DSLR Photography Forum

Just wondering if anyone has any standout / memorable / horrible / notable experiences at a camera shop? Are you a frequent browser? Are you on a first name basis with the staff? Do you rely on the advice of the staff or just do your own research?

(Would be great to hear some stories from the other side of the fence too, Matthew )

I recall about ten years back, walking into a camera shop in San Francisco. I was on holiday, was looking to buy a lens since they used to be much cheaper in the US than buying locally. Found said lens, got a nice price, and the salesman started pushing accessories on me. You need to buy a filter, extra battery, etc. etc. - and wouldn't sell to me at that price without the accessories.

After making it clear to him that I just wanted the lens alone, he starts calling up to a coworker upstairs in the storeroom - hey, do we have any "lens xxx" back there?" Partner calls back "lens xxx? Sure... let me have a look", and then "I'm sure it was here yesterday, just wait a minute" - obviously trying to waste my time, and laughing the whole time. Anyway, I walked out, disgusted, and bought at another store down the street.


I've had many good and better experiences since then, but just thought I'd share one that stuck in my mind the most.

I have to declare a bit of a conflict on this one. Jobs may come and go, but things written on the internet is forever.
So this is all fairly typical and general experience, not anything specific to any particular customer.

My favourite thing that I've been asked was "How much are your photography cameras?"

The least-favourite thing that I've been asked - twice - was "Do you know anything about cameras, or do you just sell them?" And no, that was their opening line, not a response to my salesmanship. In each case it was from someone who had broken their camera: they didn't mean to be offensive, and I knew exactly what they meant... but I still had to fight the urge to make a smart retort. (The second time I heard it, I did manage to come back with 'I like to think that they go together.')

The shop where I work part-time only sells cameras, and has the word 'camera' in its name, along with huge words like 'Canon' and 'Nikon' on its signs. Cameras and camera boxes are in all of the windows. Yet we routinely get asked if we sell cell phones, cell phone batteries and chargers, iPods, voice recorders, translators, headphones, radios, tape players (?!?), portable DVD players, blank DVDs - and not the little ones for camcorders - cigarettes, and phone cards.

I've also been amazed at how often people pop in to ask directions to something else. Banks and ATM machines are common, as are specific restaurants, a huge nearby shopping centre, Chinatown, and occasionally our competitors. I've stopped being amazed at the number of times those same people head off in the opposite direction.

Camera batteries are always a popular item, but unless someone knows the exact model of camera and/or battery, or can actually bring either item in, there's no way to know which one they need. When told that, customers will frequently point at a nearby camera on display, and swear: "It's just like that one! It's a Canon Cybershot!" - while standing in front of a rack of Nikon point and shoots. Another popular one is: "It's exactly like that one, except it's only got 3.2 megapixels." (The current crop averages 12-14mp.) And sometimes people will swear that they know they have a Canon camera and that they'll recognize the right one, at which point I'll do a magician's card sweep with the NB4L, NB5L, and NB6L. I can barely tell those suckers apart some days, with it taking several tries before I find the right ones for the demo cameras.

Naturally, I have more than my share of bad salesperson stories, as well. One person I've met will tell anyone who asks for a lens hood that a circular polarizer is better and does exactly the same thing. Another will MSU - make 'stuff' up - to scare people away from a particular camera brand simply because it's easier to sell what he's more familiar with. In every store that I've shopped in, I've found people who just want to push their own agendas, and even more who aren't really listening or genuinely don't know what to recommend, but either aren't self-aware enough or honest enough to say so.

And of course, even the good ones, who really want the customer to get the right (whatever) even if it means they have to buy it from a competitor, can still screw up and have off days. And there's a huge amount of cameras on the market. Right now, off the top of my head, my little shop has twenty-three different SLRs in stock - plus three micro-four-thirds - and I need to be able to compare and contrast them to each other and the past couple of generations as well. Then there are the lenses, from the ubiquitous to the exotic. Anyone who walks in might want to know about my personal experience with the 17mm TS-E, 135/2 DC, or 400mm f/4 DO. (Awesome, subtle, and relatively convenient, respectively.) Or they might just want a lens with 'more zoom' because their kid plays soccer, and I might need to explain why it's worth spending the extra $30 for image stabilization.

I literally have never been able to count the number of P&S cameras in the store at any one time; I usually lose track or get interrupted around 40 or 50. They're really just little blobs of plastic and electronics, and the photos are about the same from every single one of them, but some people take them very, very seriously. I used to be able to do a five-minute uninterrupted monolog on the differences between the LX3 and G10 - once I was even asked what the difference between the two was while I was shoveling the snow from the sidewalk.

And everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. It might surprise people here, but I have a reputation for being a bit of a gear-head. People at my camera club will ask me for help with the cameras they own, even though they know I've never owned the brand. I can usually figure out what the problems are, too. I'll explain the fundamentals of tilt-shift lenses to my co-workers, go through the exact setup for Nikon's CLS with a customer, and explain the intricacies and challenges of macro photography with the best of them. But put me with someone who's serious about portrait and fashion photography, and we might as well be speaking different languages, even if we use the same camera. Much of the time I'm getting my information from the exact same websites that everyone else is reading, only the people who are looking at only one or two cameras will be reading a lot more of it.

I really didn't plan on writing this much...

Interesting topic!

Here in my city, which incidentally is the 8th largest in the USA (edit: 7th!), there is only 1 camera store that can be taken seriously.
All the rest are either Ritz/Wolf, big box electronics stores, or out of business.
Oh, and there's a Sony Style shop at our upscale outdoor mall, sharing space with Nordstrom's, Neiman Marcus and Tiffany's.

I usually buy the main items from the Sony store because that's my brand, we have their credit card, and Sony will only allow sale prices everywhere or nowhere. If BestBuy wants to discount a Sony product, they can't do it unless it's marked down everywhere including the internet, so I don't have to pay a premium for the pleasure of immersing myself in Sony Style.
The employees have to know about TVs and Walkmans and Vaios, so it never surprises me when I know more about the cameras than they do.

Anyway, I really don't have any good stories because nearly all of my camera store experiences have been boring.
As an educated consumer I know exactly what I want long before I decide to buy, and where to get the best price.
Much of the time I end up ordering accessories like flash equipment from B&H, MPEX, and Gadget Infinity.
I bought my tripod from a store that sells guns and fishing equipment!

A couple of years ago, at the good camera store, I got some attitude from a salesman because I use Sony.
He implied that they weren't "real" cameras, but not too much time passed before they became a Sony dealer and started pushing the A900 to people who didn't want to pay $5000 more for Nikon's version.
I need to go back and see if they are renting Sony lenses now.
My favorite part of that store is the bins full of used junk, like filters and adapters and lens caps and tripod parts.
Bought my umbrella there, and an adapter to fit my collection of 58mm filters on my 55mm lenses, and a cable release for an old film camera. Things I couldn't find anywhere else locally.

As for Ritz/Wolf stores, I received one of their gift cards and didn't want to use it for prints--I wanted hardware!
A super nice woman working there told me that the slave flash I wanted was newly-discontinued and therefore half price.
She called a dozen other stores in the chain and finally got my flash shipped to hers for me.
I was very impressed by how much time she spent for such a low-priced sale...
When she called to tell me it had arrived, her formerly professional demeanor dissolved: A Freudian slip, much nervous giggling, obvious disappointment that I would pick up my item on her day off.


I really didn't plan on writing this much...

I love camera stores. I walk into them to try to create a need in myself. When I get the yen for a new toy, the camera shop is where I go. Frequently I find a gaget or lens or used camera that satisfies my addiction for a few weeks.I wear a disguize so nobody recognizes me.

I've only shopped in a camera store twice, both times the experience was memorable.... the first time because the salesperson knew nothing, and I do mean nothing..... (he tried to bundle aps fim with the 35mm camera i was buying.....

The second time was memorable was because the guy was very knowledgeable, he just wouldn't listen to what I wanted and was set to sell me the clearance items, regardless of make or function.

I will admit to being a pain in the A... customer, I have done my research and know exactly what I want before I ever venture out to the stores... and I am very hard to sell something I didn't leave home to buy.

I do appreciate a well informed salesperson and I will never go into a store to handle something I intend to buy online, I have worked long hours in sales and do not ever expect a salesperson to work for free. I have found that the quality of service in consumer electronics stores has dropped immensely since their staff became hourly paid rather than commission paid.

All of my SLR equipment has come from teh internet, mainly B&H, Sigma for less and even Ritz Camera, have had great experiences with all those sources.

Matthew Wrote >>while I was shoveling the snow from the sidewalk.<<

You don't keep cameras under the sidewalk do you?


Shops like yours are a godsend to some people. I got lost completely in Bangkok once, and went into a Hotel, to ask for directions to my Hotel. (I have a friendly face and I was given a map of Bangkok by the lady, and she called a Tuk Tuk too. So don't put us all down.

Meanwhile I had a bad experience with an expensive L lens in Hong Kong (They tried to sell me something different and much cheaper) and a good experience at a local shop where the assistant brought his own Nikon down for me to play with.

Some rivetting replies to a great thread here. Matthew, somehow you manage to inject just the right amount of frisson appropriate to the lip-biting moments you find yourself in; marvelously engaging.
I'm getting the idea from the replies here that you have all had a fair sprinkling of the whole gamut of sublime to ridiculous....

Off the top of my head I remember making the error of going into a Panasonic shop recently to get pounced on by a salesman who was keen to show off the cameras and affix himslef like a codependent limpet to my neck; it only took a basic question from me about the differences between the Gi and Gf1 to get his eyes skittering about like olives in a jam-jar, and it was with relief pathetic to behold that I finally let him go.
At the helpful end of the scale I remember in Rhodes running out of 120 film, then hanging round waiting for some Motoguzzi-driving Greek gorilla to open his camera shop and treat me like the wretched tourist I was, with total disdain. When I whipped the Pentax 67 out, he suddenly smiled tearfully, shouted at other people to get out, shut the shop and gave me his fawning and undivided attention. Wracking his hands with compassion, he finally raced to his fridge, raided his private stock of Kodak 100 and gave me a special deal on 5 of them: photographic life saved...and had I secured the Fuji I originally wanted, the ensuing contrast levels on the isle of Simi would have wrecked the shoot. Result: beauteous.
The moral of both stories being, I guess, never to judge people in camera shops, eh Matthew!

EnglishBob Wrote:I will admit to being a pain in the A... customer, I have done my research and know exactly what I want before I ever venture out to the stores... and I am very hard to sell something I didn't leave home to buy.

I shop exactly the same way, and I like it when other people do, too. As a salesperson, I'll always take that over someone who can't understand why the 5D is more expensive than the 7D, because the 7D is a higher number. (Someone asked me today, "What's the difference between the 7D and the 5D?" I really, really wanted to say: "Two." Math jokes usually fall flat, though.)

But I do feel a little badly because of how I shop. I only carry one credit card, don't have the usual photo ID, and pick out something expensive from the first bored-looking salesperson. That's pretty typical behaviour for someone with a forged credit card. Fortunately, because of my tax registration, every camera store downtown has my buying history on file.

EnglishBob Wrote:I do appreciate a well informed salesperson and I will never go into a store to handle something I intend to buy online...

That's one of my huge annoyances. I'm quite happy to give camera tours, and wouldn't expect someone to buy something the first time they handle it. But to take fifteen or twenty minutes to try out different equipment combinations, ask all kinds of questions, and then ask what the difference is between buying from my employer and the local big box store - it tempts me to physical violence. It's not always unfriendly, though - once I was showing stuff to a couple of guys, and we'd briefly talked about flashes. One of them asked about buying on-line from the US, and my response was "Yes, but if you shop on-line, you don't get to try it out in person." The other guy was a little bit quicker on the uptake, and he laughed and told his friend that what I meant was that I wasn't going to let him try the flash any more.

I've bought a bunch of my equipment from the US myself, particularly B&H, but also Helix and Midwest. In fact, I'm expecting part 2 of a B&H order to arrive Real Soon Now. A used Nikon lens hood and a spare tail cap for my m4/3 came yesterday, but I'm still waiting for my cable release and $48 16GB class 6 Sandisk SD card. If the shop where I work can't get what I need, I'm happy to buy from one of the other local stores, and will go on-line if those options aren't realistic.

NT, don't get me wrong - I'm happy to give people directions and any other assistance that I can, I'm just amazed that people ask. It would never occur to me to do that. One of the things that I like about my job is that whether I can sell someone something or not, my goal is to help people get what they need.

matthew Wrote:NT, don't get me wrong - I'm happy to give people directions and any other assistance that I can, I'm just amazed that people ask. It would never occur to me to do that. One of the things that I like about my job is that whether I can sell someone something or not, my goal is to help people get what they need.

That's an awesome attitude Matthew - wish there were more salespeople like you. In Melbourne CBD, there's a street with 4 or 5 camera shops in a row. During lunchtimes on weekdays, they're usually crammed full with business people and the salespeople don't give you the time of day, and some are even downright rude, if it looks like they're not going to get a sale out of you.

Like the others, I also tend to do my research online, but prefer to buy from a store - it's much easier to deal with if something goes wrong.


p.s. Thanks for the colourful responses everyone - absolutely fantastic reading here... : D

I used to buy a lot of stuff online because Canon Australia didn't apply a fair exchange rate to the products they were selling here.

But that has all changed now and prices are much closer to the US now. I have two great stores in Perth who really go out of their way to help me (and anyone who I send there). They offer a genuine discount for being loyal and are willing to take the time to talk.

To give you an example - there were some of us local wedding photographers who wanted to do a model shoot and try out some new gear. One of the guys approached one of the shops in question and they (including one of the owners of the business) came down after work with a van loaded up with gear and let us all use it free of charge and stayed around for almost three hours talking to us about gear. I even managed to do some minor damage to some equipment during the shoot and they were cool with it and told me not to worry about it.

Now I see little reason to buy online when that kind of service is being offered locally.

Of course we spend a lot of money at the store - but it was great to see the support.