Camera Centre

Horrific. Ordered two cameras, one online and one over the phone (As the online one didn’t come) and both times I was reassured they would be sent Special Delivery, and each time they were not. I was mislead, the owner/​manager Nick had me buy a second camera, rather than send another one free of charge and get his money back from royal mail, and that should have alerted me to trouble. My bad. When that one didn’t come when it was meant to (he knoew it was my daughter’s birthday present) he didn’t own up — when it turned out his employee had sent the second camera by the wrong postal service, rather I had to call, twice before he admitted it, and to top it all, he refused to refund me straight away, as one would expect: he wasn’t going to give me a dime back without going through a Royal Mail and Ebay claims service, despite the misleading info the cameras would be sent Special Delivery (as it stated on ebay and he promised with the second unit). He was rude, didn’t listen, he was boorish both times I spoke to him, and he slammed the phone down on me, even though (despite the hellish time he put us through) I was calm. I wouldn’t trust them to breathe competently, never mind sell me a camera. Do yourself a favour, look elsewhere.

As a semi-​pro photographer I have used the Camera Centre website a number of times for various bits of kit and have always been happy with their service (on time, great condition etc). However, after a recent move to Cardiff I was keen to visit the store itself, just to browse and see how it compared to other camera shops.
Upon entering the shop I was warmly welcomed and could immediately sense the history of the place. I was told that 3 generations of the same family had run it and that definitely came across. Perhaps it was the huge collection of vintage Leica cameras that faced me as I walked in, as it certainly would have take a couple of generations to accumulate that amount!
Overhearing conversations between staff and fellow customers I could tell that the people working here certainly knew their stuff and, by the sound of it, some where keen photographers as well. I inquired about buying a large camera bag for outdoor shoots and they directed me to their Newport store, which I was told kept a larger variety of bags and cases and which I will be visiting very soon.
I checked a couple of prices of mid to high-​end SLRs and, much like their website, they were very competitive and claimed that they would match prices I was given elsewhere.
Overall a great shop for both enthusiasts and those simply looking for a point and shoot, which is why I’m very surprised at some of the other reviews that I’ve read on here Perhaps I’m missing something but I honestly can’t see what.
Very impressed and will definitely be making a return visit. 5 well earned stars from me!

The Camera Centre… Cameraland… If you’re in the Cardiff city centre, you’re not exactly short on unimaginatively named photographer hovels, are you? To be honest, there’s not a lot of superficial difference between the two. Being each other’s main competitors, you’d think they’d try and differentiate between one another a little, but no, instead it seems they’re happy to Romulus and Remus their way through their sales figures, playing the role of largely interchangeable twins.
I’m sorry, that’s not actually that fair. On the surface, they’re pretty much the same shop, but if you’re a regular at either or both, you’ll be able to spot the difference quite handily. Camera Centre has a nice line in vintage photography equipment. Amanda has apparently had some rather large scare stories from there, though, so I am hesitant to recommend them on that basis alone. The simple fact of the matter is, the service isn’t as good here as Cameraland. It’s certainly not bad, but it’s lacking the same level of enthusiasm that the Cameraland staff seem to be imbued with.
At the end of the day, there’s not a lot between them. My recommendation is to go to whichever one is closer.

I have to say, passing these Camera stores can make me quite nostalgic. When I studied photography at A-​Level, a good camera shop was my bread and butter, and then the digital era hit.
Many photography shops took a while to adjust to the digital age and handled the crossover clumsily. Independent chains also struggled to compete with larger businesses and Internet prices. This meant a lot of people would go in to a camera shop to ask advice and then order the model online for £100 less.
I’m glad to see the Camera Centre still battling away, and it’s gone the way of a lot of other Camera shops and dealt heavily into the second hand market. This is where the beauty of the shop lies, a lot of really good quality cameras and a good range too. It’s also nice to see a selection of old 35 mm film cameras, showing there is still a hobbyists market.

As if Cameraland wasn’t enough for you, I give you its competitor Camera Centre. Located in the city centre in Morgan Arcade the Camera Centre has competitive prices and good deals on everything including Digital Cameras, Digital SLR Cameras, 35 mm SLR Cameras and Digital Camcorders. This is definitely a place worth checking out if you are a photography enthusiast.
I have visited on several occasions nearly purchasing an SLR camera myself, I prevented myself as I didn’t have enough funds at the time but I knew the offers they had were very reasonable. I went there the other day to purchase a mini DV tape for my camcorder. I thought that this would be easy to find around town in any general store but this proved to be difficult. It occurred to me that the Camera Centre would sell them and sure enough they did. The sales man who served me was very helpful and friendly asking if I needed any more DV tapes. I only bought the one but it was at a good price of £3.99, which I thought was a good buy. The only thing I didn’t like about the store was that it looked very messy and it was very narrow, there were a lot of items crammed into one space and I couldn’t figure out which item was which.
Overall this is an excellent Camera shop with excellent deals at good prices. Check it out!

The Camera Centre has everything a potential or current top of the range camera owner might need. There is still stuff for other types of cameras, but this tends to be somewhere frequented by people who take their camera equipment reasonably seriously.
The staff know exactly what they’re talking about in this store, and as they specialise in cameras you’re more likely to get expert advice and guidance than in an electronics store that happens to sell cameras as well as many other things.
As well as this there are lots of deals on second-​hand parts that can be viewed in the window, so you’re more likely to get more for your money than in a high street retailer. As they sell second-​hand stuff they also buy lenses and other parts, it’s always nice to go shopping and come back with more money than you went in with.

With so many camera shops offering special online discounts, and lots of high street stores closing down, you’d think it would be tough for any independent camera shop to survive out there. But neither the online stores nor the chains (often staffed by amateurs) can replace family-​run businesses like this, where you can ask technical questions and seek advice from experts, get into a proper conversation about what you want from a camera, and seek out old or hard-​to-​find camera parts or lenses.
Apart from selling a wide range of digital cameras, SLRs, camcorders, binoculars and telescopes, the shop also piles in plenty of photographic accessories such as tripods, flashguns, memory cards, camera bags, digital photo frames, and so on.
If you’re after 1 hour printing or photo gifts, you’d probably just pop to Jessop’s on Churchill Way — but for techie help or expert advice, Cardiff Camera Centre wins hands down.

I spent some time in here today and bought a few small accessories. It’s well stocked and there are many excellent top name cameras and lenses for sale. The man who served me could have been friendlier but he knew his stuff and was helpful.

This is my favourite camera store in all of Cardiff. All the modern technology shops in the centre of Cardiff couldn’t even compare to this tiny shop berried away in the Morgan Arcade. There shelves of the old style cameras lined up across the walls. They have such a good verity for such a small shop! I could talk to the staff in there for hours about pros and cons of most new cameras and the joys of old fashioned cameras. They really take their time to get to know you and what you know about cameras and what your aiming for in an ideal camera. They don’t mind letting you take a go of any of their cameras and if they don’t have the camera you desire in store they will order it promptly and efficiently without any fuss. The prices tend to be quite high, but at least you know what your getting with this store, good service and a quality camera.