Bristol Cameras

I love this shop, the staff go above and beyond spending the time to chat through options and help choose the correct product. If it’s not on the shelves chances are they can order it in. Although chances are it will be in stock as they seem to have a fairly huge range.

I own a 35 mm SLR, which I use to take nearly all of my photos (as I prefer film as a format). I recently went on a family holiday, and took 5 reels of photos, which I decided to get developed and scanned at Bristol Cameras. When the CD arrived in the post, all of the negatives had been scanned at funny angles: with black bars on the top, bottom or sides of varying photos. And a reel I took at night had been chopped and scanned completely wrong: with firework displays cut in half and stitched together in weird ways. I phoned up, and said «I think they’ve been scanned in wrong», when an angry man replied «well, for £2.99 I’m not going to hand scan each negative and make sure it’s lined up!» I wasn’t expecting hand scanning (I usually get them machine scanned), but I was expecting them to be lined up!
Needless to say, when I asked «could I have a refund please?» I was told «No… but you can bring them back and I’ll try again.»
I will not be trying again with Bristol Cameras, I will take all future business elsewhere!
Yours,
A very unhappy customer

Thanks to the digital revolution, decent independent camera shops are becoming increasingly few and far between. Luckily Bristol Cameras is in a great location on the corner of St Nicks Market, on High Street, keeping the likes of Jessops and Boots at bay.
Selling a wide range of new and used products, from digital to manual, I first came across this store looking for Polaroid film after the company stopped producing the film and stocks ran out a couple of years ago. Unfortunately they couldn’t help but did suggest other places and products I could try.
Now Bristol Cameras services my craving for trying to understand my own digital SLR. The staff here know their stuff and are not biased towards any particular brand. They have shown me how to get the best out of my camera and fix mild problems without having to go direct to the manufacturer. I sometimes feel a little silly for requiring an explanation of basic buttons and techniques but the staff in here always put my fears at ease.

Having recentley become a part of the Digital SLR revolution I find myself seeking out camera shops and looking at all the equipment I can’t afford!
What is brilliant about the bristol Camera shop is all the second hand lenses and equipment. If you are seeking some extra soom, or just more of a wide angle I can garantee you’ll find something your looking for. Having a Nikon camera I can use Sigma lenses, which are a bit cheaper, and this shop has a brilliant selection of thoise, and many other brand types.
They are very friendly inside so don’t ever be afraid to ask, and, if your anything like me, they don’t confuse you with over technical speak and can simplify everything into normal speak!

Bristol Cameras is very conveniently located in the heart of Bristol near to St Nicholas Market. I have been here many a times when my ‘indestructible’ camera from Olympus has broken. The staff were so helpful and were able to tell me things that customer services at Olympus failed to do.
They have a huge selection of cameras and I find that the staff have much more time for you than those in Curry’s Digital. Prices are very competitive too. Check out their website for a full selection and you can also order online if you don’t feel like making a visit.

Bristol has a few camera shops, but this is my favourite digital store. I first used the shop a few years ago to buy a pair of binoculars for whale-​watching, and the man was incredibly helpful on a subject I knew nothing about. I gave him my budget and he didn’t try and push me over it, instead selling me something about £50 under because he thought it was the best for what I needed.
I have since had a digital camera bought for me from here and used it to get the accessories — whilst their stock isn’t always complete they will try and get what you need in within a few days/​one week.
Their second-​hand lenses are pretty expensive, but then its not like you can find them any cheaper anywhere else.
The only let down is when I went to get some unusual film (120) developed there, they didn’t have a clue. This may have just that I caught the wrong assistant who was more digitally-​orientated, but I would recommend going to Photographie for your film processing needs.
Recently they have moved from the round impressive building on the corner of Corn Street to next door which is less attractive but a lot more room — no more knocking anyone over to get into the shop, they can handle more than two customers at once now!

They used to be in the smaller shop on the corner or high st and corn st. Now they have moved next door to a bigger shop that used to be a solicitors.
I think as camera shops go these are very good, the staff are nice and there is always someone there who can help you.
They have competitive prices and lots of stock on site.