Camera Repair Service Inc

I am a professional photographer and I would NOT recommend them. I inquired if they could take a look at my D2H and the guy sitting behind the counter said it would be $ 20 for an estimate I returned a week later and asked if they could just give me the price to replace the shutter. This time the woman said it would be $ 40 and without paying that, they could not provide any information, even just simple prices for a specific piece of equipment. I told her that I was sure ut was the shutter and if she could just give me a price range, well they wanted $ 40 first before they would tell me anything. Very, very rude and not customer friendly.

I purchased a very inexpensive used ektagraphic slide projector on eBay, and while it «worked» it didn’t function with 100% accuracy (buyer beware, right?) so I took it here to see if it was fixable. Yes, there is a $ 20 diagnostic fee and I don’t have a problem with that as I believe it’s important to pay people for their time and expertise — regardless of whether you are going to get equipment fixed or not. I dropped off the projector on a Saturday and received a call on Monday afternoon telling me what was wrong and the charge to fix it. The repair wasn’t inexpensive, but the combined cost of my original purchase plus the repair was still far less than what the projector would have sold for. Within 2 – 3 days everything was fixed and when I went to pick it up the woman working behind the counter showed me what had been done. Very friendly, very nice. After I took the projector home I did have a few questions about functionality and all these were answered via email within a few days. Very friendly, very nice. I will certainly go back to Camera Repair to both buy and repair equipment. SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT: I find it rather «curious» that Unilocal is showing primarily negative reviews of this store while hiding (or not recommending) almost 30 reviews that contain some very positive comments — comments that are very similar to what I experienced. I’m very glad I decided to look through those 30 hidden reviews, because it gave me the information I needed to give this store a try.

just got off the phone with them. Not very nice. Tried to get an idea of what it would cost if my lens only needed a cleaning and lubrication and he would not tell me-​would not give me a range. Based on his demeanor I will go to Bernies.

Not kind. Rude. Too expensive.
As already many pepole described, this shop is totally terrible customer service.
The man working did not want to discuss anything with me and just tell me to pay $ 20 and seemed to want me out of his shop as soon as possible.
I had to pay $ 20.
3 days after, the man called me $ 350 was need to fix. The cost was too expenseive.
I stopped to ask them to fix as I can buy a brand-​new almost the same price!
The deposit never return to me.
The otehr day, I asked manufacturer to fix it, the cost was only $ 40! (just clean up the lens).

Terrible customer service, the man working did not want to discuss anything with me and just seemed to want me out of his shop as soon as possible. I believed that I had dust on the sensor of my camera so I brought it here due to it being close to my school. They charged me an outrageous price just for me to bring it back the same day because of the dust still being present. I then had to leave it over the weekend just for them to see if they could fix it. They supposedly cleaned it again, but it looked exactly the same and I ended up having to take it to another shop.

Honestly, I am looking at the numerous negative reviews of this shop and I am wondering if they are talking about the same guys who have been servicing my vintage and antique cameras for quite a while. For starters, «the guy at the counter» Aaron Klein, is always courteous and welcoming. He, in fact, spends quite a bit of time talking to his customers. I never spend less that 20 minutes chatting whenever I visit the store.
Over the years, these guys have serviced many of my cameras: 1 Yashica rangefinder (busted light meter), 1 Mamiya 645 (light meter, overall clean up, replace light seals), 1 Pentax ME Super (replace electronic circuitry), 1 Rolleicord (repair shutter and film advance), 1 Nikon FE2 (repair defective light sensor), one Olympus Pen FT (lightmeter, clean and adjust, replace seals), one Carl Zeiss T 28 mm lens (ful rebuilt, repair the autofocus), one Zeiss Super Ikonta (repair the bellows), and, most recently, 1 Olympus 35 RD (complete overhaul). They can fix pretty much any old leaf shutter. It is also true that they have not been able to fix some of my cameras — couple of pre-​WW2 Zeiss Contax, for which replacement parts are very hard to come by. I also have to admit that they did not do such a good job on an old Leica IIIf. So they fix cameras, not perform miracles.
Their prices are very competitive with anything I have found online –cheaper than some, more expensive than others. In my experience, they live to the letter of their warranty, fixing anything that happens to the camera for a period of 6 months after the repair. I have bought equipment from them: cameras, flashes, lenses. They have also stood behind the warranties of any pieces of equipment I have purchased. For example, about 2 yrs ago I purchased a Zenza Bronica medium format camera fromthem. One of the removable backs was not operational, and they could not fix it. In exchange, they cut me a huge break for the repair of my Nikon FE2, which was in their shop at the time. I never got any BS from them: sometimes they can fix it, sometimes they can’t. Furthermore, maybe it is because I am such an old customer, but these upfront 40 bucks charges are news to me. Anyhow, I don’t think it is totally unreasonable to charge for a diagnostic inspections, considering that often enough the lens or camera must be disassembled before the diagnosis can be made.
I recommend this place to anone who wants to restore an old, vintage camera!!! The only reason I do not give them 5 stars is because they cannot fix EVERYthing.

I brought a lens here for diagnosis and repair. The man at the counter said it was a $ 20 fee and the lens would be diagnosed by Monday, and repaired the same day if I decided to proceed.
On Monday I received a call that the lens could be repaired for $ 240, and would be done by the next Friday. I explained that this wouldn’t work with my schedule and the shop said that it may be able to be finished by Wednesday, pending availability of a part. Tuesday I received a call stating that the part needed to be ordered, and that it wouldn’t be ready by when I needed the lens. The woman who called said I could come get the lens and that I would be refunded the $ 240 that I had prepaid… So in my mind I was only out the $ 20 diagnostic fee.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. After returning to pick up the lens, I noticed that the lens would not fully collapse — a problem that the lens didn’t have when I dropped it off. I mentioned this to the owner and he immediately became defensive, stating that the lens was in the same condition as when I brought it in. I explained that this was not the case since the lens was no longer capable of fully collapsing and was entirely unusable. He said it was still broken and needed repair, and kept repeating that it was in the original condition.
In short, I am now out $ 20 my lens is entirely unusable. If I lived in Pittsburgh I would likely file a small claims suit against Camera Repair Service due to the damage they caused to my lens.

I’m really not sure how this shop keeps any customer base at all. I went in with a broken lens mount and had no idea how expensive it would be to repair and wanted to know if it would be worth it before committing to any type of expensive repair since it was a kit lens that came with my camera — they demanded $ 40 before they would even look at the camera (although the problem was quite obvious, a small piece of plastic on the outside that had been snapped off). They also wanted to take the whole camera (even though only the lens was broken, and it has a standard mount), and refused to even give an idea of whether or not they would be able to fix it.
All the while, treating me like I was an idiot and an inconvenience to them. I’ve never felt so disrespected at a place of business in my life. Just because I’m not a professional photographer doesn’t mean I don’t know my own equipment.
So Ritz Camera did the job instead.
UPDATE: As one reviewer mentioned, a diagnostic fee is not an unreasonable thing to charge, I just took issue with the fact that I had a common lens with an obvious problem and they wanted me to pay $ 40 before they would give me a yes or no as to whether they would fix it. I would happily pay a $ 40 diagnostic fee or deposit on the repair if they had been willing to give me a little information on what they thought might be wrong and what kind of repair it might need. It ended up being a really simple repair and I wish I could have given the business to someone local rather than resorting to a big chain like Ritz.

Unhelpful. Rude. Arrogant. Just needed a spray of compressed air, just a quick look see to see if everything was ok. Didn’t even want to look. Actually BACKED away from me and only wanted to charge $ 40 for a camera inspection service that I didn’t even need or want! Just wanted their opinion on my lens behavior/​situation, just an expert’s eye to see if it needed to have a professional inspection or not. With a totally empty store and nothing else that he was involved in other than sitting looking bored– he offered ZERO customer service, or care. You could not pay me to go back into this establishment.

Rude, unhelpful, wouldn’t trust them at all!
I went into this place with a simple and straightforward repair to my Canon 40D. The metal of the flash housing was slightly bent and needed to be bent back. The guy behind the counter first says «sure, we can fix that». Seems like a good start… but then I was completely and rudely stonewalled by any followup questions. Basically they won’t even talk to you before you give them $ 40, and I wasn’t going to do that for a straightforward repair. I can understand a «diagnostic fee» for a more complicated problem, but this was a bent piece of metal that I could actually fix myself (and just might), which I told him. Any further attempt at talking to this guy was met with the response «that’s our fee».
Sorry, but I’d assume you want my business, especially as a first time customer with 8+ cameras. But I guess not. In my book any repair shop that is unhelpful and wants money before even giving you the time of day is likely going to screw you over ten different ways before the end. Stay away from these guys!

My husband the railfan! Seriously, the man must take hundreds of train photos each year. I don’t know how many volumes of these he has. Each photo is catagorized too, so if I ask him which diesel locomotive he shot on November 3, 1992 he could find it. And he steadfastly refuses to give up his 35 mm camera.
So the couple of times his camera has gone on the fritz, he’s brought it here for service. Of course, since I work Downtown, I have to pick it up! They’re able to service 35 mm here and they still sell some 35 mm equipment. The camera needed to be professionally cleaned, so he brought it here for service and the couple of times he’s done so, he’s been very happy with the results.