Buying lenses from street stores?

I'm from New York, but I'm currently on vacation in California. While I was in San Francisco, I was naturally attracted by the many small stores along Fisherman's Wharf that sold camera equipment, lenses, filters, etc. They seemed a bit shady and I was considering their legitimacy.

Has anybody ever bought equipment from these stores and had any problems?

I've bought SD cards while I was in China (kiiind of like what you are going through). One failed after a week or so. The bad thing was, since I was on VACATION, I had no way of taking it back since I was traveling. If you are planning to buy small stuff, then go ahead, but if you are buying lenses, etc. that might need warranty work or something breaks, are you really going to ship your lens back to this "shady" store in SF and risk not even getting it back?

I'm not questioning their legitimacy; I'm just going with what you described, and with my experience.

test the lens out on the spot to make sure it works properly. most likely, you will not be covered by warranty since the small camera stores around fisherman's wharf are grey market. i would stay away from them unless they are offering a major discount on the lens you are looking for. even then, i would still be hesitant due to the lack of warranty.

jonpwn wrote in post #9934773
I'm from New York, but I'm currently on vacation in California. While I was in San Francisco, I was naturally attracted by the many small stores along Fisherman's Wharf that sold camera equipment, lenses, filters, etc. They seemed a bit shady and I was considering their legitimacy.

Has anybody ever bought equipment from these stores and had any problems?

Hey I always meant to ask this. Back in Feb, my friend was taking his gf around Fisherman's Wharf and I was picking him up at night, so I didn't have much time to browse around myself. I honestly didn't care much for the stores and so I walked around looking to see if they carried nice lenses that I wanted like the 17-55 IS and stuff. My friend ran in there after me and he asked if they had a 70-200. The guy said it was $400. My friend said "WTF $400? Open box? What?" In the quick convo they had it sounded ok--as in the lens sounded like it was good. NIB, never opened, etc, but just UNBELIEVABLE. Oh 70-200 2.8 also. I'm pretty sure my friend meant the IS version but I don't know if that was clarified. Either way, any 70-200 for $400 is a steal even if the seller was trying to fool us with a F/4 non IS.

However he said come back on Monday (it was a Sunday I think) and he'd let us test it. We were in a bit of a rush to leave that night.

I think my friend also asked about a 5DII and it was some ridiculous price. Like under $2k.

To me if it's too good to be true, well you know. It's too good to be true. I didn't get all excited because deep down I knew the chances were slim to none. But now I hear someone else talking about it, maybe someone else can give us some more input on these stores?

Edit: I was at this store here:

http://www.google.com …sd2g&cbp=12,181​.67,,0,8.5

The name Fisherman's Wharf sounds familiar just from POTN. I've never been there (or overseas for that matter) but I've seen threads about it here and I believe the shops there are just like the bait and switch websites that everyone says the old saying, "if it's too good to be true, then it probably is".

i wouldn't unless you want to be scammed

You might want to read through this thread. https://photography-on-the.net …4&highlight=san​+francisco

These types of stores are focusing (no pun intended) on the tourist trade. Without getting into whether or not their products are authentic, their prices will typically be higher than the "local" photo shops, or the local Best Buy for that matter.

Whether you find yourself in San Francisco, NYC, or points in between, find the local photography store via Google, Yelp, etc., take a short cab ride and you'll be supporting a local business, probably save some money, and get more piece of mind with what you buy.