Thinking of making the switch from film to digital? As with any major purchase, you'll want to make sure you get good advice so that you end up with the right camera for your needs, at a good price. Armed with our ratings of area stores and our price comparisons, the purchase should go smoothly.

Read our article and findings (available exclusively to CHECKBOOK subscribers)

Back to Bay Area Consumers' CHECKBOOK Table of Contents.

Sample Subscriber Comments/Reviews About Camera Stores

CHECKBOOK provides subscriber comments on their experiences with the firms they use. Please remember that individual subscriber comments are informal. Subscriber comments may give you insight into the types of features and problems that exist in a service field, but are not the best basis for selecting or rejecting a specific firm. To assess the quality of a firm's performance, we recommend that you give more weight to the percentages of favorable ratings. Those percentages are generally based on much larger numbers of consumers' ratings (the number of consumer ratings is noted above).

As You Can See Below, Some Camera Stores Get High Praise from Their Customers. Some Others Don't. So Choose Carefully.
Here Are a Few Samples of the Thousands of Comments CHECKBOOK Has Collected on Hundreds of Different Camera Stores.

• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Store: lost my camera arriving in Spain, made do with disposables. Sarbers 1) got the rolls..........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: In the last year, I've been very pleased with the support I've gotten at SJ..........
• Subscriber from SAN RAFAEL, CA wrote Another Store: Wolf is quite slow in delivering special orders or additional photographic accessories. They could also..........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: Service can sometimes be slow since a line forms at the registers. Prices are sometimes..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Store: helped me select my first digital camera.......
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Store: Note that my review is for the RENTAL DESK only - the retail part of..........
• Subscriber from FREMONT, CA wrote Another Store: The only place locally where you can handle a camera and then buy it at..........
• Subscriber from BELMONT, CA wrote Another Store: You're on your own. Self-service would be better........
• Subscriber from LOS GATOS, CA wrote Another Store: Great manager, friendly staff........
• Subscriber from CONCORD, CA wrote Another Store: The man who helped me was very knowledgeable and explained everything I asked about. He..........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: Regular photo developing not stellar, but this the best store for purchasing camera equipment. No..........
• Subscriber from PALO ALTO, CA wrote Another Store: Pricey but probably the best in our area........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: Friendly and knowledgeable; often don't have what you want; staff has to open boxes to..........
• Subscriber from SAN BRUNO, CA wrote Another Store: I left some sixty year old negatives to be processed at the Serramonte store, which..........
• Subscriber from MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA wrote Another Store: Excellent!.......
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: Digital store is somewhat better than main store. Salesmen aren't as high pressure and you..........
• Subscriber from SAN FRANCISCO, CA wrote Another Store: The store prices were very reasonable considering the location........
• Subscriber from MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA wrote Another Store: Continues to be the premier camera shop on the Penninsula that offers excellent service and..........
• Subscriber from CONCORD, CA wrote Another Store: Very knowlegeable salesman.......
• Subscriber from CAMPBELL, CA wrote Another Store: This is a warehouse no matter how you dress it up........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: Prompt customer contact, fair evaluation of broken product and appropriate choice of a replacement camera..........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: Moved from Camden Ave to; 1572 Meridian Ave San Jose, CA, 95125 (408) 267-5050 and..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Store: Got gift camera purchased from them. Just attended a single class one nite. Haven't really..........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: Tend to be snooty........
• Subscriber from BELMONT, CA wrote Another Store: Honored the price match guarantee without hassle........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: Shopping experience can differ markedly depending on which clerk. Some are very knowledeable about both..........
• Subscriber from SUNNYVALE, CA wrote Another Store: I have bought a slide copier (35 mm to digital) and two cameras there this..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Store: A very good place, but struggling against the Internet merchants. Where I need service or..........
• Subscriber from CAMPBELL, CA wrote Another Store: I am astonished that this store remains in business with the way they treat and..........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: Good selection; bad service........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: very narrow selection, and hit or miss as to whether there is someone available to..........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: Slow servuce and not very knowledgable on their products........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: I expect to pay full price, not a discounted price, but get good help selecting..........
• Subscriber from MENLO PARK, CA wrote Another Store: K&S is a full-service store with highly knowledgeable staff and sales people. The best ever..........
• Subscriber from SAN JOSE, CA wrote Another Store: Snobbish counter people. Not recommended........
• Subscriber from SAN FRANCISCO, CA wrote Another Store: They give coupons for digital prints from an instore machine but it is very slow..........
• Subscriber from SAN FRANCISCO, CA wrote Another Store: Very friendly and helpful to a non-expert.......
• Subscriber from FREMONT, CA wrote Another Store: This is a professional photo store, staffed by professionals. You will not get a 'big..........
• Subscriber from BERKELEY, CA wrote Another Store: Looking glass is great resource for digital and film based photography........
• Subscriber from SUNNYVALE, CA wrote Another Store: We had the feeling we were imposing on the clerk by trying to purchase a..........
• Subscriber from PIEDMONT, CA wrote Another Store: Knowledgable staff and patient, personal service. Not a discount shop, but well worth the price........
• Subscriber from MENLO PARK, CA wrote Another Store: One of the last real camera stores around. Great selection of camera gear for digital,..........
• Subscriber from WALNUT CREEK, CA wrote Another Store: A great place for camera-related services!.......
• Subscriber from FREMONT, CA wrote Another Store: "The" place to go for pros in the area. Everyone else pays top dollar, but..........
• Subscriber from EL CERRITO, CA wrote Another Store: Staff is a bit abrupt on weekends, but service is probably much better when they..........
• Subscriber from MENLO PARK, CA wrote Another Store: I came in for one thing and left with another, which might have been a..........
• Subscriber from PALO ALTO, CA wrote Another Store: Let me take a digital camera outdoors so that I could see how the viewfinder..........
• Subscriber from RICHMOND, CA wrote Another Store: If you need help they're no good but they have a decent assortment of cameras..........
• Subscriber from OAKLAND, CA wrote Another Store: It sometimes take a while to get waited on, and they don't always have everything..........
• Subscriber from CAMPBELL, CA wrote Another Store: This is a high end store and you need to know what you are asking..........