BruceHartman.net

I made it, believe it or not. The flight from Richmond to Atlanta was a bit bumpy and left me with motion sickness the whole way. The connection to Vegas was much smoother, but the decent was incredibly rough. I came out of the seat twice… ME! Twice! And nearly lost the lunch I hadn’t eaten. I’ll have to find some Dramamine for the trip home.

I’ve been here about three hours so far, two of which were spent riding around with the shuttle bus driver or waiting in line to get checked into my room. At the moment I’m waiting on room service to bring breakfast/lunch/dinner (I don’t know which it’s supposed to be). I’m going to chill out for a little while and then I’ll go down and get registered for the conference. I’m also planning to hit the Strip this evening as well for some people watching and photo opportunities. Hopefully this headache from the flight will go away once I get some food in my belly.

I think I’m done with the running around and picking up of last minute things. I have a few t-shirts to return to the store, but they can wait until I get home. I found a nice pair of slip-on shoes at Kohl’s, but they didn’t have my size… the thought of finding another Kohl’s didn’t really appeal since everything else I had to do was within a quarter mile radius of where I was. I said the hell with it. The guy behind me in the security line will just have to wait the thirty seconds it’ll take me to tie my shoes.

I have to finish packing this afternoon, and then I’ll clean the house. Since I’m waking up at 3:30 AM tomorrow I’m hoping to get to bed early and actually get some sleep.

When it comes to camera equipment, I try my best to do research on a potential new supplier before I make my purchase. Just as the internet makes scamming easy, it also makes discovering the scammer a lot easier too.

The typical camera scam goes like this: you see an ad for a camera stating a price WELL below typical retail. You place an order for the camera. The seller calls you to “confirm” your order and then pressures you into buying everything else you’ll need to make the camera even the least bit functional. For instance, most camera bodies will come with a battery and charger. The scammer will tell you during the confirmation call that the item you’ve purchased doesn’t include those accessories and that you’ll need to purchase them separately, at a considerable markup over what they’d usually be sold for.

Here’s a prime example. At the time of this post, Bestpricecameras.com has a new 30D body listed on their site for $614. B&H is selling a 30D for $1089. The fact that BPC is promoting a 44% discount should send up a red flag right away, but if it doesn’t, look below and see that they sell a standard battery for $90, an extended battery for $180, and the charger for $270 (never mind that regular retail on a OEM battery and charger is only around $150, and that you can get equivalent non-Canon battery and charger for less than $100). In all likelihood, when BPC calls to confirm your order they’ll advise you that the battery and charger aren’t included. If you choose to buy the regular battery and charger, your purchase price has just shot up to within 11% of BH’s price, and that doesn’t include the shipping charges that they’ll likely hit you with. Estimate another $100 or so, et voila, your price is now $1074. What have you gotten for your meager $15 savings? A huge runaround, and you’ve reaffirmed to these crooks that their scam works. In the event you manage to hold out against the high pressure sales call, you’ll likely be informed that the item you want isn’t in stock and won’t be for some time.

Instead of building a solid reputation, companies like this are built buy defrauding unsuspecting consumers. Luckily for the good guys, there are plenty of resources to help you discover who the bad guys are:

Shedding Some Light
I just discovered this site this morning and the discovery was the inspiration for this post. The information at SSL is a bit disorganized, but it’s all there in one place which is a huge help. Their primary focus seems to be exposing the inbred nature of the various organizations. Their research shows the lengths these business go to to hide how connected they are to each other. I really dig their “about us”: We believe in free enterprise, citizen activism, and the sharing of knowledge to benefit everyone.

The Better Business Bureau
Sometimes it’s difficult to figure out what company you’re really looking at, but the BBB is generally a good way of discovering what other people have had to face with a particular company. I’d wager that the reports shown for any particular company are only the tip of the iceberg as far as how many complaints a company would have if everyone who had a problem had filed a report.

Thomas Hawk’s Digital Connection
While not specifically a research site, Thomas Hawk’s saga from about 18 months ago is nearly legendary. His story should be required reading for anyone considering buying a digital camera online.

Google
As the saying goes, “Google is your friend.” A simple search against a “companyname +scam” will likely return a good sampling of opinions about the legitimacy of a particular company. The fact is, there are a hell of a lot more of us than there are of them and if all of us speak up, hopefully the next guy that comes along will benefit.

My intent here is not scare you away from buying online, but to open your eyes to the possibilities of what can go wrong if you don’t pay attention. Let’s face it, these criminals prey on our sense of greed… who wouldn’t turn down a $400 discount on a $1000 camera?

The thing to keep in mind is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.

Caveat emptor.

UPDATE: It just dawned on me that I’ve only talked about the negative side of online camera sales. Let me briefly talk about the good side (I’ll likely expand this in a longer post eventually).

Above I referenced B&H Photo & Video. These guys are top notch. I’ve spent a fair amount of money with them since getting addicted to my Canon. Their service is exceptional, and on the one occasion where I needed to return an item, the process was headache free.

Amvona.com is another place I’ve purchased from in the past, both from their extensive eBay listings as well as their wholesale store at Amvona.com. The price difference between something you’ll pick up at auction compared to the same item you’d buy from their storefront is a bit of a head scratcher, but their eBay rating should be proof enough that they’re doing something right. When it comes to accessories, this is a good place to look even if you don’t actually buy from them.

When it comes time to look into studio lighting, Alienbees.com is the place to go. These guys are the epitome of conscientious. They make a great system and their service is spot on.

The amount of money I’ve spent is a drop in the bucket compared to folks who are much more serious about photography than time and inclination allow me to be. So when it comes to figuring out where to buy, find yourself a good forum with people who take great shots, and ask them. Most people are happy to share where they get their gear… while I’m thinking of it… the forums I tend to lurk at are DPReview, Fred Miranda, and of course, Photo.net. You’re bound to find great places and good people to hang out with all over the tubes, so keep your eyes peeled.

And leave a link in the comments if you have a place to recommend, whether it’s a online supplier or a forum.

I’ve had few limbs that were coming precariously close to touching the house so I finally went out and bought a tree pruning pole last weekend. I spent a couple hours cutting limbs and left the cleanup for this weekend.

Yesterday I borrowed David’s chainsaw in order to make the cleanup a bit easier. I made a good dent in the work this morning and took a load of limbs to the dump. I have some more to do, probably another two truck loads.

The work is particularly hard because the trees in question are around the side of the house where the back deck comes around the house. There’s no yard to speak of, and what is there is on such a slant that it makes working over there incredibly difficult. Mostly it consists of dragging the limbs up and into the front yard so that they can be cut up and put in the truck. I need to find a piece of rope and hook of some sort to make retrieving the limbs a little easier.

I’ll make another effort tomorrow, but I’m not expecting to finish. I’ll have time next weekend before I leave for Vegas on Tuesday considering I’m taking off Monday just because.

Oh… and the Jehovah’s witnesses decided to stop by while I was outside this morning. I really, really don’t understand these people. I can’t believe there success rate is high enough to justify what they do.

I’ve begun posting photographs at Flickr.