Bromfield Camera

Bought a lens filter from Bromfield Camera before leaving for vacation based on a recommendation from the person working at store. He ended up giving me a filter that did not fit my lens. I tried to return the filter when I got back from vacation but was offered only store credit. I ended up getting a memory card which was about 4 times more expensive than the price on Amazon.
Bromfield Camera’s prices run about 3−5x higher than Amazon prices. The service does not justify the premium. If you want to shop at a brick-​and-​mortar I would recommend Hunt’s Photo and Video.
Update: I was informed by Bromfield Camera that the actual prices charged are less than the list prices indicated on the packaging. That is true. It’s also true that the «discounted» prices are approximately three times more expensive than prices available at Amazon. I correctly specified the lens and was sold a filter that did not fit. After returning from vacation I tried to return the incorrect filter and was only offered store credit. Those are the facts, unfortunately. If you choose to shop here, it gets pricey, in my opinion. All that said, the gentleman that assisted me was was kind and knowledgeable about photography.

I work nearby and I always pass Bromfield Camera on my work. My camera, which I’ve had for a good seven years has never gotten a sensor cleaning. I gave Bromfield Camera a try with its very convenient location, plus I needed some filters. A man behind the counter helped me right away when I walked in. I explained to him that I wanted the inside of my camera cleaned. He asked me some questions to make sure this was something worthwhile to do. I thought the cleaning would take at least a day. He got my camera back to me that same evening (around 5pm) and I brought it in at about 1pm. I was impressed by the turnaround. I got an UV filter and a polarize filter. The salesman explained how to use the polarize filter and the difference a UV filter makes. I could tell he knew his filters. The prices were reasonable. I definitely would visit the store again.

We needed a camera for our honeymoon as we had left hours at home. The doorman at a downtown hotel recommended this shop.
The service was very, very good and they set us up with an inexpensive camera, SD card and camera pouch. I checked the pricing on Amazon once I got home and here’s how it stacked up:
Camera — $ 129.95/$ 116.95
SD Card — $ 29.95/$ 10.60
Pouch — $ 17.95/$ 11.14
So, we paid $ 177.85 and could have gotten it all on Amazon for $ 138.69, so we paid about 22% more than if we had purchased online. Also, the camera was listed on our ticket for $ 149.95, discounted to $ 129.95 so we would feel like we got a great deal.
At the end of the day, the price on the camera was pretty competitive, but the accessories had a much larger markup. Of course, this is pretty standard for any retail shop.
We needed the camera on the spot, so paying the higher prices really didn’t bother me. If I were trying to buy something a bit more permanent, I’d have talked the price down.

Customer service? Non existent. I walked in shopping for a new camera bag. No other customers were in the store but me, so I’m impossible to miss. The guy behind the counter never approached me or asked if I needed assistance. Hell, he couldn’t even raise his head to make eye contact with me. After 5 minutes of being unnoticed and unserviced, I politely walked out. I’ll give my money to a vendor who actually acknowledges customers.

I’ve been coming to them for years. Have bought a couple of small format cameras, a DSLR and a tripod there, as well as getting film I found is my dad’s drawer developed. Yes they still do that too. As others have noted, their prices aren’t always the cheapest compared to on-​line, but they offer valuable advice, and can be persuaded to bargain on occasion.
If you just want a memory card go around the corner to Radio Shack. Whoops they’re out of business. Go to Staples or CVS. Bromfield is a CAMERA STORE!

I have been a Bromfield customer for many years (since I was 16. I’m 46 now). These guys are nothing but honest and sincere. Their prices are reasonable and their knowledge and service are exceptional. Truly, my favorite local camera store!

This is the smallest most expansive camera store I’ve ever been to. What I mean is it’s really small and has a TON of stuff. This place is jam packed full of all things photography. There is a great selection of vintage film cameras, everything from Leica to 120 film cameras. The store front doesn’t reveal the amount of stuff available here. The employees are passionate and knowledgeable about all the products and the atmosphere is great. Definitely head over here for any of your photography needs.

I’m going to give Bromfield Camera 2 stars instead of 1 and I will explain why. I came in to inquire about an issue I was having with my camera (it wasn’t focusing properly). I know very little about cameras so i thought a boutique-​y shop like this would be my best bet. They were very helpful and it was one setting that i needed to change and the probably was completely fixed, no problem, 30 seconds of time.
I also wanted to buy a few memory cards. In my experience all SD cards are about the same price. I was buying several 4MB cards which typically range from $ 5 – 10. The sticker Bromfield Camera had added to each of these said $ 40 which is an absolutely criminal price for that type of card. They range me up «with a discount» at $ 25 per card (equally criminal). Since i was with people from work i did not want to make a big deal so i paid for them and walked out.
As soon as i was finished with work for the day i walked straight back and demanded a refund. There are signs everywhere in the store saying no refunds, but I made the saleman look them up on his phone and since we found 1 on the internet for $ 12 (the rest were $ 6 or $ 8), he reduced the price to $ 12 per. Because this was much closer to the actual price for these cards at any other store/​the internet i will give them 2 stars.
Bottom line — they may be good camera people but they are disturbingly bad business people. Their business model to charge exorbitant prices and hope people don’t notice is horrifying. I will never return.

I must confess that I know very little about cameras. Regardless, I randomly ended up at camera shop when my gf forgot her canon camera charger during a short vacation we planned for 4^th of July. She had an older model and stores like Radioshack and Best Buy didn’t even carry the specific charger so we asked around and finally found Bromfield Camera Co. You walk in and are immediately greeted by walls and shelves of cameras and other camera paraphernalia. There’s old posters, old prints, and even advertisements for photo restorations of black and white and worn-​out photos (which is pretty adorable. especially when you see senior citizens walking in carrying photos that are clearly decades old and asking the owner to restore their photos). The people working behind the counter clearly know their stuff, and we ended up with a simple universal charger that I’m sure we’ll use in the future for other cameras as well.
This place has a lot of character and I’d recommend it if you’re even in the area. It’s becoming harder and harder to find places like this and I’m glad I went.

I actually just activated a Unilocal account so I could share my dissatisfaction with the customer service I received at Bromfield Camera today. I had a scratched camera lens that I was looking for some input on, so I decided to stop in and see if this place could give me any advice. As I was browsing, waiting to be helped, the 3 or guys standing around in the back of the store nudged one of the guys to assist me. This would have been normal except one of them said quite audibly, «better go help this one! He looks like trouble! Har har har!» The associate lumbered up, I actually greeted him, but regardless…
I explained the situation with the camera lens, he just looked at me blankly and said «you gotta send it back to the manufacturer». I asked if there was anything they sold for repairing lens scratches, or if there was anything else I could do. He basically said «no.» (I almost felt like saying «sorry to bother you!»)
Whether or not this was in fact the case, which was trivial at this point, this is the reason I buy things online. I don’t have to deal with smug-​know-​it-​all retail jerks. There was no further discussion, no tips, no «we could fix that for you!» Just a «no». Thank you for all your help!

These guys are the greatest. Steve, in particular, has been there to reassure me that the equipment I own and rented for an event I am photographing will do well. He’s very skilled at explaining topics that are new to to an intermediate (maybe beginning-​to-​intermediate?) photographer like me. I am so happy to have found this shop!

Somewhat of a newbie to photography, I went to these guys for help on deciding on the perfect beginner dslr that would be right for me. Previously, I spent hours on google reading camera reviews in hopes that it would steer me in the right direction but it really just created frustration and certainly didn’t give me a clear, obvious choice. Russ at Bromfield was awesome. He was confident, seemed extremely knowledgable and most importantly did not oversell me to make an extra buck, which these days is a rarity! I left with a brand new camera and piece of mind that I made the right choice! I would (and will) go back to this place in a heartbeat.

Love this shop !!! I work right around the corner from them and try to do all my camera stuff with these guys. Everyone one there is sooo helpful. I am not very camera savy but when I take pictures people think they are professional, which they certainly are not! That is because I got a great camera from them. often just leaving it on automatic setting so that the camera does all the work! Anytime I have problems with my camera everyone is awesome. Not just the brothers that run the store. the whole staff.
I recommend tourist to their store all the time as I work so close and often deal with tourist.
If you need camera stuff, go here… if you have camera questions. go here. everything. it is worth the trip, you are sure to find something !!!

Professional if perfunctory, but then when I am eager to get back out onto the street to take more photos, I’m not looking for a chatty, social connection. They had what we needed, no-​fuss, and at good pricing.

I guess it’s good that they’re honest.. . after reading all of the positive reviews, I convinced my husband to bring in his well-​used DSLR because he had been complaining that he thought his pictures had been duller than when he originally purchased the camera. He had been comparing pictures over time and showing them to me and was convinced that the light sensor was not working properly. Now, my husband is, shall we say, detail-​oriented so his growing interest in photography could explain his conviction that his pictures are getting worse.
Anyway, we went in, it was super busy and we got someone’s attention. My husband explained his situation and asked if they could clean the camera. The shop person said that unless there is actual visible dust, a cleaning would be useless. OK. I get it, as others reviewers said, they tell you when you’re trying to pay for something you don’t need. However, I felt like they could have volunteered some more information. Is the sensor just getting old? Does the camera need to be upgraded now that my husband is more into it? Without any additional response, it basically felt like he was saying, «no, you’re an idiot; go away.»
We didn’t get the attention that Colleen B. mentioned where they tested her camera and assessed the problem. Why? no idea.
So, I’m giving them 3 stars, middle of the road which is sort of what they gave us as customers.

My camera had a CF card error, so I brought it in to Bromfield Camera Co. Not only were they super nice, but they fixed the problem. The man helping me refused to give up until he found a solution to the problem. He figured out that I needed a 2 GB CF card and not a 4GB CF card. In the end he only charged me $ 15 for the new CF card.
I will definitely go here again for camera supplies and trouble shooting. What a great store!

Went in here to buy a few last minute things for an upcoming trip, nothing crazy, a couple of filters & a hood and wound up paying the price. Service was very friendly, I’ll give them that, but certainly not worth the astronomical prices. I was curious to know exactly how much I’d been taken for, here’s a breakdown.
Canon EW-​73B — I paid $ 40, B&H price — $ 22.95
Tiffen 67UVP — listed for $ 89.95, I paid $ 65, B&H price — $ 35
Tiffen 67CP — listed for $ 30, I paid $ 24, B&H price — $ 12.49
Prices on Amazon were even cheaper for exact same product. I could have had the gear overnighted from B&H and still would have saved $ 45+. Obviously B&H does much more volume, but that doesn’t warrant these price differences.
Needless to say, I won’t be back.

The other day I brought my DSLR in to get cleaned before my vacation. My pictures had been turning out grainy and with very white whites and very dark blacks. I use this camera for everything and was convinced it needed a good cleaning.
I gave it to one of the guys behind the counter who spent 15 minutes looking at it, testing the photos and settings. Basically he said it was already very clean. But I insisted that my pictures just weren’t up to par and really wanted it cleaned. He was really nice about it and changed some settings and sent me on my way.
The photos have been perfect ever since. I saved $ 40. And they made a loyal customer. 5 stars for great service!

As someone who loves taking photos, but doesn’t have the interest or patience to truly learn it as an art form as many like to, I wanted to upgrade from a point and shoot to something that gave my photos that «professional look.»
I came to Bromfield Camera as a recommendation from someone at work, and I’m glad they did. I came in first thing on a Saturday morning and was helped right away. I spoke with the gentleman manning the store, and told him that I was looking for a higher end camera that would give me the cool professional «look,» but without having to fuss around a lot of buttons and settings. I told him that I had poked around at Best Buy to see what was out there, price points, and what I liked and did not like about what I had seen.
He informed me about the sensor size having a great deal to do with getting the look I was trying to obtain. he also explained to me how with the larger sensor comes a larger price tag, which was not something that surprised me.
He pulled the Olympus Pen EPL-​1 off the shelf, and informed me that it was a camera that one of his employees owns and uses all the time. He explained to me the benefits of the camera, and also explained that if I decided to further my exploration into the camera and lens world, that the removable lens would permit that.
In terms of price of the camera, I was determined to purchase something here, regardless of whether or not I could get it cheaper online. I want to support a local business and have a place where I can walk in and ask for pointers. I did a little research when I came home with my camera to see prices online, and Bromfield was very competitively priced. In fact, I purchased mine for less than what many online retailers were selling it.
I came here for the education and the help, and I was not disappointed. I felt the entire experience was very professional and positive, and I have found that having this has increased my interest in using my new camera more than I thought it would have.
I look forward to returning, and given that I had such a great experience here, I will return to see what they can offer me to take my photos to the next level in the future.
I also liked how they have a photo of Robin Williams, taken in the store, as he was a customer!
Highly recommended.

OK, so it takes over a year to update my review. My dear cousin reminded me that I forgot to. duh! That’s what cousins are for :)
Bromfield certainly did a pretty darn good job removing mildew from my ancient camera lens. I was expecting them to call me and say no can do! Honestly, I haven’t used the lens since. who uses 35 mm film nowadays?! I’m too trigger happy for that. The visual inspection is two thumbs up.