Camera City, Bloomsbury, London

Curious shop this one: He’s got a great selection of used 35mm cameras: Nikon, Olympus, Lomo, Medium Format, Rangefinder… what you’d expect from a second hand store. Problem is the owner. He’s quite rude, abrupt and likely to “play” you the way a used car salesman would.

I dropped in a couple of years ago and had my old 35mm camera and lenses appraised, with the intention of doing a part exchange. At the time he was polite and seemed to be fine with the terms. I needed time to think about his offer and waited for a couple of days before returning to make the exchange. When I went back his manner was totally different and he pretty much denied having agreed to any such exchange. He was arrogant and intimidating and I left vowing never to return. Shame really as it’s a decent shop and could be much better if only he’d make the effort and engage his customers.

There are plenty more camera shops in the area, notably the Aperture Cafe and York Cameras over the road.

thank you thank you.... this shop is amazing i took my hassleblad to camera city which i dropped and it was repaired within two days... it cost me next to nothing and was also given a much needed service for free... i will b recommending this shop to everyone in the industry.

DO NOT TAKE YOUR CAMERA HERE FOR REPAIR!!!! I took mine in 4 months ago and have only just got it back. Every time I rang to find out what was happening with the repair I received poor and rude service with a string of excuses as to why the repair was taking so long. Would recommend to avoid at all costs and find a reputable camera shop.

Poor serivce, over priced and incompetent
AVOID AVOID AVOID

I would NOT recommend anybody take any equipment to camera city to try to get it fixed. The one man band who runs the business is rude and ignorant. I took in my hard disk video camera because the LCD backlight was not working properly. I was charged £35 just for him to look at it which I reluctantly paid because I needed the video camera to be fixed urgently for an event 2 weeks later. I had read on the internet that the problem might just be a lose wire and I was hoping it could be fixed on the spot. I went back later that day and was told that the entire LCD screen needed to be replaced at a cost of £175. As I needed the camera within 2 weeks I asked how long it would take and I was told that the part usually only takes a day or two to come in and that it could probably be fixed by the time I needed it. I then spent 6 weeks calling the shop every few days to be told very rudely each time that the part had not come in and that they would email the manufacturer of the part to see when it would be coming in. The event I needed the camera for came and went with no joy from camera city (we had to borrow someone else’s camera for that). Everytime I rang I asked to be called to let me know how long the part would take to come in and I never received any calls. Finally (6 weeks in) I lost my patience with them and said I was coming in to pick it up that day. I was told that I couldn’t pick it up that day as it was 'in bits’ and had been for 6 weeks. I told the man to put it back together and I would pick it up that afternoon and he said he couldn’t as his technician wasn’t it. Further he said I would have to pay for them to put it back together!!! I disputed this and said I would not be paying for them to put it back together and reiterated that I would be in the next day to pick it up. Half an hour later I received a call to say that my part had just (miraculously) arrived and they would have it fixed by the next day. I agreed but said I wanted the original part to be kept as I wanted to take that away with me (I was dubious and wanted to know it had been replaced!!). I was assured that it would be. I rang the next day to say I was coming in to pick it up and was told it had been fixed and was ready. I asked whether the original part had been kept as requested and was told that it hadn’t been. I said that I had been assured that it would been kept and was told it had probably been thrown out. I told the one man band to ring the technician and ask for the part. I went in to get the camera and was told the technician was looking for the original part in his bins but he doesn’t think he will find it. I am not expecting to hear from camera city again let alone to see the original part and am dubious as to whether anything was even replaced for such an expensive sum. I would not recommend anybody trust or use camera city in bloomsbury, london if you don’t want to be ripped off. Oh and while I was picking my camera up the shop received 3 calls and I heard the one man band rudely say 'the part isn’t in I’ll email the manufacturer’!!!

STAY WELL CLEAR
Avoid at all costs or you will loose your time, money and more (maybe a few screws from your nerve system)

The 1 star I put there is because you can`t leave it blank, not that this place even deserves a single star.

A tiny camera shop specialising in second hand items and repairs, Camera City is in the little streets opposite the British Museum, not far from the Camera Cafe already reviewed. There are many camera shops in this area, but I like this one because it is so small, is in my favourite photogenic street (with pretty old Georgian houses and the back of St Goerge’s Church), and is so very friendly and helpful. They sell second hand cameras to suit all tastes (digital as well as many-lensed classics) and carry out repairs. They also have lense cases, binoculars, cleaning equipment and are lovely to browse in. They also do a student discount. I must add a warning, however - they charged my dad £20 just for a quote without telling him first that it would cost that. So they’re now in my Bad Books.