Camera Craftsman

Ordinarily I would deduct one star for a business that doesn’t take credit cards in this day and age, but I talked to the owner and he had a pretty good explanation of why. When you have a rare and valuable set of skills, you can set your own prices, but he keeps them fair, and I don’t mind paying extra money for extra quality. He is always professionally dressed, polite, and courteous, which is more than I can say for a lot of other independent repair shops I’ve been to.
So far, Jim has fixed six of my cameras that even the manufacturer wouldn’t touch. His knowledge of the industry and the technology is phenomenal, and his inventory of replacement parts is second to none. If you have broken cameras, old or new, that you’re disappointed about not being able to use anymore, or if you need non-​warranty work that the manufacturer has declined to do, you owe it to yourself to see if Jim can help. He’ll give you an honest appraisal and he guarantees his work. If you need archaic accessories, flash bulbs, or want to buy a restored camera, it warrants a look at his merchandise section, too.
Jim doesn’t promote his business as much as he could, but his work speaks for itself. If you appreciate classic cameras of any age, and want to keep yours in good working order, be aware that there are only a handful of people qualified to do this kind of work. Without them, our old cameras would be nothing more than pretty junk cluttering up our shelves. Businesses and businessmen like him are a dying breed, so I am very grateful and I hope he stays around for a long, long time!

My real rating is 4.5 stars — the ½ star knock off is because they don’t take credit cards. Luckily my repair wasn’t TOO pricey, but I’d like to get points for those kinds of things, and I’m sure they do many repairs that are much more expensive than mine.
My SX30 IS has been through a lot, but the first time I really had problems was the result of me dropping it on some asphalt. There was a visible dent in part of the lens housing, and it made a scary clicking sound when I tried to turn it on (couldn’t cuz the housing was no longer circular.)
I stopped by the Camera Craftsman and knocked, and he was able to give me an estimate on the spot. He actually gave me a dual estimate, in case it wasn’t just that the housing had to be returned to round, but an actual part replacement. The higher estimate was still only about 60% of replacement cost.
My camera was fixed quickly, for the lower estimate (no part replacements necessary, yay!), and cleaner than when I dropped it off — it’s been set on the sand, through rainstorms, dirt, all kinds of things, and now the sand is gone, too!
When you get there, you have to knock on the door and they’ll let you in. I unfortunately don’t remember the name of the gentleman I dealt with, but he was very knowledgeable.

I have been going to the Camera craftsman since 1984. I have repaired Film, Video, Digital Cameras and Lenses throughout the years. I have to say I was pleased with the outcome every time and Jim explained to me in detail what was wrong with gear.
The cameras were also cleaned and look shiny upon receipt. I highly recommend this place.

This is a good repair place. The owner does the work himself. He helped me with a small issue with my camera free of charge. He also gave me a few helpful pointers.

The Camera Craftsman treated my camera with care and was able to take care of the repairs in a timely manner. He knew exactly what was wrong with my D90 and was able to give me a reasonable quote.
The store is small, but Jim knows his stuff and is meticulous with the repairs that are needed versus recommended.
Highly recommend and will return for other work to be done to my camera.

The name of Jim’s store fits what he does perfectly. He really is a camera craftsman. Fixing just about any model camera that someone throws at you really is an art. I’m a wedding photographer who brought in my 5dmk II with a dirty fresnel lens and a hair on the sensor after Hunts told me they couldn’t do anything in store for me and would have to ship it out, so they suggested the Camera Craftsman. Yes he is quirky, but the man really knows his stuff: old film cameras, newer film cameras, and digital cameras. It will seem like he is asking you about your camera in excessive detail, but its like giving a good history to your doctor. Armed with all the information he needs, if he can’t fix it, I doubt anyone else can.
He was good and honest. He gave me a best case estimate and a worst case estimate. I told him no matter what, it was fine, I would pay it (I have no poker face). In the end, he said it was the best case scenario, and charged me the lower price. He could have easily told me it was the worst case scenario and charged me the higher price, but he didn’t. He also did the fix in less than 24 hours!
Long story short, if I ever have any problem with any camera again, I will be knocking on the camera craftsman’s door without question.

Would recommend for a camera repair. Repaired my broken Nikkon fast (within one day) and for the exact price he quoted — which was much less than another repair place which could not fix the lens on sight but actually had to mail it out to Nikkon. Thanks!

I went here to have my Canon S3 fixed and a Canon 50 mm usm f1.4 lens fixed. I think the Camera Craftsman is a great guy. I thought he was polite, efficient, and honest. Don’t expect a flashy storefront or huge smiles with an over the top salesman personality. Expect a real person who runs a business by himself and tells you the situation as it is. Here’s what happened. He quoted me a low price and high price on the camera: $ 80 and $ 150. He then quoted me one price on the lens: $ 150. He called me to tell me that he opened up the camera and it was the high price, so I told him to only fix the lens. I picked up the camera at no charge and the lens was perfectly repaired at the quoted price. The turnaround time was fast, about a week if I recall. He also gave me pointers if I wanted to fix the camera on my own since I was on a budget, and helped me find answers to all of my questions. I’m going to go back to him again. I felt that the prices were fair and the service was reasonable. Maybe there’s somewhere that’s cheaper, and maybe there’s somewhere that could be considered by some to be «more courteous» in some corporate «customer service» sense of the word, but I’d prefer good old fashioned honest service (and I’m not even a traditionalist). I save 5 stars for something that really knocks my socks off, so while everything was good I didn’t leave a whole new human being, but it was better than other places for me (i.e. Ritz sends their cameras out and has less knowledge) and really thorough and caring with all of my details. Even though I got my camera back in a good amount of time I don’t see speed and efficiency being a priority with Camera Craftsman, so I guess it depends on what you value.

If I could give this guy 0 stars, I would.
DO NOT go to the Camera Craftsman, and here’s why:
1. He is creepy, keeps his door closed and locked and looks at you and a strange, strange way.
2. Once he sees you and can judge you, he ups the price. I talked to him over the phone and he quoted me $ 90-​$ 110. He saw me in person and suddenly it was $ 119-​$ 140! I called him out on it and he told me it’s because I «described it poorly» and he «hates quoting on the phone,» and «it wasn’t a real quote.»
3. He over prices. I ended up sending my lens to to Canon and they charged me $ 90.
4. He can’t guarantee anything and skirts around making any promises. When I tried to get him to settle and just say yes or no if he could have my lens done in 12 days (a totally reasonable request) he told me «uh, 50% chance» which IS NOT YES OR NO. In fact, it is a flat out «uh, maybe? i don’t know.» He tried to tell me that his taking 28 days to fix my lens was a reasonable industry standard.
5. He has no manners/​customer service. When I was (in a level, even tone, with tears in my eyes because I was afraid I wouldn’t have my lens fixed by my birthday/​my trip home and it was going to cost me a fortune and he wasn’t promising that he could even fix it after all that) trying to get him to decide anything he told me «In all my years, I have NEVER fought with a customer.» Um, HI! I am not fighting. I am trying to get you to do your job.
6. Lastly (as if all of this wasn’t enough) last year I took a lens there to get it cleaned. There was a horrible spot on it that was ruining a lot of photos. He charged me $ 60 for the cleaning and it came back WITH THE DOT. As in, he did nothing. And charged me.

No! Go somewhere else!
In 2000 I brought my Pentax LX to this guy. He said he would not be able to touch it as it was a sealed camera… OK? He then offered to send it to the Pentax repair center for me as it was an «inside» channel for him. Two months later I was told it would be sent to Japan Pentax from Colorado Pentax because it was too complex a repair. Two months later it comes back from Japan. Seemingly working but the speed indicator was stuck or dead… so two weeks later… almost $ 400 and the camera stopped working correctly in 30 days and the original problems were all back. Seven years later, I decided to have someone (a highly respected Pentax repair guru) take a closer look at the camera and found that the original gaskets were all still there, in other words, it never made it to a Pentax facility. The crook opened my camera and hosed it with solvent and called it fixed. Also a torn titanium shutter curtain from his F-​ing around inside my camera and I found the double sided tape he used to hide the tear. I’m not judging by appearance of a store front, I’m talking about a near destroyed camera. He didn’t even recognize me or my camera when I came back to his store to complain about it after about two months post repair.
Don’t use this guy.

This place definitely has «personality».
I was in need of a camera battery and FAST. I called Best Buy, Radio Shack, and other little places in the area. No dice. Then I went on to Unilocal and saw Camera Craftsman’s number. Sweet! And he had the part! Double sweet! AND it was slightly less than the price advertised on the interwebs! I think I’m gonna get a cupcake down the street from Sweet!
So I head to the store and it’s kind of odd. The sign is smallish and there’s really no storefront. A piece of paper on the door asked me to knock. I was wondering if I needed a password, but after a minute or two a gentleman opened the door and there was no turning back. As soon as I was inside, a small kitteh darted for the door and guarded it. Scary yet adorable.
The store was probably an apartment at some point. He had it set up so that a glass case divided the room. I feel like it’s a call first kind of place because I would never go in here to browse and he doesn’t really have anything to look at since it’s more of a repair shop.
The guy was nice-​ish. He found the battery I was looking for but it was one of those store brand batteries not made by my manufacturer. He actually pulled out a camera of his that was just like mine to make sure it was the correct one, which was cool. The price was slightly higher than he had quoted (even with tax) but I was in a bind so I bought it. I can’t speak about the repairs. so 3 stars for now.
OH and for me. he told me cash or checks. no credit cards. but he may have a different policy for pricier purchases/​repairs.

My sad story…
So I dropped my camera off in late July with about 2 weeks before a big trip to Hawai’i (see my other reviews). The camera had a sticky mirror which would flip up when taking the pic, but not flip back down every time when the pic was done. It also had a sketchy mode dial. I wanted to support a local business, so instead of mailing it in to Nikon I thought I’d try to help a neighbor out. I wasn’t too impressed by the state of the repair shop first off. Fixed, broken and half assembled cameras were strewn across the shop. Many of the fixed ones were on the floor in one part of the room, but could easily be stepped on. Other pulled-​apart cameras were on the main counter. Very unprofessional looking and very DARK. Not sure how any work actually gets done there.
I wasn’t expecting my camera repaired in time for my trip and the guy told me 21 – 28 biz days or so for a repair. So I said that’s cool and left it with him. I get a call a week later and he says that the repair is going to be about $ 300 (less than a used one on eBay) so I said to go for it. After getting back from Hawai’i, I wait another week or two and finally call him (5 – 6 weeks after dropping it off) and he says «oh i wasn’t sure if you wanted to go ahead with the repair…» and I replied «but you called to confirm the cost and I told you to go ahead with it… if i hadn’t agreed, i would have come in to pick up the camera.» ugh…
So now rugby season is starting and i am shit out of luck with no camera to take game pictures. So i tell him «ok, just send it in to Nikon and get it fixed.». TWO months pass and no word from this guy. So i finally call again and he says «oh the cost ended up being more than the value of the camera so i didn’t go ahead with the repair.» Is this guy fucking serious? Why didn’t he call me to tell me this? So I finally went to pick up the camera and he tried to give it back to me without the extra battery pack which was attached to the camera. I had to point it out on the receipt that i had left that too. He scurries off to the back room to dig it up since somehow it had gotten separated from my camera in his disaster of a stockroom.
Now maybe i should have been a little more pro-​active in my calling this guy to check the status. But to be honest i was in school and didn’t have a ton of cash on me, so i wasn’t too eager to drop $ 400 on the repair right away once rugby season was a wash. But still. This place showed a complete lack of communication, organization and respect for me as a customer. Add in the fact that they (and it just seems to be one guy) don’t seem to have their shit together at all and I’d highly recommend a larger repair company with a streamlined work flow which actually TELLS you what is going on and REMEMBERS your responses…