International Camera

While traveling through Illinois on vacation my Nikon 24−70mm was damaged. The lens cap ring on the lens was broken and loose. I was just passing through Chicago on my way west and I took a chance on International Camera. They diagnosed and repaired the lens while I waited! I was in and out in less than 2 hours. All of this saving me time and money since there is not a certified Nikon repair shop in the city I live. Thank you for the great and quick repair!

Horrible. Horrible. Horrible. This place doesn’t even deserve 1 star. All I did was buy a battery for my camera. First off when I tried to tell him the type of camera I had, he laughed like I didn’t know what I was talking about and asked to look for himself (I had the spec info but not the camera). After barely looking, he grabs a battery from the shelf OPENS IT and hands it to me. Now I have an issue when this is done because it usually means you don’t want me to bring it back. I should’ve turned around at that point but I needed it for my nephew’s graduation. Ok. Fine. I get home. Put the battery in my DSLR camera and it gets stuck! Now I’m pissed. I paid $ 30 for a camera battery that I not only cannot use but is now stuck in my camera. I called them and he tells me to bring my camera in and they’ll fix it. Why the hell would I trust you with my whole camera when you couldn’t give me a correct battery? Negative. Will never go back and you should stay away.

Wife & I had a really bad experience here. They seem to be more concerned with profit rather than the customers experience and repairs themselves. Don’t excpect them to call you with updates or when the work is completed and dont expect them to be upfront and direct when it comes to what needs repaired and what truly needs attention inside of your camera. Pricepoint is high. Make sure to always get a second opinion before coming here & know your stuff so you can avoid being swindled.
Suggestion for the business: allow concerned customers to speak with your technican directly so we can better understand their assessment and course of action.

Kids dropped the camera and broke the filter and I couldn’t get it off. They resolve this as well as another no-​click issue I had been having but had forgotten about. Dropped it off on a Friday and picked up less than a week later for $ 200. Not sure if that is a good price or not, but the work was fast and professional.

I went in to get a quote on a repair. They were very upfront about the cost of parts and labor. I opted not to do the fix as it didn’t seem worth the cost. But I would go back again. The building is a little creepy. Just a bit deserted. And the place is very small. They’ve been there 80 years though so that counts for something.

My Canon EF 24−70mm f/2.8L took a spill a year or two ago, and it was saved only by the lens filter I’d applied to it. The lens itself, however, no longer fired correctly, couldn’t autofocus and made a nasty scratching noise upon zooming in and out. I had plans to sell the lens, along with the rest of my gear, so I needed it in working order before doing that. After researching, I took it to International Camera, a really tiny shop located on the fifth floor of a Wabash office building. I heard these guys did good work, so I decided to check it out for myself.
After handing over my lens, I received a call back two days later diagnosing the problem, and with a price. The shop told me exactly what was wrong with the lens and gave me what ended up being a somewhat pricy bill, but compared to the money I got back for it, it wasn’t that much. I picked up the lens the next week and they tested it on-​site, firing off a few photos before handing it back to me. The work they did was really solid, and the lens was good as new.
The only issue I had was they didn’t give me a chance to say «No, I don’t want to pay that» if I wanted to. I gave them my lens and while I expected it to cost me, they went ahead and did the work and saddled me with the bill instead of saying something like, «Hey, this lens is going to cost around XX to repair, is that OK with you?» Had the price been any higher, I’m not sure I would have been as satisfied, and I would have appreciated knowing how much I was going to pay before they went ahead and did the repairs. Not the end of the world, though, and the good work they did by far outweighs any negatives. I would recommend them.

Not the best experience. I went in for a memory card repair: when I plugged my camera into the computer, the windown spun and then said it had zero pictures. The data on the card had inverted itself. I chose this shop because it was close to work and had reasonable reviews. They looked at the card and said that there was a 95% chance of recovery and that this was really a favor to me because they have plenty of real camera work. I thought this was rude and asked for a price. They quoted $ 40. This seemed really high and odd that they were talking about putting it on a disk. I was short on time, so I left the drive with them to process. After returning home, I learned that their $ 40 price was really high, but that if they were putting my pictures on a zip drive on the disk it should all fit. I waited a week and received no call from the store. I called and learned the work had already been done. When I showed-​up, they said it would be $ 90 and that that was a discount. When I challenged that they said $ 40 and their receipt didn’t specify the types of discs or what they were using. They dropped the price to $ 70 or were not going to give me my pictures. For the 15 minutes of work to invert the data and $ 5 of discs, this was price gouging. If you need something done with cameras or pictures, I would go somewhere else first. Make sure the place understands that most people use memory sticks and not «discs» to back-​up photos or information. Everybody runs a business, but these guys don’t really care about customers.

The people at International Camera repaired my camera quickly. They were also very friendly and I got a great customer service experience. Prices are very hefty. Unfortunately while they were repairing my camera, someone changed my camera settings from shooting in RAW to JPEG, but never informed me of this. Unfortunately, I only realized 4 days into a vacation, after taking many surreal photos. For a photographer, this is a nightmare situation. Please inform your customers in the future if you change camera settings. I am heartbroken right now, which is why I removed two stars (in addition to the price).

Extremely dishonest and attempts to up-​charge for unnecessary repairs. Really jerks around w/​estimates. Very unethical! Will churn you for as much money as they can for very simple inexpensive repairs. They screwed up simple repairs on my business partner’s Tamron lens! BUYER BEWARE!

I hope you never have the displeasure of having your favorite lens die, but unfortunately, this happened to me just last week. This lens in question is the now discontinued Canon 50 mm f/1.0, so Canon won’t even work on it anymore. The autofocus motor was what died, and on this particular lens, you can’t even manual focus if the autofocus motor dies since it is electronically assisted. This is honestly probably my most cherished material possession, so my heart sank when I thought I might have to live without it.
I did some research online and some people were suggesting just selling the lens for parts on ebay, but I wasn’t prepared to accept that fate. I called International Camera, as I wanted to have it worked on by some place local. The main reason for this was because I was hoping I might be able to have it fixed and returned to me by the following weekend, as I had another wedding to photograph.
Ever since I dropped it off, they were open and honest with me. They told me this was a complicated repair and that it would be expensive due to all the labor involved. I understood and expected that, so I was ok with it, especially if they could bring my favorite lens back to life.
Well three days later they called and told me it was ready to be picked up. I had it back in time to photograph my next wedding and I couldn’t be happier with the results. If I ever have another unfortunate incident like this, I know who will fix it for me again.

They are great! I was so embarrassed with my camera because I had to go to California on Friday and take pictures for my portfolio. But the thing was that I found my camera broken on Monday! I was so urgent and since I’m studying abroad right now, I was also worried about the cost. I went to them on Tuesday. Got an estimation call on Wednesday and got my lovely camera back on Thursday! Great! They’re kind, nice and fast! Thank you!

After leaving my camera there to be cleaned, I came home to find that dust spots were still on my camera’s sensor. Although I complained to get a refund, I wasted the day and was very disappointed. I should have known something was wrong when I noticed how dirty and disorganized old cameras on display in the tiny entrance to the weirdly small office was.
I subsequently called Nikon’s corporate offices and learned that International Camera in Chicago is NOT authorized by Nikon for sensor cleaning much less repairs. International Camera falsely claims they are authorized on their website’s FAQs. Go to Authorized Photo Service in Morton Grove for genuine and reliable Nikon service instead. You’ll be glad you went elsewhere to have your Nikon cleaned!

Some months ago, I accidentally dropped my Panasonic Lumix LX2. Not the newest camera, but a very good one. I was distraught that Id have to buy another because no one fixes things any more. I was pleased to find that there is still a place where they fix cameras. And this place was great. They are a tiny operation, and a bit quirky, in an odd location, but well worth the trip and effort to find them, as I made out with spending a fraction of what a new camera would have cost me to fix my still good one, which I love and was accustomed to. Kudos to Dean and his people at International Camera. I cant say enough about them. Keep it up!

Had a good experience with these guys. Reasonable price and fixed everything I’ve needed. This is one case where I would ignore the negative reviews. There are some people out there who just will never be satisfied no matter what you do. Only gripe is that the place is a little hard to find, tucked in an old building. Other than that, they do a good job. Since I moved to Chicago two years ago, this has become my go to place for repairs.

My camera is repaired!
After tens of thousands of clicks, the camera stopped taking any pictures. After researching I saw it would take removing and putting back 20 – 30 screws, moving some circuit boards and ribbons I knew it was time to take it to the hands of a professional. The shutter button didn’t work and I knew I needed shutter repair for my DSLR camera.
Going to the website (
) I was able to see their office was right by mine and I saw I could get a quote online. Knowing what the problem was, I got a quote request back on Monday between $ 90-​$ 145. Given that was worth it to get my camera up and running I headed straight to their office!
Right on Jeweler’s Row and by the Madison and Wabash, I found their office and they took a look at my camera gear. Dean, the manager bagged up my memory card and examined my lens to make sure that didn’t need repair either and let me know they’d get back to me with an updated estimate.
I got emailed later and the estimate came within the expected range. I emailed later to see if I could get my camera back Saturday. Lo and behold on Friday my camera was ready and they contacted both via telephone and email to make sure I got the message.
Heading down to International Camera again I was ecstatic that everything was restored to full working order. They even fixed a missing grip piece that I lost after taking so many pictures. I never tied the camera strap on correctly but they even went the extra step to tie the strap correctly and even give me another part for it. They stayed late on a Friday night and I was able to get everything wrapped up.
A+ and great job, International Camera!!!

I dropped by canon S95 and lens wouldn’t retract anymore. Took it here and they fixed it for ~100. Works great, no problems.

Bar-​B-​Que sauce was the culprit, so I found out when my camera stopped working correctly. Ok, let me back up…
My camera stopped working and I reached out to Unilocal to see where in the hell could I take my camera. Being in the Loop for work i figured i would be able to drop it off and pick it up somewhere close by. On Jeweler’s Row in a building that looks as if it’s under renovation and in a repair store that looks more like a backstore office is International Camera.
I told the ‘repair guy’ what was wrong he looked it over and told me that he would call me with repair details. A day or two later I got the call with the cost and time to repair. It was reasonable, so I told him to g’ahead.
When I picked up my camera I asked him what was wrong with the camera and he acted as if he didn’t want to say that… but I told him I spilled Bar-​B-​Que sauce on it. We both laughed and he said that he didn’t really want to say that it was my fault… HA HA.
AWESOME! He repaired my digital camera to its former working glory.

Highly recommended. The manager, Dean, is the man.
They know what they’re doing, and guarantee their work. They do not ship your camera out, they have their own techs do the work.

I’m not a professional photographer, just an average jane who’s digital camera got dropped and needed to have a picture to video mode switch fixed. Found International Camera on Unilocal and headed downtown. When I walked in I was surrounded by more serious looking cameras. I was afraid maybe they didn’t deal with user friendly-​every day digital units. As I pulled my camera out of my bag I said «I don’t know if you can help me.» He responded without even hearing my problem. «We can help.»
Not only could they help but they fixed my camera within a few hours and for only $ 40. That’s peanuts compared to the cost of a new one or the time wasted in sending it back to the manufacturer.
Considering the cost and super fast service, I had to recommend.

My beloved four year old Casio Exlim EX-Z80A’s USB drive failed and I found International Camera Corp. on the internet. They had the problem diagnosed within minutes, and my camera was returned to me in record time. Was I happy! I highly recommend this place if you need your camera repaired,
International Camera Corp. is in Chicago’s Loop, at 9 North Wabash Avenue (Jeweler’s Row), on the 5^th Floor.
Notes: The interior of the building is substantially under construction and is partially occupied at this point.
Their hours are 9:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Monday-​Friday, and Saturdays, 9 a.m. — 1 p.m.