Camera's and Lenses in St. Martin

[gill_boo]

Hi all. Sailing on the Dream in a month. My boyfriend is a photographer and I have heard that camera's and lense's can be cheap in St. Martin. I would most likely be looking at lense's. Can anyone give me an idea of pricing and such on something like a Canon 70-200 2.8 or Canon 24-70 2.8?

[seashinesunshine]

You may have more luck in the Photography forms on this site. I have not been there, yet, but one word of advise is the watch the warrenty. If it is not a US warrenty, you will not be able to return it and may not be able to find anyone to work on it. Personally we have heard about good deals down in the Caribbean, but have not seen any. You are better off buying stateside.

[bridedoll1026]

You may have more luck in the Photography forms on this site. I have not been there, yet, but one word of advise is the watch the warrenty. If it is not a US warrenty, you will not be able to return it and may not be able to find anyone to work on it. Personally we have heard about good deals down in the Caribbean, but have not seen any. You are better off buying stateside.

 

 

Very true!! Take it from me, I learned the hard way! If you do shop for cameras, avoid SUPER JEWELERS & ELECTRONICS 79-C FRONT ST.

[diane.in.ny]

Do your homework. Take info on SPECIFIC model numbers of lenses.

 

And, as previously mentioned, look at the warranty. If it doesn't give info about repairs in the U.S., move on.

[BigglesYYC]

I dropped my Canon SLR just as we started our cruise 3 weeks ago.I broke my Canon 18-55mm lense.I had no idea on costs of a replacement. I went to Carribean Cameras in St Maarten. They had a Sigma 17-70 mm lense.Sticker was $750USD , but they would sell it for $480USD.They added a filter for $11USD. After arriving back in Canada , the local Futureshop had the same lense for $499CAN plus tax. Visa bill for the lense I bought was $508 CAN .

So I didn't get much of a deal.However, if I had time to research the lense, I probably could have bargained harder and got a better price.

At least I didn't get ripped off.

 

I think there are bargains to be had,but do some reasearch before you leave..

[MDSue]

I recently bought a Canon T2i and a EF70-300 lens at Boolchands [in St. Maarten]. There are two locations, one on the dock and one in town. The one in town is larger. I paid approximately the same amount that I can buy at an online retailer. I got planty of freebies to make my purchase worthwhile. The risk of course is my warranty. It is the Latin American Canon warranty, which is based in Miami. I'm hoping I don't need to use the warranty, so I can't say how that will work. The camera and lens are great though, and I have no regrets from purchasing there.

The camera I bought two years ago is still in perfect working order.

 

I was not as impressed with another electronic store that I checked out while there, but I feel the staff at Boolchands are very knowledgable.

If you do your homework before going, you can have an idea of whether you are getting a good deal. If you aren't sure, you can always walk back to the ship and do some price comparisons online before purchasing. Keep in mind that there are many varieties of lens with the same numbers. The lens I bought was over $1000; other cheaper models sell for a few hundred or less. Make sure that you are price comparing the exact model type.

[gtaylor]

I recently bought a Canon T2i and a EF70-300 lens at Boolchands [in St. Maarten].

<snip>

 

If you do your homework before going, you can have an idea of whether you are getting a good deal. If you aren't sure, you can always walk back to the ship and do some price comparisons online before purchasing. Keep in mind that there are many varieties of lens with the same numbers. The lens I bought was over $1000; other cheaper models sell for a few hundred or less. Make sure that you are price comparing the exact model type.

 

Hope you're happy with your new camera, but it sounds like you broke your own rules in buying it.

 

It doesn't matter how much research you do on the camera that you intend to purchase if you end up buying something entirely different at the point of purchase that you hadn't done any research on.

 

Seriously, I hope that you're happy, but you should at least share with us the price quote on the Nikon and on the Canon that you purchased, and tell us about all of the 'freebies'.

 

The good thing here is that you didn't have to pay any state sales tax on the purchase. Of course I don't know if you payed any U.S. Customs duty on the purchase.

 

gary

[donaldsc]

I checked out the price of a Canon G11 at several places in the Caribbean. I did not try to bargain but the cheapest price I found was more expensive than I could get it at B&H.

 

DON

[MDSue]

I checked out the price of a Canon G11 at several places in the Caribbean. I did not try to bargain but the cheapest price I found was more expensive than I could get it at B&H.

 

DON

A friend of mine purchased her SLR at B&H [online] and is very happy with her purchase. I have read they are a top store for online and in store camera purchases. I did compare prices of the Nikon with all the online dealers and could not find a better price for the Nikon than what I found at Boolchands. However, the Canon was comparably priced- so I could have bought either place and gotten about the same deal-other than the freebies I got at Boolchands. The benefit for me is I got to try out and use the camera in the store before purchasing and get expert help and instructions from the saleperson [something I'm sure I could have gotten at home as well], but not from an online site. I probably spent a good hour in the store before making my purchase and felt like I gained alot of insight on each camera before making my choice.

The other plus for me was simply time- Before I left on vacation, I was working and going to school full-time. I simply had no time to shop- other than online, before I left. St. Maarten was our second port- and I devoted my morning to shopping for my camera- an item I have wanted- but couldn't afford most of my adult life. I always wanted to go back there to purchase a good camera after shopping there two years before on a previous trip. I have also read some other good reports [here on CC] from other photographers who have purchased there.

[Dunmore2]

I purchased a Nikon d5000 at Boolchands in Sept 2010. The staff were great to deal with and I felt right at home there. I bought at the shop in town, and they had a great selection. The price of the camera was a little less than I could get it for in Canada, but the extras they threw in made the deal fantastic. they added a $75 case, 2 X16gb sd cards, uv filter, sd card case, lens cap keeper and a remote. We are doing another cruise next spring which will stop in St Maarten and I am looking forward to returning to Boolchands to buy another lens and to see what else they have. I give this store and their employees a five star rating.

[Miss Vickie]

I've gotten cameras at both Caribben Cameras and Boolchands. I do my homework and know I got a very good deal on my Nikon D7000 at Boolchand's. However, I've priced out lenses several times and e only lens I've bothered buying in the Caribbean was my Nikor 50 1.8. Everything I've purchased at either of theses stores has had a US warranty.

[MDSue]

Over two years and about 4000 pictures later, I'm still happy with my purchase!

[Nukesailor]

I've gotten cameras at both Caribben Cameras and Boolchands. I do my homework and know I got a very good deal on my Nikon D7000 at Boolchand's. However, I've priced out lenses several times and e only lens I've bothered buying in the Caribbean was my Nikor 50 1.8. Everything I've purchased at either of theses stores has had a US warranty.

 

I would be very surprised at that, as both Canon and Nikon consider St. Thomas and St. Marten to be part of their Latin America market and do not offer US warranties there. At most, there is a contact in Miami who may handle repairs.

 

Art

[Miss Vickie]

I would be very surprised at that, as both Canon and Nikon consider St. Thomas and St. Marten to be part of their Latin America market and do not offer US warranties there. At most, there is a contact in Miami who may handle repairs.

 

Art

 

Be surprised. I definitely have US warranties. The cameras are registered with Nikon (2 D7000's and an older film SLR) and Nikon sends me the software updates and everything.