Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site peora.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!hjuxa!petsd!peora!jer From: jer@peora.UUCP (J. Eric Roskos) Newsgroups: net.rec.photo Subject: Re: mailorder survey, PLUS some tips on buying from them Message-ID: <1930@peora.UUCP> Date: Fri, 24-Jan-86 09:06:36 EST Article-I.D.: peora.1930 Posted: Fri Jan 24 09:06:36 1986 Date-Received: Sat, 25-Jan-86 08:12:52 EST References: <549@decwrl.DEC.COM> <469@tekig4.UUCP> Organization: Concurrent Computer Corporation, Orlando, Fl Lines: 40 > This may be true of most mail-order places, but I feel it is very unfair > to Calumet Camera in Illinois. Not only have I called them many times on > their 1-800 toll free line for just information, they have not pressed for > an order immediately beyond "Do you wish to order that item?" Not only > that, but they always carry the US Warranty. I can also confirm this. Calumet also carries a lot of products that are hard to find elsewhere, e.g., Vericolor Commercial Film (VCS). They also have some very nice low-end view cameras, as well as extremely high-priced, high-quality ones. On the other hand, Calumet is a different category of mail-order dealer: they are a genuine professional photography dealer (rather than one that just uses "professional" in their name to impress customers), since they carry mostly equipment and supplies used by professional photographers. They tend to be more expensive than the "discount" dealers in New York, and carry a different type of inventory altogether -- you can get things from them that you can't get from the New York discount stores, but on things that are available from both, the Calumet price is often much higher; e.g., I bought a digital spot meter for $130 from 47th Street Photo which was $199 from Calumet, a couple of months ago. On the other hand, I must admit that I first selected the meter I wanted from the Calumet catalog, because they, unlike FSSP, gave complete, detailed specifications on all the available meters in the catalog. The catalog (which you have to pay for unless you buy something from them, or they think you will) is valuable for that reason alone. If you buy from them often, they also give you a free subscription to a "photographic journal" (I think it's called "Journal of American Photography" or something) which is sort of a mixture of Calumet ads, fairly useful articles, and occasional photographic criticism. They advertise in the professional magazines, as well as some of the "serious amateur" ones like Outdoor Photography. -- UUCP: Ofc: jer@peora.UUCP Home: jer@jerpc.CCC.UUCP CCC DNS: peora, pesnta US Mail: MS 795; CONCURRENT Computer Corp. SDC; (A Perkin-Elmer Company) 2486 Sand Lake Road, Orlando, FL 32809-7642 LOTD(2)=a "A people without history is not redeemed from time, For history is a pattern of timeless moments." --TSE