Butterfly Photo?

[donp]

I bought my Sigma 18-125 from them , good price,no problems, quick shipping, no calls to upgrade. I'll give them a good rating and will buy from them again if the price is as good as B&H or some of the other top stores. I would not be afraid of them. Item was brand new, full warranty.

[adamvk]

Originally Posted by donp

I bought my Sigma 18-125 from them , good price,no problems, quick shipping, no calls to upgrade. I'll give them a good rating and will buy from them again if the price is as good as B&H or some of the other top stores. I would not be afraid of them. Item was brand new, full warranty.

Ya, I'm not too worried yet. My order is supposed to ship tomorrow, and no calls yet.

[adamvk]

Well 4 days after ordering it still hasn't shipped, and it was supposed to within 2 days. I called them, and very nicely they said that they were closed Monday and they are backed up. Luckily they said they would bump my shipping to air 2-day for free which is very nice.

Also....they didn't bring up a warranty but they did recommend a longer laster battery. They said the one that comes with the Sony Alpha A230 lasts 1.5 hours, and the other one lasts 3 hours for $30. I said I'd buy just since it was so cheap, and I actually have to confirm it online to say that I want it. So, should I buy it?

[hiro1963]

Originally Posted by adamvk

Also....they didn't bring up a warranty but they did recommend a longer laster battery. They said the one that comes with the Sony Alpha A230 lasts 1.5 hours, and the other one lasts 3 hours for $30. I said I'd buy just since it was so cheap, and I actually have to confirm it online to say that I want it. So, should I buy it?

Ummm... Battery life is measured by how many pictures you can take on a single charge, not by hours.... I guess they don't know what they are talking about.

A third -party battery usually goes for $10-15. They are trying to rip you off. I wouldn't buy it.

- Hiro

[adamvk]

Ok I did already buy it actually...

They did say 1.5 hours of continuous shooting, I should have specified that earlier. The battery they sold me also usually retails for $50. Also it appears to be an actual Sony battery. (See below link)

Heres the one I bought http://www.butterflyphoto.com/prodin...1&ref=nextopia

Its $70 from Sony http://www.sonystyle.com/webapp/wcs/...52921665235898

edit: Will the standard charger charge the battery I bought?

[hiro1963]

You better check the SKU number.

This is the real Sony one butterflyphoto supposedly used to offer (SKU: SONNPFM500H).

http://www.butterflyphoto.com/prodinfo.phtml?id=374

I guess they are using the same photo.

Whatever it is, it should work for your charger.

- Hiro

[StevieDgpt]

1)

Battery life is usually estimated in terms of photos taken (assuming camera body driving the focus of the lens, no flash use, LCD display on etc).

Average numbers of photos for batteries range from 250 to 800 photos (for extry level and semi-pro camera bodies).

Rating a battery in terms of hours of use is a scare tactic used to pump-up the sale.


2)

Since the unit has not shipped in 4 days, one must question the quality of the operation. Backed up? Shipping department not open on Monday? Yea right, I have heard all of those before.


3) Free up grade to 2nd day air shipping. Common customer service scam across many industries. Standard GROUND delivery via UPS to most points on the East Coast of the USA is 1 or 2 business days. Since the majority of the US population live within those 1 or 2 day shipping lanes it is possible that the shipper never actually has to spend an extra dime to get the item to you in 2 business days.... but they have impressed you with "extra" service.


4) The battery they sold me also usually retails for $50

But they will let you have it for $30. I have a battery that normally sells for $200, but because you are a special customer I will let you have the battery for only $29.95 The next customer will be told $40 on sale for $20.

Wanna bet the battery costs them all of $4 and anything they get from you is just gravy?

[adamvk]

Originally Posted by StevieDgpt

1)

Battery life is usually estimated in terms of photos taken (assuming camera body driving the focus of the lens, no flash use, LCD display on etc).

Average numbers of photos for batteries range from 250 to 800 photos (for extry level and semi-pro camera bodies).

Rating a battery in terms of hours of use is a scare tactic used to pump-up the sale.


2)

Since the unit has not shipped in 4 days, one must question the quality of the operation. Backed up? Shipping department not open on Monday? Yea right, I have heard all of those before.


3) Free up grade to 2nd day air shipping. Common customer service scam across many industries. Standard GROUND delivery via UPS to most points on the East Coast of the USA is 1 or 2 business days. Since the majority of the US population live within those 1 or 2 day shipping lanes it is possible that the shipper never actually has to spend an extra dime to get the item to you in 2 business days.... but they have impressed you with "extra" service.


4) The battery they sold me also usually retails for $50

But they will let you have it for $30. I have a battery that normally sells for $200, but because you are a special customer I will let you have the battery for only $29.95 The next customer will be told $40 on sale for $20.

Wanna bet the battery costs them all of $4 and anything they get from you is just gravy?

Well Its a business. Of course they will try to do that. I work for a company that sells school supplies. For example, they buy Ti-84 Plus Calculators for $10, and they sell for $100+. Also I have received an email that my order has shipped and information from UPS. When I click on the UPS link, it says UPS 2 Day air shipping.

[adamvk]

Well it came today.

Packaged great, camera works fine.

However the "spare" battery they tried to sell me doesn't even FIT into the camera. So they sold me the wrong one. I'm currently on the phone with them to see what went wrong...

[StevieDgpt]

Originally Posted by adamvk

Well it came today.

Packaged great, camera works fine.

However the "spare" battery they tried to sell me doesn't even FIT into the camera. So they sold me the wrong one. I'm currently on the phone with them to see what went wrong...

Have you tried to register the camera with Sony? Does it register as a new USA camera with full warranty or a rebuild camera with limited warranty or worse a grey market camera with zero warranty?