Mike Crivello’s Camera Center

Great selection. Employees are VERY knowledgeable about their products. They ask what your level you are at — beginner, casual, professional — and ask what you would use the product for — portrait, street, concert, etc. Far better than the big box places. I would rather drive 2 hours round trip to MC than go 15 minutes to Best Buy for photography needs.

Mike Crivello’s has helped me out in a pinch a few times, and I’m grateful for their service.
Example: I was recently hosting a big, daylong shoot, and one of my studio lights (that I had purchased online) decided it didn’t wanted to work anymore. I was able to pop into Crivello’s at the last minute, have the team help me find a comparable, in-​stock strobe, and head back to setup within a few minutes. It wasn’t all that much more expensive than what I had purchased online — but it certainly was more convenient to be able to get something in my hands right away. Best Buy certainly would not have had one, either.
I know people love to purchase gear online, these days, but the day brick and mortar speciality stores like Crivello’s close their doors, photographers are going to be in for a world of hurt.
Crivello’s is a gem and I will continue to give them my business.

Serious customer service failure.
I had some 35 mm film developed at Crivello’s. Did not order prints – just a disc w/​the digitized images.
I went to pick up the negatives and disc and overall I just felt like the general friendliness among staff was lacking.
THEN, I get home and look over the images on the disc… Many of the images had a horizontal black line on them. It’s possible that the film/​negatives were scratched, but it’s also possible there was dust/​dirt/​hair/​whatever in the negative scanner.
I emailed their customer service just to ask if I could bring the negatives in for a re-​scan. No reply. Ever. BUT they added my email address to their mailing list! I’ve been getting promo emails from Crivello’s for the last year. And just today I received an email asking me to review them on Unilocal.LOL. Sure thing… here’s your review. I really wouldn’t have even bothered writing this review had I not received the request from Crivello’s to do it. But this just goes to show how clueless these folks are about how terrible their customer service is.
Will not be going back. I’d rather ship my film out to a company who can deal with helping human beings.

I had to go here after best buy screwed me over with camera products and ran me all wi for incompatible accessories for my camera. I needed some true experience to put the best buy run around to an end.
The person who helped my took the time to get my camera out fitted to my needs. He listened to my needs and looked at products I wanted to out fit my camera with and came up with a solution that best buy could not do.
He had to special order what I needed because he was out of the product and will call when it is in. I just wanted to get my camera to a level I needed and he is going to get me there.
Over all they took the time to get my camera to the level I wanted it to be. Experience is what I needed and they delivered.

Prices can be a bit higher than other sources I’ve managed to find. If you can get past the incredibly dated décor and seemingly sparse inventory, their service is outstanding.
Most of the guys working there don’t seem to be younger than 35. These guys have tremendous experience with photography that spans decades AND fields.
I always enjoy striking up conversations with a few of the guys about the intricacies of various things including Leica cameras. One of the guys (I’m forgetting his name) used to work directly with the Leica factory and has visited it many times. This guys knows his stuff!
Each time I walk out of there I am enlightened with fresh knowledge and inspiration.

These guys are highly responsible and reasonably priced. Don’t hesistate to ask them for a larger print, or what your options are to make your picture come out better. I use them all the time and am really happy with them.

I will NEVER go back there again!!! The way they treated me was appalling. When i didn’t understand why my lens was still dirty after cleaning the sensor, which was recommended by the Shorewood store, the salesman replied IM NOT GOING TO EXPLAIN IT TO YOU AGAIN over the phone. When I went back they all three argued with me. He cleaned it more thoroughly as he should have done the first time, as far as I’m concerned they are all rude and disrespectful, even arguing about how many negative Unilocal reviews they had, only five… well guess what, now you have SIX. Take responsibility for your lousy attitudes or just close your doors if you don’t like your jobs or your customers!

What a horrible experience! Was treated like some undesirable peasant. The staff member I approached was rude, condescending and overall a very socially inept person.
The floor stock was minimal at best. Poorly lit, cramped and looking very 1970’s.
Will never and I mean NEVER visit this store again.
If this is a reflection of the other stores with the same name, am giving them a miss as well!
Good thing I found another camera store to spend my undesirable $ 000’s at!

I needed some equipments for a Wedding Photography and their staff was super kind and had lot of knowledge. I spoke to Rick and Jeff and they super nice! It was worth driving from Kenosha!

I was looking to buy a new DSLR camera. I had done some research online and had an idea of what I wanted, but I wanted to be able to play around with them before buying one. I went to Mike Crivello’s since they have a good selection and I figured they would be more informed about the product than other big-​box electronics stores. I wasn’t expecting to buy a camera here, since it’s usually cheaper to buy online.
The salesman showed us what we asked to see and answered our questions. However, it could have been a better experience. As another reviewer said, he made me feel kind of stupid since I’m not a camera expert. He didn’t teach us anything about the camera, and expected us to know quite a bit about photography. We were debating between a few different models, and he didn’t give us any advice or opinion. He just kind of stared at us as we were deciding what we wanted. It would have been much better if he taught us about the features, explained some of the photography terminology, and guided us toward a camera based on what we were looking for. Basically, he should have acted more like a salesman!
In the end, we ended up buying our camera there. They were having rebates on their equipment, and we were able to get $ 100 off the Nikon D5100, making it the same price as online. In addition, certain lenses had rebates, and we decided to purchase a telephoto lens since they were also $ 100 off at the time. We wouldn’t have bought anything there if they did not have the rebates.
So we ended up doing the opposite of what we intended: got more information about the cameras at Best Buy, but got a better price here. However, if you need any accessories, such as lens filters or SD cards, they are significantly cheaper at other places. I was glad I was able to do business at a local store and would go back if I was looking for something specific or wanted to do a workshop to learn more about my camera.

Good selection of equipment. The prices usually cost more than what can be found online. But you’re going there for the service.
And the service I got there was awful. I’m fairly new and inexperienced when it comes to DSLR. The clerk behind the counter treated me like I was an idiot. Each question was followed by a sign and a 1 word answer. Not helpful at all. Needless to say I walked out of there empty handed instead of with a $ 500 lens.

This is my new favorite store for cameras and equipment. Very knowledgeable and friendly staff. It costs a bit more than Best Buy or other big box retailers selling similar equipment but the products are better quality and I’m more than willing to pay a little bit more to deal with experts.

I used to buy my used camera equipment here when in high school and college back in the early 90s.
I just came back because I’m in town and wanted to pick up the new Nikon D3100 (which I did!).
The service here is really great. Everyone is very patient, helpful, personable and knowledgeable. The staff are all seasoned experts – there are no inexperienced commission-​obsessed sales staff that are common at many of the camera store chains. The selection here is great too, they carry higher quality brands but still manage to have many products available in the less-​expensive range.
I was glad to see some of the same staff here that was around back when I was in HS. It’s no wonder they’re still going strong, they’ve really got it together at Mike Crivello’s.
I don’t live in the area, but I’ll be sure to buy from them in the future and have my purchases shipped, they deserve the business.

Went in looking for a Nikon screen protector for my D700. Payed with my credit card, and walked out of the store to find it didn’t fit my camera. Went back in with the camera where the associate tried a few screens to find that he didn’t have the right one. He didn’t bother looking up what the correct item actually was. He disappeared behind the counter and came back with cash for a refund. Never offered to refund on my credit card or to order the part.

I finally unpacked the box with my camera equipment last week and discovered my lenses needed some attention – and my camera bag had been mouse-​eaten to the point of uselessness. As it happened, I had a camera-​enthusiast friend visiting from Germany, so we made a tour of camera stores looking for a good deal on a Canon flash and filters for our various lenses. Of the three places we went, the salespeople at Crivello’s were most helpful – and least likely to try to push a particular brand or philosophy on us. In the process, one of the salesmen (Jerry?) took it upon himself to clean all of my lenses and my camera and gave me some very useful advice about my aging AF 50 lens for my Minolta (it’s lost its spring and he recommended going to Ebay to get a replacement). In the process of sorting all my gear, I ended up losing a skylight filter and forgetting a lens cap retainer I’d purchased. Since I was out of town that afternoon doing touristy things with my friend, we didn’t get back to the store until the next afternoon. Evidently they hadn’t found either of the pieces I’d neglected either, but they were more than happy to replace the missing items – at no cost to me. Since they also sponsor photography tours, my impression of the place is that it’s a store for camera and photography enthusiasts who are looking for good deals on interesting gear – but they’re not hard-​nosed salesmen just out to wring that last buck out of your pocket. It was a pleasure doing business there, and their attitude earned them a faithful customer in me.