Went to the Canon Image Square store last week. I wasn’t really that impressed, but YMMV. I decided to try them out on three things retail sucks at:
1) Looking at a sample of the 28mm f1.8 lens. Told him that so far I’d only seen it in stock at Adorama. He immediately shot back that Adorama does not ship to Canada (not true). He then informs me that they don’t have that lens in the shop, as it’s not “common”. Well, that’s kind of the point of me coming to a place like this. But, he could hook me up with someone at The Camera Store, which now has the lens in stock again. So, on this point, big FAIL for wrong information and not having what is not really such an uncommon lens.
2) Inquire about repair of my Canon S100. He gave me a number I could call to get the details. At least he was able to tell me that for those cameras, the service is not done in Calgary, so I’d be without the camera for a while. Pretty much what I expected.
3) Inquire about when the new 200-400 F4 beast might be out. It is still coming, not sure when, don’t know price. A couple of prototypes are out there right now being tested. Pretty much what I expected. I was kind of hoping they’d have a prototype, but that would be a big ask.
So, overall, I really didn’t get anything I couldn’t have gotten from Canon’s web page. Might be worth hitting if I’m shopping for a new camera to try it out first, but that’s about it. My big disappointment is not having a 28mm f1.8 in the store – anything more common I can just go to my local camera store to try out. I see Canon is selling online in Canada, but the prices are higher than what you would pay in a retail store. Considering that The Camera Store is out of stock again on the 28mm 1.8 lens, I just might be ordering this from Adorama, when we are talking %30 percent off of Canon’s price, that is worth considering even with possible warranty issues.
