If you’re a serious photographer, chances are you’ve ordered stuff from B&H. Unlike most online stores, B&H actually has a real store you can go to. In fact, it’s the biggest camera store in the world.
Right when you walk in you see all the video gear. There were so many cool tripods and heads and sliders and jibs and steadycams and and and…everything you can think of to hold up a camera.
The lighting section is as big as most camera stores’ whole showroom. See that track on the ceiling with rollers on it? That’s a trolly system that hauls your stuff from the counter upstairs down to the checkout area. Wow!
The store is seriously big. At 70,000 square feet, it’s as big as two average Safeways, one on top of the other.
Upstairs is where all the photo gear is. You can’t just go up to the counter and say “Hey lemme try out that lens,” though. You have to wait in line for an available agent. That’s too bad. My plan was to try out all kinds of lenses and post the photos in this story.
It would have been fun to shoot all the way to the other side of the store with a 600mm f/4 or shoot myself with an 8-15mm fisheye.
At least they have free candy, complete with dramatic lighting!
There’s the trolly thing under the counter again. When you decide you want to buy something, they put it in a plastic bin and put a tag on it so the checkout people know whose it is. Then they just set it on the rollers and away it goes.
Joe and I abandoned Justin and went back downstairs, where we found the free soda! Score! I’m surprised there weren’t more bums in there, with all the free food.
B&H has other kinds of optical gear too. Unfortunately we couldn’t find any telescopes that fit our cameras.
Good thing Ross Fairfield wasn’t with us, or he would have bought this pirate style telescope for sure. Ross loves pirate stuff. He also owes me money.
We found Justin back in the tripod section. He was thinking about buying a new one for Pike’s Peak since he and Joe (and everyone else besides Geoff and I) were going there in a few days. He picked out a $999 Manfrotto setup that consisted of a 504 head on carbon legs. Baller! When he got back from Pike’s Peak, he told me it was worth every penny. Good gear always is.
We had to wait around forever for the guy to bring out a new one in the box for Justin.
Joe and I were super happy we didn’t have to go through the checkout line. Bleh!
The store was super awesome, though a little bit too crazy for me. I think I’ll stick to ordering online!
.:Bohan
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