Photo Stores in NYC

[Em & El in a gallery, West Village, NYC]

When I used to live in California, I would love spending hours, browsing through the photography stores in South Bay.  I especially liked Keeble & Shuchat near Stanford, and Kamera Korner in San Jose. 

Now that I’ve moved, I’ve found that one of the best things about living in New York is the easy access to photography stores.  There are three big ones here in Manhattan: B&H, Adorama, and Calumet.  

Adorama

The machine-like efficiency by which this store works is amazing.  The store itself isn’t very large; it’s underneath the warehouse in which most of the inventory is kept.  You walk in, take a number, and wait to talk to a customer service representative.  Once your number is up, you tell the rep what you’d like to look at or purchase.  Within minutes, the product you’ve requested has arrived, care of a chute behind the customer service counter your rep works at.  Once you’ve decided, you’re handed another ticket and you go to check out.  Once you reach the front of the line, your purchases are there waiting for you. 

Although the system is extremely streamlined and efficient, much of the fun in browsing is eliminated.  Indecision feels like a burden on the customer rep, and although they wait patiently for your choices, you feel hard pressed to make gut calls so as not to slow down the machine.  The representatives are very knowledgeable, so much so that they occasionally come off as condescending.  Adorama’s great if you know exactly what you want, and want a quick in-and-out trip.

Calumet

The feel of this store is much more like Kamera Korner.  I believe the footprint of the store is larger than that of Adorama, but it still maintains a bit of the family atmosphere that I loved about Kamera Korner.  There are enough products on the floor that you can take your time browsing through.  There’s even an area where you can rent equipment.

Calumet has a fantastic return policy.  I purchased a Calumet-branded UV filter with the 5dmkii I received from them back in mid-December.  During my trip to Canada over Christmas, the UV filter broke.  I went in today, and they very kindly allowed me to return my UV filter for a full refund.  Their stated return policy is only 14 days, which is why this surprised me.  I’ll have to go back and explore this store a bit more.

B&H

I’ve yet to go to the flagship store located near Penn Station.   From what I hear, the store is huge and it seems to be similar to the multi-floor camera stores located in Tokyo.  I’ll have to go check it out, and update this entry when I do.

Ah New York.  How I love thee.

~ by tehjoyof on February 3, 2009.