Are you loyal to a camera store?

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I had certainly developed a loyalty with a local camera shop, Photo Expert, and its owner Brad Morris here in the Vancouver area and would've purchased more gear from him had the shop sadly not gone out of business last year, early into the pandemic. My first purchase from him was my 600mm f4 G which he let me take out to field test...that alone pretty much inked the deal for me. I have since bought two other pieces from Bel Arte Camera in Hamilton, Ontario, on the other side of the continent from me. I got verbally introduced to owner, Robert Bagliolid through one of those well less than "six-degrees-of-separation" stories. His service has similarly been exemplary. If (when...ha) a Z9 looms in my future that is where I will place the order. Smaller accessories I have purchased all over the place.
 
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I have been pretty loyal to my local Samy's Camera in Pasadena. They've given me decent value on trade-ins without the hassle of eBay and they seem pretty good at getting me high demand items fairly quickly. I'm hoping they pull through with the Z9!
 
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Mike's Camera in Boulder. I bought my first enlarger and black and white darkroom setup there 50 years ago. (Well, my dad bought it for me, actually.) They don't always have what I want or need, but when they do I try to buy from them.
 
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I used to buy my gear from a company that started mainly online, but opened shops in the main cities of our east coast. You could order online or by phone, and they would move stock to the nearest store or arrange delivery. Good prices and service. The pandemic forced them to close all their stores but one, in Sydney. 500 miles away. Local stores are extremely rare now. But I found a shop about 5 miles from me with excellent service, and they do everything. Film and processing, right up to flagship gear. They had the 500PF when the world had next to none. They reduced the price of my D500 by $100 because I was a previous customer. Now I am hoping to collect my Z9 from them tomorrow. Not sure it will happen, but I feel I have a fighting chance. So I do remain loyal. But I ordered a Delkin CFe card from B&H because they don't seem to exist here down under!
 
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Warren D said:
I am loyal to one shop, even though I've never stepped foot inside. I'll get things they don't carry elsewhere but if they have it I buy from them. OTOH my loyalty to Nikon is in danger. I ordered a Z9 in mid-Oct and I'm more than irritated that Nikon has decided one of their NPS members can sneak in late (up to Dec 19) and go to the head of the line. I've spent over $50k on Nikon in the last 6 years and shoot for several non-profits yet they refuse to allow me to join NPS. I may just decide to make the leap to Sony after all.
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I live in Albuquerque and we have not had a pro camera shop here in many years. I have come to like doing business with B&H for many years now. Their service is second to none and I usually get my orders in two days. Their web site is excellent. I am a happy camper and hope the world gets back on track by this time next year so I can get an updated Z9. I like my used D810 and the new D850. The things I have seen in pre-production Z9 trials has renewed my faith in Nikon and the future of mirror less cameras. Hard to have patience when mirror less is taking one giant leap forward! Soon we hope.
 
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markymark said:
Try Grays of Westminster in London for anything Nikon.
It’s the oldest Nikon only dealership in the world & are very competitive price wise.
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I used to work under 10 minutes walk from them. Got my D700 + 24-70f2.8 and 14-24 f2.8 from them when I retired. Not going to do a 60 mile round trip to go there now. But I got my D810 and later D850 in a camera shop that was only a 36 mile round trip - and they were cheaper than Grays too.

When I bought my first SLR - a Pentax SV in around 1964 from Wallace Heaton in Fleet Street London, camera shops were to be found anywhere in the country. There was even one in my small market town when I first moved here. not any more. like I said - now they have to be sought out.

More recently I've been buying from a High Street store that I fell over as a result of seeing their ad for an XT-4 on ebay. After some communication it turned out that they were an authorised Fuji dealer and had a shop too. 200 mile round trip though. Since then, about 16 months ago, I've bought the Fuji 70-300 and another XT-4. They offer good PX prices and also give me a great price. When I got the 70-300, nobody was discounting it as it was brand new and people were waiting. but they gave me £30 off. These sales were done over the phone. I wish they were local.
 
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I used to shop at London Camera Exchange in the UK. They were my local store and I worked near one. When my job moved I ended up near another one of their stores but I found the staff to be less helpful. I specifically remember being in the position of owning a Sigma 150-600mm and I was trying to figure out what the step-up to a 500mm f4 would mean in terms of quality, focus speed etc. Despite being willing to drop £8k on a lens I was essentially told that people who buy glass like that know what they're doing and there was no way to try one (and if I did buy one it was special order and non-refundable).

I found another store that was further away that actually had a pair of 500mm f4 FL in stock and they let me try one and gave me useful advice. They got my money. They're much further away than other dealers to me though. I buy some lenses from LCE, Wex or Grays if they're cheaper but if it's an expensive item or a pre-order then I go back to my reliable dealer. I would rather have a shop that I can walk into and get to know better but I'm likely to move quite far from this area soon anyway and at that point I guess I'll be checking out any local shops to see if they're worth getting to know.
 
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pwaring said:
I used to shop at London Camera Exchange in the UK.
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When I worked in London they had a branch less than 5 minutes walk from my place of work in Strutton Ground, Westminster. Grays of Westminster were another 5 mins walk and there was another camera shop (name escapes me) almost next door in Broadway! The LCE branch was pretty good and much depends on the staff. They can't change company policies but they do make all of the difference.
 
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Ask with some of the other replies, there is no dedicated camera store within hundreds of miles of here. I buy almost exclusively from B&H because it most often has the lowest prices and has excellent customer services.
 
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Tried to give my business to a local store (only a couple left in the Portland area) but while they were happy to take my money, going in to ask questions or to try to solve problems, I felt more like a nuisance. Stopped going there.
 
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Slowly, but relentlessly, camera stores are disappearing in my area. There are a couple left and their pricing is competitive but they don’t have a reliable inventory of new stock. Lots of used though. I buy local when I can but the best stores to deal with have been gone for a long time.
 
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I am not loyal to a local camera shop but I am loyal to the photo processing girl I met at my local camera store many, many years ago. We have been married 40+ years now. I think she is hoping that I will develop properly someday. I worked at the same camera store for a few semesters while in college. At that time there were two camera stores about 10 miles from me, and 6 more within 40 miles. I was loyal to one of the local camera store chains that had 4 of the stores in the area. It was a family business and they eventually sold the stores to a bigger chain and then a few years later went out of business.

My local store is now a 90 minute drive on a good day and it is located in an area that I don't visit for any other reason. I have tried a number of times to make purchases at the local store but I have had a few bad experiences. I am trying to send business their way again because I would like to see them remain in business. I have had good experiences lately so I am optimistic they will get more of my business. My last 3 equipment purchases where with them. I don't have a Z9 on order so I don't have any idea how that is going for them.

The local camera store was not only where you purchased equipment but also a place to learn. The shops often provided not only experienced staff but it was where you would run into the local pros who were usually willing to offer their expertise. The local shop used to have a steady income stream from photo processing and darkroom supplies, they now have to rely more on equipment sales. The internet and social media has replaced most everything our local camera store provided.
 
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RichF said:
Are you loyal to a camera shop or do you shop around.

A few years ago I decided to stop looking for the best prices and stick with one camera shop, Allen's, who I had been business with for the past 20+ years. I still will occasionally to go few other sites such as B&H for more exotic items as such Prograde Cobalt CFExpress cards or RRS for plates. Otherwise equipment is from one camera store.
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We have several good ones in Florida: Pitman, Colonial, and Johnson. I also. trade with Hunt's when I am at my NH home. I like the local camera store concept.
 
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I‘m in the UK and use London Camera Exchange Southampton (Civic Centre) Branch. They are only about 7 miles from me and I have been buying my Nikon gear there for nearly 20 years.
They supplied me with a Nikon Z mount 100-400 lens on Wednesday and yesterday I collected my Z9 and FTZii converter.
Thery are usually very competitive on price.
 
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In the film days I used to support local store but as stores became fewer i defaulted to two things.....service and price. I put them in that order because a few dollars saved never compensates for the grief of bad service.
 
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dabhand16 said:
I used to work under 10 minutes walk from them. Got my D700 + 24-70f2.8 and 14-24 f2.8 from them when I retired. Not going to do a 60 mile round trip to go there now. But I got my D810 and later D850 in a camera shop that was only a 36 mile round trip - and they were cheaper than Grays too.

When I bought my first SLR - a Pentax SV in around 1964 from Wallace Heaton in Fleet Street London, camera shops were to be found anywhere in the country. There was even one in my small market town when I first moved here. not any more. like I said - now they have to be sought out.

More recently I've been buying from a High Street store that I fell over as a result of seeing their ad for an XT-4 on ebay. After some communication it turned out that they were an authorised Fuji dealer and had a shop too. 200 mile round trip though. Since then, about 16 months ago, I've bought the Fuji 70-300 and another XT-4. They offer good PX prices and also give me a great price. When I got the 70-300, nobody was discounting it as it was brand new and people were waiting. but they gave me £30 off. These sales were done over the phone. I wish they were local.
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Glad to hear you found someone you trusted & felt comfortable with.
I live in Hertford which is a fair commute into London but I do it whenever I need something Nikon & at the moment Grays of Westminster tick all my boxes.
I'm a subscriber to the 'Nikon Owner' magazine & as it's a Grays of Westminster publication it gives you many other benefits including extended warranties on all their second hand equipment, technical helpline & going on the priority list for new gear.
You can phone & order over the phone or buy via the online shop, either way your covered by the incredible customer service that you'd get if you attended the shop in person.
As much as I want to support local businesses, we have a shop not far from me that can order items in, but he's so much more expensive than going to Grays who also do a price matching service.
 
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Nikondale said:
We have several good ones in Florida: Pitman, Colonial, and Johnson. I also. trade with Hunt's when I am at my NH home. I like the local camera store concept.
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I'm very familiar with Colonial Photo & Hobby, having shopped there since I was a young teenager. (I started with them on the hobby side.) I purchased a Nikon FM from them in 1978, or so, and love to visit their store every time I'm in the area. They have my order for the Z9 and FTZII. Likely to have one for the 100-400 soon if I see many more good reviews for it here. Then again, I may wait until I see some work done with the Z TCs and the Z 70-200.
 
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