Pix Camera

Cannot recommend highly enough. Luis is a legend. He saved my camera from almost certain extinction.

Luis is the best. I trust him with my older film cameras and my digital ones, and look forward to spending time talking shop with him.

I’ve dealt with Pix on several occasions and have always found them honest, forthright, and helpful. They carry a real wealth of Canon lenses, too: what’s the point of renting high-​end bodies if you don’t have the lenses people need? But they do. If you’re in LA working on a project and need lenses you don’t have, here you go.
Now, several other reviewers have spoken badly about Luis’ repair skills. Here’s my take on that: There are repairs that a good shop like Pix with a good tech like Luis can do and do well, then there are things you really should send your $ 3000+ camera back to Canon or Nikon for, ok? If you own a pro camera, you should have an inkling of an idea of what types of repairs you want done at a shop vs what needs to go to the maker. My own original 5D just had its mirror totally come unglued and it is probably going home to Canon on that one: for one, they admit the problem with this model’s mirrors is wide-​spread and will do the repair for free. If I needed it tomorrow, it would be tempting to take it to a shop but let’s be real. It needs to go to Canon. If you are dealing with pro-​level equipment and don’t realize the constraints techs in a shop work with vs what the manufacturer can do, I have little sympathy. Know your camera, know when it needs to go back to whence it came. And ask any tech in a shop if he wants to take on a really gnarly repair, too.

I’ve been here before for rental equipment– no issues with that.
I brought my Nikon D7000 in a pinch for sensor cleaning. It was cleaned within an hour for $ 50, and there was some improvement. Still got black spots and other forms in photos. Luis didn’t claim it to be a perfect job, so I’ll give him that, but I would rather have saved the money if it wasn’t going to be totally clean.
As I’ve now learned, It’s less expensive for Nikon to clean it anyway, and I would imagine they do a much better job.
It’s free within warranty and $ 40 out of warranty. When I have more time, I’m going to drop it off at their repair center. It’s just down the street at Nikon Inc., 6420 Wilshire Blvd. Suite 100 Los Angeles, CA 90 048‑5501.

Loads of gear. Pleasant rental service.

TL;DR: Scratched my camera sensor and wouldn’t own up to it.
I came here to get the sensor cleaned on my Phase One P45+ medium format digital back. Luis cleaned it, I checked the file and there was still dust. He tried again, repeatedly. After nearly an hour of moving the dust around I am ready to leave and try and somewhere else. He tries «one more time» and scratches the infrared filter on the sensor. There is a huge black scrape in all of the images. I ask what he is going to do about it and he tells me just to crop in around the mark and that it isn’t that bad or that maybe it was just a big stuck piece of dust. I had a working (but slightly dusty) sensor coming in and left with an unusable $ 20,000 back. He said they had no relationship with Phase One and that I would have to take it to my dealer to get fixed. I tried for weeks to contact the owner, but he was never in or never returned my calls. The repair cost was almost $ 1,500 and a left me without a camera for nearly a month forcing me to rent (expensive) or find other options.

If you’re looking for a camera shop that won’t leave you feeling ripped-​off, this is the place.
My well-​loved Sony point-​and-​shoot camera had started making funny sounds when I would zoom in or out… sensing the end was nigh, I contacted Sony to find an authorized repair center. They directed me to Precision Camera in Connecticut… Precision Camera had horrible ratings on Unilocal!and the customer service did not pick up any of the seven times I called.
Figuring if that’s how they treat potential customers– I opted to look elsewhere and I found Pix on Unilocal.
I called and David explained to me that point-​and-​shoots were mostly disposable– and that it would probably cost more to fix than to just purchase a new one. I explained it had sentimental value and I wanted to look into getting it fixed, so he referred me to their resident camera repair expert– Luis.
Luis told me to bring the camera by and he’d look at it. He cleaned the lens thing with some tools and compressed air and sent me on my way… and only charged me ten bucks. The place in Connecticut’s website charged a flat 120 before they did anything to the camera.
I know nothing about cameras and these guys could have charged me a small fortune to tune up my camera… instead, they were honest, didn’t over-​sell me, and sent me on my way… a happy customer.
I’ll be back for sure.

Best People and Best Service. I startted off with Samy’s back in the early days of my professional career. Hated the Attitudes and grumpy employees but didn’t know any alternatives other than Calumet (now closed) and at the time PRS. The staff here, especially Dave and Luis are wonderfully helpful. Their hours used to be 24 but the economy stopped supporting that. But in general, this company is exceptionally more accessible than the headache that is Samy’s Camera. They have the same rental policies as any other rental joint and can be accommodating if you are diplomatic! Once got stuck in another city due to weather with a week’s worth of rental gear and they kindly kept the terms of the original rental period as a courtesy.
My favorite rental place for over 10 years!

I had only rented from PIX once before with no problems so since I was in a bind and Sammy’s wasn’t open I easily made the short drive to rent there again, this time for a lens rental. Come to find out if I had gotten the lens just a few hours later it could’ve been kept over the weekend vs returning it next day. Information that was delivered to me when I explained I needed the lens a few hours past the 10am return time. David offered no solution outside of policy and was very rude in the execution of explaining it to me. Jeff who I spoke with later was much nicer but also didn’t budge on the yet to be used lens when I explained to him my situation. I won’t be renting from PIX anymore as the staff on hand lacks the customer service of other dealers. It sucks because I’ve recommended this shop to fellow photographers as an alternative to Sammy’s because of the Mom & Pop feel. I was clearly wrong they are definitely in the business for monetary reward and nothing more.

My grandson dropped my Nikon Coolpix S9300 and dented the top, making opening the camera impossible. Since I could not find parking at or near the Culver City repair shop in my neighborhood, I checked Unilocal for another shop. Luis at Pix Camera was highly rated on Unilocal, so I drove to Pix. I am so glad the CC location was hard to get to, or I would not have discovered Luis. He fixed my camera for a moderate price, and I was on my way in 15 minutes. Great job, great place and lots of parking.

I was excited to find such a high rating by everyone for a camera house. I took my 5d Mark II in to Luis for a sensor cleaning. An hour later and $ 50, I was out the door and pleased. Unfortunately, I did not check it out before I left. When I pulled it out for my next shoot, the viewfinder now had specks of material and small fibers present. They were most certainly not there before and though they do not show in pictures, it’s bothersome. I returned to Luis and asked him to check it out. He spent a couple minutes tinkering around, then handed it back and said he can’t reach it once it gets back there. No refund, options or even an apology, just that it’s impossible to clean the viewfinder.
I’m disappointed with my experience.

I took my Nikon DSLR for inspection and Luis was very knowledgeable! I was curious on the process and components he was mentioning so he educated me the importance on certain items that were damaged within my camera. He had examples of what a part should look like in addition to how it should work and provided a great demonstration to where I fully understood the inspection. Some may not care of understanding the problem but to me it earned my trust and confidence knowing my DSLR is in good hands. I totally recommend Luis for camera inspection & repair.

Luis could not have been friendlier or nicer to deal with. He actually was not able to fix the problem in my lens since someone had messed up some internal screws, preventing him access to the source of the problem. So he did not charge me, even though he spent time and cleaned the portion to which he did have access. When he heard I was going to Cuba, he offered to donate a lens for me to take down there. Very impressed!

thanx, Unilocalers, for recommending luis at pix for camera repair!
our nikon had a problem opening a shutter from when we dropped it 3 years ago. have to admit the dark corner on all our pix gave a specific signature to all our work but we did want it fixed. took it to another place and they said the only option was to send it away for 3+ weeks. no go.
brought it to luis, he fixed it in 3 days for $ 45! very happy!
he’s only there weekdays until 4pm and he deserves those weekends off! good guy!

I forgot the name of the guy who helped me but he was at the camera repair booth. He was extremely knowledgeable and very nice, he took apart my camera to show me what was wrong (a broken gear in the winder motor). He wasnt able to fix the camera on the spot because there were no gears that size on hand but he helped me out a great deal without charging me an arm and a leg like other spots. I highly recommend this spot for maintenance and repairs.

Came in to get my sensor cleaned and Luis was amazing. Speedy, reliable, and a great guy. Charged me a fair price. The other guys in the shop (didn’t catch their names) were friendly, fun, and knowledgeable. Will definitely come back again!

I took my Canon 5D for sensor cleaning. Luis was very kind and understanding and did an excellent job during my initial and courtesy follow-​up visit. After the sensor clean, I called Luis and inquired about what I thought were dust remnants on my sensor. Luis encouraged me to come back so he could check it out (in case it was something he had missed the first time around). After some more cleaning, we found out the dust was actually trapped behind the protective glass that sits on top of the sensor (something Luis could not fix with the simple sensor clean). Luis loves what he does and seems to respect photographers that strive for perfection. This is evident in his excellent attitude, customer service, and workmanship. I’m a fan and wouldn’t mind returning here for future service needs.

I usually go to Calumet to rent my lenses but having to return them on Monday before 10 started to be a big hassle because of work and when you don’t you’re charged for an extra day. One of my buddies recommended Pix Camera to me so I decided to check them out.
They were a little bit pricier to rent than Calumet was but for me it’s totally worth it for two main reasons: they deliver your lens to you if you’d like (yes, they deliver!) and they’re open on Sundays! Big help for me because now I can return my lenses Sunday when I’m done so that I don’t have to worry about getting it in on time on Monday.
Good customer service and the two services I mentioned above have earned Pix Camera a new fan and customer!

Took two Sony Cybershots in, both non-​functioning. The guy who fixes the cameras told me it would cost a lot to fix them so he would see what he could finagle. He was only able to fix one, and replaced it with a button from another camera. It took about three weeks for me to get them back, so he didn’t charge me. Decent service and now I have at least one working camera. :)
PARK IN THE BACK. THE METER MAIDS OUT FRONT ARE NAZIS!!!

Never in my life have i come across people working in the photo/​film rental business who enjoyed anything about life.
Until Pix!
I called needing to rent a sound blimp. I was a new customer and would have to fill out lots of information, but they held a reservation for me anyway.
In the next week, I was on the phone with them several times asking questions about the hold for the equipment, getting the insurance certificate from the production i was working on… This was all new to me, so i had a lot of questions, some of which i had to ask more than once.
Not once did anyone show impatience with me. They might have after they hung up the phone, but I never saw it!
When i went to pick up my blimp, i asked if they would mind going over with me how to use it. Despite it being busy in there, the gentleman helping me took his time going over how to use it. He didn’t rush through it.
Checking the equipment back in was a breeze, and their long hours make it convenient to either pick up early before your job, or drop it off at the end of the night after your job.
I love it here, and their patience with me just gained them a new customer and promoter.