Martin's Camera Shop Review

“I ordered a Canon EF 35mm f2 lens from Martin's camera...”

Written on: 15/04/2009

Good Points
Great web site with attractive prices.

Bad Points
Could not supply the lens I ordered in five weeks.
Debited my card up front.
No proactive communication.
Inconvenient to get hold of them.
Apparently not interested in fulfilling the order.

General Comments
I ordered a Canon EF 35mm f2 lens from Martin's camera shop. They have a great web site that promises good communication as my order progresses and 10 working days even if it is out of stock. After five weeks I had no lens and no proactive communication from them at all. They didn't reply to an email and a second one just said they would try and find out the status of my order. If you phone them you discover they have a very long lunch break from 11:00 until 14:30. When I did get through I was told my lens was on back order and would be another 1-2 weeks. 3 weeks later I had to ring them again and was told it was still on back order and they couldn't tell how long it would be. They seemed reluctant to push their supplier and advised me to cancel the order. I was told that a 35mm f2 is a very specialist lens and hard to find. Although I'm new to SLRs I don't think it seems that special a lens, but it does seem hard to find. They had the money for the five weeks too.

In summary I am reluctantly disappointed with Martin's camera shop and with my first lens buying attempt.