Are you loyal to a camera store?

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markymark said:
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.
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I used to subscribe to Nikon owner too, but not anymore. I know you can buy over the phone but it is more of a faff when a PX is involved especially when it is vital that the Wife does not and must not know. She knew that I got a D70s in early 2006, but since then I've had a D700, D810 and a D850............

The D810 and D850 were bought when Nikon were doing the enhanced trade in. Got £445 for my D70s in 2015 and £300 for my D300. The enhanced PX was not so good for the D300 in 2018 but I'd already got a Fuji XT-1 to replace it and I wanted the D850.

It was a lot easier to do it in store without having to go to London.
 
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Absolutely. I have never been steered wrong with our local shop. They know me, my cameras and my shooting style and they have always given me solid advice. Have never had the "sell the customer the most expensive item" attitude; in fact have at times steered me towards things that were cheaper but better geared to what I do with my cameras.
Prices are on par with the bigger box stores and they actually beat the prices frequently, even if they are a couple dollars more I will gladly pay that little bit more for the service that I receive. One example is a Nikon 750 that we bought for my daughter. We had it for a while and noticed that it was killing the battery at a ridiculous rate, popped into the store, they called Nikon were told to send it to Nikon for repair. Instead they had us go home get the packaging and come back for a brand new camera, a different store would have had us send it to be fixed and we would have been down that camera for who knows how long.
McBain Camera Lethbridge has earned my loyalty; they work with me to keep it, they answer my questions in depth and give reasons why they think I should go one way or another. In 10+ years there has been a few staff changes but the service has never faltered.
 
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Nice thread/topic.
Living in the Metro NYC area, we used to have many 'local' camera stores. In the old days; I would strictly go to one not far from my home in Long Island. Sadly, they went out of business many years ago. Of course, NYC has the big guys. The ability to just walk into B+H to see and talk is not lost on me. Before Payboo; I found Roberts/UsedPhotoPro at PDN in NYC. They treated me so well when I sold a lens; I began using Roberts for my new equipment. I have purchased just about all of my equipment from them since then. The only deviation was my Z 24-200. No one had it in stock. Yes, I could have gotten it from Best Buy; but I refused to go to a big box store. I wanted to stay with a 'local' camera shop that serves their community. I searched all over the USA using Nikon's Authorized Dealer list. Gene's Camera Store in South Bend, IN couldn't have been nicer. In fact, they had more than one copy and they opened them up to give me the one that was mfg prior to 1/1/21, and had the 5 year warranty! I call that service. I will stick with Roberts (and Gene's) and help them remain in business to serve their local community.
 
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I am very loyal to our local camera store, Gene’s Camera, in South Bend, Indiana. They support our local community, arrange to have on site classes, offer wonderful printing and editing services, and go way beyond to take care of my needs. If they don’t have something in stock they can get it very quickly for me. To me, building a relationship is much more important than saving a couple of dollars
 
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I do try to buy local. My last full-rig purchase (body with 5 lenses) were purchased all at once from a single local shop.

I do occasionally still buy from non-local, online sources when stock is tight, but it doesn't seem like there's really a cost savings anymore, especially since there stopped being a tax advantage to buying local.

And while I've had really good service from those east coast sources, I don't know any of them. I don't understand being loyal to a faceless retailer when you could instead build a relationship with people at a shop you could quickly just drive to, and see / touch the gear.

That said, a local store could lose a lot of business if the have an asshat sales person.

Chris
 
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Our only "local" camera store in Boise closed last year ... I had already had to elsewhere for higher end gear since they were no longer a full line dealer for Nikon and Canon. My current "local" store I like a lot it is a full line dealer for Nikon, Canon and Sony and one of the largest Tamron dealers in the US. My "local store" is Perfect Light Camera and Supply in Idaho Falls, Idaho so a 5 hour drive in good weather. They also own Yellowstone Camra a seasonal store West Yellowstone, Mt. They have a limited on line presence and orders are made over the phone. I got my D850 and 500pf from them months sooner than I could have from B&H at that time. The owner is a pro photographer who runs photo tours, seminars and has in person classes and during covid started doing classes on line. There are some things I can not get from them and they do not buy used equipment only take consignments so I do have an account and payboo card and use B&H as my primary online company to buy from and sell to.
 
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Wish there was still a local camera store around here. Used to be two within 5 blocks of my office. They closed in the mid 1990s. There is still one store about an hour away but not really "local" as they are a franchise from a larger chain. They have a reasonable inventory of the usual stuff. However, their staff has been hit or miss and seems to be a lot of turnover.

Depending on the item, I buy from B&H, Adorama or Amazon mostly. I get to the local store a couple times a year but it is a long way to drive to get something like a filter, spare batteries, lens caps, etc.
Jeff
 
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The only stores selling cameras within 100 miles of my house are Best Buy stores. Most camera stores have closed and a lot depended on film processing revenue which disappeared with digital cameras.

B&H has good prices and a good selection and very helpful customer reviews and they provide cheap shipping and make it incredibly easy to process a return (even when the store is closed). B&H has also invested in their website making it by far the best in terms of providing search results and filters for drilling down and finding products. One good example is looking for a new camera bag where one can select the length and width and depth needed and get back results for only the bags with those inside dimensions. Huge time saver.
 
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I USED BE loyal to my local store. A great deal. They knew me by name. They'd put me on an order list assuming I'd want the newest. They met the online price for a new 17" Epson printer. Years ago, the owner sold to a small nationwide chain, but kept the staff so nothing change. Last at least a dozen years.

They went out of business. Closest Camera Store was a hour round trip, so few visits. Then I retired, and moved. Now, there's nothing remotely local, and I'm loyal to Synchrony Bank, which funds PayBoo and Amazon, each providing a discount [9% and 5%, respectively], with 2 to 5 day free shipping, and I don't even need to wear pants. It was better before.
 
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Calson said:
The only stores selling cameras within 100 miles of my house are Best Buy stores. Most camera stores have closed and a lot depended on film processing revenue which disappeared with digital cameras.

B&H has good prices and a good selection and very helpful customer reviews and they provide cheap shipping and make it incredibly easy to process a return (even when the store is closed). B&H has also invested in their website making it by far the best in terms of providing search results and filters for drilling down and finding products. One good example is looking for a new camera bag where one can select the length and width and depth needed and get back results for only the bags with those inside dimensions. Huge time saver.
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I went to the "Best Buy Camera Store" an hour away when I got my D850. Tried to buy an XQD card: They couldn't find anyone in the store who knew what that was, let alone produce one to sell.
 
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Oldnintheway said:
Yes, B&H. I still shop around before buying but inevitably end up at B&H. As others have mentioned their Payboo card saves a bundle. Their price is always at or near the best before the tax savings, and I've never had a negative experience.
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Agree. B&H runs a great shop Never felt that they cared about me, I was just one of 10,000 or 100,000 customers. Great to buy at the lower end of the price range, but terrible if you need someone to help you work out a problem/find a hard to find item
 
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B&H from when they were upstairs accross from Macy's (1968) to the pressent. The Payboo card didn't hurt but we will see what replaces it come January. From the darkroom days to the present using wide format printers they have always had stock or. what I need.
 
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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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I've always preferred a camera store.
But there are only a few left and most of them have little to none camera knowledge.
I still buy the bigger items from a store mainly because its easier to take them back when there is a problem.🦘
 
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Over the past 19 years, I have been pretty loyal to Roberts, only a couple of times going to B&H when they did not have something. This past Month I bought a 500mm PF from B&H because I could save $200 in state sales tax and then it was defective and so I sent it back. This past Thursday, I called and reordered it from Roberts, they worked with me to save the sales tax. And I find that they are very easy to work with. After this purchase, I will be very hard pressed to go elsewhere unless I had to have it before they could get it too me... which is very seldom! Bruce and Meredith have been very good to me and I am thankful for that!
 
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I prefer bricks and mortar stores as, particularly for camera bodies, I like to feel, use it before committing. That’s one reason I never purchased a D750....it didn’t feel right but that’s another story. I’m happy to pay a bit of a premium so I can touch things first but there is a limit. The thing I don’t like is people who go to a store, play with the merchandise with no intent to buy then go home and order online. Thus and overheads are why many B&M stores struggle to compete. Don’t start me on the drop shippers....people who skim a few bucks to do nothing more than take your order. Any issues and they refer you direct to the supplier.
 
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We have been working with Hunts for many years. The service is excellent! Gary has been so supportive of the camera clubs, even offering virtual presentations during the Covid lockdown. I have been dealing with Alan Samilian. Alan is very familiar with the different camera systems and it is so nice to be able to call and speak to "my" salesman,
 
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We had a great camera store in downtown Chicago on S Wabash Ave a family owned store in business over 100 years that was until the BLM crowd looted it last year and set fire to it. Luckly photographers started a Go Fund Me page and the family plans to rebuild and open. I use a camera shop in Naperville IL ProCam they have stores in Livonia MI and in Ohio great place they also do classes and have a studio you can rent in back and also hold classes. The people there are knowledgeable and don't try to push you into buying and prices competitive with B&H and Adorama. Like Steve I have bought from Roberts Camera in Indpls IN area got some lenes from them very nice people and fast shipping competitive pricing
 
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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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I'd honestly like to support my local shop, but I find NY taxes (8.75%) to be a real deterrent when buying camera bodies and lenses. At B&H, I can avoid paying taxes by using their Payboo card, which saved me about $270 on my last D850. As much as I like the guys at my local shop, I like my bank account better. 😎
 
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RichF said:
Agree. B&H runs a great shop Never felt that they cared about me, I was just one of 10,000 or 100,000 customers. Great to buy at the lower end of the price range, but terrible if you need someone to help you work out a problem/find a hard to find item
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I've always got the help I needed from them, but I've never really asked for much. I would most definitely pay a little more to do business with a good local shop, if there was one.
 
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As I buy used almost all the time, loyalty to a camera shop is not an issue for me. The only thing I bought new in the last yeasr was my 500PF and that was only because driving to a shop in Cologne was the quickest way to get it. But I have never been there since. In my area most camera shops have died due to the online competition anyway. Even the camera departments in the big electronic stores are slowly but steadily vanishing. The only important thing to me are the lads takeing care of service and repair are in this respect I am on the lucky side, because I am just two hours drive away from Nikon Germany headquarter, so I don't even care to send and receive parcels in case something goes wrong. I just go there, talk to the guys in the service workshop and hand out my bits and pieces. Despite some horrible experiences with Nikon service I have read from time to time, my experience is very good here and the people are really cooperative, even even I come along with older stuff like my D4s, 500 f4G or a AF200 f/e Micro.
 
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