Anybody bought from CAMETA CAMERA?

Joined: 29 May 2004 Posts: 4

Has anybody bought from "Cameta Camera"? They have a website ( www.cameta.com ), also an eBay store, selling new and used equipment. Their prices seem good, but what about their service etc... Anybody know anything about them?

Joined: 01 Sep 2003 Posts: 323

MrJones wrote:

Has anybody bought from "Cameta Camera"? They have a website ( www.cameta.com ), also an eBay store, selling new and used equipment. Their prices seem good, but what about their service etc... Anybody know anything about them?

Cameta is a reputable 'Brick & Morter' store here on Long Island. I have never had the opportunity to purchase anything from them, but they have been in business a long time!

Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 9:52 am

Only once, it was a used camera and when it arrived it was clearly broken. They were very good about it and refunded my money.

Joined: 19 May 2004 Posts: 109 Location: San Diego, CA

I recently ordered a Nikon N75 from Cameta. I used the "buy it now" option on one of their ebay auctions. It just arrived yesterday. I have no complaints about the service they handled the order as I would expect. The camera looks great, I havn't had a chance to shoot with it yet though. Everything was as described in the auction. I would reccomend them. The only downside for me was shipping took a while, but I had the lowest option (UPS Ground) so that's to be expected. Probably just me being to anxious. The week felt like a month. :)

Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 4:14 pm

I have heard good things about them. Good prices, good service.

Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 2:51 pm

Try KEN-MAR CAMERA, (800-864-0513; www.kenmarcamera.com ). I've dealt with KEN-MAR for 35 years and they are always a pleasure to do business with. Ask for Ken or Mike (the owners). See their ad in SHUTTERBUG.

Joined: 12 Feb 2004 Posts: 59

I just bought a digital rebel package from them, very reasonable price, got the camera new with kit lens, a Canon Ef 70-300mm f4-5.6 zoom lens which I am sure isn't that great, the battery grip which is awsome, and extra battery and a nice camera bag all for a little over $1100, considering the battery grip and the lens both go for around $150 I think it was a pretty good deal, can't wait to get it.

Joined: 30 Nov 2004 Posts: 1

MrJones wrote:

Has anybody bought from "Cameta Camera"? They have a website ( www.cameta.com ), also an eBay store, selling new and used equipment. Their prices seem good, but what about their service etc... Anybody know anything about them?

I BOUGHT A CAMERA THEY CALLED A DEMO. IT TURNS OUT THEY SOLD ME A REFURBISHED CAMERA AND CALLED IT A DEMO. I CALLED NIKON AND WAS TOLD A TRUE DEMO WOULD HAVE A FULL LENGTH NIKON WARRANTY NOT JUST 90 DAYS. ALSO, THAT BECAUSE IS CAME IN A BOX STAMPED "REFURBISHED" IT WAS PREVIOUSLY OWNED AND NOT A DEMO.

BUYER BEWARE! I GOT TAKEN AND AM FILING COMPLAINTS AND CALLING MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY.

Joined: 10 Aug 2004 Posts: 161 Location: Visalia, CA

zetb2002 wrote:

MrJones wrote:

Has anybody bought from "Cameta Camera"? They have a website ( www.cameta.com ), also an eBay store, selling new and used equipment. Their prices seem good, but what about their service etc... Anybody know anything about them?

I BOUGHT A CAMERA THEY CALLED A DEMO. IT TURNS OUT THEY SOLD ME A REFURBISHED CAMERA AND CALLED IT A DEMO. I CALLED NIKON AND WAS TOLD A TRUE DEMO WOULD HAVE A FULL LENGTH NIKON WARRANTY NOT JUST 90 DAYS. ALSO, THAT BECAUSE IS CAME IN A BOX STAMPED "REFURBISHED" IT WAS PREVIOUSLY OWNED AND NOT A DEMO.

BUYER BEWARE! I GOT TAKEN AND AM FILING COMPLAINTS AND CALLING MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY.

I've bought a camera kit, some lenses and other various things from them and have never ever had any problem and they have always been friendly.

I have never purchased anything refurbished or used though.

Joined: 25 Oct 2004 Posts: 346 Location: Okinawa, Japan

I got all my stuff from them. No problems here.

Joined: 03 Mar 2005 Posts: 2

hey everyone...new to this forum community. I actually have purchased from Cameta on their ebay store. I originally bought my Nikon D70 from them...they said it was a factory demo when it actually was a used refurbished item. I filed them with Nikon. I returned the item and did get my money back. I went down the block and bought from Berger Bros. They offered better service, price was about the same, and they offered me a FREE class on the usage of the camera and software.

Posted: Thu Mar 03, 2005 4:31 pm

zetb2002 wrote:

I BOUGHT A CAMERA THEY CALLED A DEMO. IT TURNS OUT THEY SOLD ME A REFURBISHED CAMERA AND CALLED IT A DEMO. I CALLED NIKON AND WAS TOLD A TRUE DEMO WOULD HAVE A FULL LENGTH NIKON WARRANTY NOT JUST 90 DAYS. ALSO, THAT BECAUSE IS CAME IN A BOX STAMPED "REFURBISHED" IT WAS PREVIOUSLY OWNED AND NOT A DEMO.

BUYER BEWARE! I GOT TAKEN AND AM FILING COMPLAINTS AND CALLING MY CREDIT CARD COMPANY.

Good to be aware of that, although they also sell cameras they do list as refurbished, and I don't think there's anything to fear in a refurb. In fact, if anything, a refurb has been hand inspected and repaired (which in these cases certainly just means replacing some faulty module with a brand new one) instead of just churned out of the assembly line, so you might be less likely to have any problems with it.

And besides, I'm sure that 3/4 of the refurbs sold are just cameras with "horrible backfocus issues" (ie, novices shooting 300mm @ f/2.8 without a tripod returning a perfectly good camera).

Joined: 09 Nov 2004 Posts: 23 Location: Kansas City, Mo

I've purchased several items as have some of my friends. Always a good experience.

Joined: 05 Apr 2005 Posts: 26 Location: Connecticut

So it appears some people have good experiences, while others have had problems when it came to purchasing demos vs refurbished equipment. Overall, they appear to be reputable but I wonder if there is something fishy going on here.

What I don't get is how can they expect to sell lens below market rates or do they not care because they are selling so many (and everything else for that matter).

In my case I am interested in a Canon Telephoto, 75-300mm. When they put these up on ebay, they are listed at $1 and invariably all the auctions tend to top out between $127 to $147. Does anybody know what these lens for on the wholesale market? I know at B&H I can it for $159. It just seems strange. Also, what I have seen is that when the bidding stablizes, somebody, from out of the blue comes in and throws in a bid, almost, it seems to see what somebody's max bid is, and then not pursuing it further. Almost as if this lone bidder is in cahoots with the seller.

I wonder if the people at ebay have the ablility to track this practise. I am sure its prevalent.

Joined: 22 Sep 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Edmonton, Alberta

What I do with auctions I'm interested in on Ebay is I watch the item and make my bid as close to the last minute as possible. The price always shoots up with people doing the same thing but you're less likely to be outbid.

R.