maureen:
>To what level has the Swarovski ST-80 price creeped and can you recommend
>a reliable mailorder source (or did you buy yours locally in Portland?).
>Thanks for info.

B&H regularly tops the list in the rec.photo.* survey of mail-order
customers. They're in New York. Prices are sometimes slightly
higher than some of the cheapest places, but the latter are
at times close to fradulent in their business practices.

I've used them for years, buy all my film and camera shit,
binoculars, etc, from them.

Their ad mentions this scope but no price - often a harbinger
of a price increase, in my experience.

Their number is 1-800-947-9960, or you can fax for price
information at 1-800-947-7008. In theory, they ask you
to call their non-800 number (212-444-6660) to ask for
prices, but they're normally pretty calm about use of
the 800 number.

And...here's their e-mail address:
70550.1616 at CompuServe.COM

I've not used e-mail, but my understanding is that they
do respond to price requests via this route. They've only
had it since about the first of the year, so are neophytes,
but I'd try this route first. Out of curiousity, at least!

They're a "no-surprise" vendor - they'll tell you the total
price including shipping when you've placed the order,
publish their shipping charges in each ad (few do this),
call you up if things are backordered to let you know when
things will arrive, etc. Their volume is huge, and as a
mail-order house they try to keep interaction as short and
blunt as possible, but they really do give very good
service.

Since so many of the mail-order houses are absolute sleazes,
I see no reason to experiment when a well-known, reputable,
and reliable firm exists.

Camera World of Oregon also has a pretty good reputation, but
don't stock as much exotic stuff as B&H and isn't always
price competitive. They also often charge more for in-store
purchases than they do mail-order (B&H doesn't, which is
rare in the business, though I'm never in NYC to shop!)
The one time I used CWO mail-order, though, they sent me
the wrong lens and wanted me to exchange it via UPS though
I only live five miles away! Mail-order manager ended up
letting me exchange in the back, though, after instructing
me over the phone to ask for him personally and to hide the lens
in a bag so the salesfolk up front wouldn't see!

The last firm that regularly rates high is Adorama, though
I personally don't like them.

Sorry about the long post...

- Don Baccus, Portland OR <donb at rational.com>