Help me understand mirrorless

[TCav]

Since you'll be in NYC, there are lots of excellent camera stores to browse through. I would caution you, however, that buying a camera in NYC can be expensive. The total Sales Tax rate in NYC is 8.875%.

Also, buying a used dSLR, or any high end camera, is risky. There's no way to know how much use and abuse a camera has recieved. Adorama has some factory refurbished cameras with 90 day factory warranties, but they don't currently have any refurbished Pentax cameras.

[Scottyent]

ramcewan, I will definitely stop at that store! I was trying to remember the name of it because I read it in another post recently.

I read in an Amazon review that the electronic viewfinder was really expensive? I don't want to have to pay that extra cash for something that I have always just taken for part of a camera. But I don't know, we will see!

The one thing that gives me pause is that I will probably be living where I currently am for maybe....one more year. So though it will be nice to have that friend and his lenses available for a year, it won't be a long term source of sharing equipment. However, a year is a long time, and I know I could get tons of great shots during that time, and have saved enough money to get the lenses I like.

I am at the point where I have decided that I will be going for a DSLR. The only thing that will sway me is if I go into...lets say B&H, and I can take a mirrorless camera for a test drive, use an electronic view finder, and the quality is really great....and the whole thing is cheaper than a DSLR. Then maybe I will go that route!

I recently spoke to a friend of mine that let me borrow his Canon D40x about 2 years ago for a photoshoot of some of my friends together, and that was when I was first blown away by the quality.....and I now see that most other new cameras blow THAT away....so I feel much better in knowing that virtually any recent DSLR will be good enough for me. And who knows, maybe I will find a good deal on a mirrorless and the picture quality will be just as great!

Thanks again guys! The next step is to try them all out when I first get to america, then once I find the one that feels and looks right to me, start hunting for deals!

[TCav]

If you'll be in Adorama (and a stone's throw from B&H) you'll be where the deals are (except for the 8.875% sales tax, of course.)

[tizeye]

I think that Canon D40x was a Nikon.

Canon's models end in a "D" where Nikon's start with a "D". Canon did make a 40d, and Nikon did make a D40x, with the "x" being an interum model, adding features to the original D40 that were then incorporated into the D60 which was further advanced to the current day D3200. While Nikon's were entry level, Canon's 40d was an intermediate level ultimately evolving to today's 60d.

Concerning the Pentax, your best chance to try it out is at the 2 New York stores. Their retailer network isn't that strong and may have trouble locating it in other cities. The major "big box" chains like Best Buy and Ritz Camera don't carry them. They almost universally concentrate on Canon, Nikon, and Sony DSLR's. Even my 2 local camera stores, where I could buy darkroom chemicals and Leica cameras...don't carry Pentax. And I may (or may not) be at you Florida destination, but it is tourist central.

[ramcewan]

shop in NY, buy online ship to Delaware or West Virginia (no sales tax) and pick it up on the way to FL

edit: usually a hotel will allow you to ship something to yourself when you stay with them. I used to have a gig doing conferences and we'd always ship the projector/materials to the hotel and pick it up from the front desk when we got there, much easier than flying with it.

[TCav]

Neither Adorama nor B&H collect sales tax for any destination outside NY State or the NYC metro area.

[tizeye]

Originally Posted by TCav

Neither Adorama nor B&H collect sales tax for any destination outside NY State or the NYC metro area.

Would almost pay to have a PO box over in NJ or CT, particurally now that the Post Office lets you convert the PO box to the street address of the Post Office.

[Scottyent]

Oops! You are right, it was a NIKON D40x, I guess I had Canon on the brain when typing that photo. I was certainly thinking of doing that, looking in the NYC stores, then buying it and having it shipped elsewhere (thanks for the tip about the hotels TCav!)

We will see what happens. I am still on the road of saving the money, and hopefully have enough to get a decent model by the time I'm in America!

[tizeye]

Originally Posted by TCav

Neither Adorama nor B&H collect sales tax for any destination outside NY State or the NYC metro area.

TCav...you may need to clarify since he is physically going into the store.

While Adorama, B&H, and others do not charge sales tax on items purchased and delevered out of State, the purchase typically originates as a mailorder. Usually when going in the store, since the point of sale was there, sales tax is charged. Is the tax waived if physically purchased in the store, but don't take delivery there, rather giving mailaway instructions? Or where you saying, go back to the hotel (or free wifi spot) and order what you decided on in the scouting trip to the store.

[TCav]

Originally Posted by ramcewan

shop in NY, buy online ship to Delaware or West Virginia (no sales tax) ...

Originally Posted by TCav

Neither Adorama nor B&H collect sales tax for any destination outside NY State or the NYC metro area.

Originally Posted by tizeye

TCav...you may need to clarify since he is physically going into the store.

My comment was a follow-up to ramcewan's comment to have the purchase delivered to Delaware or West Virginia, because they had no sales tax. Since Adorama and B&H don't collect sales tax on any purchase shipped outside NY State or the NYC Metro area, it didn't have to go to Delaware or West Virginia to avoid paying sales tax.