Buying a camera online

[Normand]

I have to give Abe's of Maine 2 thumbs up. I ordered a Pentax Optio w30 on Tuesday afternoon and got it today from ups. Free shipping to boot!

Outstanding service.

Yes, I got a call from Abe's but only to confirm my order. No pressure sales pitch to order and additional accessories.

[nighthawk]

Norm,
Glad you got a good deal. I haven't dealt with Abe's but I did buy my Pentax K110 digital SLR camera from Cametta Auctions (eBay) a.k.a. Cametta Camera. Got one heck of a deal that included lens, batteries and charger, photo recovery software, carry bag, 1gb SD high speed memory and lots of other goodies. Great price and outstanding service from Cametta Camera! BTW, I blame it all on Ohiotuber.

Have fun with that new Pentax. IMHO, anything Pentax puts their name on is of fine quality and at a lower price than their competition. If you ever have to, and you probably won't, deal with Pentax directly over issues with the camera, you will be glad you bought a Pentax.

[TyroneFly]

I have heard horror stories about Abe's. Glad to hear you had a good experience.

For future reference, you might want to check out B&H Photo and Adorama. It is were a lot of the pros go to buy their equipment. They have very good prices and very reputable. I have been buying from them for over 20 years without a hitch. I just bought a new flash for my digital SLR saving about $40 from buying it locally.

[John Rhoades]

Norm -

My wife bought a camera from Abe's last year and had a similar good experience. I was just looking at their prices on the Optio w20's and w30's, but it seemed to me that their optional memory cards (1g or 2g) were rather pricey - but I don't know one manufacturer versus another vis a vis quality on memory cards.

What was the reason you picked the w30 over the w20? I know the w30 is waterproof farther below the surface than the w20, but I don't plan on using a camera too far beneath the surface, intentionally at least!

Incidentally, you've got to be careful buying cameras on Ebay becasue a number of sellers sell gray market cameras not carrying a USA warranty.

John

[Marco]

John, Great to hear that you had a good experience despite some negative opinions about Abes. I just looked up the asking price for the WP30 from Broadway Photo. It's $232 + 14.99 for UPS ground. No sales tax . I have purchased two other Pentax cameras from them without any problem despite some negative opinions. I guess "service" is a relative term.
If this is your first Pentax WP series camera, you'll love it.

Mark

[Gringo]

The Pentax w20/30/40 are great little cameras. Much easier to use than the Olympus equivalent.

[ohiotuber]

Eric blames me for EVERYTHING!!
I really am a huge fan of Cameta Camera. Service is excellent, they are an authorized dealer for all they sell, and they sell NO gray market stuff.
Mike

[Big Bad Wulff]

Getting something quickly is not great service, it's just fast service. Let me know what happens when you have a problem with the camera........