Toronto Photography Meetup Group

Hi guys,

I am visiting New york city for 4days in december. I want to purchase some equipment there but I do not know the area well.
Can anyone tell me the best places to look for camera/video equipment for good prices? or would it be cheaper to buy it in toronto?

I am looking for the tokina 11-16 f2.8, Rode Stereo VideoMic, glidecam hd2000 and canon 50 1.4mm.

any recommendations would be appreciated. thanks

There's B&H.

Have you been living under a rock?

Adorama also has some great pricing. If looking for other types of accessories, they have pretty good prices on their own brand, Flashpoint. I've seen some Flashpoint flashes and a carbon tripod, and it they actually seem pretty good quality for their price point.

Note that B&H, and I believe Adorama as well (hearsay) are closed on Jewish holidays and the Sabbath. I know B&H won't even let you do transactions on the website during those days.

I have a Flashpoint carbon tripod with ballhead. It is fantastic! Good build quality.

Have you seen photoprice.ca?
http://www.photoprice.ca/product/02537/Tokina-AT-X-116-PRO-DX-11-16mm-f2.8-for-Canon-price.html

Note their final price includes Cdn tax, shipping etc (but does not include any discount you could negotiate at your friendly Canadian retail store). Excellent site.

Going to B&H was like the first time in a candy store, on christmas morning, with a cherry on top.

Their prices are US listed prices, and with lower sales tax. a no lose proposition.

B&H posts all their religious holiday closings. just google it.

Keep in mind you're expected to declare anything you bought when you return back to Canada and may be assessed tax (HST) at that time. You may end up paying both NY state sales tax and HST.

If you're in the US for greater than 48 hours, you'll get a personal exemption to reduce the amount of tax paid ($400 tax-free after 48 hours, $750 tax-free after 7 days). You can also try not declaring it ... YMMV.

But you do not pay duty though no?
If that is the case then for many things even if you pay two taxes, that would still come up cheaper than buying in Canada no?

Strangely I'll be going off to New York soon (next week) also so questions like this was on my mind. Already pretty much decided that I'll hit B&H if at all possible.

Oh, and one more, how much is the tax in the states?

That's like asking people what's the best ice cream flavour. Different cities, different counties different states charge different sales tax. NYC is 8.8% I think.

Lol, you are correct. What I meant to ask was the tax in New York. 8.8% huh? Thanks.

yes.

<48> 7 days: $750 tax excemption

it's not duty u pay, but HST.

thank you everyone. i will check b&h and adorama!
the prices look cheaper ithan toronto for sure. maybe i may get away with one or two undeclard....

on another note. if i bring my cameras over, and i have no receipt for them what should i do? because can't they suspect those as being us items as well on the return?

Before you leave for the States, at the airport, declare them. They will put whatever you declare on a card that you use when you come back to Canada. You can from that point on, reuse that card for any future trip (whether or not you are actually bringing everything on that card or not).
There is a small room where you can do this, I can't remember what it was called though, nor where exactly it was but shouldn't be hard to find.

One more thing you can consider.

If you buy online from a non-NY state store and ship to your hotel room (or to a friend's place, if you're visiting/staying there) you can avoid the 8.8% sales tax. When I visit family in Boston, I order from B&H and ship to MA. When I visit family in NY, I order from a NJ company or Amazon and ship to NY.

It's only 8%, but it adds up quickly...

Interesting, I'm off to New York next weekend. We could have a mini TPMG meetup

lol omg me too. I'll only be there for Saturday Dec. 4th.

If you want to shop on saturday or Jewish holidays, J&R actually opens on most of those days (they are located around city hall, near Brooklyn Bridge). I was gonna pickup a lens and was only free on saturday so I picked it up at J&R, price was same as B&H and Adorama.

Their selection isn't as great but they do seem to have most lenses and bodies.

That's nice to know.

Off topic: Would be cool to get an event going for NYC. I've gone twice this year but with non-photography friends and couldn't see everything I wanted.

I'm going to NYC for the first time in a couple weeks. I've got a list of stuff to see, but I'm open to suggestions. I would hate to get back home and then here of something I should've seen.