sure what brand to go with. i was close to getting a d90 and the sales guy was pushing nikon as that was what he shot. A major feature he was selling was the built in instructions on screen. that sounded great for a newbie like me but i eventually went with the 450d. I read the instruction manual once and was happy with my choice as i dont need my instruction manual to be built into my camera, lol. i love my canon, besides i look much cooler with my red/black camera strap rather than that putrid yellow/black one.

One problem with specialty camera shops is that the employees are often enthusiasts or pros who are really opinionated about gear. They take things too personally when anyone reaches for the brand that they don't shoot.

James P wrote in post #9920271
While purchasing my new 50D, the salesman, who had already been informed that this wasn't my first Canon, starting dissing Canons in general. He went on and on about how Nikon's flash and auto focus are superior to Canon. I had it in mind to rip him a new one, but I was so happy with my new toy, I wasn't about to let him rain on my parade. I was wondering how the rest of you would have handled this clown?

Amazon has never done that to me.