Good camera shops in norcal?

[Golden1245]

Does anyone know of some good camera shops in the Bay Area that doesn't rip you off like Ritz camera and best buy?

If anyone is familiar with BH photo in New York or the Samys camera chain in the Southern California area, that's the type of store that I'm looking for.

[kameraguy]

Sorry, no BH Photo-type place in the Bay Area, but you can do OK at San Jose Camera and Video on Winchester BLVD. They have a good selection and decent prices. Better prices than Ritz/Wolf.

Calumet Photo in SF is pretty cool, although last time I went their prices were higher than SJCV, but they had an awesome selection of stuff.

Keeble and Schucat (sp???) in Palo Alto, as much as I LOVE their stores, are freakin' expensive in most cases...BUT you sometimes can find certain things there. They are always worth the trip.

Depending on what you are buying, it usually makes sense to buy from BH for anything that you don't need the same day. They simply can't be beat for professionalism and price (meaning they won't rip you off). Most of the time It makes sense to mail-order camera stuff.

For Mail order:

BH rulez.

Samy's is cool, but you pay sales tax if in CA.

Cameraworld of Oregon USED to be the shiz back in the early 90's...but then they got bought out buy Ritz and their excellent prices are no more :(

[Golden1245]

Well, holidays are coming up so I want a nice flash (again) for my camera to take family pics, I'm was blown away by how big a difference in pictures looked with the nikon sb800.

Looking to get the Canon 580ex for about $350 locally (instead of $480 that freakin' ritz charges) instead of waiting for it in the mail.

But thanks, i'll check those places out =)

[redline]

Why 580EX? What would make you get the 580EX over the 430EX? Do you need a built in slave? or the highest guide number? Just curious as to why you personally would buy the 580 over the 430.

[kameraguy]

If you can wait, you could get a good deal by looking around on several camera forums like photo.net and fredmiranda.com. Somtimes Craigslist has some gems to be found. I picked up my 580 EX in Mint condition for $300 shipped from sportsshooter.com. Unfortunately if you buy locally, you're gonna pay retail, if not close to it...which is between $370-$400 + tax. But maybe not a big deal if you need it now without hassle.

[Golden1245]

Why 580EX? What would make you get the 580EX over the 430EX? Do you need a built in slave? or the highest guide number? Just curious as to why you personally would buy the 580 over the 430.

cuz i want the biggest and baddest ass shoemount flash on the block!

hah j/k, cuz i've read that the older 430ex and 550ex's weren't very good with exposure and were just bad flashes in general until the introduction of the newer more intuitive 580 ex. I wanted something that could match my recent nikon in terms of power and proper exposures.

[kameraguy]

Where did you hear the 550's were bad flashes? I've been using 550's for almost six years without problems. For me, I trust them as they are very reliable and consistent. I like the 580 too. Aside form the fact it supports E-TTL II with lenses that convey distance, it's pretty similar with the exception of ergonomics...it's a (slightly) smaller flash with (slightly) more power. The 550 was a huge brick in comparison, but still worked fine. I think as long as you learn the gear and know what it can and can't do, it's all good.

If anything I read a lot of folks have problems with the Canon Flash system simply because the metering system is maybe too advanced. People who come from other system are used to focus-lock-center, then recompose and shoot. But with the Canon multi-point AF, you really should let E-TTL sort out the exposure based on composition. The problem with the traditional recompose technique is once you lock focus, it locks exposure. If you recompose, the Canon system is constantly re-calculating ambient exposure based on segment and you can get unpredictable results as the target area now changes in reflectivity to what the last memorized segment recorded. So this can cause drastic under or over exposure. If you prefer this method, then you have to take advatage of FE lock so your aperture and flash output is locked down with respect to the recorded distance and pre-flash reading. Once you have this, recompose away as the FE is locked-in.

There are also custom functions to separate focus and exposure as well as AE lock. This way you have full control over ambient light and flash Exposure. The fact you can do this is what is beautiful of the Canon system IMHO. For sports I prefer to make sure AE is NOT locked so the camera is constantly re-evaluating the changing light since things are moving quick. But for portraits I like AE locked so you have full control over what you are metering. Combine all this with FE LOCK with Memory and you know whatever happens with the Ambient light, your Aperture and Flash exposure remain constant. Very cool IMHO.

BTW- the real beauty of the EOS Flash system is really seen when "off" the camera. The wireless system makes what used to be a hassle manually so simple, you take forgranted just how not-so-simple this all used to be. Not to say full automatic is better than manual, but when time is of the essence, an automatic system that plain works is welcome.

Here are some excellent resources to become familiar with the EOS flash system:

http://photonotes.org/articles/beginner-faq/flash.html
http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/eosfaq/flashfaq.htm
http://www.dcresource.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2498
http://photonotes.org/articles/eos-flash/
http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Canon-580EX-E-TTL-2-Speedlite-Flash-Review.aspx
http://www.kjsl.com/~dave/wireless.html (http://www.kjsl.com/%7Edave/wireless.html)

[redline]

Thanks for the links!!

[Golden1245]

Got the 580ex, looks good. Not as easy to use as the Nikon though.

I'll put some test pics up later.

[babycarlsson]

Calumet Photo in SF is pretty cool, although last time I went their prices were higher than SJCV, but they had an awesome selection of stuff.
And I thank you for this info!!! Ever since the introduction of Pentax k100d and K10D, there is a simple craze on any of Pentax sharp glass pieces!

For a month and a half, I've been looking for SMC FA 50mm f1.4, no one had them in stock, not even B&H, and ebay sellers (very few that there are) wanted $100 over the store prices :wacko:

So I though why not to give those guys a call - one in stock, shipped my way, will be here tomorrow :banana::banana::banana:and $25 cheaper than B&H list price!

So thank you!

Regards
D

[Golden1245]

What a cute little lens!