Nikon 50mm f1.8

[dave v]

Afternoon all.

It transpires that I'm going to be in San Francisco for a conference

soon. Nikon 50mm f1.8's go for ~�100-�120 ($170-$220) over here and I

was thinking I could get one for substantially less than that whilst I

was over there. Two questions, is this correct? and where in San

Francisco would one purchase one from?

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[aaron l]

There are plenty of shops you could pick up a 50mm 1.8 for $100. That's the going price in the US.

[david_king11]

Or just order from B&H and have it mailed to the "hotel" or wherever you are staying.

[frank uhlig]

Try google for photo stores in SF, map them, too. And e-mail to get a quote.That is what the internet is for.

[ShunCheung]

Typically, B&H doesn't like to ship to hotels. You might be able to work something out with him. Another issue is how long will you be in San Francisco? Just in case what B&H sends you is defective, will you have sufficient time to ship it back for a replacement?

 

If your stay is short, it is always better to buy in person and check the lens out immediately. The 50mm/f1.8 is so common that I would imagine any Ritz Camera would have one. One of the better stores in the area is Keeble and Shuchat in Palo Alto, near Stanford University, but that is not exactly in San Francisco.

[dave v]

The idea was to buy in person, I'm only there for five nights. Also I've tried to buy stuff and shop to hotels before and it just wasn't worth the hassle and the none US credit card makes internet based stuff a headache.

 

Ritz camera is a chain? Ideally I was looking for personal recommendations for shops in downtown San Francisco

 

Cheers

 

Dave

[jimitoucan]

Check Chinatown. There used to be a lot of electronics stores on Grant St, or nearby with

real deals on Nikon stuff. I got many a lense there, but you got to wheel and deal. Just keep

saying too much and start to walk out until you get the price you want. If they don't stop you

try the next store. I haven't done this in years but it was fun when I did.

[ShunCheung]

Dave, Ritz Camera is a large chain in the US. Their clients are mainly the casual shooters so that I wouldn't expect a very knowledge sales staff. Again, something as simple as a 50mm/f1.8 Nikkor should be quite easy to find in San Francisco.

[jon_martin2]

Hi,

 

I've shopped around SF for camera equipment a little. I picked up my FM there a couple years back. Visit Adolph Gasser's (http://www.gassers.com/). They have plenty of new and used equipment (if you ask in advance, they have just about everything . . . even really rare stuff). It's a pro and am shop, so they'll have knowledgable staff. You may even be able to rent a 50mm f1.8 from them before you buy (just to try it out). I'm sure they could arrange something.

 

Gasser's, yeah, they're downtown, so they may be close to where you're staying . . . and Ansel Adams used to get his stuff exclusively from Gassers. I trust his judgement. Oh, and I'm not in any way affiliated with the store, haha.

 

Have a good one,

 

 

 

Jon

[mihut_ionescu]

Adolph Gasser: arrogant staff, definitely not a pro shop compared to Keeble & Shuchat or Samy's, you'd waste your time there. It's a run down store that probably looked the same when Ansel Adams used to buy his equipment there (if that's true). I used to live 3 blocks away from them. There is a nice RitzCamera shop downtown SF on Market & Powell.

[blowingsky]

Are you talking about a manual focus or AF 50/1.8. The manual isn't all that common anymore, even though it is an incredible lens. I got one on *bay for $35.00 recently. The pancake version.

[wiseguyvisuals]

Ritz(aka Wolf) Camera has a store on Market Street right in San Francisco. They sell the AF Nikkor 50mm/1.8D for $120US + tax. that is a good bet if you dont have time to do a lot of shopping around.

 

if you want to price hunt its fairly easy to find all the stores you need using google or yahoo yellow pages, and email, call or check the website of a bunch of them to find the best price or most convenient location.

 

hope you find what you need. I'll be grabbing myself a 50/1.8D just as soon as possible!

 

jim

[charles_brown1]

Adolf Gasser passed away the other day.

 

Rental shops will rent you a Nikkor 50 1.8 for $10 bucks a day, if you only need it while in SF.

 

Calumet, at 2001 Bryant Street, is a more "professional" oriented chain store than Ritz.