Equipment Buying

By
Sabyasachi Patra
– 2 August,2011Posted in: Equipment
Diary - Tales from Wild India | Conservation Magazine > Equipment > Equipment Buying

Equipment Buying:

I have been buying equipment from a lot of different sources. I have bought a lot from Singapore, Hong Kong, UK, Europe, USA etc. This was at a time when I was not very confident of using my credit card in the internet due to the chances of being duped.

One may ask, as to why I buy abroad. The prime reason for buying equipment abroad is due to the lack of availability of the particular models. When you are looking at buying still cameras, the companies like Canon are present here in India and others have their dealers. I do have a very good relationship with Canon and buy my professional cameras and lenses here in India. A lot of IndiaWilds members also get a good discount due to me.

However, the equipment required for filming is much more varied and due to lack of demand in the Indian market for specific equipment one has to buy from abroad. Also, a lot of accessories required for filming are manufactured by smaller players and they can no way afford to have their agents in India.

So a lot of my shopping is from USA from B&H. It is one of the most reputed dealers and I have never faced a problem from them. If one tries to find out the price, at times one can find cheaper price in some other dealer. However, I have always stayed with B&H. And I have not regretted it.

In a recent incident, I had ordered some items from B&H and the Sound Devices recorder packaged didn’t contain the spare extra battery that I had ordered. I discovered that several months late and politely talked with B&H. They were within their rights to say no, as the package had been opened and the missing item was not reported immediately. However, as a gesture of goodwill, they sent me the battery.


To me, this is how customer service should be. I am sure they would be facing lot of fraudulent claims everyday. However, they decided to send me one battery. I am sure after this incident, I will continue to purchase tons of equipment from them in the future. In my book, they come highly recommended. So I have put a link to all photography deals in B&H below. You can buy by following that link, at no extra cost to you.

 

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