New Site Announcement: Camera Supplies Review

One of the grim truths about getting into photography as a hobby or profession is that buying a camera isn’t enough. There are an awful lot of accessories that you need to give you the shots you want. In fact, often when you buy a DSLR, you’re only buying the body of the camera; you still need to buy the lenses separately. And that’s not to mention the filters, tripods, bags, flashes, memory cards, etc.

While you can get accessories direct from camera manufacturers, there are often better or cheaper (or both) options from other suppliers. There are many online stores that specialize in selling camera accessories, and we’ve put together a review of the best camera accessories retailers. This review will help you find an online store that has all you want and makes the buying process easy.

When we started the review, we took several different elements into account. Obviously, the first criteria for a good camera accessories store is selection. The store needs to have a wide variety of accessories from a wide variety of manufacturers in order to increase the likelihood of having what you’re looking for. We also looked at the payment options provided by each store. Like selection, each store needs to offer several ways of paying in order to accommodate all customers. This includes paying by credit/debit card as well as online methods like PayPal and Bill Me Later. Another important consideration in choosing an online camera accessories retailer is the shipping options. We determined whether each store used a reputable service that delivers in a reasonable amount of time. Finally, we took a look at the customer support provided by each store. Good customer service is essential in online business because purchases can often go awry and products can be damaged during shipping process. Our comparison of customer support also included things like return policies and billing practices.

Even though there are many camera accessory stores on the internet, once we applied our review criteria to them, some naturally filtered to the top.

B&H Photo took the top spot and the TopTenREVIEWS Gold Award in this review because it offered the best combination of features, selection and service. In fact, B&H has made quite a name for itself in the camera industry because they sell high quality products at lower prices than many competitors. One of the biggest attractions of shopping on the B&H Photo site is the large selection. You’ll be able to find almost any kind of camera accessory you can think of by a wide range of manufacturers. The other great thing about B&H is the customer service. B&H seemed to be more customer oriented than many of the sites we reviewed. Read the full review.

The TopTenREVIEWS Silver Award went to Ritz Camera for its selection that caters equally well to amateurs and professionals. Regardless of what experience level you’re at or what price point you’re looking for, Ritz Camera is likely to have something that fits your needs. We also liked Ritz Camera because it offers relatively fast shipping. Read the full review.

We gave the TopTenREVIEWS Bronze Award to Abt, a business that has been operating since 1936. While old businesses often don’t make the transition to internet very well, Abt has managed to put together an excellent selection of camera equipment. Their free shipping policy and extensive customer support have made them one of the largest consumer electronics retailers. Read the full review.

For more information on these and other camera equipment sellers, see the Camera Supplies Review site.