I placed an order on a canon 17-40 F4L lens with theimagingworld on Wednesday, June 25th because they had the cheapest price had decent ratings. Little did I know that I basically gave away my debit card number to an irresponsible company with liars as customer reps. I called them on that Friday since I had not received confirmation and my debit card had not been charged. The customer rep replied that the order will be processed on that friday or the next monday. Well, the next monday came and went, still nothing. So I called on Wednsday, and again was reassured by the same rep that it will be processed either on that day or the next. But again, nothing. SO the week AFTER that I called them for the third time and my debit card was FINALLY charged, although the charge was "pending" according to my bank account. Well today I noticed that the charge on my debit card was not "pending" anymore, meaning the imagingworld had definitely got my money, yet my order still shows on their website as "in process".  
 
Nine business days (after discounting the weekends and Fourth of July) and after taking my money, they still haven't even shipped the lens. I should've just gone with amazon and ponied up the extra twenty bucks to save all this stress.  
 
In their defense, that customer rep did say that their computer system was down for some time so that may have caused some delays. And he did mention that my debit card doens't match the address I provided (even though it should and the card had been successfully charged). TWO WEEKS for just charging my card, after giving me false reassurance, and making me call three times. Then getting my money without shipping thelens? Simply unacceptable.  
 
Right now I just hope they'll finally ship the thing so I can get it over with.  
 
Edit: I called them again, and apparently it's because the lens is on backorder. They did say they will get some more in stock this friday and will upgrade my shipping to next day shipping so kudos for that. But the website should've shown that it was out of stock. and even if I do get it next monday, it will have been almost three weeks since I placed my order.

This review was modified by its author, wanjun, on 7/9/08 3:01 PM.

I recently placed an order for a Canon PowerShot with Joel at The Imaging World. This order, as well as several previous Canon orders, was handled very courteously with no pressure to purchase unwanted items. Shipments routinely go out on the truck same day as ordered and are well packaged. Great prices with courteous, dependable service and shipping. Hard to beat. Before discovering The Imaging World, I would call the "the world's largest supplier of camera equipment..." for my photo needs. Not any more. Thank-you Joel.

Great place to do business. Joel was very helpful. Shipping was fast. All items received as promised. I can't wait to do business with this company again and have already recommended them to friends.

Purchased an expensive Canon Lens. Prompt service, good prices, good packaging, fast. Answered email questions promptly. Will be buying again from this store.

Purchased a Canon 1D Mark III and many lenses. Best prices on the web. Shipments are always prompt, service is courteous, the ordering process is simple and the goods arrive as promised and on time without problem and as expected. After purchase service is tops. One lens was shipped wrong and the replacement and return lables were shipped the same day as discovered. A top notch merchant and best prices.

This review was modified by its author, ericpgrossman, on 2/25/08 6:49 PM.

It is always a pleasure to do business with this company. They are very professional in handling our orders and have a great, service-oriented attitude. I have always gotten a good price and quick shipping for all equipment purchased from theimagingworld.com. No gray market equipment, everything with USA warranty. The staff is knowledgeable to suggest equipment to meet needs. My latest purchases are Canon EOS-40D, 100-400mm, 70-300mm, 300mm f/4, 17-40mm, 24-70mm, fisheye... The sales person (Joel) is always very helpful and courteous.. Because of him I will definitely be shopping with theimagingworld.com again!

Great store. I already bought a NIKON D80 body last year and this time I got another one (plus a 50mm/f1.4 NIKKOR lens for my father in Germany. IMAGINGWORLD and JOEL WEISS are the place to go. Efficient, friendly. He sells you what you want and not what he wants. No hidden fees. No bootlegging merchandise. In the wide ocean of predator resellers offering you grey market products at incredibly low rates but then telling you that there's no official warranty, that the battery include only lasts for 10 minutes, while treating you like dirt and shouting at you (...I could go on and on...these bastards...I hope that the lawsuits being filed against them will bring them down eventually) IMAGINGWORLD makes all the diferrence.  
 
Go for it!

I researched the Canon 24-70 mm f2.8L series lens extensively and chose THE IMAGING WORLD. I am happy that I did. The sales person I spoke with was honest and knowledgeable and helped me through the process. There was no pressure to buy accessories...just a simple suggestion to purchase a protective filter...which I ended up buying. The lens arrived when promised and in perfect condition. I shall use THE IMAGING WORLD in the future and recommend them to my friends...THANK YOU to Imaging World for all your help.

This review was modified by its author, r4ill55e, on 2/25/08 11:33 AM.

I purchased well over $4K of Canon equipment from The Imaging World in December 2007. My homework showed they had the best prices for an authorized Canon dealer. They were very helpful and did not try to up sale me at all. They worked with me on shipping arrangements and costs. The equipment arrived in one shipment when promised and in perfect condition – all with US warranties. I will definitely shop here again and have recommended this merchant to others.

The only thing that could have been better is the price. However, I knowingly paid a premium for a product that is very hard to obtain (Canon EOS 1Ds Mark III), so I can't complain. Joel Weiss was very professional and courteous. I ordered the camera at 10:30 am and had it the next day as promised. Joel even called to be sure I had received it. I will definitely shop there again.

Seller was very accommodating, easy to work with and answered all my questions before and after the purchase. Delivery of the camera in record time and safely packaged. Thanks again and have a great holiday.

I had an excellent transaction with this company. Joel was knowledgeable and friendly. I specifically told him I had had bad experiences with other Brooklyn (scam) stores and he understood and put me at ease. The order arrived quickly, all good. Products were not grey market either.  
 
Any good salesman will ask if you need other accessories, etc.. which he did. And I bought an extra battery because it was a better price than on Ebay. Another accessory (which I didn't need) was also very reasonable in comparative price.  
 
They are reputable sellers and since there are so many scam artists out there (especially in Brooklyn) I am taking the time to write and say that I would recommend Joel and The Imaging World anytime.

I recently purchased two difficult to find, newly released Nikon professional lenses (14-24mm & 24-70mm) from salesperson Joel Weiss, who was gracious, effective, intelligent, honest, and direct in procuring for me my purchase which then arrived at my studio 24 hours later in perfect condition. I will gladly do business with Joel and TheImagingWorld again in the future, and can honestly recommend them to any professional or consumer photographer who wants a good experience with honorable and knowlegable people. David Temianka, TemiankaFineArts.com

I am very satisfied with my purchase from theimaginworld. It is unfortunate that the previous buyer had a such a bad experience but that wasn't the case for me. I feel like I need to defend this seller as he is one of the very few sellers from Brooklyn that is actually legit (unlike 1wayphoto and cameraexpress). I bought a Canon 40D 17-85mm IS USM kit off his eBay auction for a great price. I also bought a 4 GB CF card and extra battery. The seller was nice enough to combine the 2 accessories with the Canon 40D and didn't charge me any extra shipping. My purchase was shipped out the very next day via USPS Priority International Mail to Canada. My package arrived in just 6 business days from date of purchase. I didn't think Priority Int'l Mail was that fast!  
 
Everything in the my order was new as described (at least everything looked new). The only problem was that I was sent a 4 GB SD card rather than a CF card that I ordered. I called the store up and Joel gladly agreed to return or refund the cost of the card and he even agreed to pay for the return shipping since it was his mistake. In the end I sold the SD card instead and bought a CF card locally as I couldn't wait.  
 
Also, I should mention that Joel was polite and professional on the phone. I must've called him 4 times with questions about the purchase because that was my largest eBay order ever.  
 
Other than that mix up I am very satisfied with my purchase.  
 
I will definitely consider buying from him again.

I purchased a new camera and lens kit from this company through their eBay store on the 13th of October. That was a saturday. By Monday I had not received confirmation from the seller that I made the purchase, so I called to confirm they received my order. They stated they had my order and it would ship the next day, the 16th. Despite the company being open on Sunday and Monday, they made no attempt to get this item shipped any sooner than Tuesday. The next day I received an email stating they shipped the camera at almost 4PM on Tuesday. They provided a USPS tracking number.  
 
I hav eno received the camera. It has been 20 days since the order was placed and no camera. I filed a complaint through Paypal and the company provided a completely different tracking number than the one previsouly provided.  
 
I have made several requests for a refund and they have failed to provide it.  
 
This morning I received an email that they are filing a claim with the USPS. I again requested a refund to wit they have not responded.  
 
Stay as far away from this company as possible. Their customer service is sincerely lacking. I am out 1500 dollars on a camera and lens that I never received and they have no urgency to resolve this situation.  
 
Remember the old addage, if it sounds to good to be true then it probably is. Well, the cheap prices through this company are too good to be true, because they will take your money and you will not receive your product.  
 
I am very dissatisfied with this company, their customer service, and most of all the indiviual I have been dealing with through all of this Mr J.W.  
 
In the last email that was sent to me by the J.W., I was threatened to be sued. No justification was given as to why I would be sued.  
 
Stay as far away from this company as possible!  
 
After 21 days since the camera was ordered, Paypal refunded my money. They stated that the seller did not provide adequate proof that the item was actually shipped to me. As I have stated numerous times in this review, stay as far away from this company as possible, and purchase from a more reputable dealer such as B&H or Adorama. In the end, the cheaper prices this company advertises is not worth the hassle of not getting what you purchase. Thank god I ordered through their eBay site and had Paypal to protect me.

This review was modified by its author, Sedalia636, on 11/5/07 12:34 AM.