NEWBIE question: What are some trusting brands and retail sellers

[indigoer]

I would like to know what are some brands you have had good experience with and what to stay away from. And do you have any recommendations for a good supplier. I don't have a lot of experiance A friend of mine had ordered a couple of times from famaga.com recently, but remained unsatisfied .

 

[Pentode]

It might be helpful if you can give us an idea of what kinds of products you’re interested in. You’re question is very, very general and there are countless brands for photographic products.

 

[Two23]

I've found Bostick & Sullivan to be very helpful and reliable for most all of my wet plate needs. I've now bought three items from Lund Photographic (a 5x7 silver tank, 8x10 silver tank, and a 4x5 wet plate holder) plus a bunch of 4x5 tins. Modern Collodion has also been 100% reliable when I bought some silver nitrate, ether, and collodion from them. I think all three are good suppliers. For lenses, I've bought several from the French dealer "Antiq Photo," and also a couple from ebay seller Traveller69. These were mostly lenses made 1844 to 1862 but I remember buying a more modern lens from 1880s from Antiq Photo. Hope this answered your very broad and general question.


Kent in SD

 

[removed account4]

often times it depends on the buyers attitude and expectations. i've had very little trouble with most of the local, and non-local retailers
for everything from LF to 110, from modern to ancient ... since IDK 1981.
one thing i have noticed is if a buyer acts well, lets just say "not so nice" newtonian physics sometimes comes into play.
i will also say that once in a blue moon i have purchased from "trusted sellers" and maybe they had a bad day? maybe their trust
was just in a bot farm they paid big money to, who knows, all i can say is it was not the best of experiences.

 

[Sirius Glass]

B&H and Adorama for film

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/
https://www.adorama.com/l/Photography/Film-and-Darkroom-Equipment​

FreeStyle darkroom supplies and photographic chemicals

https://www.freestylephoto.biz/​

Photographers' Formulary darkroom supplies and photographic chemicals

http://stores.photoformulary.com/​

KEH for used cameras, conservative ratings; great refund, exchange, return policy

www.keh.com​

 

[abruzzi]

I buy almost all my film from B&H.

I buy all my chemicals from Freestyle.

I buy some misc film and other stuff from TheFINDLab and Ultrafine (Photo Warehouse.)

I buy my used cameras, lenses, and such from KEH, UsedPhotoPro, Precision Camera, and eBay.

I develop B&W at home, but I’ve sent my color out to The Darkroom, Precision Camera, and our own Adrian Bacon.

 

[James Bleifus]

I use B&H for nearly everything now that I’m in Viet Nam. While I lived in Portland I’d go to Blue Moon Camera, who advertises here on APUG. One great thing about Blue Moon is that they’re transparent about the condition of their gear. So they’ll tell you if the shutter speeds are off. Or if they don’t feel confident about the shutter they’ll say something like “shutter speeds are good now, but no guarantees for the future”. Otherwise I believe their warranty is six months, and a full year on newly CLA’d shutters. And they sell chemistry, etc.

If you’re looking for large format cameras, dark slides, lens boards, etc., I can’t say enough good things about Chamonix. Absolutely wonderful gear.

Avoid the stores who list lenses for sale and describe the shutter speeds as accurate on most of their lenses and then suddenly say “shutter sounds accurate but we haven’t tested it.” They’re looking to fleece you.

Cheers, James