hkr4627@acf4.UUCP (Hedley K. J. Rainnie) (03/23/85)
Comments of a Camera Ad Browser I'm probably pretty naive, but I found out something interesting yesterday. Haven't you ever wondered why camera ads specify the strangest mounts for independent lenses? Like Rollei or Fujica? And why they never advertise Nikon or Canon mounts? Apparently, the ad prices are for mounts that don't exist. I called up Focus (Honest Abe's) and their Nikon price was $20 higher than "Yashica mount." No wonder the initial price was about $20 below everyone else's. Another strange thing. Photron's prices in the February issue of MODERN and POPULAR are different, some by $10. FOr example, the Vivitar S1 70-210 is $108.95 in POPULAR but $119.95 in MODERN. In addition, the latter add warns that this is "Y/C Mount" whereas the former says nothing. In general, the two ads are prepared quite differently. I'm sure the company did not wish to upset MODERN's consumer protection board, just as I'm sure that POPULAR'S prices are fantasy. See you in the mail order section! -R-
mauney@ncsu.UUCP (Jon Mauney) (03/25/85)
> Another strange thing. Photron's prices in the February issue of MODERN > and POPULAR are different, some by $10. FOr example, the Vivitar S1 70-210 > is $108.95 in POPULAR but $119.95 in MODERN. In addition, the latter add > warns that this is "Y/C Mount" whereas the former says nothing. It's true. Modern Photography recently made a big deal about honesty in mail order, and one of their points was insisting that their not be any fine print on the prices, such as "other mounts higher" or "sold only with hard case. Hard case costs $20." They also made a lot of anonymous calls to see if cameras could really be bought at the advertised prices, and dropped some advertisers because of problems. There's no telling how long Modern can keep this up, but for now it appears that prices advertised in Modern are pretty honest. -- *** REPLACE THIS LINE WITH YOUR SIGNATURE *** Jon Mauney mcnc!ncsu!mauney C.S. Dept, North Carolina State University
cff@uvaee.UUCP (Chuck Ferrara) (03/25/85)
> Comments of a Camera Ad Browser > > I'm probably pretty naive, but I found out something interesting yesterday. > Haven't you ever wondered why camera ads specify the strangest mounts for > independent lenses? Like Rollei or Fujica? And why they never advertise Nikon > or Canon mounts? Apparently, the ad prices are for mounts that don't exist. > I called up Focus (Honest Abe's) and their Nikon price was $20 higher than > "Yashica mount." No wonder the initial price was about $20 below everyone > else's. > > Another strange thing. Photron's prices in the February issue of MODERN > and POPULAR are different, some by $10. FOr example, the Vivitar S1 70-210 > is $108.95 in POPULAR but $119.95 in MODERN. In addition, the latter add > warns that this is "Y/C Mount" whereas the former says nothing. In general, > the two ads are prepared quite differently. I'm sure the company did not > wish to upset MODERN's consumer protection board, just as I'm sure that > POPULAR'S prices are fantasy. > See you in the mail order section! > Some outfits do have the courtesy to specify "No extra mounting charge" in their adds, while others will tell you how much extra a given mount is in extra fine print, of course. This is yet another advantage of buying camera maker's lenses. I never saw them try to sell a Nikkor with a "Y/C" mount. Another thing to watch out for is the lens maker's USA warrantee vs. the store's own warrantee. In order to cut costs, some outfits will import lenses themselves, thus bypassing the USA subsidiaries. The result is that the manufacturer won't be obliged to repair defective lenses, leaving the responsibility up to the store. Personally, I would cringe at the prospect of "Honest Abe" & company repairing one of my lenses. -- "He's not responsible for what he's doing, his mother made him what he is." Chuck Ferrara @ U. Va. Dept. of EE; Charlottesville,Va. 22901 uucp: ...decvax!mcnc!ncsu!uvacs!uvaee!cff (804)924-7316
jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) (04/05/85)
> Another thing to watch out for is the lens maker's USA warrantee vs. the > store's own warrantee. In order to cut costs, some outfits will import There's another variation of this you need to watch out for. I recently ordered a Canon lens from Lucky's Photo here in Fla by mail order (they advertise in Modern Photography). I called first and asked what was the amount, total, I needed to pay, and they told me $x. But after sending in my $x I got a form letter -- apparently they do this regularly -- saying I should call them "so they could complete my order". When I called, they told me that the price listed was for a lens without the USA warranty, and further that they didn't HAVE such a lens, and that I would have to pay an extra $20 for the USA warranty. My best experiences have been with 47th St. Photo. They are always very prompt in filling the order, and have never attempted any "tricks". I've also ordered paper with no problems from Executive Photo Supply (one of the few places I've been able to find that carry 5x7 Ektacolor 74 RC paper; around here they claim "Kodak doesn't make it"). One other thing -- the postal regulations require that if a company cannot fill your order in 30 days and did not tell you when you ordered that they couldn't, they must offer to refund your money. Not doing so is illegal. If you can't get the problem corrected, I've found the DA's office in the county in which the dealer is located is the most productive. (The BBB can't do anything except call up and complain, and list your complaint in their files; the time to call the BBB is BEFORE you order.) [The above paragraph should not be construed as legal advice; I am not a lawyer, only someone who has bought many things by mail order and successfully resolved problems with dishonest mail order vendors in the past. The post office has various pamphlets which describe your legal rights in detail.] -- Full-Name: J. Eric Roskos UUCP: ..!{decvax,ucbvax,ihnp4}!vax135!petsd!peora!jer US Mail: MS 795; Perkin-Elmer SDC; 2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642