Hello, world.

It’s been nearly 10 years since I’ve had any sort of blog presence of my own and it’s weird/wonderful to “be back.” (Anyone remember error599.net? hah.) Today kicks off my monthly “9th with Nathan” column where I get to geek out, basically. Don’t worry, I won’t delve into power efficiencies of Intel’s new Lynnfield CPU architecture or similarly riveting topics. =P Instead, I’d like to focus on practical things that might find use in your daily lives. Which brings us to my first post: how to buy a camera online! (Or any piece of expensive gear, for that matter. So listen up, professionals!)

I’m not actually going to tell you which model to get; that’s a much more personal decision to make. (Feel free to ask those sorts of questions in the comments, though!) I will, however, try and outline some of the best tools so that you A) make an informed decision and B) get the most click for your buck. (Yah, get ready for stuff like that.) Shall we begin?

So you’re looking to buy a DSLR and are having trouble deciding which one to get? Well have fun with that. =P At one point, whether it’s at the beginning or end of your search, I always suggest going to a local store and simply playing with what they have. If the camera of your digital dreams feels like a brick in your hand, you’re probably not going to have too much fun with it.

Once you’ve narrowed your search down to a few models, the fun begins. For this part, I suggest two websites…

Fredmiranda.com – This website is an amazing resource of user-collected reviews for hundreds of lenses, cameras, and accessories. They’re not all written by professionals and sometimes that’s a good thing since you want feedback from every experience level. Whenever you’re looking at a new gear purchase, it’s nice to know about those little flaws that you might not otherwise hear about. Oh, and they also have a well regarded buying & selling forum if you want to get a new toy on the cheap.

DPReview.com – If you’d rather read an exhaustive review by a single author, this place has always been a great resource for me. While the amount of coverage is dwarfed by FredMiranda, the camera review section and lens review section are still incredibly helpful. My favorite part about the camera reviews is how thoroughly competing cameras are compared. (There’s also a page where you can compare models side-by-side to see specific features.)  If you really want to have done your homework on a piece of new gear, dpreview.com is a must. (Mildly amusing fact: For months, I referred to this place as dPreview.com)

ResellerRatings.com – So you did your homework and now you know what camera to get? Good for you! And now you found a place through Google that’s selling it for $300 less than Amazon? Bad for you!  (Most likely.) What your parents always said is still true; if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. I’ve seen too many friends/couples get burned by this situation, so let’s take a second and do some more research. When checking the validity of any new site, I almost always drop by ResellerRatings.com first. Just type in the name of your storefront and see what others have to say.

I wasn’t going to spend too long explaining how the scams work, so I’m going to let Bob Atkins sum it up:

The scam stores have a multitude of ways to get money from you. They may not have the advertised item in stock, but they will try to sell you something else (usually an inferior item for an inflated price). They may tell you that the advertised price is for the inferior plastic version of the lens made in China and the one made using glass in Japan is $200 more (there are no plastic versions made in China). They may say, yes, the camera is $400, but if you want the box, manual, strap, battery, charger and software (all supplied standard by the manufacturer), it will cost you an extra $200. They may add on a $75 shipping charge. They may send the wrong (cheaper) items and hope you can’t be bothered to send them back. There really is no end to the ways they have to scam you.

We’ve been buying computer/photo gear for long enough that I’ve settled into a handful of websites that I’m comfortable purchasing from. In no particular order, I recommend any and all of the following: Newegg, Adorama, B&H, J&R, and Amazon.

RetailMeNot.com – Now we get to the fun stuff! You know what you want to buy and where to buy it from. Let’s make sure you get the best deal!  Kind of like resellerratings.com, the premise here is super simple; enter the site you’re shopping at and see if they have any coupons/discounts available. That depressing “Have a Coupon?” box will no longer haunt you!  I’ve only been using this site for the past several months, but it’s already saved me a bundle of cash. $5 here, 10% there, and all it takes you is an extra 2 minutes. I love the internet. :)

Bing Cashback – This has probably been one of my favorite finds over the last few years. Bing’s shopping engine isn’t particularly amazing, but the discounts it provides are awesome.  (In the last two years, I’ve made back over $800.) Here’s all you need to do:

1) Find the store you’d like to purchase from via the storefront page. 2) Click through and provide your email so you create your cashback account 3) Find your product and add to cart. 4) Apply any coupon you find via RetailMeNot.com 5.) Check out, wait several weeks, make money back. 6) Come thank me.  (Make sure you always click through Bing during the shopping process. I’ve messed that up and lost out on some cashback before.) The percentage of savings might sound modest, but to any of you professionals out there, doesn’t 3% back on a $2700 Canon 5D mkII sound pretty sweet? Happy shopping!

Wow. I apologize (but not really) for making this such a long article. I honestly didn’t expect that I’d have that much to say/babble on about.  I realize it might not help you decide on what camera to purchase, but I hope it makes the final process that much more rewarding. And hey, if you do have any specific gear questions, ask me in the comments! Any requests for future articles?