York Camera Mart

I bought an Olympus OM10D with lenses package at the end of May this year from this store and I can say that the service and help offered plus the deal on purchase was excellent and helpful .

The staff were friendly and helpful and gave me endless help and advice before I decided on the purchase.

I was recommended this shop by a friend when I wanted to buy a new camera. They are knowledgeable, helpful and competitively priced. They are also prepared to go the extra mile.

If you want a new camera or extra attachments they are well worth a visit.

Excellent service. Rang me by telephone at home to organize delivery time and date which I never expected. Item delivered as agreed.

High value item which I thought may take some time. York Camera Mart sourced the item, and had it delivered in 5 days.

From my experience highly recommended.

I have bought a number of items over the past few months including a camera, lenses and accessories. There seems to be a trend with the service. They're pretty unfriendly and way pricier than other shops and websites. After a pretty rude encounter most recently I've decided I won't use them again. I'd rather do my research and buy online. I think they might want to wake up to the fact that in the competitive world of retail you need to go the extra mile if you're going to compete. Avoid - you can do much better in terms of price and service.

I found what looked a good deal on a camera lens. Checked out York and looked OK. Next thing day a refund, I take it they didn’t have the lenses. They get one star for doing a refund one for doing it quickly and no more as no apology was sent and it annoys me greatly when firms just list things with no idea if they actually have them.

Needed to buy a camera as a present and the advice and service we received was second to none. Have left the shop confident we have made the right purchase and knowing we only have to ring or e mail and get any further support. Many thanks. Very courteous service . Very clear instructions on how to use the cameras we considered. No pressure to buy extras we did not need.

Yesterday I went to town with a disc holding 155 photos to print, in 4 files for 4 different sizes, and some paper photos to scan, not relishing the prospect of spending an hour at JESSOPS carefully working on each picture.

When I arrived in town, I saw that Jessops had closed down!

This was bad news, especially as I’d had a VB experience with the other photo shop I know, on the bridge.

I remembered this little shop in Church Street, which I’d entered a couple of times over the years to ask for a printed rates list to take home, and I’d always come out not wanting to come back because a.o. there was no list, the owner wasn’t the smiling type and the prices he quoted were more than Jessops’.

Yesterday with Jessops closed, there was no choice (except return to the one on the bridge – scarier).

It didn’t start better than in the past, with still no list of prices and not feeling at ease while asking all my preliminary questions (I’m a bit of a maniac, nervy, when it comes to photography).

But at some point the ice melt and every minute from then on brought a happy surprise.

I asked whether I could see any example of a picture that had come out of this self-operated booth – for colour & light results. Instead of showing me someone else’s picture, he offered that I print a picture of mine for free for testing!

Second VG surprise, no need to wait an hour, the picture came out immediately.

Third, it was most EXCELLENT – so much better than the Jessops quality.

Even the paper was better, thicker.

I started doing my whole lot of prints, starting with the smallest (6”x 4”), and the price was nearly the same as with Jessops. However, for larger sizes it gets quite pricier. And the booth doesn’t do the larger size 10” x 8” (25 x 20 cm).

The gentleman, who was clearly the manager/owner, turned out to be most helpful and kind, even generous (I won’t give details here, so as not to make you expect the same, as this would not serve the shop right for the favour), also guiding me all through my printing job, patiently looking with me at how best to crop, and to reduce the incidence of the inevitable margins (of which some shops are not even aware though they all have them), etc.

For once someone with the skill and knowledge and who cares about photography, and about your needs.

This photo job I had dreaded doing had become so simple. Because there were so many prints, it would take 15 to 20 min for all to come out, so I came back later, to be handed several Kodak envelopes.

I am extremely impressed with the final result: very pleased indeed with the quality, colour vibrancy, clearness, and also by the fact that there was not one photo coming out with a fault (stain, spots, lines, etc), which is something that usually happens in other shops in a certain number, needing going back and redoing.

My at-least yearly load done and a big weight off my mind! Perfect.

After 3 phone calls to the shop to talk about replaceing my old Nikon D50 complete with a Sigma 70-300mm lens and Tamron 70-300mm, I told the person on the phone that there was a small hairline crack of about 3mm on the D50 body, because of this he said it would only be worth about £100 and about £50 for each of the lenses, as the items where 6 years old I was happy at the value given. He quoted me £540 for the Nikon D3100 with either a Sigma or Tamrom 70-300mm lens with the Uv filters and SD card being extra. When I took the items in this weekend I was told he was not interested in the D50 as it was cracked and that he would give me £35 for the lenes as they where the early models. I then went to Jesops and got a D3100, 70-300mm lens, UV filter for each lens, 8GB SD card, 1 x extra battery, a gadget bag and a back pack for £567 and I still have my old items

I went into this shop to do a potential part exchange on my camera as I wanted to upgrade. I was shocked by how low a valuation I got for my equipment. Now, my camera is a boxed Sony a390 in excellent condition with Jessops flashgun and an additional Sony 75-300mm lens, also boxed. Now www.cex.co.uk, A HIGH STREET trader were willing to offer me £325 for the same equipment part exchange while here they offered me a mere £200. This would mean I would be losing what could be worth up to £350 for £200 to them and additionally I would have had to pay around £200 extra for the camera I wanted. So, a £400 camera would be costing me nearly £550. Now, I know shop profit needs to be made, but that is extortionate in my opinion.

When I asked about other options, there were none. It was either this deal or nothing. I doubt it very much if I'm going to trade with this store again.

Went into York today to purchase a lens, and went to this shop based on a recommendation.

Have to say that I wish I'd bought my camera here a month back!

This is a brilliant shop, run by people who genuinely care.

I went in with only a vague idea of what I wanted (a Sony zoon), and was given a load of advice based on what would be best for me personally. I was given a chance to get a feel for a couple of lenses, and given plenty of time to decide.

I decided to go for the Sigma lens in the end, and after getting home and trying it out properly have to say I'm very happy with it.

When I come to buying anything else for my camera, I'll definitely be going back here. Brilliant service along with very competitive prices - why can't everywhere be like this?!